Hi. I’ve seen a few aircraft projects on the forum recently (including one by me!) so I guess I won’t win any prizes for originality of theme. However I felt like showing a bit of love for the occasionally overlooked Hurricane in time for the 75th anniversary of its finest hour.
I think I’ve finished most of the modelling, concentrating on getting the overall shape and some reasonably tidy topology (though am no expert on this).
I’m now starting the texturing phase where I am even further out of my depth. I’ve had 4 attempts at doing some paint scratches but am still not convinced by them. I need to add some more realistic dirt / wear to make it come alive.
Any top tips would be much appreciated, as would any other feedback.
Thanks.
A fine looking aircraft sir! and a much overlooked one to boot, many folk forget that this plane did more work in the Battle Of Britain than did the Spitfire, but alas the Spit gets all the credit… Oh well such is life.
I can only suggest you get hold of Witold Jaworski’s book “Virtual Airplane” Probably only need Book 3 on texturing and materials to start with and its something like $10.00 from memory - but it is money well spent, I bought all the series and have learnt so much from what I have read. Have you got control surfaces and undercarriage modelled and working, if not that will keep you busy for a while. I have a couple of planes in the WIP here, one was just a learning exercise for the other.
Anyway it looks good at this first glance, you could post some close-ups of various sections so we can micro analyse it, if you are feeling brave.
Well Done, nice model, but you will need, like I will also, to get rid of the “Plastic Model” look so it becomes a real plane, think about HDRI lighting and a good background.
Cheers, Clock
You will also need to establish which exact model it is before folks start to check into the authenticity of colour scheme, exact aircraft detail and all, believe it or not that what they do around here at times!
EDIT
Like for example you have put DT as the squadron code, which was either 192 (Bomber Squadron and not likely) or 257 based at Hendon who flew Hurricanes in the BOB, but where essentially the “Burma” Squadron who’s motto is “Thay myay gyee shin shwe hti” - Burmese for “Death of Glory” their most notable Wing-Co was the legendary Robert Stanford-Tuck, if this is his plane, you need his plaque on the starboard side below the cockpit window - over to you…
Thanks for your comments. I have seen Witold’s book which looks stunningly comprehensive. It sounds like a wise investment. I suspect I’ll be doing a fair number of aircraft in the future.
I’ve got the elevators, ailerons and rudder as separate objects so I can position them. I’d made the model for some still pictures so hadn’t given much thought to rigging them (which I’ve seen you’ve done in the past). Also, for the same reason, the undercarriage just has fully down and up versions so isn’t animated. The idea of modelling and rigging one that retracts realistically terrifies me!
Here’s a slightly closer picture. The bump map is probably a bit aggressive in places and, as you say, it does look a bit like a plastic model.
And on your historical accuracy point, I suspect I’ll have to up my game a bit! The markings are from my main reference image. I’ll need to do a bit of research to make sure I’ve got the right model / markings combination for a Battle of Britain era plane. I might switch it to a Biggin Hill based squadron as that’s round the corner from where I grew up.
Thanks again for your comments. I’ve been watching with interest your Canberra taking shape!
Great job @IanA, I’m a huge fan of both the Spit and the Hurricane…tottaly ageree with @Clock the Hurricane did most of the work but it was the revolutionary design in the Spit that made it famous and it stuck in people’s minds as being the one that saved the day.
One issue that I’m having is that the squadron’s ‘decal’ looks to clean and it kinda looks if I dare to say a bit unattached from the fuselage…I know that you are still in the WIP phase of the texturing, but I reckon is someting to look at…also the canopy, does it have a Solidify modifier in it?
I can’t see anything else that posp out straight away…nice job!
This is a nice plane - I like it a lot. You are right - the bump map could do with a little easing. Have you got your head around Witold’s “Moderate” node, it helps greatly in selectively reducing the “bite” of the bump map dependent upon the lighting angle. I have not posted any images were I have used this yet, but it really works. I have also played with his “Dirt” layer mod to the material, It is a very difficult thing to get right - too much and it looks like one of those God-Awful video game models, too little and it looks like an Airfix kit! There is a lot of good info on the web about hurricanes, but if you are stuck, I can help with some of my many aircraft books. I grew up on Binbrook Airfield, Boscombe Down and other such airfields in my early years in the late fifties, so planes are in my DNA!
Just a small point, I notice on your pale green band at the top, you have a slight mismatch between the left and right side UV maps causing a slight distortion in the band. I found this incredibly difficult to get right on my Canberra, and in the end I used Vertex Paint mode to “tweak” the image texture so it looked right. I even used this method to paint all the camo dark colour onto the model, so it all lined up. One thing you might like to consider, is to split the mesh along the joint between top colour and underside with a seam, then UV map the whole top in one piece, then pin the top centreline only and then unwrap and pin the rest of the top. Then repeat all for the underside, I have spent many hours UV mapping and am now on my 11th or 12th version. This method is what I did in the end and it worked out best for me to get a good texture image.
