My profile attempts

[Tornadofairy]

I started in a small way many years ago,  basically 'colouring by numbers' on profiles downloaded from the net. Later I was asked by a relative if I could do one for him. Of course, there was no suitable resource available! I produced something that was acceptable and it has developed from there, the Mustang was  the first after a steep learning curve. Most of the research comes from books, photos on the web and other people's records; depending on the subject this can take a few days to many weeks. I use Photoshop - tried Illustrator but didn't get on with it. Maybe I'll try again another time.

Regarding the Hurricanes, they, along with the Bf 110 C-5, all crashed on the same day in 1940. The Hurricanes within a couple of miles and within 15 minutes of each other on the Isle of Wight, the Bf 110 a little while later, again within a couple of miles of the Hurricanes. While the RAF squadron codes are correct, the individual aircraft letters are 'best guess' - I have yet to find any reference despite inquiries etc. None of these three aircraft was more than 6 months old when they crashed; indeed the Bf 110 confused me for a while as several sources have it crashing a couple of months earlier in Sussex and returned to a flyable condition by the RAF/RAe. The Isle of Wight one was its replacement. In this case the colour scheme is based on known facts about that period and the codes would have been simply transferred to it. Both RAF pilots baled out and survived, the German crew died.

You can see the pictures at the link below:

 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/12556170@N06/sets/72157634905475473/with/9427957256/

[Tornadofairy]

Just to say these profiles are my intellectual property - by all means enjoy them, but let me know if you see them being used elsewhere (It's the age we live in, he said.....)

[Gorby]

They all look very professional to me. The mottling on the 110 is particularly effective.

I can see that you have added a pilot figure in the Mustang to highlight the fact it is a red-tail with a black pilot, but the figure looks a little odd to me. It may just be that I'm not used to seeing profiles with crew, or it might be that the photo and the graphics don't seem to match. Not sure.

It's only a very minor point and other than that I'm very impressed with all of them – I certainly couldn't do it.

[Tornadofairy]

Thank you very much for your comments.

The mottling is achieved with a combination of tools in Photoshop - and a fair bit of practice! The Mustang was a surprise birthday present for an American friend of mine; he was the chairman of the Black History Committee that year, so I added the pilot as an extra touch. I was unable to find a suitable photo of the actual pilot, so I used a fellow pilot from the squadron. You are right in it appearing mismatched; looking at it again I see his harness isn't connected to the seat for a start (oops) - its one of my early ones on the learning curve and in those days I merged all the layers, so I will have to remove him one day when I have time... Now I keep the layers separate, making it easier to change colour schemes, markings and adjustments, instead of doing it all over again!

Currently I am in the throes of depicting the aircraft of 45 Sqn, as I spent a few years on TWCU, which had 45 as its shadow squadron number.

[Gorby]

Now I see why you put added pilot figure, and it seems like a pretty good reason to me. 

What profile are you working on at the moment?

[Tornadofairy]

If they ever see the light of day....

Camel, 1 & 1/2 Strutter, DH 9A, Vernon, Fairey IIIF, Wellesley, Vincent, Vengeance, Beaufighter, Brigand, Hornet, Venom, Canberra, Hunter and Tornado. As you can see none of the common or garden Spitfires and Hurricanes....

I have found suitable 3 views to base them on and done the basic drawings, just a case of refining them from photographic evidence (some 3 views are very small and simple). The elephant in the room at the moment is my copy of Photoshop. I am using CS3 on an iMac running OS 10.12.6 (Sierra); it works but I have to swap to an standard mouse as the wireless one makes the lines jump to different angles when the pressure is released. Just checked e-bay to discover people are asking silly money for later editions of Photoshop (for Mac anyway) and Adobe who make it would prefer you to pay £20 a month for the privilege to run the latest version. Oh well, I'll find an answer one day!

[Sabrejet]

Have you tried Paintshop Pro? Works for me and does layers, masks etc. Older versions are pretty good (I use PSP version 7.04 which I think is 15-odd years old).

[Paul J]

 Very Nice!

Re the Messerschmitt 110, the 5F-CM codes were those on the very early Airfix kit.  Also, somewhere there is a pic of it intact outside a hangar somewhere in England.

