WIP: Killer Canary

[gamary]

Time for some more detailed thumbs:



I've added the air intake and the wheel (which I'll have to redo as it's thicker and should stick out more).

Unsurprisingly, filesize is up to 19 Mb now and counting... If I can keep it under 40, my computer won't crash so it should be OK.

Some of the plane profiles here are mind-boggling for the detail, way beyond my capacity to do.

It's true that since you draw airliners, stenciling and minor details are not so important. However (and I think other SPS members will confirm it), once you start playing with details, you'll never stop. It's like a drug... J-I must have spent hours looking for the stenciling on the inside of that Lightning wheel cover panel, even though nobody would have said "he's forgotten that!" if he hadn't... And if you don't have the capacity to do it, you'll develop it...

I like your DC-6 and I don't think it too dark (maybe "rainy day"-style, which I like) but I think sharper highlights and shading would make it look more like metal and less like grey paint. But keep it as it is if you like it that way: it's a fine drawing.

[santynus]

very nice details gamary

your DC-6 look great anadc4
If is possible can you make some lens on your aicraft for see better the details thank you in advace

[Jesters-Ink]

That is looking soooooo damn fine, but ditch the outline around the wing shape, your work is so good it don't need it.

[Supah]

I think its a matter of scale too when talking about detail. On a relatively small airplane like a WW2 fighter printed on A3 a Rivet is visible, if you print a Boeing 707 on A3 a Rivet would be small then a pixel if you want to have it to scale so it makes little sense to draw them I am really liking the T-6 so far Gaetan!

[anadc4]

Thanks for the comments on the DC-4 and its finish. Hard to come up with an acceptable metal finish because every plane was different. Some were shiny, others were also matte finished such was the degree of oxidation of the surface.

Haven't seen it mentioned here but many WW2 era planes were painted silver, not bare metal. When the USAAF switched to "bare metal" finishes, most existing camo planes were given a coat of silver paint. Quicker and easier than stripping off the existing paint. The paint was the same colour as the silver used on fabric surfaces. There was also some painting of bare metal planes to cover repairs or the ward off corrosion.

British planes were painted silver as a matter of course until the supersonic era. Metal might look shiny and modern but paint protected metal from corrosion. I think all Australian built P51 Mustangs were painted silver in the factory. The derelict Avro Lincoln at Sydney airport in the 1960s was most definitely painted silver, as were the Australian Sabres. Meteors and Vampires were sliver paint, the latter because the fuselage pod was wood.

[Jesters-Ink]

This is a good point that most ppl miss in the zoo, I do think most of us in here have spotted this one, but still worth a refresh for some.

[GiantFlyingRobots]

Is that a particular font, being used for the serial numbers etc? If it is could you/somebody please tell me what it is?

[gamary]

For the serial numbers I am using Amarillo (I think). The USAF uses Amarillo and Long Beach as standard fonts I believe. Amarillo is easy to find on font sites, along with other useful stencil fonts.

I've never been able to find Long Beach. I've heard there's a paying version of it somewhere but I've never found it.

I have dozens (maybe hundreds) of different fonts but even then it always seems I don't have the one I'm looking for. However, it's worth spending a bit of time on the net getting the most useful/common ones.

[anadc4]

I picked up a partial Long Beach font once but it was next to useless without all the characters. If you search you will come across payware versions. There is a freeware font called USAAF Code is closer to the USN/USMC .

I picked it up in batch that included Amarillo, the authentic RAF font and some others. The zip file has no read me, so I cannot work out where it came from. But I think it was a plastic modelling site and was a resource for people making their own decals. Sure the same site also had WW2 Luftwaffe fonts.

[GiantFlyingRobots]

Great thanks for the reply, will have a look around the usual places.