I had to ask for help about this along time ago and I'd like to pass on what I've learned to new modders

First off you will need a few things

1. Artwork program (I suggest a free program called Gimp with a .dds Addon)

(Link: http://www.gimp.org/ )

(Link: http://code.google.com/p/gimp-dds/ )

2. A zip file opener, i suggest 7-zip ( Free program )

(Link: http://www.7-zip.org/ )

3. The FO3 Archive Utility (Also free. you will need 7-zip for this.)

(Link: http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=34 )

Okay once you have all of that you can start the tutorial.

Tutorial Part 1: Using the Archive Utility

using the Archive utility is quite easy, you just have to find your fallout 3 Data file and open the Textures .bsa
after doing so open it and go to weapons (For the tutorial i will use the 1stperson10mm.dds) now click on the
weapon in my case the 1stperson10mm.dds and go to the "Action" option and select "Extract Selected file
And save it to where you want.

Tutorial Part 2: Re-Texturing

Now that we've extracted the file we want we'll open up Gimp and then go to where we placed our texture
and drag it into gimp, now If your using what i used this may seem a bit overwhelming, but you can see
what parts of the weapon are there, now i find it a good idea to go to the toolbox in gimp and to the paintbrush section
and change the mode to Overlay (the reason i do this is because like the name says it just over lays whatever color you
want onto the weapon, you can also use color.) also another handy tool is the Free select tool in the toolbox.

Now that we have our Texture you can just overlay it, one of the most done re-textures is gold, so for this i will just use
overlay with the html color "d4af37" which is a gold color. Once finished save it as "1stperson10mmgold.dds" to make it
unique.

Tutorial Part 3: Applying Texture in the G.E.C.K. (Texture sets and Static.)

once you finish retexturing you will want to go to where you have your data file for fallout 3 (Fallout 3\Data) In this folder you will
want to add a weapons folder then a 1handpistol folder (if one does not already exist, or you could just copy and past the weapons folder your texture is in to the date folder.)

Now it begins

Open up the Fallout 3 G.E.C.K. and go to Miscellaneous and go to the Texture set here you will want to find the 1stperson10mmpistol texture set and edit it, and change the ID to something like "1stperson10mmpistolCustom" before saying okay go down to the Diffuse and click on it and at the bottom you should see "Texture" and Edit, Click edit and find our texture "1stperson10mmgold.dds" then click okay and accept the changes.

Now go to World Objects and static and find the 1stperson10mmpistol here and edit it and rename 1stperson10mmgoldmmgoldpistol (The name cannot be the same as the one in the Texture set.) now click on Edit and here you will need to right click on the mouse and select new now you will need to place your texture onto all of the alternate textures once done hit okay and accept changes.

Tutorial Part 4: Applying the texture set and 1stperson textures to the weapon

Now comes the easy part, go to the weapons section and the 1handpistols and edit the weap10mmpistol rename the id and name whatever you want it to be now go to "Art and Sound" Tab here you will find the model section, in the model Section you will need to hit edit on the model option and right click on the mouse and choose new in the Alternate textures, then you will need to replace the 1stperson model object, once done do what stat changes you want and click okay and save your file.



you are done.

There are different file types for weapons

most common are
.dds < this being what you see ingame This file always goes into the Diffuse section.
_n.dds < this is a normal/gloss file
_m.dds < this is a enviroment file

Also note that 10mmpistol.dds doesn't have detail, like the 1stperson10mm does.

This tutorial and useful tool guide has hopefully helped you, this tutorial covered making non-replacing textures meaning that the
texture is seperate from the original game files. ( put more simply only this pistol will be gold and no others. )

if there is any problems feel free to comment and i will try and respond as best i can.

Didn't read it, but I wanted to show my appreciation, anyway,