Royal Aero Club Pilot Certificates Now Available

[+RAF_Louvert]

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That's quite nice nbryant, and you just happen to have used a photo of Charles John Biddle, the author of one of my personal favorite WWI aviation books, "The Way Of The Eagle", (an original 1919 1st edition of which rests proudly on my bookshelf). Embossed seals are a bit tricky to do as you have to create the seal from a clip of the finished document, so that the array of background colors and textures are part of the seal. You then use several layers built from that clip to create the embossed design, after which you overlay your lettering with a drop shadow in the proper direction and then dial the opacity of the text way down so the background again comes through. Then merge all the layers together and dial down the opacity of the entire "seal" until it looks correct. But really, however you've done it, what you have already looks quite good, IMHO.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

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[+Olham]

Nbryant, your work is looking great. Embossed stamps were used since the 1920s, as far as I could see.

From a picture I found, it looks like they were still pretty much following the European, mainly French way of design.

Here is the picture - I think one could use Lou's version, and change it a bit, if you want to go "historical".

Typestyle could be something like "Garamond" or "Palatino".

Otherwise, your's should be fine.

 

 

Edited July 2, 2010 by Olham

[+Hasse Wind]

 

 

Oh, and yes - I have made a "German wild hog" officer picture with monokel. If I find it, I'll post it.

It was meant to be my alter ego - the Bordeauxred Baron.

 

Here he is:

 

 

 

Hah, the perfect Prussian!

[+RAF_Louvert]

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nbryant, here is the larger version of the photo Olham has thoughtfully posted for you:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is an even clearer image of the same style document for a balloon pilot, from about 20 years later:

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

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[nbryant]

Thanks guys, you are such an amazing wealth of information. Lou, appreciate the copy of the American cert you provided. Funny story, for me anyway, was the text on the one I used as a sample was difficult to read and at the end of the verbage is the word brevetted...... could not read or make that out for nothing so I settled for certified on mine. Yours is clear and distinct, much thanks.

[+RAF_Louvert]

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My pleasure Sir. And unless you are familiar with the word "brevetted" it is not one that would ever come to mind when trying to make out some old, blurred text.

 

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[+Hasse Wind]

If you guys had been prisoners of war, there's no doubt about who would have been chosen to forge all the official documents in order to fool the guards. "The Great Escape."

 

Edit: Though I'm fairly sure Paintshop wasn't yet invented back then.

Edited July 2, 2010 by Hasse Wind

[+RAF_Louvert]

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Oh Hasse Wind, but it had been invented by then. Behold Paintshop 1912 Deluxe with the Power Pro add-on...

 

 

 

 

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[+Hasse Wind]

The wonders of technology!

[+Dej]

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Oh Hasse Wind, but it had been invented by then. Behold Paintshop 1912 Deluxe with the Power Pro add-on...

 

 

 

 

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Cor! Lucky Barsteward's got the compact version!

[+Olham]

Nbryant, that was a word I had never heard, and I had to investigate and found:

brevet = aviator's badge, flight crew badge

 

Learning something new every day...

[Ras]

Beautiful work, but I have to say that when I look at the faces of some of these brave men, it looks more like the photo they take before they throw you in jail/prison.

 

 

[+Olham]

You should see my passport photo! Or my old driving licens pic!!

 

(And NO - I won't post them here!)

[+RAF_Louvert]

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I have to say I'm a bit disappointed at the lack of interest in this facet of our beloved sim, and also that no one has taken me up on my offer to put together a pilot certificate for them. I thought there would be at least a few requests but apparently not. I guess those who take the immersion factor of this sim above and beyond are more than capable of creating their own documentation. Ah well, c'est la vie, I gave it the old college try. Up and away to other things.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

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[+Olham]

You should be grateful, Lou - you might have drowned in work again, and then you'd threaten us with another sabbatical.

 

But I have an idea. Perhaps you can find out, how that intermediate picture is called, that we get between "Briefing" and

getting to the field/aircraft. You could offer a simple guidance for how to replace that pic with an individual flying license.

Edited July 3, 2010 by Olham

[+Hasse Wind]

I admire the work you guys are doing for improving immersion, but I personally don't require anything like those certificates to enhance my OFF experience. I'd only feel bad for going through all the trouble for a pilot who most likely won't survive very long in any case. I have only a couple pilots who've lived long (over 100 hours, my definition of a long life in OFF), and the backstories I've invented for them for roleplaying reasons don't require any Photoshopping skills, which I don't have at all, unlike you brilliant artists.

 

But it's a really generous offer, so I hope some OFFers here put you to work "forging" certificates, Lou.

[+RAF_Louvert]

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I suppose I best be careful what I ask for, eh? Concerning my abbreviated sabbatical, as I mentioned earlier I discovered that OFF in general and you lot in particular have become a sort of refuge from the craziness of the day-to-day. I was not actually aware of this fact until after I'd been away for a month or so. To quote Joni Mitchell, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone."

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

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