I have to pause for a moment and respond to this very interesting topic. I’m rather passionate about the shadows of wing spars on the underside wings of our models.
Des’ photo is excellent and please note: the rather dramatic or distinct shadows in this photo are taken of an aircraft in flight and at a distance. The intensity of the shadows is an artefact or result of the lighting conditions when the aircraft was photographed. Note: I also don’t usually comment on non-German aircraft.
I align myself with The Red Baron’s comments about tending towards Representation. Usually, our audience, at the model shows, are seeing our aircraft on the table, not in flight. We also (modellers) enjoy our models in our display cabinets, not in flight. So, the intensity of the shadows cast by the wing spars needs to be a little (or quite a bit) less than an aircraft represented in flight, like in Des’ photo.
Do not underestimate that all photos, are themselves representations, and not the real object. And also remember that your visual experience of even seeing a WW1 aircraft flying over your head, like in Des photograph, is also a representation of the object, mediated by your optic nerve and by a set of innate visual expectations in the viewer.
Seeing any scale model (object) carries with it, a set of visual expectations from the audience. We all experience this when we are weathering our models. While weathering, our models can come alive (this is very exciting), and then, if we over-do the weathering, right in-front of our eyes, we’ve lost it! The model doesn’t look as good.
Why is this so?
It’s because we are dealing with an optical illusion and visual perception. Plastic model wings are opaque, we must represent an illusion of light shining through a linen wing and casting shadows because of the wing spars. Wing spar shadows are appropriate for the underside of wings, not the top of wings.
Much confusion results from period photos of aircraft (usually) taken on the ground and in variable lighting conditions. Silver-grey on the factory Pfalz was opaque, no shadows here. Olive green on upper surfaces of Allied aircraft was also opaque, no shadows here. Lozenge printed wings on German aircraft was semi-translucent, subdued shadows here and we’ll still see a fuzzy outline of the national insignia.
Sorry about carrying on a bit. But presenting good optical illusion (Representation) strikes at the heart (or art) of good modelling. And this makes all the difference.
Yes, represent wing spar shadows and keep it subtle unless you’re photo-shopping your models and presenting them in flight.
On the issue of coyotymagic's (aka Bud) photo of the SE5A, with the wing spars presenting lighter than the surrounding linen. This is a result of the aircraft being photographed in-doors, wheel the SE5a outside and the spars would likely to cast a faint shadow or non at all because of the opaque paint on the upper surface. Representing wing spars in a lighter colour than the surrounding wing fabric is an artifact of modellers masking off the wing spars of their models and darkening the surrounding fabric with over-spray or weathering and then removing the masking tape. In Bud's photo, the light is being reflected off fabric under different tension and from different angles, hense the change in colour.
Happy Landings
Steven Robson
