Military service in general, and combat operations have often been described as hours of paralyzing boredom, punctuated by moments of sheer terror.
During the later stages of the European portion of World War 2, German controlled territory was subject to nearly continuous bombing by American and British forces. Even as the war industries were forced to disperse in order to survive, and necessary supplies became more and more scarce, the Germans continued to put up a stubborn aerial defense against overwhelming odds.
My latest work depicts a lone Luftwaffe Fw190 beginning a head on pass at a box of American B-24 Liberators. The German pilot must have been feeling his moment of terror as he approached the American formation, but I’m sure many of the crewmen in the bombers about to be attacked were experiencing their own moments as well.
After a series of layout ideas were studied, I plotted out the positions of all of the aircraft involved in the scene and generated a perspective wire-frame for the entire composition.
The scenario is this – the German has completed a dive from higher altitude and is pulling back up into a head-on pass at one of the bombers in the formation – specifically the “Number 2″ B-24. In the distance, you see a B-24 falling from formation, having taken a hit from anti-aircraft fire.
Once the wire-frame was finished, I began to work on pencil studies of the individual aircraft in order to establish light direction and tonal values. The first one I completed is the “star” of the show – the Fw190 (which just happens to be my favorite World War 2 German fighter).
As I progress, I will do a study of at least two of the B-24′s. I’ll be sure to post them when they’re ready.
Blue Skies!
