OK, so you've decided you want to create a little "shadow box" for your awards you've received flying with Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF)-124 Virtual.  You've thought about how to present them, but simply listing what you have just don't seem like it's going to cut it.  You want to be flashy, but elegant and you don't have a high-speed, low-drag program like Paint Shop or Photo Shop in which to create a nice graphical representation like this:

That's OK, here's the poor man's way to do it.

Get Your Existing Awards 

First thing you need obviously, is to figure out just what you have been awarded.  That's easy, go to the old squadron room , also known as the hanger and do a search for any post with the keywords "Attention To Orders".  You should come up with at least two pages worth of posts.  Most will have a tag line indicating who the post was for, i.e. ATTENTION TO ORDERS, Thrift, Shawn P.  Go through and find everything you rate and right them down.

Get the Awards Graphics Pack 

Now, if you haven't done so, you probably ought to go and download the VMF124 Device Pack from our site here .  You will find it in the files section under Pacific Fighters/Skins.  Download the pack and unzip it somewhere safe.  Enclosed, you will find all kind of stuff to make your awards all spiffy.  All the ribbons, rank insignia and so forth you will ever see awarded are included.

A Note About Seniority 

The order of the ribbons is important.  Seniority of the awards is something that you need to pay attention to.  An air medal doesn't rank above a distinguished flying cross.  So you will need to either know the seniority of the ribbons or, if you don't know, find a ribbon checker.  I recommend The USN Ribbon Checker because it has the most comprehensive list of awards I've seen.  It will do a graphic for you to show how the finished product should look.  Unfortunately, you can't save the entire graphic, it will only save one of the ribbons at a time, which does you no good.

Let's Get Busy!

Now, you got the device pack, have a list of awards, and know the order they go in.  Time to go to work.  First, open up MS Paint.  Best thing to do is start with the ribbons and such since this is mainly what we're looking at.  From there, open up one of the ribbons, probably the most senior you rate.  Paint will open up the ribbon in the smallest box possible. 

Move your cursor over the bottom right corner of the ribbon until you get the double arrow, click and drag and open up the workspace.  Once you've done that, look on the toolbar to the left and find the dotted line box.  It should be the top right button and when you place your mouse cursor over it, it should say, "Select".  Click that button and move your cursor back over the work area. 

You should have a cross hair like cursor now.  Move that to the bottom right hand of the ribbon, click and drag to the top left of the ribbon.  I'd advise you move the cursor outside of the work area before letting go of the mouse button.  The ribbon should be outlined with a dotted line meaning it has been selected.  Move your cursor over the ribbon, it should now turn into a heavy-lined cross with arrowheads on each point.  Click and hold and move the ribbon to the center of your work area and drop it there.  "Save As" whatever you want to call it and open up the next ribbon you want to place.

Follow the above steps to get the ribbon selected.  There will be no need to move this ribbon so right click once you have it selected and click "Copy".  Go to file, open and open whatever file you saved your first ribbon as.  Paint will probably ask if you want to save work on the second ribbon, just click no and open the first file.  Right click on the work space and click "Paste".  Move you cursor over the ribbon to move it and place it where you need it.  Remember to use you graphic from ribbon checker or where ever to ensure proper placement.  Save your work and repeat as necessary to get the ribbons you rate in.

OK, you got the ribbons in.  Do a click and drag to select the rack, then click and drag to center the rack on your workspace. 

The Background 

The background is bland being all white so if you want, look at the bottom and you see your color pallet.  Find a color that suits you.  I would suggest either red or gold as those are the colors of the Corps and in keeping with the fine traditions of a Marine Corps squadron, yadda yadda yadda.  Select your color then look at the toolbar to the left.  Right below the select button is the "Fill With Color" button.  Click that and then click somewhere in the white area.  Bingo!  Now you have your background color.

What else do you want to do?  What else can you do?  Well, you can add your rank insignia. 

Rank Insignia 

Same process as above.  Select, copy, paste, save.  Place them where you want.  Now, after placing them and getting the back ground color in, you may notice that the area around the insignia is lighter than the rest of your fine piece of work.  No problem. 

Check your toolbar for a button that looks like an eyedropper.  Should be third down on the left.  Click that and find a color from your workspace that suits you and click.  That "fills" the dropper with that color.  Find your "Airbrush" button.  That should be the fifth button down on the left.  Click that button.  At the bottom of the tool bar it will now give you three different "spray patterns".  For close in work, choose the smaller of three.  Carefully work around the area until you are satisfied with the texture of the area and how it matches out. 

There will probably be different shades so keep going back and forth from the eyedropper to your airbrush until you get the desired result.  As an afterthought, the zoom button will help you in airbrushing endeavors.  

Pilot Name Tag

The pilot name tag is another section.  What I have done is provided in the device pack a blank template.  If you want to add that, then open up the tag, use the above method to get it centered and go to work.  I'd suggest the same background color behind the tag as you are using for the presentation.  Easier to fit it in when you get ready to add it. 

Now, take your eyedropper and click in the wings area to get that dusty gold color.  Click the button with the "A" on it and click in the white workspace to open a text box.  I'd suggest clicking and dragging a box as long as your name and rank would take.  Use the text settings "Ariel, text size 10, bold."  Type your name in the text box and resize the box to fit your name and rank. 

Drag and drop the text box, centered, under the pilot's wings.  Do the same thing for "USMC" or "USMCR" or your branch and nationality.  Say for Paddles, his would be "RCAF" or for Geg and Red, "RAAF".  Note, if you were real active duty military here in the states, you will use USMC; all others use USMCR. 

Place the branch under your name, also centered.  You will now have to fill in the background color for the space around your name.  Use techniques described above.

Display Your Graphic in Your User Profile 

Once you get it to where you like it, then comes the displaying.  You'll have to have an image hosting site, Photobucket or something similar that allows or gives the options for a "tag" display.  Upload your display, then go into "update your profile" from the "Edit Profile" in the user menu.  Go to the "Pilot Stats (Pacific Fighters)" tab and click there.  In the awards and decorations box, click there and paste the html tag from the hosting site there.  Click update.  Go to Squad Roster, click your name, then the Pilot Stats tab and you should see your display.

Last Words 

Pilot wings and the EGA will have to be done the same way as everything else.  Cut, paste, place and color.  It's a lot of work I know but with a tad bit of effort, you can put together a nice looking "Shadow Box" that displays your awards and all for your pilot stats.