Vichy Fledglings

[Skyraider3D]

Here's my latest work, a pair of Vichy French aircraft on their take-off run:

http://skyraider3d.military-meshes.com/gallery/VichyFledglings_1024.jpg

The aircraft are North American NAA-57-P-2 advanced trainers (predecessors to the famous AT-6 Harvard/Texan), taking off from Fréjus–Saint-Raphaël in the South of France, on what could well be their last flight. It is November 1942, and in a matter of days the Vichy French Naval Air Arm will seize to exist, as German forces occupy the rest of France. The image was inspired by this photograph of Vichy French aircraft at Fréjus–Saint-Raphaël, now under German command, waiting to be scrapped or sold.

http://skyraider.allaboutwarfare.com/files/france/NAA-57-P-2_nr102_01.jpg

NB. The white tailband was added directly after the Allied invasion in North Africa on 8 November 1942 and just four days later all French airfields on the Mediterranean coast were taken over by German AAA units.


This image was made especially for an aviation art exhibition, Wiek, John (Capt Flushgarden) and I will have at the Military Aviation Museum (http://www.militaireluchtvaartmuseum.nl/) in Soesterberg, The Netherlands, starting on 23 November and running for well over half a year. :cool:

[Evan]

Top work Ronnie!

[krazycolin]

nice ... very nice... one small comment: shouldn't the gear be extending a bit? i mean... if it bounced now... there would be puffs of rubber rather than puffs of dust...

[krazycolin]

oh and this is header material for sure. nice metal.... i love it.

[Skyraider3D]

Thanks guys!

shouldn't the gear be extending a bit?The gear is extended. The bottom part of the aerodynamic fairing of the landing gear is attached to the wheel strut, you see, and slides into the top part when compressed. Note how it's split down the middle.
Originally the wheels were spatted as well (a bit like a Stuka), but as they got easily clogged with mud, the spats were soon discarded.

[krazycolin]

i see... kind of like the fokker D.XXI?

[kiwi123]

Very very nice work mate !

[Galgot]

Superbe ! That fabric effect on fuse sides impress me...

[Mirko]

Good stuff mate!!

:salute:

[digiartist]

lovely stuff Ronnie, and a little different from the usual fighter stuff we see

[pccdtk]

Beautiful realistic render Ronnie !!! Beside artistic look I like in special subtle movement of control surfaces ....

[denders]

Very nice Ronnie. I like the weathering of the old with the new markings for the period of time.

[kevjon]

Nice to see this older mesh of yours get a new lease of life with new textures. Its come up really really well. Great job on it !

[Skyraider3D]

Thanks very much for the comments, guys! :D


i see... kind of like the fokker D.XXI?Yep, quite similar indeed.

Superbe ! That fabric effect on fuse sides impress me...Thanks. The fabric parts were actually among the first parts I modelled. They're quite easy to make. Basically flat panels with edges at the stringer locations, which are chamfered with a fairly small value, and all given the same smoothing group. Quite a low-poly solution, which works really well.

http://skyraider.allaboutwarfare.com/files/modelling/NA-57_wireframe.jpg

[kiwi123]

It's been a long time for ya, congrats on the header ! Now, get that corsair finished !!!! :lol:

[Lukem]

Great stuff! Nice to see a wire too.

[Skyraider3D]

It's been a long time for ya, congrats on the header ! Now, get that corsair finished !!!! :lol:
Thanks mate! Yea I know, it's been awhile since I last posted a final piece.

I've got another one ready though, but it's another Mustang so I won't bother posting it... :rolleyes: :p

Yes, the Corsair is firmly on the workbench now. I hope to get it done before Christmas :)

[Pawnee]

awesome work as always ;) :)

[kliment]

great! you ar the champion!:D

[giant551]

Great work on this one Ronnie, this is in my opinion one of your best renders:) you have got the balance right between the lighting and the saturation of the image. Nice one !!

[Skyraider3D]

Thanks guys! :D


this is in my opinion one of your best rendersYou really think so? :)
I don't know really... I was worried it was not as good enough as the Mustang renders. It's quite different in a way from my other work, and I find it increasingly difficult to judge the quality of my output. A few years ago every new render was my best work till then. Now... I can never tell... It's difficult to judge a work after having stared at it for hours. Perhaps I should mirror it or turn it upside down, as this often help. However I do have a feeling my Corsair will beat them all, as it got tons more detail and I intend to make the textures at a much higher resolution. Dead flies on the windshield and all. O wait... are there any flies on the open sea in the Pacific? :lol:

[Nils]

Great render Ronnie, the detail that impresses me most is the turbulence created in humid air, behind the propeller of the closest aircraft. Nice eye for detailing Ronnie. ;)
I have sometimes seen this effect on our helicopters when they take off or hover in foggy or damp weather, but on helicopters it's just more evident, spiraling down from the rotor. Cool effect.

