Learn how to repaint an aircraft in FSX, export the correct DDS or BMP textures, register the livery in aircraft.cfg, and fix missing or white repaints.
To repaint an aircraft in FSX or FSX: Steam Edition, use the exact paint kit for that aircraft model, edit and export its texture files in the required DDS or BMP format, place them in a new texture.<suffix> folder, then add a unique, sequential [fltsim.X] entry to the aircraft’s aircraft.cfg file.
What files do I need to repaint an FSX aircraft?
You need a paint kit or editable texture set made for the exact aircraft model and variant, plus an image editor capable of preserving the required texture format and alpha channel. A repaint for one engine, fuselage or winglet variant may not align correctly on another, even when the aircraft names look similar.
Use the developer’s layered paint kit when one is supplied. Painting over an already compressed DDS or BMP texture is possible, but logos, panel lines and shading are harder to edit cleanly. Keep an uncompressed, layered master file and export separate simulator-ready copies.
Read the aircraft’s licence before distributing your work. Permission to modify textures for personal use does not necessarily permit repackaging the original files or sharing the paint kit. Aerosoft users can follow our Aerosoft-specific paint-kit and export workflow.
The aircraft is normally inside SimObjects\Airplanes. Common locations are C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\SimObjects\Airplanes for boxed FSX and C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FSX\SimObjects\Airplanes for FSX: Steam Edition, although a custom installation can be elsewhere.
FSX repaint and livery installation steps
- Back up the aircraft folder. Copy its
aircraft.cfgfile and the texture folder you intend to use as a reference. Never overwrite the only working copy of the original livery. - Create a new texture folder. Inside the correct aircraft folder, create a clearly named folder such as
texture.MyLivery. Use the repaint-ready folder supplied with the paint kit, or copy a complete working texture folder for the same model variant and replace only the textures you repaint. - Edit the layered master textures. Apply the colours, registrations and logos without moving the UV layout, panel lines or shading layers. A model may reuse the same texture area on both sides, which can cause mirrored lettering that cannot be corrected through the repaint alone.
- Export the simulator textures. Preserve the original filenames, pixel dimensions, DDS or BMP format, compression type, mipmap treatment and alpha channels unless the paint-kit instructions explicitly say otherwise. Alpha may control reflectivity, transparency or another material property. DDS exporters also differ in how they handle vertical orientation, so follow the paint kit or a known working texture rather than applying a universal flip setting.
- Register the livery in aircraft.cfg. Duplicate the
[fltsim.X]block belonging to the exact model variant, paste it after the existing entries, assign the next sequential number, and change the identifying fields described below. - Add an optional preview image. Place a correctly prepared
thumbnail.jpgin the new texture folder if you want an aircraft-selection preview. JPEG is suitable for this thumbnail, not for the model’s main texture files. - Restart FSX and test the aircraft. Select the correct manufacturer and aircraft type, enable Show all variations if necessary, and inspect both sides, the tail, wings, night lighting and reflective areas.
If the textures are already painted and only need installing, use our detailed FSX texture-folder and livery-registration instructions.
Which aircraft.cfg fields must I change?
The safest method is to duplicate a working [fltsim.X] block from the same visual model, then change only the sequence number, unique title, texture suffix and displayed variation name.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
[fltsim.X] | Replace X with the next sequential number, with no duplicate section numbers. |
title= | A unique internal title not used by another aircraft variation. |
texture= | The part after texture.. For texture.MyLivery, enter texture=MyLivery. |
ui_variation= | The livery name shown in the FSX aircraft-selection dialogue. |
sim= | Keep the value from the matching base entry; it normally identifies the aircraft’s AIR file. |
model=, panel=, sound= | Keep the matching variant’s values, including intentionally blank values. |
ui_manufacturer=, ui_type= | Keep these consistent with the other liveries so the repaint appears under the expected aircraft. |
Fields such as atc_id, atc_airline and atc_flight_number may be changed to suit the operator, but they do not connect the entry to its texture folder. Do not change model= to the livery name; that field selects a model or model.<suffix> folder.
Why is my FSX repaint not showing?
An FSX repaint usually disappears because its [fltsim.X] entry is malformed, points to the wrong texture suffix or was added to a different copy of the aircraft.
- Confirm that
texture=MyLiverymatches the foldertexture.MyLiveryexactly, without adding the wordtextureto the field value. - Check for duplicate or incorrectly ordered
[fltsim.X]numbers and a missing bracket in the surrounding entries. - Give the repaint a unique
title=value. - Verify that you edited the aircraft actually loaded by FSX, particularly if boxed FSX and Steam Edition are both installed.
- Make sure the editor saved
aircraft.cfg, notaircraft.cfg.txt. Windows may hide known file extensions. - If FSX is under
Program Files, confirm that Windows allowed the modified file to be written. Editing a copy elsewhere and then copying it back may be necessary. - Restart FSX after editing the configuration, remove aircraft-selection filters and enable Show all variations.
Why are the repaint textures white, black or mirrored?
White or black aircraft parts point to missing files, an incorrect export format, a damaged alpha channel or a broken shared-texture fallback; mirrored markings usually come from the model’s UV mapping.
- White areas: Check every exported filename and extension. If the livery contains only changed files, its
texture.cfgmust provide a valid fallback to the aircraft’s shared textures. - Black, transparent or excessively reflective areas: Restore the original alpha channel and export using the same format and compression as the working source texture.
- Blurred or shimmering paint: Keep the supplied texture dimensions and appropriate mipmaps. Repeatedly editing compressed simulator textures reduces quality.
- Mirrored logos or registration: Some models map both sides to one texture area. Separate left- and right-side lettering then requires support in the model or a dedicated decal texture.
- Failure only in DirectX 10 Preview: Test with that preview mode disabled. Some older FSX aircraft materials and textures were authored for the simulator’s DirectX 9 rendering path.
For a systematic diagnosis, use our checklist for missing and all-white FSX aircraft textures.