Bristol F2b - WIP

[Russell Smith]

Here's the skinny, straight from the combat log:

Squadron: No. 20
Date: 6/9/18
Time: 8:30 to 9 am
Type: Bristol Fighter E'2181
Locality: Cambrai - St. Quentin
Pilot: Capt. H.P. Lale
Observer: 2/Lt H.L. Edwards
Height: 18,000 to 14,000 feet

Remarks: About 40 Fokker Biplanes

Narrative:
"... the remaining E.A. had, in the meantime, made off. Capt. Lale had collected his formation and, flying South, saw formations of DH4's, Dolphins and SE5's going towards St. Quentin, about 2,000 feet below. Following them over, the Bristol Fighter formation arrived just as about 30 to 40 E.A. dived on the Dolphins.

One Fokker Biplane passed within 30 yards of Bristol Fighter E2181 (Pilot - Capt. Lale, Observer - 2/Lt Edwards). Capt. Lale put about 50 rounds into it and sent it down in flames. The observer (2/Lt Edwards) was in the meantime firing with double Lewis gun at another E.A. about 40 yards away on the left. This E.A. first spun, then appeared to gain control, but a few seconds later burst into flames. Both these E.A. appeared to be falling into the middle of St. Quentin."

This is third of three projects that I'm juggling right now. The client (JonightFlyer) and I began discussing this one over a year ago. We both really like the idea of the simultaneous victory scored by one aircraft.

JonightFlyer's specifications were simple: make it the same size and dimensions as Wolff's Requiem as it will hang in close proximity to that piece. The final dimensions will be 44" x 28.5". Those of you who have seen Wolff's Requiem in person know that its going to be a big boy (the Bristol itself will be approximately 33" wide on the canvas).

As for my own initial goal, I simply wanted to choose a view of the Brisfit that would highlight some of the unique lines of the aircraft (in addition, of course, to telling the story correctly).

A few weeks back I finally got an opportunity to sit down and sketch out some ideas for the composition. This is the one JonightFlyer chose, and I have to say that I too felt that it best described the action.


Of course, with a flight of Brisfits, 30-40 Fokkers, and a bunch of Dolphins, SE5s and DH-4's, there is going to be a LOT going on here. My goal is to make it action packed and exciting, but not busy, and in addition to the Bristols and DVII's I would like to include at lest a few of the other types back in the background.

Reading through the combat log you'll see that it specifically states that Edwards was firing at a Fokker on the left. However, in this composition I imagined that aircraft as having already been hit and zooming past the Brisfit so that he's now on the right. Lale's victim is already going down and he's turning the Brisfit to give chase to Edwards' victim just in case he needs to.

Yesterday I managed to sit down and work out a rough draft of the Brisfit perspective drawing. It actually isn't quite finished. There are still some details that I'm trying to narrow down - specifically what letter E'2181 carried on the side. 20Sq's markings consisted of the letters "A" through "S" located approximately below the pilot's cockpit. I've posted inquiries on a couple of forums (including this one) to see if anyone might have information that might be able to help us out. I've found photos of "K" & "P", but neither of those are our bird. If I come up dry, I'll just choose a random letter.

I'm also holding off on the guns and the crew. I'd like to get the DVII's in place before I aim the Lewises.

The Bristol F2b carried 2 different exhaust configurations - a short pipe and a long pipe. I chose the short pipe configuration since a majority of photos I've seen from around that time show short pipes. Chances are, our bird carried them too.


and in context:


I'll be updating this thread as I progress. Progress will probably be slow since I've got 2 other irons in the fire right now, but hopefully it won't drag out too long.

Russ

[JerryBoucher]

Looks good! The only quibble I'd raise is the prop disc, which seems a bit too low - but please kick me if this is just a stand-in

[Russell Smith]

Hi Jerry. No, it is a bit low, but its actually supposed to be. Don't know how broad your knowledge of this particular bird is, but if you follow the centerline through to the nose you'll see where the prop hub would be (if you could see it).


Here is a good image that illustrates how low the centerline appeared to be at the prop. In actuality, it wasn't the centerline that was low but rather the bottom of the cowling that was really high.

Russ
http://www.earlyaviator.com/archive/...ristol_F2b.jpg

[JerryBoucher]

Ah yes - mea culpa. I obviously hadn't had enough tea this morning before I made my post

One other question was about the Fokker that was hit by the gunner - if it spun out and then caught fire, wouldn't it be some way away and lower perhaps?

[Russell Smith]

Perhaps. But who knows what actually happened?

Russ

[Lufbery]

Russ,

Your Biff looks great! It's a pleasure watching you work. I think the composition is really neat and I can't wait to see more.

