Another Whiskey Cobra...

[Otterkins2]

100% Illustrator??? I would dearly love to know how you are doing the highlighting and shading since I do 95% of my work there. All I can manage at the moment is solid fills. Any chance of a tute so we can all see?

[VectoredThrust]

Otterkins, I'm still developing some of my techniques and by the time I'm finished with the project I should have them finalized. I don't see any reason why I could not do a quick tutorial on them.

My highlights typically make use of blending modes and opacity masks. Both the Lighten mode and opacity masks work great when a shape utilizes a grayscale gradient. I'll try and put a pictoral example together this weekend... after Yanksgiving.

[VectoredThrust]

Small Update:
Reworked the panels on the forward section of the nacelle and added some 'shape' to the rotor pylon.

[VectoredThrust]

Update:

Experimented with the Exhaust Nozzle a bit. Not sure I'm 100% happy with how 'shiny' it is, but that can be adjusted. I also need to adjust the shadow that the nacelle casts over it. Baby steps!

[VectoredThrust]

TOWing the Line:



Edit:

Just realized that the rear section of the rack is incorrect. D'oh! Time to re-work!

[VectoredThrust]

Tow launcher and stub-wing progress:



I need to move some of the highlights around a bit and 'dirty' components... How come nobody told me that this work could be so tedious?

[GiantFlyingRobots]

Fantastic work, As somebody that has had a long association I have followed progress with great interest. But the tedious aspect of Illustrator for this type of work is exactly why I left it behind for the ease of Photoshop and its library of brushes and filters that make ease of the grime and 'dirty components'.

[VectoredThrust]

You know... I can honestly say that I'm extremely happy with Illustrator as my weapon of choice. I should have been a bit more toungue-in-cheek when I said 'tedious', as it had less to do with the program and more to do with how anal I am about getting things 'right'. 'Right', of course, being a relative term! I'm also trying to do this project with little to no raster effects. The TOW launcher and exhaust nozzle (a couple posts up) are perfect examples... they are made up entirely of vectors.

[Vacajun]

VT,

You have a lot of ex-Illustrator users out here waiting to see your tut on how you do your magic!!

[VectoredThrust]

VT,

You have a lot of ex-Illustrator users out here waiting to see your tut on how you do your magic!!

What? And give away my techniques?

I'll certainly do a tutorial, I'm just not sure what techniques would be the most worthwhile to demonstrate. I do have to say, though... that the dark-side isn't that bad...

-VT