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Ol' Scrapiron

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Everything posted by Ol' Scrapiron

  1. Ol' Scrapiron
    My latest digital painting features the Boeing Model 247D as I saw it arriving in Seattle to complete the very last flight of the Type. The digital painting is 10x30 inches at 500ppi in 16-bit RGB. Here are a few cropped areas that show the level of detail a little better as it really has to be seen up close to be appreciated. - - - - - With my daughter graduating from high school and also receiving her AA, my time at the computer was more limited and there
  2. Ol' Scrapiron
    FINISHED 10x20" (500ppi) digital painting of Yak-3M I have seen at Northwest airshows and at Oshkosh AirVenture 2024. Here are a few cropped areas that show the level of detail a little better as it really has to be seen up close to be appreciated - - - - - Hope this has been an educational journey for all who came along for the ride. Steve
  3. Ol' Scrapiron
    Apologies for the reduction in size of the images. Apparently the links I had used had a shelf-life and the early posts were getting the old "missing graphic" I was able to upload all the images to one of my spare sites, but in the process they were resized to only 600px wide. That's too small to be appreciated. I will change the settings to a larger size and then re-upload them. I think the filenames will stay the same so the links in these posts will just update to the larger files. It's always something! LOL Thank you for followi
  4. Ol' Scrapiron
    OK, someone finally noticed that that engine was running with no one in the cockpit... such a dangerous situation. I remedied that by getting to the Cockpit group. This is a Yak-3M owned by a gentleman here in the Northwest, and I've seen him at a few local shows and also at Oshkosh last year. I don't think this will get him through a TSA checkpoint, but I was going for the essence rather than as photo ID. That wraps up the list of groups/subassemblies, but there is still much to do. I will do a hard comparison between my art
  5. Ol' Scrapiron
    Wow, the landing gear on the far side took a ton of work. Not only is it fairly complex, but the new gear had to match up with how I did the gear on the near side. - Just this one section took all the time I could dedicate for the day, and looking at it here I already see some bits that need to be adjusted (or are missing outright) Actually, I think I missed posting about the tail gear and stab/tail/rudder sections, so here's a peek at that area. That's all for tonight. Steve
  6. Ol' Scrapiron
    Hardly any time to spend at the computer today, but I did manage to do some work on the far wing. One of the benefits of working in a layered file is that I can easily swap in a different background to see if the highlighting has been over- or under-done. on that far wing there is a lot of white (almost white) background that can hide the true shape of the top of the wing where the white reflection/glare is. Here's the same WIP, but with a colored background... and everything looks about right. Since I was toying
  7. Ol' Scrapiron
    I kicked off today's efforts by giving the gear someplace to retract. STEP 6: the near wing went together well enough that I didn't stop to make intermediate screen grabs. I might dissect it to explain some of the techniques that portray rivets, reflections and tenting... all cool little tricks I wish I had figured out during the early projects. The real plane I am basing this on can be found at some of the Northwest air shows, and I have had a chance to see it a few times. Until now I had not realized that the beat up f
  8. Ol' Scrapiron
    After doing the belly scoop, I decided to dig into the near landing gear. At this point the wheel and the doors look pretty good, but there will be more shadowing needed when I work on that wing. Even though these are separate subassemblies, they have to look good together as a whole. The tires and doors are close to how they'll look in the finished project. Note that there are only a few pieces to the leg at this point (there will be more for details that need to be added) and that the holes in the scissor parts really are actually holes that show through to wh
  9. Ol' Scrapiron
    STEP 4: More work on the fuselage. Fasteners, panel lines, dings and wrinkles, highlights and shading, etc. It's starting to look like a real object, rather than flat colors painted on a two-dimensional canvas. A better look at the fasteners and panels. Subtle shading and highlights are painted to make the panels look like separate pieces of the plane's skin. Bear in mind this will be considerably enlarged compared to the size of the final print.
