Slice & Dice: air combat over Japan, 1946...

[Skyraider3D]

Here's a piece of aviation art I completed earlier this year. I hope you don't mind me posting this here.



Click for larger image.

In-between family expansions (the second one less than a fortnight ago!) and non-aviation-related work, I managed to get some aviation art done. Here is the first of over a dozen of images, both 3D scenes and 2D profile art, which I created for Ian Allan's upcoming book about Japanese x-planes in the popular Midland Publishing Secret Projects series. I was lucky enough to be commissioned the front cover illustration, which is the image shown here.

I've dubbed the image "Slice & Dice". The scene is entirely speculative and shows a what-if "1946" scenario high over Japan. Having slashed their way through the ramjet-equipped P-51D Mustang escorts, a pair of Japanese Manshu Ki-98 fighters is diving on a formation of B-35 flying wing bombers. At the time of Japanese surrender in August 1945, all three aircraft were very much in prototype status and none would ever become operational. The Ki-98 was never finished and, though extensively test-flown, neither the B-35 nor the ramjet-equipped Mustang were found suitable for operational service.


Here is what the image looks like on the book cover:



More information about the book can be found here: http://www.ianallanpublishing.com/pr...at=1057&page=1

Once the book is released (planned for October this year), prints and t-shirts will become available on my new webshop at http://www.digitalaviationart.com and I will post more of the other artwork I created for the book.


Some close-up details:









The Army Type 3 gunsight (based on the Revi 12C), the big Ho-204 37mm cannon and the Ho-5 12.7mm machine gun (based on the famous Browning M2 .50cal):




And finally a size comparison profile of the Ki-98 with the P-51D Mustang. I couldn't quite fit the B-35 in there at the same scale!



Click for larger image.

Thanks for looking!

- Ronnie