Ok, well, i’ve always dreamed of making a good aviation film…Imagine that .I don’t have much talent for animation, but i’ve tried a short anim with my old MiG and Mirage models. Learned AfterEffects, Maya dynamics/particles… ect for that. Very slowly as usual. that’s what i’ve been working on from time to time during the past month. Originally wanted it to be longer, with some lo flying and fighting over the desert, but eventually got tired of it. So decided it was finished after the first two kills… So time to update that poor neglected blog .
Here it is (see it in HD on Vimeo) :

It was fun, specially with AE, Playing with lights effects and all. learned a lot also in Maya.
Doing the music with GarageBand was fun too.

The last scenes/renders are in fact of much better quality than the first ones, cause i learned along the way.
Still , it’s very far from perfect. Specially the planes movements… But i’m satisfied with the look.
Render time took ages with scenes with a lot of particles (fire and explosions …) , in 30fps at 1080HD resolution.
Changed computer during the course, now a MacBook Pro 17  » 2.4 GHz i7 , much faster. The last 17″ MacBook model, seems Apple will not do 17″ laptop anymore… :( Until an eventual retina 17″ screen price drops significantly maybe.
Here a breakdown of the effects on the MiG ejection sequence:

And a shitload of walls :) screens from the HD vid, Ctrl-Click , open in new window to save.
Please be so kind to read the – TERMS OF USE – of these images. thanks.

That was the time… Kool & The gang , King Crimson, Françoise Hardy… The DS, the Renault R16 , Apollo, « La Séquence du Spectateur » on Tv  (well , i’m French…)…Ect… And silver fighter jets burning cheap fuel with lot of smoke.

A friend kindly provided me with rare image of a Algerian air force MiG. Unit unknown, time must be in the late 60′s, early 70′s.
So here is MiG-21 FL Nmr 31, just lightning post-combustion and starting to roll for takeoff.
And here again at the end of the runway , lo & fast , retracting gears :

In fact, i couldn’t find any pict showing MiG-21 smoking that much… So don’t know if it’s correct , but it’s kind of cool, so did it like that. it’s more usually seen with phantom or MiG-29 engines…
Very simple metal livery.

Roundels only on the wings.

The fin flag is reversed on the right side, green first. I’ve checked pictures, it seems to be the rule…

And iPad walls here :
DOWNLOAD Mig21682 ZIP HERE
or DIRECT Mig21682 DOWNLOAD (Right-click, open in new window).

and
DOWNLOAD Mig21685 ZIP HERE
or DIRECT Mig21685 DOWNLOAD (Right-click, open in new window).

Please be kind to read the – TERM OF USE – of the images included in this site.

Edit: Of course i forgot that the flaps should be set at 25° for takoff :/ …

As a break from the Spook cockpit modeling, i did a new « skin » for the MiG-21, together with renders.
I think i will make it a habit… It’s good for the head. When i have really no motivation for modeling, i force myself to put at least one screw in that Spook cockpit, and then give the rest of the free time for playing with older models…

So here is MiG-21FL Bort 3156 of the Khemed Air Force, landing at Wadesdah AB. Time and Unit unknown…

Profile detail :

No modeling… but a lot of photoshoping.
This WE i tried giving the kind of treatment i used on my Shahak#59 book images on some of my many MiG-21 renders. But with a kind of more old pictures look. Hope it makes the trick…
Also worked on some profiles.
Egyptian Air Force (Federation Of Arab Republics eagle markings) MiG-21PFS Bort 8025:

Egyptian Air Force (United Arab Republic two green stars markings) MiG-21FL Bort 5081:

Profiles of Egyptian Air Force MiG-21PFS Bort 8075:

CZ Air Force MiG-21PF Bort 0404:

VVS MiG-21PF Bort 257:

Yes! two post in a day…Did that shot with a MiG render one evening, trying to fake an hdr photo with photoshop. well , it doesn’t look really hdr, but more like an old picture. And it’s my wallpaper now :)
One 1024×1024 iPad format :

And one 1600×1000…

Mainwhile here are the state of the current projects: Unwarpping Finn’s Kittyhawk is neeaaaaarly finished. Most parts are done. Still have to decide if i use two or three 4096×4096 pixels maps and place the UV cells accordingly … cause now it’s a mess.

…Didn’t work much on the spook lately… only did the fin-rudder and some few details. I’m having difficulties finding good references on the back end of the arresting hook.

Cheers

Someone asked me to see some wires and how the parts are broke-up on my old MiG model… So here. First two images shows the meshes unsmoothed :

And here a screen showing smoothed Fuselage parts, canopy, fin… Wings are left unsmoothed.

Cheers

For my Mirage. MiG-21FL or early PFM (Type 77) Nmr 5081 of Egyptian Air Force in the 70′s, for future fighting renders.

Finally took the time to make a new livery, and a some colour and spec textures that looks good for MentalRay render…

Since i learned a lot doing MR renders with the Mirage IIIC model, been trying some renders of my old MiG-21 model in Mental-Ray. Some work on the textures and shaders are necessary to get a good look.
The textures needs to be darkened and contrasted much more than for a Maya Software render. I’ve spend a bit of time doing that. And i feel the spec map still needs to be reworked again, more contrasted, more dirty… Anyway here is one i’m happy with :