I had been eyeing this product online that allows you to draw up your scheme and then present it in 3D, animated etc.. but the guy has only done a few RV's, and has no plans for other aircraft in the short term.. certainly no biplanes. The other way is to install MS Flight Simulator and a tool to repaint aircraft, but this costs $ if you don't already have it).
I have found a really easy way of doing it manually without having to buy Flight Simulator, but still quite quickly, costs only $29, and the results are good enough to give you an idea of how your scheme looks... using a flight sim paint tool called FS Repaint.
Steps:
1. The tool expected FlightSIm to be installed, so instead you really just need to create a folder like this to trick it: c:\program files\FSX\SimObjects\Airplanes
2. Download (and purchase) the tool.. FR Repaint V2 (yes, $29)
3. Download your flightsim plane model (for FSX or 2004) from one of the many free online sim aviation websites (e.g. http://www.surclaro.com has nice Pitts ones) and extract the zip file into the FSX airplanes directory e.g. ..FSX\SimObjects\Aircraft\MyPitts)
4. Run FS Repaint and browse to your aircraft, you then see it in 3d, and can paint up the panels.. takes a bit of time to learn the tool, but not that hard... and you can cut and paste from your drawn one too. When finished, select the animate options, and spin the aircraft around as you wish to see how it looks when tumbling.
5. (optional) Download freeware tool "CamStudio" which allows you to record a video off your screen - record your animation into avi and enjoy!
If anyone wants me to colour their Pitts S1.. it's quite easy, and I can mock it up for you in 15-30min.. Any other aircraft, and you'll have to follow the above steps.
Enjoy!
