My first scale project ...
Research 4: Conclusion and 'plans'
So this is how I reconstructed the F.K.41 from scraps
of information, photographs and incorrect drawings.
The short version. It wasn't just "finding out";
it was also "finding out how to find it out"
and it involved a lot of trial and error.
My Photoshop method can be questioned, but it got me
an awful lot closer to the truth. It's a creative method,
not scientific. You must be fully aware of the complex
matter of perspective in photographs and how you apply
the transformations. Your approach also depends on the
information you have of your subject.
"Before and after."
'Plans'
The first thing I tried to produce drawings for the F.K.41 is P3V, a computer
program for calculating three views from photographs. It wasn't that
difficult to comprehend, but it demanded exceptional
skill in placing the reference points and vanishing lines right. Furthermore,
the best result still would have a 5 %
margin of error.
Then I
tried 3D CAD software with the thought to first built a virtual model
that could be compared and checked with the photographs. This however
asked for correct views too, because 'sculpting' the model in 3D CAD,
reshaping it
over and over again, really meant to much work.
So I came to discover
my method in Photoshop.
In the end I realized there was no need for this virtual model
in 3D CAD anymore. Real
'sculpting' would be more or less the same, yet
it would be better and much easier to get details right, simply
by
trying
with
pieces of cardboard and comparing with the photographs.
So I'll have my 'reconstructions' made in Photoshop, printed out in
scale 1:4 on four sheets of 2 x 0,8 meters (images below) and get building,
simply making use of some necessary hand-made basic drawings.
I will make
a planning first. While building and drawing, I'll catalog my drawings.
Measuring the reconstructions and make simple ruler & pencil
drawings of every part I'm working at. First the basic bare construction;
next the
inner details (cabin) and essentials
like controls, landing gear, wing connection, etc.; cover it with 0,5 mm
ply (scale); and finally the outside details... true scratch-building.
Of the PH-AGQ I took three different photographs and transformed them to this sideview.
