diff --git a/src/AppPlatform_glfw.h b/src/AppPlatform_glfw.h
index 4c7eb72..79ed895 100755
--- a/src/AppPlatform_glfw.h
+++ b/src/AppPlatform_glfw.h
@@ -73,50 +73,20 @@ public:
 								: filename_;
 		std::ifstream source(filename.c_str(), std::ios::binary);
 
-		if (source) {
-			png_structp pngPtr = png_create_read_struct(PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-
-			if (!pngPtr)
-				return out;
-
-			png_infop infoPtr = png_create_info_struct(pngPtr);
-
-			if (!infoPtr) {
-				png_destroy_read_struct(&pngPtr, NULL, NULL);
-				return out;
-			}
-
-			// Hack to get around the broken libpng for windows
-			png_set_read_fn(pngPtr,(void*)&source, png_funcReadFile);
-
-			png_read_info(pngPtr, infoPtr);
-
-			// Set up the texdata properties
-			out.w = png_get_image_width(pngPtr, infoPtr);
-			out.h = png_get_image_height(pngPtr, infoPtr);
-
-			png_bytep* rowPtrs = new png_bytep[out.h];
-			out.data = new unsigned char[4 * out.w * out.h];
-			out.memoryHandledExternally = false;
-
-			int rowStrideBytes = 4 * out.w;
-			for (int i = 0; i < out.h; i++) {
-				rowPtrs[i] = (png_bytep)&out.data[i*rowStrideBytes];
-			}
-			png_read_image(pngPtr, rowPtrs);
-
-			// Teardown and return
-			png_destroy_read_struct(&pngPtr, &infoPtr,(png_infopp)0);
-			delete[] (png_bytep)rowPtrs;
-			source.close();
-
-			return out;
-		}
-		else
-		{
+		if (!source) {
 			LOGI("Couldn't find file: %s\n", filename.c_str());
 			return out;
 		}
+
+		std::vector<unsigned char> fileData((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(source)), std::istreambuf_iterator<char>());
+		source.close();
+
+		if (fileData.empty()) {
+			LOGI("Couldn't read file: %s\n", filename.c_str());
+			return out;
+		}
+
+		return loadTextureFromMemory(fileData.data(), fileData.size());
     }
 
 	TextureData loadTextureFromMemory(const unsigned char* data, size_t size) override {
diff --git a/src/client/player/LocalPlayer.cpp b/src/client/player/LocalPlayer.cpp
index ef8ff7f..b4d57ef 100755
--- a/src/client/player/LocalPlayer.cpp
+++ b/src/client/player/LocalPlayer.cpp
@@ -263,7 +263,8 @@ static void* fetchSkinForPlayer(void* param) {
     std::vector<unsigned char> skinData;
     if (!HttpClient::download(skinUrl, skinData) || skinData.empty()) {
         LOGW("[Skin] download failed for %s\n", skinUrl.c_str());
- 	        return NULL;
+        player->setTextureName("mob/char.png");
+        return NULL;
     }
 
     // Save to cache
diff --git a/src/client/renderer/entity/HumanoidMobRenderer.h b/src/client/renderer/entity/HumanoidMobRenderer.h
index e10c27c..a78ade8 100755
--- a/src/client/renderer/entity/HumanoidMobRenderer.h
+++ b/src/client/renderer/entity/HumanoidMobRenderer.h
@@ -19,12 +19,13 @@ public:
 protected:
     void additionalRendering(Mob* mob, float a);
 
-private:
 	HumanoidModel* humanoidModel;
 
 	// Last rotation values for cape smoothing (reduces jitter)
 	float lastCapeXRot;
 	float lastCapeZRot;
+private:
+	// i guess ill keep this just in case seomthing breaks
 };
 
 #endif /*NET_MINECRAFT_CLIENT_RENDERER_ENTITY__HumanoidMobRenderer_H__*/
diff --git a/src/client/renderer/entity/MobRenderer.h b/src/client/renderer/entity/MobRenderer.h
index 3f22618..fee7786 100755
--- a/src/client/renderer/entity/MobRenderer.h
+++ b/src/client/renderer/entity/MobRenderer.h
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ public:
 protected:
 	void setArmor(Model* armor);
 	Model* getArmor();
+	Model* model; // allows derived renderers to swap models dynamically for skin formats
 private:
-	Model* model;
 	Model* armor;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/client/renderer/entity/PlayerRenderer.cpp b/src/client/renderer/entity/PlayerRenderer.cpp
index b184bcb..6a773f0 100755
--- a/src/client/renderer/entity/PlayerRenderer.cpp
+++ b/src/client/renderer/entity/PlayerRenderer.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "PlayerRenderer.h"
 #include "EntityRenderDispatcher.h"
+#include "../Textures.h"
 #include "../../../world/entity/player/Player.h"
 #include "../../../world/level/Level.h"
 #include "../../../world/item/ArmorItem.h"
@@ -14,12 +15,22 @@ static const std::string armorFilenames[10] = {
 
