Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Dej

Fateful Morn IV

Recommended Posts

Howdy Folks,

 

Been a while since I did one of these, RL having interrupted the series, as it does everything else.

 

S.e. 5a models - Silver Wish Games; Trees - Free Download, all other 3D content (Bessoneau Hangars, Fuelling Cart, Chocks, et c.) mine, or native C4D. Rendered in Cinema 4D, post-processing in Paintshop Pro X2 (lamp highlight, dawn-tinting, grain filter, logo). Render time 6 hours 38 minutes. I'm particularly pleased with the camera angle.

 

Scenario is...

 

St. Omer Aerodrome, 05:45 hours, 26th July 1918.

 

As ‘rosy-fingered Dawn’ paints the Eastern sky with cliché, two S. E. 5a of No. 85 Squadron, illuminated by the light spilling from the open hangar behind them, are readied for a trip across the Lines.

 

The nearer machine is to be flown by Lt. Donald Inglis, a New Zealander and new member of the squadron, who has yet to open any score. The farther S. E. 5a, in which the armourer is double-checking the Lewis drum, is the mount of No. 85 Squadron’s Commanding Officer, Major Edward Corringham ‘Mick’ Mannock, DSO and two bars, MC and bar. Mannock is a superb leader and tactician and at this juncture a 60-victory ace.

Mannock has offered to take the newcomer up to the Front in order for Inglis to ‘bag a Hun’. This they will do, bringing down an Albatros near Lestrem, but it will prove to be Mannock’s last.

 

Shot down in flames - a fate that haunted his nightmares - by intense ground fire, Mannock’s body is found (it is said) 250 yards from the wreck of his machine. Inglis’ machine is also badly shot about and his fuel tank punctured, but he manages to bring his S. E. down safely on the Allied side of the Lines.

 

Buried by German troops close to where he fell, Mannock’s body was never formally recovered and has never been convincingly identified.

 

Mannock was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in 1919, after intense lobbying by former comrades.

 

 

Fateful Morn IV v0.2.jpg

 

[EDIT] Typo [/EDIT]

Edited by Dej

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Again you created an intriguing atmosphere through the lighting and the colour of the sky, Dej.

A picture that transports quite the melancholy, which must be connected to the coming event,

but also an almost Royal purple in the haze of the sky.

:good:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

.

 

Another evocative work Dej. Very, very well done Sir. I like many things about it, but in particular the armourer's latern, serving as a ghostly foreboding of Mick's horrendous end. A poignant and sadly fitting focal point of the work, I think.

 

.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I love all your work Dej..... you are up there with the greats of aviation art!....if these were released in a book...I would buy it! :drinks:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I love all your work Dej..... you are up there with the greats of aviation art!....if these were released in a book...I would buy it! :drinks:

 

That's praise indeed, that a body would part with hard cash for something I've created, thank you.

 

Lou, I hadn't considered that point about the lantern... but now it was, of course, deliberate :grin:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

S.e. 5a models - Silver Wish Games; Trees - Free Download, all other 3D content (Bessoneau Hangars, Fuelling Cart, Chocks, et c.) mine, or native C4D. Rendered in Cinema 4D, post-processing in Paintshop Pro X2 (lamp highlight, dawn-tinting, grain filter, logo). Render time 6 hours 38 minutes.

Indeed, a nice moody piece. But, a render time of 6 hrs, 38 min? What dpi are you rendering to?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Indeed, a nice moody piece. But, a render time of 6 hrs, 38 min? What dpi are you rendering to?

 

DPI of 72. But it's the MIP-hammering procedural grass, the caustics and the ambient occlusion that bang up the render time. If I turn those off it's 20 minutes!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Dej,

Beautiful and evocative work. :salute:

I tried to find the letter for Inglis' machine, but came up empty. It isn't recorded in the Sturtivant bible, nor could I find it anywhere else. Inglis is associated with an earlier machine that carried the letter Y, but that is no guarantee that E1294 carried it.

Cheers,

shredward

 

ps - I just noticed that you have Y on the upper wing. A prudent choice!

Edited by shredward
I am an idiot

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi there Dej,

 

Very nice work indeed, and that RAF would see the lantern........................fire....................flames........................

 

I dare say olde boy but the OFF DEV TEAM should surely request that you ply your exemplary talents with a opening scenes for the new P4?

 

Cheers,

 

Britisheh

 

formerly British_eh

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Dej,

Beautiful and evocative work. :salute:

I tried to find the letter for Inglis' machine, but came up empty. It isn't recorded in the Sturtivant bible, nor could I find it anywhere else. Inglis is associated with an earlier machine that carried the letter Y, but that is no guarantee that E1294 carried it.

Cheers,

shredward

 

ps - I just noticed that you have Y on the upper wing. A prudent choice!

 

Cheers Ted! I appreciate your looking. I tried to find hard evidence too, even asked at The Aerodrome. So I had to settle for 'Y' in the end.

 

Thanks Richard. If I were accorded that honour I'd be more than happy to help.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

.

 

Lou, I hadn't considered that point about the lantern... but now it was, of course, deliberate :grin:

 

Personally Dej, I think it WAS deliberate, perhaps just not consciously so. :smile:

 

 

Very nice work indeed, and that RAF would see the lantern........................fire....................flames........................

 

Britisheh, visually the latern is the focal point of the entire piece. Notice how the rest of the scene is cast in an early dawn glow; a cool, almost dreamlike illumination, with shadows and dark silhouettes hiding much of the details. But then, juxtaposed to that, is the light of the latern; not a warm, inviting light, but an intense, almost harsh blaze, demanding you look to where it has stripped away the darkness. Notice too where the sun is rising on the horizion, directly behind the nose of Mick's plane; almost, (but not quite), mimicking the blaze of the latern. The plane is quite literally bracketed by flames. Consciously intentional or not on Dej's part, that is a pretty potent image of the soon-to-be fate of Major Mannock, and the latern is the key to that image.

 

Just my opinion of course, art being subjective and all.

 

.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue..