In-between family expansions (the second one less than a fortnight ago!) and non-aviation-related work, I managed to get some aviation art done. Here is the first of over a dozen of images, both 3D scenes and 2D profile art, which I created for Ian Allan's upcoming book about Japanese x-planes in the popular Midland Publishing Secret Projects series. I was lucky enough to be commissioned the front cover illustration, which is the image shown here.
I've dubbed the image "Slice & Dice". The scene is entirely speculative and shows a what-if "1946" scenario high over Japan. Having slashed their way through the ramjet-equipped P-51D Mustang escorts, a pair of Japanese Manshu Ki-98 fighters is diving on a formation of B-35 flying wing bombers. At the time of Japanese surrender in August 1945, all three aircraft were very much in prototype status and none would ever become operational. The Ki-98 was never finished and, though extensively test-flown, neither the B-35 nor the ramjet-equipped Mustang were found suitable for operational service.
Here is what the image looks like on the book cover:
Once the book is released (planned for October this year), prints and t-shirts will become available on my new webshop at http://www.digitalaviationart.com and I will post more of the other artwork I created for the book.
Some close-up details:
The Army Type 3 gunsight (based on the Revi 12C), the big Ho-204 37mm cannon and the Ho-5 12.7mm machine gun (based on the famous Browning M2 .50cal):
Last but not least: PROFILES! Here is a size comparison of the Ki-98 with the P-51D Mustang. I couldn't quite fit the B-35 in there at the same scale - sorry!
Very nice work there Ronnie, I’m starting to think 3D is the way forward for creating really smart profiles. Congrats on the little un too, she is adorable.
If you just model it for rendering profiles you only would have to model one side If you model it completely it would be easier doing top, bottom and both sides
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2D vs 3D... well you pretty much figured it out already:
Kelcey, yes 3D looks smart and can give nice, consistent and accurate results compared to 2D profiles. But yes, Gaetan, 3D takes a lot longer! And Lieuwe, indeed the major benefit of 3D is that you can do other projections with real ease. Or, if only a sideview is needed, you can fudge the model. But still, if indeed you only need a sideview, stick to 2D. Really. I did a 3D profile for this book of the Ohka 22. Simple model you'd think, but it still took me 35 hours somehow (endless tweaking of shaders) and since I did fudge the model I can't use it for other projections unless I put more work into it. In comparison, a 2D profile of a much more complex four-engined bomber took me around 22 hours. In 3D it would've been economic suicide!
In the end the grass is always greener on the other side (2D artists wanting to do 3D and vise versa) and I was lucky to be in the position where I could combine 2D and 3D skills and techniques to get the profile work done in a relatively efficient way, combining the best of both when needed. For example I did a series of missile profiles which I quickly modelled in 3D for their shading and reflections and then detailed with panel lines etc. in 2D. Each profile was ready in just a few hours.
Special thanks to Kelcey and Lieuwe for their help in getting me started with 2D profile work. I find it very enjoyable and will probably post some of that here soon!
Thanks John. In the end I got pretty much all I needed for the Shinden, and in fact the original plan was to show a Shinden on the cover of this book. But for some reason the Shinden 3D model was "fighting" me from Day 1 and nothing went as planned. Every now and then this happens and due to the tight deadline I decided to call it a day after 24 hours' work and switch to the second aircraft suggested by the author: the Ki-98. I am glad I did as Japanese Army Air Force colour schemes are so much more interesting than the Navy ones.
Great work Ronnie. Ya Im thinking the same way Kel is.. With 3d work theres a ton more things one can do with the complete model than just a side view.
Another good reason to go with the Ki-98 instead of the Shinden was that it's less well-known. In any case, that's some really superb work on your part; the Mustang profile in particular is really really well-executed (so much so that I almost want to hack your computer and steal the template for myself, hehehe).
If you model it completely it would be easier doing top, bottom and both sides 
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