portman wrote:That's a damn fine looking engine Kenny - very nicely done.
You know I don't think I've ever built a radial engine...
Stewart,
Thank you sir! And speaking personally, I’d love to see what you’d do with a radial engine. So all that said, if you should ever decide to do an aircraft with a radial, by all means please document it here because I’d sure enjoy that.
And going farther, it’s actually a funny thing. We’ve gotten to know each other a fair bit here on this forum, and I for sure figured you for an old school diehard- a Sopwith Camel Man. I’d have thought you’d have one of them. That was a great aircraft too man, keeyaw. Me? I’d LOVE to build one but I ain’t there yet. I’ll keep doing my projects and maybe get me one from a Wingnut in a few years and then take a hugely long time to finish it and detail the crap out of it.
speedgraflex wrote:Great work. I checked out three pages which I unfortunately missed due to shit happens but I am now caught up. What Stuart wrote in response to what you wrote about perception touched me the most deeply. I certainly feel that way about adding the question of historical accuracy on top of individual perception. I would be tempted to add that the third layer to the particular onion of modeling is how image capture influences interpretation. Image capture—be it various film stocks or video captures—directly impacts documentation. For example, I feel that the technique of dry brushing stems in part from careful study by model makers of high contrast high speed black and white film with exaggerated contrast levels.
Regarding the massive amount of engine detailing you just pulled off, I was struck most by what you wrote at the end. As is often the case, we make a summation of what works and what does not quite cut it. Certainly there is always room to improve, but as far as stepping onto the plateau of engine superdetailing vis à vis brass etch, the combination of careful assembly and finely modulated colors is a complete success.
Bruce,
And obrigado to you too my man, that’s mucho appreciated, amigo.
Let me get on what you touched on here for a minute because that’s huge in terms of how I construct my vision— 100% with you on that. 100%. I have color photos of aircraft and engines, black and white photos of aircraft and engines, I’ve seen videos. I’ve seen photos of relics. NEVER seen a real WWII aircraft in-person during operation. So in terms of Reality? Frankly- I throw the concept of “Doing it so that it looks exactly like how it would’ve in real life on a carrier deck or airfield” right out the window. It’s personal preference. If I tried doing that I would literally drive myself insane. Furthermore, the picture I have in my mind is more appealing to me anyway, in the sense that it draws from all kinds of other things... Check this out—
I was just working on the engine some more during lunch. I was dry brushing aluminum over some of the brass cylinder heads and braces because they got a little chipped-up during installation. I can’t help that- I’m a reincarnated Gorilla. I break stuff when I’m trying to be gentle with it. Anyhow, I’m in there with the brush, takin’ care of business, and I noticed that here and there a brace was mounted just slightly off-kilter. A year or so ago I’d have been disappointed. But not today. Why? Because it’s an easy enough fix- dry brush the ones which aren’t off-kilter. Why? Because there’s already so much detail going on in there, it’s not like the brain of the viewer is going to present it all in crystal clarity. Rather, it’s going to pick up what stands out, and use that data to fill in the blanks. If some braces and so forth are slightly accentuated more than others, they’ll be noticed on a more thorough level, and the brain will assume they’re all like that. This is why camouflage works so well- the brain fills in the blanks. A copperhead who’s all stretched out, sunning himself languidly on a rock in the morning doesn’t look like leaf litter. But if he retires to the forest and coils up among leaf litter you will not see him unless you know he’s there in that particular spot and you’re forcing yourself to see him. Or you happen to notice a small movement from him which causes your brain to snap another “photo”. The leaf litter abounds, there’s so much detail to process that the snake, which has a pattern and colors vaguely similar to leaf litter can rest easy knowing he won’t be seen among all those leaves. And my saving grace here with this detail work-
It doesn’t have to be perfect but don’t half-ass it either, and if I do make some small mistakes it’s okay, I can make them ‘disappear’ simply by playing to how the brain processes all the details we see.That’s some nifty stuff right there.
I wonder if we can use other optical illusions to our advantage?
Anyhow, thank you again Chief. Thank you. I got the aft cowling frame on, the flaps, and the exhaust. Here, have a butcher’s:
Okay so there we are. All up-to-date.
I have three more tasks before mounting this mother. I need to finish painting the rear of the engine, I need to get it all wired/plummed, and I need to attach the bulkhead (I already installed the arms to that part).
On we plow.
engines