10 YEARS AGO...

Ten years ago...
I was awarded with a gold medal for design of cardboard models.
I believe I proved that such models are not inferior of the plastic ones and even in some features like exact coloring and markings some superiority can be achieved.
You can see few pictures from the 2003 Modeling exhibition in Sofia, Bulgaria, with the range of my ModelArt 1/72 and 1/32 cardboard models. These pictures are published for the first time.
The all models are designed by using the developed by me Surfmaster software tool that works in AutoCAD.

Digital Camouflage and Card Models

This is one of the cases where paper modeling has some considerable advantage in comparison to plastic modeling. This is recreation of so called digital camouflages. The digital camouflage is capable to jam not only the human visual reception, but the target acquisition as well. It adds high frequency noise to the viewer reception tract by adding some small patterns over the large ordinary camouflage patterns. They can be set of squires /pixel style camouflage/ or more complicated figures with hexagonal or irregular shape. Painting such camouflage on the model is a real challenge. But it is very easy to paint it on plain paper and then to build the model, giving only the necessary shape of the model’s parts and glue them together.

You can see the 1/32 e-build paper kit that represents the military version of DAR-27 Spector of the two seater ultra light DAR’s Scooter as border patrol aircraft in Bulgarian Air Forces service.

DAR-27 Spector in digital camouflage and Bulgarian Air Force Insignia.

And the illustration how effective the digital camouflage can be.

One more view of e-build 1/32 DAR 21 Vector 2 and DAR 27 Spector card models.

You can download the DAR 21 for free from http://www.papermodels.co.il/
The Spector will be in its place in the formation also as free card model kit.

Enjoy.

3D Models and Background Accordance

3D Models and Background Accordance

Adding 3D model to some existing background may cause problems.

Despite the some tolerances that human view system allows as perspective invariants in images perception, the mismatch of perspective properties of separate objects joint in one view can be very irritated. And vice versa – correctly set camera parameters, placement the 3D model and background projection plane produce “Just like a real thing” views.

In many cases when co planarity, perpendicularity and some similar a prior information for 3D model and background is known, usage the vanishing points, horizontal, vertical lines and the other well known perspective attributes are enough for obtaining acceptable results.

But what happens when such information is unavailable?

I believe that I found the answer in general. By using epipolar geometry and only 6 points in general position I can exactly joint the 3D object to background projection. The algorithm is simple /no fundamental matrix calculation, no homogenous equation system!/

Soon the algorithm will be available as AutoCAD plug in. There is one preliminary result:

The original picture from Stallion 51 Flight Operations

One more P-51 D added in the hangar

Just like a real thing! Enjoy.

Few more e-build card models

I’m adding few more pictures of my e-build card models. These are not simply 3D models, created by using the available modeling features of AutoCAD. The models are obtained by digital rolling back of the models’ kits cutouts. The design of the models and their 3D e-build are made by using my SurfMaster software tool. It works under AutoCAD and increases its features, providing additional abilities for sheet materials design.

 1/32 scale Westland Whirlwind paper e-build kit

 P-51 D Mustang, also 1/32 scale

Zlin Z-326 Trener Master 1/32 kit

 Ju-87 D and Mustang. The German pilot doesn't have problems with undercariage retraction :)

As you can see my e-collection grows with goog themps. These are all the e-build kits placed together, waiting to be updated with the Zlin.

Enjoy.

Digital e_build of cardmodels

The digital assemblage of a card model can be also very amazing as itself. Apart of the practical application as a method for final check the design, the process itself is very interesting. It allows examining many intermediate phased of the assemblage where some subassemblies are clearly visible before shading them from the skin or other parts.

The Ju-87 D over the models cutouts. Note the page with pilots at bottom-left.

I show this process to some persons and they found it highly enjoyable. They advised me to find a way to publish them. I agree and the next kit will come not only with cutouts for building the model from card, but with the sequence that I called e_build as well.

On the illustration above the start of e_build is shown. Since the all parts are on their exact places, you can easily recognize the prototype aircraft.

The next stage of the e_build. Each part is a polyface mesh, rolled back to his initial shape. Meshes are cut according to their coloring before assemblage. Thus model contains ony polylines and meshes.

Finally the e-build of the model is completed. The method of its creation considerably differs from the classic ways of 3D modeling in AutoCAD. Each part of the model is created in the 3D space as a polyface mesh. Then this mesh is flattened by unrolling over the corresponding models cutout. Then this mesh is cut and split to subparts with a same coloring. And finaly they are rolled back to their places. The all commands that perform these actions are supplied by the new version 4 of the SurfMaster software pack.

This method is very fast and very convenient and cover some limitations of the texture mapping in AutoCAD. Its main shortcoming is that the polyfaces meshes of this type can’t be smoothed, because AutoCAD doesn’t know the neighborhood between faces and can’t interpolate the normal vectors at the stitching lines. Despite this shortcoming, the e-build is very useful for checking of the design.

Apart of its main usage, the 3D model itself can be used for scenes representation, as it is shown on the illustrations below

 Ju- 87 D over the Dover coast.

Possible in the model world only


And there are few more examples with another aircraht:

Echo from the Cold war in 1/32 scale - Two Bulgarian Laz-7 over the Lubash mountain intercept a spy baloon

This is the e_build variant of the card model that represent the famous standard Warshaw pact trainer - L-29 Delphin with Bulgarian red star insignia.
The original of the picture used for background is:http://airgroup2000.com/gallery/albums/userpics/32463/Untitled-3~12.jpg

L-29 Delphin at Bulgarian Dolna Mitropolia flight training school airport

Enjoy!   

Human Figures and Cardmodel Design

Now, since I already have paper pilots, I'm starting the design of each new model from the interior composition.

These illustrations show the first step of the model arrangement - composition the interior

The model represents the new Bulgarian DAR-27 Scooter. Two variants of coloring are planned - civilian and  border patrool aircraft.

Enjoy! 

Ju-87 D and G 1/32 scale card models

Five variants of this famous German WW2 aircraft will be available soon. These are

Junkers Ju-87 D Dora

in  Lufwaffe, Bulgarian, Romanian and Hungarian service

and

Junkers Ju-87 G Kanonenvogel

Each kit will contain aircrew - pilot and tail gunner /see below.

Note that the illustrations on front pages are created with a version of SurfMaster software, where only lines, but not surfaces unrolling is available.