[Gorby]

I'd love to see all those profiles. My main interest is WWII and about tens years after, but I just love aircraft – virtually any aircraft.

I am also interested in graphics and as I could never afford Photoshop, I use a combination of Gimp and Inkscape: both of which are free. I'm constantly surprised how powerful Gimp is and I have seen people, much more talented than myself, use it to produce remarkable work. One of the BM members uses Gimp to create a stunningly detailed virtual models of aircraft - my memory isn't great, so I can't remember who. I think it was devastator he was last working on. People tend to think that because it's free that it will be rubbish, far from it.

[Tornadofairy]

re the Bf 110, I have the decals from that kit and a recent Airfix kit ready to recreate the aircraft in question. The photo of it outside the hanger is the Goodwood aircraft; only around 12 weeks elapsed between its force landing and its replacement crashing on the shores of the Island. Given the situation at that time of the B of B, I imagine aircraft portraits were not at the top of the list. I have seen a couple of shots of a Bf 110 of 4(F) Aufklarungsgruppe 14 (insert your own dots over a letter) on the airfield at Cherbourg - same camouflage, but hard to tell which aircraft it is...

Here is some of the research I have found or been given:

                                                 Bf 110 C–4(5?)        Werk Nr. 2177          German call-sign 5F-CM    RAF Serial AX772  

Circumstances of acquisition

Originally of 4.(F)/14 intercepted by RAF fighters while on a reconnaissance mission on 21 July 1940. Forced down near Goodwood Racecourse, Sussex. Fate

Royal Aircraft Establishment repaired this aircraft and after handling trials, was flown to the Air Fighting Development Unit at Duxford in October 1941. In March 1942 AX772 was transferred to No. 1426 Flight until moving to the Enemy Aircraft Flight of the Central Flying School at Tangmere in January 1945. It was stored at No. 47 Maintenance Unit (MU) Sealand in November 1945. Scrapped in 1947.

 

Wight Air Wrecks p44

- Bf 110 C-5 Werk Nr. 2187 from Aufkl Gr 14 '5F+CM' crashed Salt Mead ledge in Thorness Bay 26 Sep 1940. Crew were Lt Pank and Uffz Schmidt, both killed.

 

'Battle in the Skies over the Isle of Wight' agrees with WAW.

 

It wasn't unusual for more than one aircraft to wear the same code, but obviously not at the same time. One would indeed have replaced the other. The following is reproduced from Barry Rosch's "work in progress" Luftwaffe Database:

 

  * Bf110C-5, WNr.2177 - radio code KD+UU - coded 5F+CM (white C) of 4.(F)/Aufkl.Gr.14 - 100% loss, Goodwood Home Farm, Chichester, England on 21-Jul-40 - Shot down by an enemy Hurricanes from Red section of 238 Sq. (Turner, Davis & Wigglesworth) - Oblt.Friedrich-Karl Runde (F) & Fw.Willi Baden (Bf) both POW [sources: "Zerstorer: The Messerschmitt 110 and its Units in 1940" by Vasco & Cornwell, p. 94 txt; Mason, p.185 txt; BoB, Then & Now, p.544 txt ]

    * Bf110C-5, WNr.2187 - radio code TG+FM - coded 5F+CM (black C) of 4.(F)/Aufkl.Gr.14 - 100% loss, South Mead Ledge, W of Cowes, Isle of Wight, England on 26-Sep-40 - Emergency landing at sea due to damage, believed brought down by F/L Blackadder from 607 Sq - Ltn.Wilhelm Panek (F) & Uffz.Wilhelm Schmidt (Bf) both POW [sources: Zerstorer: The Messerschmitt 110 and its Units in 1940 by Vasco & Cornwell, p.233; Mason, p.413 txt; BoB, Then & Now, p.659 txt]

[Tornadofairy]

Had to smile when I saw who shot the 110 down; there are records of the codes of F/L Blackadder's usual aircraft - but he was flying a different one that day!

 

Many thanks for the suggestions for Photoshop replacements. (CS3 is the Creative Studio version and includes Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash, Bridge and Indesign along with an extended Photoshop). CS 6, a later, but still old version by Photoshop standards is going for anything from £4-600 on e-bay when I looked. I will look into the others and see what happens. My fault for using a graphics industry standard; perhaps I should set myself up as a design studio and do a couple of really expensive jobs to fund software and extend my OAP...lol.
 

