I'll be curious if anyone posts here that their VAC status is anything other than "In good standing".
In the meantime, my plan I posted above is working... sorta.
I've gotten a number of skins with hakenkreuzen working in some missions I've created or downloaded - but for some reason, not all of the planes for which I have set a custom skin in the FMB will display in the actual mission, only in the 3d viewer as I edit the planes. I'm saving the mission before I fly it, but in some cases, for example, only 3 of the 9 planes in that group display the custom skins during the mission.
It also turns out I can't find in my CloD install the default skins for most of the German planes - the Dorniers, Heinkels, Junkers and FW-200 - so I can't try my hand at editing those.
I'll just have to keep looking for some custom skins that others have posted for those planes, ideally those that allow me to leave markings checked.
Charlo