[digiartist]

Congrats on the header mate, good to see you back up there!:D

[peter]

Wow Ronnie ! I didn't have to much time to really look at this image, but it looks fantastic! Maybe the subject is not as spectacular as Your Mustangs and other combat stuff but looks great! And congartulation on the header.
Ronnie, did You mentioned something about some new Mustang scene?? :D
Please post it! Some of us are hungry for gunpowder :eek:

[cobra6]

Thanks guys! :D


Dead flies on the windshield and all. O wait... are there any flies on the open sea in the Pacific? :lol:

no they tend to stick to the coast, and not wander to far off. It sort of kills them :P

Cobra 6

[Skyraider3D]

Cheers guys! :D

Ronnie, did You mentioned something about some new Mustang scene?? :D
Please post it! Some of us are hungry for gunpowder :eek:
I will show it once I have sorted out a way to sell prints online. In the meantime... don't tell anyone yet, but you can get a sneakpeek of it here: ;)
http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/news-home.php

[Spinner]

Dead flies on the windshield and all. O wait... are there any flies on the open sea in the Pacific? :lol:

Most of the flights included island time and by crikey there's some big gnats and mosquitos.

[peter]

I'm quite sure I'm about to the heart attack :eek: Ronnie WOW!!! ,sorry wow (quietly) I see it's Your next masterpiece! Can't wait for it:)

[flyguy72]

really nice painting Ronnie!

[Skyraider3D]

Hi guys!
Update: prints of Vichy Fledglings are now available via DigitalAviationArt.com (http://digitalaviationart.com/Olsthoornprints.html)

You'll also be able to get a proper sneakpeek at my latest Mustang image.


Thanks guys! :)

[peter]

Lovely image Ronnie!!! Beautiful as always. Of course I feel insufficiency (because of the size of the image). But understand this feeling of customer is something that every seller wants to achieve:) But the image looks great. Congratulations!

[Skyraider3D]

I'll post a bigger version here soon :)

[Skyraider3D]

Just rendered out a quick profile, for the heck of it :)

http://skyraider3d.military-meshes.com/gallery/VichyFledglings_profile_No102_675.jpg

[Evan]

Being a bit of a profile junkie I can't get enough of these things. I do prefer to see props with profiles though... kind of looks unfinished without IMO. But very nice all the same!

[Skyraider3D]

I do prefer to see props with profiles though... kind of looks unfinished without IMO.Lazy... ;)

[mrys]

Fantastic work Ronnie! The only thing I don't like is props ring... Dunno why...:\

Personally I hate Vichy period. Oh, I know not my country - not my problem, but years ago I wrote few articles about French airplanes of those years and had to read some about Vichy (more then basic knowledge what was that) to get "historical background". Still can't understand Petain. From hero to zero.

But their cammo was very decorative.

[Skyraider3D]

Yes, the Vichy period is a rather black page in the history of France, I guess. An interesting page though, from a military history point of view. I'm planning to do an acrylic painting, and I may show a head-on encounter between a Vichy Ms 406 and a Royal Navy Martlet (Wildcat). This happened over Madagascar of all places, in 1942. The Martlet got a 20mm in the engine and crashed. However this was a 4 vs 4 encounter, and three of the Ms 406s were shot down by the other Martlets.
For fun I set up a mission in the IL-2 flightsim and pitted four Wildcats against four Moranes in a headon engagement. The outcome was identical! Not bad realism for a game :)

[mrys]

The strong part of this thread is that you show wire of your model. Great help for us, who are new in polymodelling! THX Ronnie.

[Skyraider3D]

I think that was my second or third SubD model... I wouldn't recommend using it as an example! :lol:
Also many parts aren't SubD, such as the fabric panels on the side and everything that looks cut-in or detailed! ;)

This is more useful: http://www.military-meshes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89

[mrys]

I will start with PWS-26 model soon. It is polish training biplane from thirties, and it has similar fabric covering joining with metal plates, very similar to that ones. So for me is good point to start.

[Skyraider3D]

The trick with fabric covering is to put two edges close to eachother at each rib. It's quite easy and looks really nice. One of the reasons I want to do a Hurricane in the future :)