Three more profiles have been added on Flickr.

 

[Tornadofairy]

I recently up-graded the system to OS 11.3 (Big Sur), which removed the CS3 I was using! However, for a lump sum I downloaded Photoshop Elements 2021, which doesn't require a monthly payment and I can continue... It's very different to the old CS3 version, but then it is a decade or so newer. As for Illustrator. I have downloaded Inkscape, which I am getting up to speed on slowly, witha view to use that for the drawing and Photoshop for the rest. We will see.

[mackem01]

Loving the 607 Sqn Hurricane. Can anyone provide more details please.

[Michael Leek]

On 08/11/2017 at 19:34, Tornadofairy said:

If they ever see the light of day....

Camel, 1 & 1/2 Strutter, DH 9A, Vernon, Fairey IIIF, Wellesley, Vincent, Vengeance, Beaufighter, Brigand, Hornet, Venom, Canberra, Hunter and Tornado. As you can see none of the common or garden Spitfires and Hurricanes....

I have found suitable 3 views to base them on and done the basic drawings, just a case of refining them from photographic evidence (some 3 views are very small and simple). The elephant in the room at the moment is my copy of Photoshop. I am using CS3 on an iMac running OS 10.12.6 (Sierra); it works but I have to swap to an standard mouse as the wireless one makes the lines jump to different angles when the pressure is released. Just checked e-bay to discover people are asking silly money for later editions of Photoshop (for Mac anyway) and Adobe who make it would prefer you to pay £20 a month for the privilege to run the latest version. Oh well, I'll find an answer one day!

Would strongly recommend taking out a subscription for Adobe Photoshop CC. It’s the industry standard, and won’t crash when you update the latest OS, if using a Mac, as I do. The latest version is so much more flexible, meaning you can do so much more. However, although I use Photoshop almost daily, it will never beat doing profiles or other illustrations by hand!

[Michael Leek]

On 07/11/2017 at 19:53, Tornadofairy said:

I started in a small way many years ago,  basically 'colouring by numbers' on profiles downloaded from the net. Later I was asked by a relative if I could do one for him. Of course, there was no suitable resource available! I produced something that was acceptable and it has developed from there, the Mustang was  the first after a steep learning curve. Most of the research comes from books, photos on the web and other people's records; depending on the subject this can take a few days to many weeks. I use Photoshop - tried Illustrator but didn't get on with it. Maybe I'll try again another time.

Regarding the Hurricanes, they, along with the Bf 110 C-5, all crashed on the same day in 1940. The Hurricanes within a couple of miles and within 15 minutes of each other on the Isle of Wight, the Bf 110 a little while later, again within a couple of miles of the Hurricanes. While the RAF squadron codes are correct, the individual aircraft letters are 'best guess' - I have yet to find any reference despite inquiries etc. None of these three aircraft was more than 6 months old when they crashed; indeed the Bf 110 confused me for a while as several sources have it crashing a couple of months earlier in Sussex and returned to a flyable condition by the RAF/RAe. The Isle of Wight one was its replacement. In this case the colour scheme is based on known facts about that period and the codes would have been simply transferred to it. Both RAF pilots baled out and survived, the German crew died.

You can see the pictures at the link below:

 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/12556170@N06/sets/72157634905475473/with/9427957256/

Your profiles are good attempts, but they do lack depth, form and contrast. In other words, even though two-dimensional profiles, wing tips appear on the same plane - no pun intended; it’s a term used in perspective! - as the fuselage outlines, whereas in reality, and on a profile, the fuselage outline is the furthest point from the viewer, whilst the wing tips are the closest. This needs to be considered when rendering profiles, or indeed when rendering perspective illustrations of aircraft. Some of your shadows are incorrect; you should always try to maintain a consistent light source for each individual profile, not the least ‘cause shadows help delineate form (not forgetting that shadows also have to follow the shape they fall on).

 

Excellent examples of aircraft profiles, albeit drawn and rendered by hand, can be seen in illustrations produced by the late Peter Endsleigh Castle ARAeS, John Weal, James Goulding or Keith Fretwell.