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Nils

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Posts posted by Nils

  1. Update for my Avro Tudor images. Now the images has been sent to the publisher, so I'm left with a  load of surplus images. The book will probably be released this year.

    This is the Mk2 type

    Avro Tudor Mk 2

     

    and the the Mk4

    Avro Tudor MkIV Avro Tudor MkIV

     

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1
  2. The learning curve is steep indeed, but as soon as one get a grip on the basics, it's often a matter of not overcomplicating. Getting the basic shape right is pretty easy. An important thing before you start is to always make sure your drawings are correct, in all axis. Many drawings can have a mismatch from side wiev plane ot top wiev or front wiev.

    I always check thoroughly the three/four axis against each other first of all. It's better to be patient and spend time on this now, instead of perhaps having to scrap parts of your model.

    But, hey, that's part of the fun too besides you learn a lot from it. I always use photo reference in addition to drawing.

    Find a software related forum to join and ask there all things you need to find out. If it's the right place, the members are nice and polite that always will be keen to help you.

    When I started first (20 years ago) http://Military-Meshes.com was a very nice place with heaps of friendly and clever guys.. over the years after a few forum chrashes, the place sadly sort of crumbled away. It's still up, as far as I know, but 95% of the members are gone.. 

    I haven't tried Blender, but from what I hear from other friends, it had become a good and solid software that serms to do the job.

    Remember, in the end, the sotware isn't all that important. Learn the one you've got properly and learn to love it..!

    It will give you tons of fun
     

  3. A work in progress shot of my recent Avro688 Tudor digital model. It was top be britain's first new airliner after WW2. Was meant to replace former rebuilt surplus bombers, beeing introduced a few years after the war ended. But it never got the status it was meant for. And after of series of accidents and crashes to the type, it license as passenger liner, it was cancelled. One of the crashes killed Avro's chief designer. After it's withdrawal, a few were converted to tankers and transports through the fifties. A shame really as it was a handsome plane anf had fairly good range, well suited for long distance routes.

    Star Leopard

     

    • Like 10
  4. I wanted to have my own try on a Operation Chastice (Dambuster operation) scene.

    The image shows AJ M-Mother/ED925 on her run, coming in as the second ship on the Möhne dam. She was severly hit by flak and damaged by the blast of her own bomb, and crashed...

     

     

    Dambuster M_Mother / ED925

     

    • Like 7
  5. Again. highly inspired by Len Deighton's novel 'Bomber', I did this night scene showing a 640sq HP Halifax caught by the master searchligh beam,

    somewhere over the European nightsky, as a fellow Halifax tries to evade the deadly fingers of the searchlights.


    PS. My image can seem a bit dark on a small screen (phone etc) best wieved on a bigger monitor

     

    Halifax_bombers_2500

     

    • Like 7
  6. On the evening of 27 April 1942, 31 Halifax bombers from 10, 35 and 76sqn flew from Scotland together with two Lancasters squadrons to bomb Tirpitz in the Fættenfjord, east of Trondheim, Norway. In the low level attack (200ft) Halifax TL-S (Sugar) (W1048) of 35th sqn, on her first operational mission, was hit in the starboard wing and outer starboard engine by heavy flak and caught fire.

    Pilot Don MacIntyre quickly decided they wouldn't make it to safety in Sweden and found a frozen lake nearby and bellied her down on the late spring icy surface. All crew members survived the landing, but one man broke his ankle and had to be left behind. We was picked up by the germans, hospitalized and later sent to Germany.
    The rest fled over to Sweden aided by local resistance helpers. S(Sugar) herself mangaged to evade the germans too. Twelve hours on  rotten late spring ice, she finally decided it was enough and broke through the ice and disappeared for almost 40 years in the murky lake water.
    By the summer of 1973 S (Sugar) resting place had been relocated and she was salvaged by a team of british and norwegian divers and taken to Britain. Today she is displayed at RAF Hendon museum, preserved but not restored. As a boy I spent the summers with my grandparents and that summer of 73 we went there almost every day on our bicycles , watching the salvaging.

    I've never been to Hendon to see her again but perhaps it's about time for that….
    Anyway, here is my depiction of the incident and how I guess it must have looked.

    (Edit: corrected fin flashes and type A1 roundel)

    35Squadron HP Halifax II W1048 emergency lands on Lake Hoklingen 27 April 1942

    • Like 11
  7. Finally got to fix my Floatfish (as i think of it sometimes). I'm a bit lost when it comes to the underwing bomb racks, I can't find any good references for them.. just som blurry photos.

