Hi all, first time actually posting (been registered a while, lurked, bought points, &c &c but first post! :-) )

Anyway, I have a question about the rotate tool and whether or not I can orient it to fit a particular object.

Here's the situation: I have an airplane wing with an aileron (flap). All well and good if the wing is "paralell to the deck" (ie paralell to the X axis. Z is fore and aft, Y is up, X is side to side). But if I tilt the wing/aileron (as would be the case where a plane's wings are not perpendicular to the fuselage), I can no longer rotate the aileron properly. The rotate tool is oriented to the axes and not to the object.

I tried using a single skeleton joint, first orienting the joint and then binding the aileron to the joint. This works fine, but the color map is all over the place when I try rotating it.

My question is as follows:

1) is there any way to orient the rotate tool (or an object) locally, apart from the rest of the objects present,

OR

2) is there a way to fix the problem with the color map.

Any and all help is appreciated. I'll wager the answer is right under my nose, but we've ALL been there, right? :-) Thanks in advance, and I am looking forward to posting a lot more in the future (and perhaps returning the favor! :-) )

Carry on...