Hope this helps you, Cheers, Clock.
PS. I have just spent nearly 80 hours getting my decals to look right! - this is not a fast process I have decided.
I forgot t say that I have the definitive colour scheme for JX-F, night fighter version, if you are interested, also the YB-W or officially LF363, (squadron seems to change regularly!) still exists and flies with the BBMF so you can go and look at it, have a think about it.
Ok, it’s looking good. However, since you asked for feedback I will point out the the cross sections of the wing are not quite convincing for anyone who knows anything about airfoil sections.
The Hurricane would have been using one of the old turbulent flow sections, which commonly had maximum thickness at around 30% from the leading edge (the NACA “four digit” 00xx series is the classic example). Offhand I don’t know exactly which section the Hurricane used, but that information is probably available if you dig a bit.
Your wing section appears to have maximum thickness around 50% or so, which is characteristic of much later laminar flow sections (64, 65 and 66 series, for example).
You also have a very sharp peak in the section near the wing root, which would not be seen on any real wing due to the way it would bork airflow.
Templates and coordinates for a huge range of airfoil sections are freely available, so even without knowing the Hurricane’s actual section you should be able to do something so close that nobody will ever pick it. Getting the coordinates into Blender shouldn’t be that difficult either, so it’s a chance to get things better for not that much work.
Hey, took a few minutes to do some searching and found it for you. The Hurricane used a Clark YH section. Give me a few more minutes and I’ll find you a source for coordinates. I’ll append that to this post.
A fine looking model but … . As yet another fan of the Hurricane I would draw you attention to the fuselage aft of the cockpit to the tail. The structure there should be canvas over the frame so it is not smooth ,the ribbing effect is very noticeable if you get photos in good light you will see what I mean . A bit of a pain to portray but essential to a credible Hurricane . Otherwise the shape looks good .
Thanks everyone for your comments. I’ve just learnt something about wing cross sections! Mine may well be a bit fat and it never occurred to me there were standard profiles and how one would find them (so thanks Gumboots - I’ll take a look at it).
Clockmender - yes I just noticed the stripe in front of the tail goes a bit wobbly. I tried texture painting from a top view with smooth stroke enabled to get the clean line over the top of the fuselage, and then continuing it down from the side views. I thought I’d sorted it but it’s gone a bit awry. 80 hours just on decals is an impressive level of dedication (and one which I fear I may not have!).
NeilF92 - thanks. I tried doing the ribbing using the geometry and having sharp edges with an edge split modifier but you’re right that it doesn’t stand out enough with the textures on. I’ve seen from Witold Jaworski’s book that he’s used a bump map for the ribbing on his rudder which I’ll see if I can make work on the rear half of the fuselage.
Tommy 1441 - thanks. Yeah it’s all a bit clean behind the cockpit at the moment. I agree the lettering looks particularly freshly applied at the moment. It’s now on my list to sort! And the glass in the canopy, if I recall, is a series of single planes without a solidify modifier. I had an initial try with the glass shader (which I gather really needs thickness to work) but then switched to a mix of glossy/transparent shaders so I could have more control of the balance. I wasn’t sure if that also looks better with a bit of thickness but I’ll give it a try.
And ShadowCamero - yes, it’s done in cycles. I can post the node setup though I’m away from my computer for a few days. It basically consists of a diffuse texture, with the paint scheme, and a specular map done in Gimp, a bump map with a computer-crashingly large number of rivets done in Inkscape and mixes different glossy shaders for the metal and non-metal sections with the diffuse using a fresnel node.
Thanks again everyone. Lots for me to work on already. Glad I’m not the only one with a soft spot for the Hurricane!
The direct link should already be in my last post, but it’s behaving weirdly. For some reason I can see the edit I made to the post if I am logged in, but can’t see it if I am logged out. Is it visible to anyone else?
Having now invested in Witold Jaworski’s book, I felt inspired to re-do the texturing. I’ve concentrated on the metallic areas, though I’ve also tried to sort out the frame structure behind the cockpit by using the bump map. I’ve learnt quite a few things about Inkscape and GIMP along the way so it’s all good practice.
I should also add I’ve slightly remodelled the wing on the basis of the earlier comments.
Really nice work here, the wing chord looks right and the metal is much better. Have a look in Witold’s book about distorting the panels a little - not too much, but it makes them look convincing if you have some warping and slight irregularities from the “true” shape. He does this with gradient grey scales on the panel shapes applied as a bump map. See early on in book 3.
Quick update with where I’ve got to on the paintwork. Still quite a few things to do and some adjustments I’d like to make. I’m learning that good textures require an amount of time and skill that I may not have the patience or talent for…
I think it’s an improvement on the original at least, so hopefully it’s going in the right direction.
Ian, This now look much better than your first post. I urge you to keep up the good work and progression. Yes it requires patience, but you certainly have the skill to get there with this project. What I do to test a theory or new material is just try it on a simple mesh, rather than your actual model. That way, you see results quickly, that you can apply to the Hurricane.
