So I have created a model in Sketchup, and exported it as an FBX file, and subsequently imported it into the Unreal Editor. I added different materials in the Sketchup file to different areas so that they would color separately. My issue is, whenever I apply a texture to a part of the static mesh, the color changes slightly and it says the material is applied, but the model is only a slightly different shade. Any help about how to solve this problem would be greatly appreciated, and hopefully quickly, as I have a deadline for this project approaching rapidly!! thanks!
Open up the static mesh from the content browser, on the right there should be a list of all the materials applied, make sure it has the right number of materials, if it only has one then there might be an issue exporting from Sketchup. If you have multiple materials, just make sure your materials are applied correctly, you can drag a material from the content browser into a material slot in the mesh. And then to change the material, just open it and adjust it however you want, make sure to save the material and it should all update.
Unfortunately I think there’s more to it than that… I have multiple materials, all of them default (as you can see below). I choose the material I want to switch, I apply it and save, but all that happens is the shade of the selection changes slightly. 
Thanks for the help!
Does anyone have an answer BESIDES what’s already in the help documents??
Did you unwrap the mesh, or does it have UV layouts? If there’s no UVs, it’s not going to apply a texture correctly, but you’ll get some color change. Otherwise I’d probably need to look at the model to other other suggestions. Have you tried just making your own material that’s bright pink for example and putting it on the static mesh?
thanks for the reply ZacD!
No I haven’t unwrapped the mesh, and sorry for the incompetence, but how exactly would I go about doing this?
Cheers
The quickest, but roughest thing would be to go to Static Mesh Editor > Window > Generate Unique UVs, but these will be UVs optimized for a light map, and you’d need to make sure the material was using that UV channel for the materials. You’d probably also need to add a texture coordinate to each texture and increase the U and V tiling to something something like 100 to get a decent scale for that model.
The correct and proper way would be to learn how to UV and use a 3d app designed for it.
Thanks a lot for the help! I can probably do this in maya. thx!
Yeah, if you’re applying a texture map you need to have UV mapping coordinates applied first. Otherwise it doesn’t know how to map the 2D texture to the 3D object.