Bristol 138A

[gray]

The Bristol 138 A first flew in 1936. It wouldn't win any beauty contests with it's 66 ft. wingspan, fixed landing gear and boxy cockpit. The 138 was built for one reason, to set altitude records. In 1936 it flew to 49967 ft. (15230m.). In 1937 it attained 53937 ft. (16440m.). It was powered by a twin supercharged, intercooled Pegasus engine. The pilot wore a strange looking rubber pressure suit with a glass face plate that looked more suited to diving than flying. The plane is 100% vector,background mostly vector with a minor touch up in raster.

I've added the steps for this simple illustration. Starting with the 3 view drawing to create a 3D wireframe to work out the composition. If a 3 View isn't available you can draw your own. I then create the colour palette for the background which I use to keep the main subject(s) in the same tones. Last step is the vector drawing. Collecting as many photo as you can helps with the details for the drawing.

[Ron Duke]

Beautifully done Gray with all the details. Especially the wireframe and differing angles.

[gwpriester]

Nice. Very goose-like in its awkwardness. And similar to the US U2 spy plane that was designed to fly at very high altitudes.

[gray]

Thanks Ron, Gary.

[wizard509]

Gray you are correct, "It wouldn't win any beauty contest", but your drawing of it might. Great work.

[Toonicorn]

That is amazing!

[gray]

Thanks Larry, Toonicorn.

[pauland]

Excellent, as usual.

Would be nice to have a pilot and the sky isn't my favourite.

Made me think of the U2.

[iagman]

Thanks for showing your steps, gray. 50K in 1936 must have been an unimaginable feat.

[gray]

Thanks Paul, iagman.