Where can I find flight simulator aircraft paint kits?

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, FSX, Prepar3D and X-Plane, look first on the aircraft developer’s official download, documentation or support pages; paint kits are also bundled with some add-ons and held in established download libraries. Get the kit for the exact aircraft version and model variant, because UV layouts often differ.

Best places to find aircraft paint kits

The most reliable source is the developer that created the aircraft model, followed by the original aircraft archive and a reputable flight-simulation download library.

1. Search the developer’s official resources. Use the complete product name, simulator and variant with terms such as paint kit, repaint kit, livery template or PSD template. Commercial-aircraft kits may be kept in a customer-account download or support section rather than inside the main installer.
2. Inspect the aircraft download or installation archive. Look for folders or separate archives named Paint Kit, Repaint Kit, Livery Kit, Templates or Source. Read the documentation before assuming that a large PSD, PNG or DDS file is intended for repainting.
3. Check the package description in our download library. Some aircraft include the source material directly. Examples include our A32NX download with included paint-kit files and an FSX and Prepar3D Boeing 787 package supplied with a paint kit.
4. Check add-on-specific instructions. Publishers organise their extras differently. Our guide to locating and using Aerosoft paint kits shows the usual commercial add-on workflow without assuming that the kit is part of the aircraft installation.

How do I know whether a paint kit is compatible?

A compatible paint kit must match the simulator, the specific aircraft product, its visual model and the texture mapping used by that release.

Do not judge compatibility by the aircraft name or thumbnail alone. Two renditions of the same real aircraft can have entirely unrelated texture layouts, while engine, winglet, door or antenna variants may use additional sheets.

Can I use a paint kit from a similar aircraft?

Only if the developer explicitly confirms that both variants share the same model and UV layout. Otherwise, logos may split across seams, doors may be displaced and painted areas may appear on the wrong engine, wing or fuselage section.

Contents of a good livery paint kit

A proper paint kit supplies editable source layers and enough mapping information to place artwork accurately.

• A layered PSD or equivalent source file, not just a flattened texture.
• A visible UV wireframe or alignment guide for seams, doors, windows and control surfaces.
• Separate base-colour, shading, panel-line, rivet, dirt and marking layers where applicable.
• Instructions for alpha channels, night textures and material masks used by that aircraft.
• Correct texture names, dimensions, orientation and export guidance.
• A licence stating whether finished repaints and modified source files may be distributed.

A flat PNG, BMP or DDS copied from the aircraft may help as a reference, but it is not a full paint kit. It lacks editable layers and may already contain baked shading, compression artefacts or material information that is easy to damage.

What if no paint kit is available?

If no official kit appears, repeat the search with the exact developer and product name, inspect the documentation and ask the aircraft developer whether a public repaint template exists.

• Check for a separate extras archive rather than searching only the installed aircraft folder.
• Confirm that the kit was not renamed as a livery template or blank texture set.
• Read the aircraft’s licence before modifying or redistributing any supplied texture.
• Do not attempt to bypass encrypted or protected aircraft packages. Protection normally means the source assets were not released for repaint work.

Paint-kit editing is primarily a desktop workflow. Console versions generally do not expose aircraft package files or a PC-style Community folder, so possessing a kit does not necessarily let you install the finished livery locally on a console.

Can I make a paint kit from existing textures?

You can create a personal working template when the licence permits modification and the source textures are accessible, but it will not have the quality or documentation of an official layered kit.

Preserve the original files, alpha channels and material textures. Rebuilding from a flattened image often requires manually separating panel lines and shading, and extracting a UV guide from a model is appropriate only where the development tools, source files and licence permit it. Do not redistribute copyrighted source textures or reconstructed layers without permission.

Checks before starting a repaint

Verify the kit’s identity and restrictions before spending time on the artwork.

1. Match the product. Record the developer, aircraft name, model variant and simulator edition.
2. Read the included notes. Check required texture names, resolution, orientation and supported variants.
3. Protect special channels. Alpha, normal, emissive and material data should not be flattened or discarded accidentally.
4. Keep a clean master. Work from a copy of the original layered kit and retain an untouched source archive.
5. Export to a separate livery. Never overwrite the aircraft’s original textures, because updates and repairs can erase the repaint.

Once compatibility is confirmed, choose an editor and texture tools that preserve layers, transparency and the required output format; our comparison of livery-editing software and texture utilities covers that decision. Most failed repaints start with the wrong model template or a damaged alpha channel, not with the painted artwork itself.