Albatros D3

[Mark_Miller]

Originally Posted by Cigogne

Mark,

Another beauty! The lower fuselage area by the wing root doesn't flare out, but is flat sided. The flaring effect is accomplished by triangular fairings that are attached to rounded corners for and aft of the wing root to complete the shape.

I'm excited to see this one come along!

Hi Cigone
Yes, this transition is something i had difficulty with.
I had the Waugh plans - which clearly define the internal structure, however i did not have anything which clearly defined external structure.
a couple of blurry photos was about it - just enough to show me that something else was going on here, but not enough for me to figure it out.
so, I generated a surface as best i could using the bulkhead data.
and it wasn't easy - elemental changes in a surface like this are a HUGE pain.
you can either break the surface down into seperate parts or make one big piece and live with the distortion in the grain.
if I had a better idea of how the external skin was handled I would have broken it down.
but, it seemed like a waste of time as I did not have a clear idea of how it works.
I've attached a screen capture that shows the wire for the internal structure from the cockpit forward.
wires can be hard to read sometimes, but I think it shows the basic contours of the bulkheads.
everything is fine until you get to the 3 bulkheads that suddenly stick out to accomodate the lower wing root attachment.
and I have little idea of how to make the tranistion at the front and back.
yeah, I can see the metal fittings, but can not see how they could make the transition that is required here.
so...if anybody has info that would clarify this - I'd realy appreciate seeing it

[Mark_Miller]

Originally Posted by Tim West

I like the render and most certainly the textures. What I like a lot about your stuff is that I can "tell" its "your" stuff. Your work has a style that is consistent and recognizable. A lot of CG out there, might look cool, but the feel and style is the same as 20 other artist. This is something I have been working on for a bit now and hopefully some consistency is starting to show.....its just cool to see CG with a "style".

It will be cool to see some action shots.

Hi Tim
Thanks for the comments
And yes, I agree, a consistent and recognizable "style" is extremely important.
If you can't see yourself in the work...then what's the use?

Well, that isn't entirely fair
There ARE times when you do not want to see the artist.
Like in the WETA stuff.
For them "illustration" is a bad word
took a bit of getting used to - but you can see the sense of it.
photrealism is what is needed there, and any hint of personal style would destroy the illusion.

but, for my personal work, I definitely do NOT want to be a camera.
and it is not easy with digital work.
when you work traditionally you almost can't help but be "in" the artwork.
just take a pencil and draw a line on a piece of paper and you are there.
but do it with a straight edge...and you are not.
it is a dead thing.
and digi work is kind of like that.

I've always worried that I’d run across something that looked just like mine.
that even I couldn't tell from looking at it that it was not mine.
maybe the only reason my stuff looks different is because of the software I use.

but, there are a lot of decisions along the way
and maybe in there somewhere.....
I honestly don't know
but I can tell you one thing - it isn't in the modeling, at least, not the way i approach it.
when I model I try to be as literal as i possibly can - and using an engineering tool helps.
but, IMHO, this is all just craft.

now textures, lighting and composition
that gets a little more personal
well….I suppose it is important to think about this stuff
but, in some ways, it is kind of a waste of time.
Make pictures you like…that’s about it

[Mark_Miller]

Originally Posted by Mark_Miller

I can see the metal fittings, but can not see how they could make the transition that is required here.
so...if anybody has info that would clarify this - I'd realy appreciate seeing it

and yet...it would apear that this is exactly how it was done
and now that I have some clear refs - it should be relatively easy to model.

thank you Koloman.

[James Dietz]

MARK ...STILL HAVEN'T SEEN 'EM!

[Roadhog]

Dear Mark, It looked real. That is the best compliment of all. Keep'em coming! Roadhog

Mark,

Your renderings have been an inspiration to our design team trio. We want an Albatros to fly.

As is always the case, engine selection is a problem with weight, power, configuration and reliability being considerations. We have decided to use a Suzuki G13 8 valve engine with a gearbox reduction.

Preliminary construction looks like it will be aluminum tube basic structure with hollowed and shaped foam blocks for the upper and lower fuselage areas. The flat fuselage areas will probably be fabric covered in order to keep the tail light.

Keep up the beautiful CAD pictures. It provides inspiration for the group.

Now if I could just graduate from 2D to 3D CAD-------

Charles Mullins

[Mark_Miller]

Hi Charles
thanks for the comments
Glad to hear my renderings have been useful.

BTW - I am using Microstation which is a 3D CAD application similiar to autocad.
old an oudated to be sure, but still 3D

Mark

[pspiranha]

Originally Posted by Ross_Moorhouse

Ok what box art work is this for????

I don't know if that was ever used for box art but - I can show ya this!


V/R

David Johnson

[Cigogne]

Mark,

Here are a couple of closeups of two different D.III (OAW) that show the wing root fairing. The Austro-Hungarian D.IIIs (Oeffag) differed in having metal fairings. Taz lent me some photos recently and these are closeups from them. They are appearing in the Winter 2005 OTF.

Take a look.

Hmmmm...maybe I should get Mark to paint the D.III I'm building!!!