Have you had some draftsman's training to learn how to make the technical parts of your paintings so good? The lines on your Bristol look really good.

Regards,

[Russell Smith]

Originally Posted by Lufbery

Russ,

Your Biff looks great! It's a pleasure watching you work. I think the composition is really neat and I can't wait to see more.

Have you had some draftsman's training to learn how to make the technical parts of your paintings so good? The lines on your Bristol look really good.

Regards,

I took a couple of basic drafting courses way back in high school (back when I imagined that I might one day be an Aeronautical Engineer - HA!), but the particular technique that I use to create my perspectives is called Geometric Projection and was introduced to me several years ago by an article written by Joe Demarco which appeared in the ASAA newsletter. This is one of two methods for creating perspective drawings which are discussed around ASAA campfire. The other - called Descriptive Geometry - was created by artist Keith Ferris. I use Geometric Projection simply because I've never learned Keith's method.

Both methods allow you to create an accurate view of your aircraft based on a formula that takes into consideration the actual aircraft size, aircraft size on canvas, the viewer's distance from canvas and actual distance to aircraft.


Russ

[Lufbery]

Russ,

Thanks for replying. I'm going to look up the two methods you describe. My own poor attempts at drawing airplanes usually don't turn out too well.

Regards,

[greatwarpilot]

Russ,

I look forward to watching this piece evolve. The Brisfit has some very nice lines to it and I'm sure you're painting is going to capture them in a vivid depiction of a fascinating incident.

Cheers,

[Russell Smith]

I got the perspective for first DVII finished over the weekend. This is the DVII on the lower left. I changed his angle slightly from the original sketch by bringing his tail around closer to the viewer. He's now moving into the painting more than across the painting as he was originally. This will help draw your eye in more. I think a smoke trail leading back up and behind the cowl of the the Biff will really help the front end of the Biff pop out nicely.

I sat down yesterday and tried to figure out who our victims might have been and I think I've found a unit that will work well. Jasta War Diaries report 1 loss for Sept. 6, 1918 - a pilot with Jasta 71. That can't be either one of our guys as J71 was based too far South at this point in time to be in this action. By this point in the war the Germans pretty much knew that the war was lost, and many unit commanders were keeping poor records, so the fact that there is no report of these 2 victories doesn't necessarily mean anything. The fact that Lale & Edwards both report their victims as having burst into flames is pretty strong evidence that their claims are legitimate (A claim of "out of control" or "probable" could be considered speculative as it was based on what the pilot thought he saw, but to actually see flames and smoke coming out of a victim is a little more substantial).

Since I was coming up short on losses, I checked on what units were in the area. Turns out there were many to choose from - Jastas 4, 1, 59, 46, 6, 10, 42 and 5 to name a few. That didn't really narrow things down, so I then took a look at German claims for that day. Lo and behold, 2 units - Jasta 11 and Jasta 31 - put in claims for Dolphins over St. Quentin at 9:45/9:50 (the German clocks were 1 hour ahead of the allies). That puts these two units in the right place at the right time, and we know from the combat report that there were Dolphins involved in the fight.

The combat report describes our victims as "not camouflaged". In my mind, that kind of rules out the possibility of Jasta 11 with their brightly colored a/c. Besides, Jasta 11's records were pretty solid, and we would probably know if that unit had lost any aircraft that day. In contrast, Jasta 31's records are comparatively slim. In addition, there is only 1 known photo of Jasta 31's DVIIs, and its very blurry. In short, I think we can safely go with Jasta 31 and mark the DVII's with some fairly conservative markings. It would probably be fun to also include some J11 DVIIs. The J11 claim was from Lothar himself, so I may try to squeeze him in somewhere in the background.

For this DVII, I went with a 4c lozenge scheme and a simple white striped pattern on the side of the fuselage. I'll do something similar for the other victim.

My next step will be to play around with the position of the 2nd DVII. I think that perhaps I can find another angle that might work a little better.

As for the lighting, I think I'm going to go with a similar to what I am using in the RE8 piece ( New R.E.8 pencil study ). The sun will be roughly at the the viewer's 9 o'clock high position. I think that this will give us a good mix of warm colors contrasted against the cool tones of the backdrop. I also find that the shadow of the upper wing sweeping slightly backwards along the fuselage really helps to guide your eye towards the observer.

This piece is going to have the same dimensions as Wolff's Requiem (44" x 28.5") and will be hanging in close proximity to Wollf. Artistically, my goal with this is to create a piece that both compliments and contrasts Wollf. Where Wollf is set in a cloudy, brooding sky, this piece will be set in broad daylight. Also, Wollf confronts the viewer by throwing the action right into your face, whereas I would like the action of this piece to draw you into the painting.