The ‘Singapore’ got me thinking about other antique British aircraft, (since most profilers apparently have an addiction to old German or American fighters, apart from Ugo who looks to have moved into profit with his airliners and Sparviero’s). The one I chose seems to be part of a myth to do with the four Gladiators left on Malta in 1940. When it was down to three, someone (the media probably) thought that they should be called Faith Hope and Charity. However, Hope and Charity succumbed and only one was left. This was known as ‘Faith’ and having survived the war has now been rebuilt and now looks like a Sea Gladiator in a museum in Valletta. I have drawn Faith with the Blenheim Mercury engine she flew with due to parts shortages (and ammo incidentally, although I understand she managed to down a ‘Sparviero’ during the thick of the bombing campaign). One of my neighbours was in the Fleet Air Arm as an artificer and spent quite some time in Malta. Says he actually serviced this particular aircraft so I I have had first hand (and first class) advice during the drawing. He has in his possession about 50 photos taken during the air raids on Valletta, showing the Stuka’s and Ju88’s actually bombing the buildings and harbour. (Lifted from the body of a too-intrepid photographer!) Apologies if the image is not quite up to the standard of the Juggs and Mustangs etc, but time is not exactly on my side at the moment. Rat.
I really like the cloth work. It has a good sort-of draping feel to it, not like it's slack, just like it's fabric and not metal. It sinks into the hollows a bit most convincingly. Really nice shading and shaping around the top of the UC and the back of the engine. Shows the unusual shape up well. Well done that man!
I do reckon the rear of the canopy needs some work. It doesn't have quite the character of the rest of the drawing. It looks a bit flat.
Interesting story, too. I had heard that they weren't known as Faith, Hope and Charity at the time and that the names were applied later.
Apropos of nothing at all. Budding wannabee profilers might be interested to learn that I have managed to make a simple video of my personal method of making the Gladiator construction above. I was successful in morphing together about 30 relevant Photoshop layers, starting from the blank screen to the final image. This shows the image slowly coming together. Then I added suitable music ! (No speech necessary) It was important to keep the images in perfect register so that the morphing worked smoothly. The end result shows how simple it is to make a recognisable profile, using my personal techniques. Remember.I am still very much a novice at this game, so I have no doubt that others will always do it differently. I am building a web site of my own, so this will then be made available as a small download either as a Zip or Rar file in the hope that it will encourage others to have a go. Keep you posted if anyone's interested. Rat.
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. The one I chose seems to be part of a myth to do with the four Gladiators left on Malta in 1940. When it was down to three, someone (the media probably) thought that they should be called Faith Hope and Charity. However, Hope and Charity succumbed and only one was left.
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