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Posted on 24/11/23 08:42:46 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6994 Reply  |
Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
I've often wondered what it would be like to be on a bomber plane in combat, sealed in one of those glass bubbles with no protection. Terrifying doesn't begin to cover it. This is Old Fred, an exhibit at the Imperial War Museum in London (Brexit avoided it being renamed the Metric War Museum). Can you staff it and send it on its way? High res is here.  |
Posted on 24/11/23 10:23:36 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5556 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
I have managed to find references for how the gunner was seated in the upper bubble but not for the bomb aimer in the lower. Does anyone know if he was seated or lying prone to look down at the ground? You back yet Gordon? We need our aviation expert! _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 24/11/23 10:25:20 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5556 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
...... and a very appropriate banner this week! _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 24/11/23 10:58:20 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3972 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
Yes I am home but have been very busy. I will be making time for this one, though. Just to confirm- this is the nose section of an Avro Lancaster. The front gunner was seated but also served as bomb aimer and moved forward to lie face down during the bomb run to target. It’s very tight for space at the pointy end of a Lancaster. _________________ Have you ever noticed that all the instruments designed to detect intelligent life are pointing away from the Earth? |
Posted on 24/11/23 12:09:19 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5556 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
Aha! Well now I know, but still not sure what to do with this. I think we have to move beyond the confines of Steve's photo. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 24/11/23 4:02:01 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5556 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
BOMBER 'HOTCHIPS' CAPLIN prepares for a sortie. This entry is childish in more ways than one. Really not up to scratch. 
Truth to tell I can't really get to grips with this. Aside from the obvious (and I suspect rather difficult) job of getting people into the canopies, it's hard to know what to do apart from simply going off and building another Lancaster image entirely. I shall be very interested to see what others make of this one.  _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 24/11/23 9:24:51 PM |
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lwc
Hole in One Posts: 3125 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
Well, this was more challenging than I expected... I wanted to use the starting image as much as possible, and this is the result: 
Not that great, but I consider it good enough for the girls I go with! Fun stuff there David...  |
Posted on 24/11/23 11:00:45 PM |
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Frank
Eager Beaver Posts: 1733 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 981: Crew Brief
Cute David. Good one Loyd. Placement looks good. I decided a nose job was easier. : 
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Posted on 25/11/23 07:33:29 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5556 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
That's really well done Loyd! Not easy. Keeping it dark definitely helps with the dark interior of the aircraft. If I didn't know I'd never have guessed Frank. Seamless. Once again darkness helps. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 25/11/23 1:13:55 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5556 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
An incredibly rare photograph of the prototype Vickers Hover Bomber. Created in absolute secrecy in the very last stages of the war and only developed to prototype when hostilities ended, this revolutionary aircraft never saw active service. There are no surviving examples in existence and only a few rare photographs, hidden away in RAF classified archives, have survived as testament to it's ever having existed.  _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 25/11/23 3:45:58 PM |
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lwc
Hole in One Posts: 3125 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
Thanks Frank and David...! Nicely done Frank! A "Vickers Hover Bomber"... very cool, good one David. |
Posted on 25/11/23 7:42:22 PM |
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Frank
Eager Beaver Posts: 1733 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
Thanks Loyd and David. Cool chopper David - now that's thinking outside the box - nicely done as well. |
Posted on 25/11/23 9:59:32 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 874 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
Good imagination guys. The fly boys are going to grease me for a blatant mistake...but I had fun.  _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 25/11/23 10:22:14 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 874 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
My stepfather was a navigator in the Wellingtons in WW2. During a sortie over Europe, he had gone to double check their position, by reading the stars through a navigation port the Wellington had on top of the fuselage. They were getting close to target. he ducked back towards his chart table with intentions of charting their position, when they ran into heavy flak. It was so close that he thought one of the fights had caught it, so, he went back to peep out of the navigator's port and it was gone. Seconds from getting his head taken off. My biological father was a Squadron leader, flying the Hudson bomber. never ever shared anything with us apart from when asked about the pox mark on his cheek. He said it was a present from Hitler. It must have been intense because if he saw genuine cotton wool, he went ballistic. Synthetic cotton wool never phased him. According to security forces, he was selected to do a demonstration flyby in the Hudson, for General Smuts. he came in low and fast and did a loop with the bomber. Apparently almost impossible. On landing the commanding officer stripped him of his wings. Smuts said, "He's the best pilot you have, give him his wings back. This security chap told my aunt that he flew an aircraft through a hanger. Now if I did something stupid like that, he'd ask me if I had *hit for brains. Miss the old boy! _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 25/11/23 10:37:41 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 874 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
Sorry so far of brief. I did a pencil portrait of my dad many years ago. You can see the pox mark in his cheek. must have been shrapnel through the cockpit glass. Wonder if his co-pilot made it...or his crew.  _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 26/11/23 5:40:24 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3972 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
http://vimeo.com/manage/videos/888454786  _________________ Whatever you do in life do it with the enthusiasm of a 4-year old in a Batman suit. |
Posted on 26/11/23 8:49:41 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5556 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
Yes ..... well ....... I have, of course, been curious to see what you would come up with Gordon ......... You don't disappoint! First reaction is that it's surprisingly static ..... but, of course, it's nothing of the sort! You, as an aerial photographer, know better than any of us that, although everything moves damn fast up there, the reference point is mostly at infinity and with not much relative foreground movement to provide parallax and foreground speed it can appear surprisingly gentle. The interior/exterior balance is perfect. If I was to ask you to gild the lilly I think some reflections of the explosions would really tie the plane into the scene. But that's very picky. I definitely wouldn't want criticism at that level aimed at my own work! 
I really like this one! _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 26/11/23 9:01:50 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5556 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
That's a pencil drawing Dennis? I'd never have guessed! Good looking man. I had an uncle was a Battle of Britain pilot. He would never talk about it ....... until he was in his eighties and then he finally opened up. His stories were very self effacing but it was obvious he'd seen some terrible moments. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 26/11/23 10:17:34 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3972 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
Thanks David. The cloud background is actually moving but quite slowly for exactly the reasons you said. The moon is also moving but much, much more slowly being 240,000 miles away😱 There are reflections on the fuselage from the explosions below the clouds but they are fairly subtle in this video. They are slightly more pronounced in the original. I’m glad you like the overall video. It was good fun putting this one together. _________________  |
Posted on 26/11/23 10:17:36 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3972 Reply |
Re: Challenge 981: The plight of the navigator
Thanks David. The cloud background is actually moving but quite slowly for exactly the reasons you said. The moon is also moving but much, much more slowly being 240,000 miles away😱 There are reflections on the fuselage from the explosions below the clouds but they are fairly subtle in this video. They are slightly more pronounced in the original. I’m glad you like the overall video. It was good fun putting this one together. _________________ Whatever you do in life do it with the enthusiasm of a 4-year old in a Batman suit. |
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