01.11.2008, 18:56
Hello everybody,
first of all for the moderators: I wasn't sure whether I should sort this post into an already existing thread or start a new one. If you think this post fits better somewhere else please move it.
Already for quite some time I wanted to learn 3D modeling, not necessarily for the modeling of Il-2 planes. So recently I started with it. If I find my skills good enough later I'd be happy to contribute more substantially to the great work presented here. But we'll see later...
Well, I think that the best way to learn something is to start with a real project, instead of re-creating those "Hello World" things. So I decided to model one of those planes which I'm longing to see in the Il-2. I'd need scale drawings, obviously, and so I looked around for something I could use, preferably something I wouldn't have to pay for. I found some drawings, also in one of the threads here, but they aren't really so detailed as I wish they were. But I found two sources which I'd like to share with you, so even if my modeling attempts prove to be disasterous I might be able to contribute somehow to the developments here. Hopefully I didn't overlook that someone else has already posted this info someplace else...
The sources I found aren't free, but it seems to me that we can get detailed info - and not just blueprints - for at least most of the aircraft we are interested in for small money only.
The first source I found is the "Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum".
In the "Archives Division" (http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/) they write
Unfortunately they don't have material about all aircraft ever build anywhere in the world, as I found out when I asked for the Do-17Z. And that's how I came to my second source: they pointed me to the archive of the "Deutsches Museum" in Munich, Germany (http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/archives/).
I mailed them and asked, whether they have a similar service as the NASM has, and indeed they have, albeit the fees are quite a bit higher. Still it is possible to go directly into the archives, search for infos and bring copys back home. This might as well be interesting for us. They write
[quote]
first of all for the moderators: I wasn't sure whether I should sort this post into an already existing thread or start a new one. If you think this post fits better somewhere else please move it.
Already for quite some time I wanted to learn 3D modeling, not necessarily for the modeling of Il-2 planes. So recently I started with it. If I find my skills good enough later I'd be happy to contribute more substantially to the great work presented here. But we'll see later...
Well, I think that the best way to learn something is to start with a real project, instead of re-creating those "Hello World" things. So I decided to model one of those planes which I'm longing to see in the Il-2. I'd need scale drawings, obviously, and so I looked around for something I could use, preferably something I wouldn't have to pay for. I found some drawings, also in one of the threads here, but they aren't really so detailed as I wish they were. But I found two sources which I'd like to share with you, so even if my modeling attempts prove to be disasterous I might be able to contribute somehow to the developments here. Hopefully I didn't overlook that someone else has already posted this info someplace else...
The sources I found aren't free, but it seems to me that we can get detailed info - and not just blueprints - for at least most of the aircraft we are interested in for small money only.
The first source I found is the "Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum".
In the "Archives Division" (http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/) they write
Quote:The National Air and Space Museum Archives supports the mission of the National Air and Space Museum by acquiring and preserving for public and curatorial use documentary materials of air and space flight.In principle it is easy: either you directly go to Washington DC (which isn't actually so easy for everybody) in order to search in their archives, or you can request research for some kind of material - blueprints, photos, technical manuals, etc. by email or snail mail. They don't just have American stuff in their archives, but as well for British, German and Japanese planes, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had info about aircraft from other countries as well. On request for a research you'll get accession numbers, together with the prize of copys, if you want to have them. You'll send them what you want to have, you pay - and they'll send you the material.
These documentary materials, which span the history of flight from ancient times to the present day include a wide range of visual and textual materials, many emphasizing the technical aspects of air- and spacecraft and their propulsion systems. The National Air and Space Museum Archives Division organizes and describes these materials and assists the public and museum staff in using these items in their research. The archival collection contains approximately 10,000 cubic feet of material including an estimated 1.7 million photographs, 700,000 feet of motion picture film, and two million technical drawings.
The Archives Division staff welcomes all inquiries from members of the public - researchers, students, and hobbyists. Contact us - we'll be happy to help.
Unfortunately they don't have material about all aircraft ever build anywhere in the world, as I found out when I asked for the Do-17Z. And that's how I came to my second source: they pointed me to the archive of the "Deutsches Museum" in Munich, Germany (http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/archives/).
I mailed them and asked, whether they have a similar service as the NASM has, and indeed they have, albeit the fees are quite a bit higher. Still it is possible to go directly into the archives, search for infos and bring copys back home. This might as well be interesting for us. They write
[quote]