I will get to evaluating all the entries ASAP, hopefully there should be a result with in a week!

So I was pondering on what I should do next (besides write a description for the AF-04) and I decided to do a challenge.

In the Ace Combat series, after certain criteria are met, you could find named aircraft (referred to as "aces") in missions and usually grant a large sum of points if destroyed.
Most often, they have their own unique paint scheme which is unlocked by the player upon shooting them down.

So what is the challenge about?

The goal is to create your own "Ace" paint job of one of your planes. Additionally, it is not required, but highly recommended to create a sort of basic backstory for your ace.
(Don't worry, I don't plan on shooting at your planes.)

Character creation:

While the assault record is optional, I cannot stress how much I reccomend expanding the character. Requirements are an aircraft model and callsign,
but You could expand into things such as name, rank, nation, squadron name, etc.
Things such as nation, aircraft, and squadron name can be real or fictional, but no one who already exists in our universe.
Any time period applies, be it WWII, Cold War, modern, or future.

Rules:

Disclaimer: "Must" means it is required, "should" means not required but suggested.
- Must be Your own plane
- Must not be an already existing character or person. I'm going for originality, people.
- Narrative is highly encouraged
- Must be visually distinct from the base aircraft.
- Should not be a new plane built specifically for this challenge (Exceptions can be made)
- Should include a few screenshots in the post displaying your paint job.
- Should have an emblem. If not on the plane then in the post description.
- Exceptions can be made if there is a valid reason regarding narrative.
- No mods, save for XML editors or designer tools. The visual mods are allowed for screenshots and such, but no part mods.
- No planes that are too overpowered. I'm going to leave that up to you.

Entry

Either make the post a successor to this one, or drop a link, preferably the former..

Scoring:

I am going to be quite lenient with the scoring on this challenge. I want creative juices flowing, not stomped on. However, the paint schemes can be simple and still get full points if it looks good.

The scoring will be out of 50 pts.:

• Aesthetic (Paint scheme): 20 pts
  (Going based on general concept, and detail as well. Paint that has something important to the character [Think Pixy's red wing] is recommended)
• Narrative (backstory, emblem, etc.): 20 pts
  (Is the character solid? do they have a motive? a nation? [real or fictional])
• Creativity (Are they unique?): 10 points
  (Bonus for really unique ideas)
• Flyability (does the plane fly?): 5 points
  (If it flies, easy 5 points if not, no big deal. I'm not judging how the plane flies, so it's kinda like a true/false thing.)
• Optimization: (does it work without lagging?): 5 pts
  (my PC is kinda beefy so it shouldn't be too hard. another true/false thing)

I will award bonus points if I find something that doesn't apply to the above criteria

Prizes!

(Upvotes will be distributed to my favorite of the recipient's creations, not the most recent.)
1st: Spotlight (if possible), 15 upvotes
2nd: Spotlight (if possible), 10 upvotes
3rd: Spotlight (if possible), 7 Upvotes
Everyone else with 40+ points: 5 Upvotes
Everyone with 20+ points: Upvote on the entry aircraft

I will also follow anyone I think performed above and beyond.

Deadline is May 8th, 11:59 CST

<<They only call us "Aces" when they need us to bail them out>> -Shamrock, Ace Combat 6

At the end, I will share a screenshot of each airplane, which most often will be in combat.

Link to the plane in the screenshot