 PlayerRenderer::PlayerRenderer( HumanoidModel* humanoidModel, float shadow )
 :	super(humanoidModel, shadow),
+	playerModel64(humanoidModel),
+	playerModel32(new HumanoidModel(0, 0, 64, 32)),
 	armorParts1(new HumanoidModel(1.0f, 0, 64, 64)),
 	armorParts2(new HumanoidModel(0.5f, 0, 64, 64))
 {
+	// default to legacy skin path until we know the exact texture size
+	model = playerModel32;
+	humanoidModel = playerModel32;
 }
 
 PlayerRenderer::~PlayerRenderer() {
+	// prevent MobRenderer destructor from deleting model pointers we manage manually
+	model = nullptr;
+
+	delete playerModel32;
+	delete playerModel64;
 	delete armorParts1;
 	delete armorParts2;
 }
@@ -43,6 +54,15 @@ void PlayerRenderer::setupRotations( Entity* mob, float bob, float bodyRot, floa
 	super::setupRotations(mob, bob, bodyRot, a);
 }
 
+bool PlayerRenderer::isModernPlayerSkin(Mob* mob) {
+	const std::string texName = mob->getTexture();
+	TextureId texId = entityRenderDispatcher->textures->loadTexture(texName);
+	if (!Textures::isTextureIdValid(texId))
+		return false;
+	const TextureData* texData = entityRenderDispatcher->textures->getTemporaryTextureData(texId);
+	return texData && texData->w == 64 && texData->h == 64;
+}
+
 void PlayerRenderer::renderName( Mob* mob, float x, float y, float z ){
 	//@todo: figure out how to handle HideGUI
 	if (mob != entityRenderDispatcher->cameraEntity && mob->level->adventureSettings.showNameTags) {
@@ -50,6 +70,20 @@ void PlayerRenderer::renderName( Mob* mob, float x, float y, float z ){
 	}
 }
 
+void PlayerRenderer::render(Entity* mob_, float x, float y, float z, float rot, float a) {
+	Mob* mob = (Mob*) mob_;
+	HumanoidModel* desired = isModernPlayerSkin(mob) ? playerModel64 : playerModel32;
+	if (model != desired || humanoidModel != desired) {
+		model = desired;
+		humanoidModel = desired;
+	}
+	// LOGI("[PlayerRenderer] %s: skin=%s, modelTex=%dx%d, desired=%s\n", 
+	// 	((Player*)mob)->name.c_str(), mob->getTexture().c_str(), 
+	// 	humanoidModel->texWidth, humanoidModel->texHeight,
+	// 	(desired == playerModel64 ? "64" : "32"));
+	HumanoidMobRenderer::render(mob_, x, y, z, rot, a);
+}
+
 int PlayerRenderer::prepareArmor(Mob* mob, int layer, float a) {
 	Player* player = (Player*) mob;
 
@@ -80,8 +114,11 @@ int PlayerRenderer::prepareArmor(Mob* mob, int layer, float a) {
 }
 
 void PlayerRenderer::onGraphicsReset() {
-	super::onGraphicsReset();
+	if (playerModel32) playerModel32->onGraphicsReset();
+	if (playerModel64) playerModel64->onGraphicsReset();
 
 	if (armorParts1) armorParts1->onGraphicsReset();
 	if (armorParts2) armorParts2->onGraphicsReset();
+
+	super::onGraphicsReset();
 }
diff --git a/src/client/renderer/entity/PlayerRenderer.h b/src/client/renderer/entity/PlayerRenderer.h
index f370607..d4b25e2 100755
--- a/src/client/renderer/entity/PlayerRenderer.h
+++ b/src/client/renderer/entity/PlayerRenderer.h
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ public:
 	~PlayerRenderer();
 
 	virtual int prepareArmor(Mob* mob, int layer, float a);
+	bool isModernPlayerSkin(Mob* mob);
+	virtual void render(Entity* mob, float x, float y, float z, float rot, float a);
 
 	virtual void setupPosition(Entity* mob, float x, float y, float z);
 	virtual void setupRotations(Entity* mob, float bob, float bodyRot, float a);
@@ -18,6 +20,8 @@ public:
 	virtual void renderName(Mob* mob, float x, float y, float z);
 	virtual void onGraphicsReset();
 private:
+	HumanoidModel* playerModel32;
+	HumanoidModel* playerModel64;
 	HumanoidModel* armorParts1;
 	HumanoidModel* armorParts2;
 };