New Spitfire WIP

[ActionArt]

This sections seems a little slow so I'll post this. It is still very much a WIP.



The Spitfire model itself needs some work yet. I'm converting one of my Mark Vb models to a Mark XVI which turned out to be more work than I hoped. The camo pattern is wrong so I'll be changing that as well as adding a lot of wear. Overall texturing and surfacing are pretty raw at this point.

Comments and tips welcome of course



The pilot is the fellow on the left above, Doug Lindsay. In this encounter, he and 3 other Spitfires broke out of the clouds and encountered 40 Me109's. He shot down 3 within a few minutes and escaped with his life. I had the pleasure of visiting him and Don Laubman (another Spitfire ace with 15 victories) a few weeks ago. I'll be doing one for Don as well.

[rray]

Hey that looks good already. What I noticed as bit odd looking is that the sun beams are radiating away from different centers. I think they should have a common center (the sun) like in this picture. (Doesn't mean should they be visible all the length to the center, but rather converge there... hope I could make myself clear )

[ActionArt]

Thanks Rray. I was using an image like this for reference:



But I see what you mean by all the rays coming from a central point. I had another image where they weren't but can't find it at the moment. Light must be being scattered by higher clouds and bounced down through the openings since when I saw it the sun was behind me and not directly above the clouds.

I've seen this a number times myself right around here and thought it looked very interesting.

I'll have to revisit some of the angles and see if it looks better.

[Ethangar]

I have a nice high poly Mk XIV that might be easier to convert into an XVI. Its a clip wing and griffon powered so it has the cowl bumps and 5 bladed prop.

http://www.rendersworld.com/download/FinalTest000.jpg
http://www.rendersworld.com/download/FinalTest001.jpg
http://www.rendersworld.com/download/FinalTest002.jpg
Its in .lwo format but loads fine in soft.

I'd be honoured if it was used for such a great purpose.

Let me know.

Newcomer (<20 posts) alert: please use the URL tags - HB

[ActionArt]

Thanks for the fantastic offer! The Mark XVI (strangely enough) was a Merlin powered version so the engine cowling is quite different and this one didn't have the clipped wings (although some did).

It's a very nice model so I would like to use it somehow in a future project if that's alright. I'll PM you later. Thanks!!!

[Ethangar]

Thanks for the fantastic offer! The Mark XVI (strangely enough) was a Merlin powered version so the engine cowling is quite different and this one didn't have the clipped wings (although some did).

It's a very nice model so I would like to use it somehow in a future project if that's alright. I'll PM you later. Thanks!!!

You could drive yourself insane trying to make sense of the ordering for all the different Mk's on a time line.

Any time. Just let me know. That's about all I build is WW-II planes.

[ActionArt]

Here's an update on this one. Thanks for the help RRay. I changed the background lighting as you suggested. This is a large image (9000x6000) so a lot of the finer detail can't be seen on this little preview. Links below are a bit higher res.

The next step will be to add some dirt and scratches. Right now the Spitfire is right off the showroom floor

Comments welcome of course.



Larger:

http://www.actionart.ca/ForumPics/DougT7.jpg

Closeup of Spitfire:

http://www.actionart.ca/ForumPics/DougT7c.jpg

[Ethangar]

I like where you're going with it. The canopy off the 109 is a nice touch of detail.

[ActionArt]

Thanks! Yes, the pilot said he took one quick shot at the first 109, a few few canon rounds hit, the canopy flew off and the pilot bailed immediately.

Sadly, I just tried to call the pilot with a few questions and he's in the hospital. I'm hoping he recovers! At this age, one never knows when they're going to call it a life. He seemed to be in such great shape just a few weeks ago.

[Daniel Brassard]

Nice, well done ActionArt.

What will be the size of the final print? Do you render at that resolution or only going to do it at the final render?

Any matte painting in the process?

[ActionArt]

Thanks Daniel! The typical prints size is 20"x30" but there will be a large size of 30"x45" and one 36"x54". I try to maintain around 250 to 300 dpi so the final render will be a bit more.

I test render at this size because it's really the only way to see if small details such as rivet bump maps look right. They are so dependent on scale. If you render at say 3000x2000 to test, you can be sure it won't look right at 9000x6000. It renders pretty fast in this case. About 15 minutes for the Spitfire so it's not a big deal. If I have a lot of volumetrics that have to be integrated (sometimes they just can't be rendered on a separate layer because of the need for shadows and reflections of the particles in the scene) it can be a very different story.

The ground is a matte painting, the clouds are good old SI volume particles, the motion blur is added with 3Delight, the light rays are SI volume lights rendered as separate elements and comped with Photoshop. For the Spitfire I used the carpaint shader this time since I don't think there's a big difference between car paint and AC paint, except it's intentionally a lot less shiny in this case.

In the next step I render separate layers with the Spitfire all dirty, and one all shiny metal. Then I put those under the clean layer and start chipping away at the paint (much like real life) in Photoshop to get a worn look.

[Daniel Brassard]

Thank you ActionArt for the little peek into your process. It's very much appreciated.

Cheers!

[Hirazi Blue]

Looking good already...
One question: are these works commissioned beforehand in any way
or are they just part of your own on-going "pet project" and sold after you're done?
;)

[ActionArt]

Thanks Hirazi,

These ones are not commissioned, they're my own projects and sold when done. I've done a few commissions but it's way better business to do my own projects and market them over time. It takes longer initially and some capital up front but the return is many times better. I don't really look for commissions anymore. I'll do them if it's an interesting project and may lead to something more but not otherwise.

[ActionArt]

Here's the latest. I think it's about done (I hope). I will be seeing the pilot next week to have him check over a print test. Might need a little more wear and a wee bit of motion blur on the Spitfire itself.

[ActionArt]

Some minor updates for this one.