  10. Ol' Scrapiron
    Sandbox for the fuselage (actually a continuation of the spinner file) Just like oils on a palette, I just keep blending colors until I find what I want. I am able to save the best versions of the colors into the file so I can easily load them when I do other areas of the plane that use the same colors (like the wings). However, in the final version there is probably no area that will actually be the raw color. I have already added a slight gradient of black to clear over the main fuselage to add a subtle tone of shading. On top of that is a random brush I call
  11. Ol' Scrapiron
    STEP 2: By creating "Sandbox" files, I'm able to work on the subassemblies separately without the burden of hundreds of layers bogging things down. Then when I have made substantial progress in one of the "groups" I duplicate that group from the sandbox back into the original file -- in this case, the prop/spinner group -- and change the group name to reflect that this is version 2 for the props. In the "Sandbox" file, I use various brushes in Photoshop to start painting the different parts of the plane, using my own photos as reference. I add new layers for coloring a
  12. Ol' Scrapiron
    I'm going to do something bold here, and walk through all the steps of my new digital painting, by updating this post with each "Work in Progress" stage as I go. This will take some time... but I hope it will be worth the ride. STEP 1 (A): The first step is to block in all the little bits and pieces that make up up the airplane. In this case I am starting with 97 individual "blocks" Of course those 97 pieces are just a starting point to make sure I have things in the proper order (like the gear door is in front of the tire, which is in front of the gear
  13. Ol' Scrapiron
    This project was inspired by seeing the rare plane displayed at the USS Alabama Memorial's air museum last fall. The airframe itself was a bit simpler without a bunch of stenciling to recreate, but I really loved exploring the turkey feathers exhaust. I had taken a few walkaround photos from the other side, but this angle was from the reference pics I shot while on the boarding platform for the submarine that is displayed nearby. A bit far to capture the details, but I was able to work out what I needed using the closer shots at ground level. The digital painting was done at 500ppi
  14. Ol' Scrapiron
    Hot on the heels of the Helldiver, I carried the mojo momentum into a a new project featuring a vintage Travel Air based on reference photos I took during a family road trip last summer. We stumbled into Tillamook OR just after the air museum closed for the night (I was actually just planning to get some pics of the massive blimp hangar). A gentlemen was still packing up the Travel Air "Magic One" that he had been offering rides in during the day. Even though there was no chance to sell a ride, he gladly showed me around the plane and shared its history for maybe a half hour. A great conversat
  15. Ol' Scrapiron
    This project was one I knew I'd have to do after seeing the newly restored Helldiver arrive at Oshkosh last year. I took as many reference photos as I could before they opened up panels for display and am glad I did. After a couple days to review it with fresh (non-tired) eyes, I will be sending to the print shop to have a giclee made -- digital painting is 10x20 inches at 500ppi in 16-bit RGB. Here are a few cropped areas that show the level of detail a little better as it really has to be seen up close to be appreciated. - - -
  16. Ol' Scrapiron
    Jane from the Commemorative Air Force sent me a couple of photos of where they have placed my artwork at the CAF Gulf Coast Wing location in Texas. She said it is at the office at the hangar where everyone can see it. -
  17. Ol' Scrapiron
    Very nice. Unfortunately, Instagram is blocking non-account viewers from seeing your work at that link. Any chance you could post cropped section that would give a closer look at some of the detail? Maybe just the cowling-to-wingroot area. Or is there another site that has your portfolio that the non-IG crowds can visit? I just want to appreciate them more.
  18. Ol' Scrapiron
    Picked up the first giclee print of the B-17 Texas Raiders project and got it in a 10x30-inch custom frame that has been waiting for it. I order non-glare acrylic instead of glass and use an acid-free foam backing. The result is amazing in person and framed is the best way to appreciate this.
  19. Ol' Scrapiron
    Here's a project I did a couple months ago, based on my reference shots of the P-47D 44-90471 “Hairless Joe” that’s part of the Erickson Collection in Madras, Oregon. The digital painting was created in 16-bit color at 500ppi to be output as giclee prints to fit 10x20-inch frame. Here are a few cropped areas that show the level of detail a little better. - - - - -
  20. Ol' Scrapiron
    When the art muse is pushing you along, just keep moving forward and enjoy the ride. I put the final touches on a couple hours ago, having started it on Saturday evening (four quick days, working around family activities and holiday shopping) My family has strong roots with Pan American Airlines, so this gorgeous DC-3 in Pan Am livery has always been a favorite of mine to photograph at Northwest events while it was based at Paine Field, including during final preparations before departure to France for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. This
  21. Ol' Scrapiron
    As I did when we lost Nine-O-Nine, I immediately shelved the current projects when I heard news that Texas Raiders had been destroyed in the tragic air show collision over the Veterans Day weekend. I had my own photos of Texas Raiders from the 2010 Gathering of Fortresses (Willow Run/Detroit) to use as reference. The muse really was with me on this and I hope my pride shows through in the final result. I have not had giclee prints made yet as I don't want to overlad our local printshop because I know they are busy with calendars and holiday cards. I'll catch them after the new year when things
  22. Ol' Scrapiron
    Looks sharp. Very nice. I imagine there are cases where the 3-view drawings look good individually but don't match up when used together while creating the 3D object. It would be interesting to do a reverse drawing after you are finished with your project. Once you have finessed it into looking "correct" as a 3D object, have the CAD program extract the side/top/end views and then compare to the original drawings you were working from to see how much finessing was needed. I look forward to seeing this with the pod and additional details are added. Looks fantastic.
  23. Ol' Scrapiron
    Another special project for me, depicting the Collings Foundation’s B‑17 Nine-O-Nine. I cleared my schedule and started work on this tribute just a day after the plane was destroyed in an emergency landing. I have a special place in my heart for this particular Flying Fortress, as it was the first B‑17 I had the opportunity to fly on, our hometown paper’s representative covering the historic plane’s visit to the Northwest in 1998. We flew from Olympia to Seattle, in formation with the Collings Foundation’s B‑24 (then in the markings of All American just before being painted as Dragon and Its T
  24. Ol' Scrapiron
    This 10x25" at 500ppi project was inspired by the EEA’s touring B-17 Aluminum Overcast that I have photographed on several occasions and even flown aboard. And really, who needs more inspiration than an opportunity to research the subject up close and in action like this? Just a few of the special points of interest include a nice reproduction of the Aluminum Overcast nose art, fine detail on the metal skin, intricate mechanics of the landing gear and a closer look at the engines in the foreground. Here are a few cropped area
  25. Ol' Scrapiron
    Very nice. I really like the surfaces on the profile looks like the paint has been touched by the elements with patches of oily and matte and gloss and retouches all working together. What are the dimensions of the Crossbow Three piece? Very nice.
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