    If anyone has something better, photos or drawings,  I'd love to see it.

    Anyway, here my Swordfish over the harbour in Malta as HMS Barham is going out..

    The background photo was "borrowed" from the web and colourised by myself. I couldn't find any owners to the photo, I hope it's allright..

     

    Fairey Swordfish in Malta

     

    • Like 5
  8. In my series of refurbishing old  models I did in the past, back from when I started doing 3D models, I had two Swordfish models, a wheeled and one with floats. that really need attention.
    They were both terrible basic in design.
    So here’s my (almost) completely rebuilt Swordfish Mk1, aligning up for an attack on Bismarck (ok ok I know there’s been done dozens of images with Swordfish and Bismarck, but too me it was too tempting to ignore.. Perhaps I come with something more interesting later.

    And the float version will come later, maybe accompanied by a RN battleship, QE or something.

     

    Sting of the Swordfish

     

    • Like 8
  9. Finally I have found time to go on with my Skua model and have come to some sort of image, but I'm not sure this is the scheme 803sqn used during the attack on the cruiser Königsberg at Bergen harbour, april 1940
    But at least the modelling stage is done and I can start testing out different scenarioes with it. The background image shows Bergen harbour the actual day, the cruiser can be spotted moored along the pier, between the Skua's tail and the antenna mast, with a smaller S-boat alongside

     

    Skuas over Bergen

     

    • Like 3
  10. Another (and probably the last) of my Handley Page images (promise :) )
    This time I've chosen a refueling and pit stop scene in Samakh, enroute to the far East.
    The passengers are waiting in the sun to embark, when the refueling is done. On the 'nose tip' of Hanno you can just spot the airport buildings, reflecting in the aluminium skin.
    The image is a true mixture of techniques, but all digital. The planemodel, the fuel wagons, the cargo trolley under the starbord wing root and grass plain is all 3D models
    the persons are painted or cutout photos, and the cars as well..

    H.P.42 is Hanno refueling enroute to the Far East

     

    • Like 5
  11. Handley Page HP.42 Croydon airdrome, London

     ‘Hanno’, one of the large Handley Page HP.42 from a bygone era is overflying Croydon airdrome sometime in the thirties.

    I'm not too familiar with how Croydon looked thru the different stages, so I hope it's not too far off to be slightly realistic. Don't be afraid to comment any obvious errors..

    cheers

    • Like 5
  12. Thanks for your kind words Keith!

    Regarding your concern about the ‘self launching trolley’ 😁 I’ve thought of that… there’s wooden beams blocking the wheels. Maybe a bit hard to spot as it’s a bit dark under there. 
    It looks fragile with the plane under throttle, more or less balancing on those fragile wooden things, but I’ve seen photos of the situation, and it looked much like this…

    • Like 1
  13. Many years ago I did this model of the Schneider trophy racer Supermarine S6b, but never did anything with it,

    so I decided to give it a go and came up with this..

     

    Calshot Spit

     

    It shows racer S1595 parked in front of the Calshot castle in the Solent, where the UK races took place in in late 1920's and early '30's

    S1595 won the race for the fourth time setting an average speed record of 340.08 mph.

    My scene here shows the two planes (S1595 and S1596) parked in fron of the Calshot castle, doing engine running test and preparations for the race (the wing of S1596 can be spotted behind that guy on the ground)

    • Like 4
  14. That's quite a task you have done.

    As for Flickr it certainly has got some issues during the years, but to me it's still the best solution.  I guess posting images on a public site is risky business regardless of what site it is,

    Just remember to keep a copy. A small portable disk with a decent backup program costs 'nothing' and saves your work from net thieves. I only post downscaled copies online, low quality and size.

    The trick is to find a size that doesn't un-favorize your work. An watermarks are often wise to use. I mean it's your work and you own the rightsc to it, not any greedy ba*tard out there..

    If they want to steal it, at least give them any more that you can loose..🙂

    Netfriends asking kindly is a different business, I've given away lots of images to nice friends, just because they've asked and I trust them to not distribute any further..

  15. Thanks a lot for for all helpful replies. As I said the planes that had reversed codes, was on the plane's starboard side of the fuselage. As 90% of all profiles and also most photos only show the aircraft's port side...

    But at least i've learned here that very often it's a good qualified guesswork, as none documentation shows starboard sides with squadron codes and nose art..

    In the Norwegian airforce I believe, reversing the squadron codes seems to have been more or less the rule, during WW2 and after..

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