Calling All Ship Graphic Designers!

[Case]

Re: Another house rule?

The New Zealand seems to have been a very lucky ship - the best thing that ever happened to the HMAS Australia was colliding with the New Zealand off Scotland. The Australia was still in repairs at the time of Jutland and missed the battle.

And why was this lucky? The Australia was an Indefatigable Class battlecruiser.

Originally posted by Boco
Throughout the battle, Captain Green wore the Maori piu-piu and greenstone tiki given to the ship by an old chieftain at Rotorua in 1913

As an aside, it should be noted here that Rotorua is about as far from the sea as it's possible to get in NZ. It's also without doubt the wierdest place I've ever visited (the town is built on top of hot springs, and peoples backyards keep collapsing into bubbling mud pools).

[fairline]

Re: Another house rule?

Originally posted by Boco
Fairline, can you make a RN captain with one of these? Could be a vital wonder!

Where did he put it? It would make a very fetching false beard, maybe.

[fairline]

Feedback please

Can you let me know what you think of this HMS Lion graphic before I make too many more in this style? I'm not fishing for praise here - I want some honest criticism so that I can get the units right.

For example, I've gone away from the Nemo style of having the light source behind the graphic such that a shadow is thrown over the near side of the ship. Good idea or bad idea? Too light/dark?

[Case]

Very nice . However, IMO the superstructure and turrets blur into the hull a little too much. I'd recomend making the hull a little darker.

[fairline]

Do you mean the hull or the deck should be darker Case?

4 versions to choose from:

EDIT: added the darker deck version

[Boco]

IMHO, which has no basis in historical accuracy , you need a distinct contrast between the deck and both the hull and superstructure. For that reason, I'd vote for D or possibly C. Can you afford to use size to distinguish between DD, CL, CA, BC, BB, etc? This must be the first time I've ever nudged you toward high contrast!

Btw, I read in one account that the RN painted their DD's black at Jutland. If that's true, you might have to sacrifice historical accuracy for visibility in the game. My eyes would freak with black on dark blue.

Exile, are you thinking of units representing destroyers as DD flotillas or individual DD's? How 'bout CL's? The AH game used flots for the RN and half flots for the HSF.

Btw2, I think I'll have time to start scanning tonight. Then I'll PM you bits and dribbles.

[Exile]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

Gareth, all four images look superb to me. How am I supposed to choose? lol.

But If I have to choose one, I'll go with the third from the left. In any event, the centre piece of this little scenario will be the ships, not the map, so then, however your ships turn out, we will adjust the color of the ocean to best highlight your work.

Boco, thanx for the S&T article. I have a few issues myself. If I can return the favor sometime, lemme know. And yes, the DDs and TBs will be represented by units of 5 ships. The total number of these small ships fielded by both sides was such that there is NO common denominator. The British had 79 DDs, and the Germans had 62 TBs. Groups of 4, 5, or 6--none will work exactly, so I'll just go with 5/group.

[Boco]

If you're thinking of having night turns, how would you like to handle the gfx?

Now about that S&T offer... Do you have #176's "Mesopotamian Campaign" article?

I also have some of my Grandfather's books on Jutland, but I don't think they shed much more light on the battle. It's fun to read from a pre-WWII perspective. One of the authors is pretty critical, yet in general applauds the RN's radio discipline.

Beware of the Pixel Obsession Syndrome! Fairline is a known carrier of POS!

[fairline]

Originally posted by Boco
IMHO, which has no basis in historical accuracy , you need a distinct contrast between the deck and both the hull and superstructure. For that reason, I'd vote for D or possibly C.

I think you and Case are right here; C or D it is

Can you afford to use size to distinguish between DD, CL, CA, BC, BB, etc?

To a certain degree yes; the longest ships were the CBs Lion, Princess Royal, Queen Mary and Tiger (all 700+ feet), whereas a QE battleship was 650' or so long. The CB's were distinguished by a narrower beam (more cruiser-like lines) than a BB, so I'll incorporate this difference as well.

Btw, I read in one account that the RN painted their DD's black at Jutland. If that's true, you might have to sacrifice historical accuracy for visibility in the game. My eyes would freak with black on dark blue.

Osprey mentions British DD hulls were painted black as well; they were apparently repainted grey after Jutland because the black showed up at night (!). Must have been a pretty shiny black I have already drawn black-hulled ships for Imp. 2 so this won't be a problem in terms of contrast with the sea...

[fairline]

Re: Hmmmmmmmmmmm

Originally posted by Exile
But If I have to choose one, I'll go with the third from the left. In any event, the centre piece of this little scenario will be the ships, not the map, so then, however your ships turn out, we will adjust the color of the ocean to best highlight your work.

C it is then! Thanks for the feedback - I'll get a few done this weekend.

BTW, I'm looking at making up some sea tiles to go with 'em

[fairline]

Originally posted by Boco
Beware of the Pixel Obsession Syndrome! Fairline is a known carrier of POS!

I just can't help myself. This Lion graphic will no doubt be tweaked a hundred times before the final version.

[curtsibling]

Fairline, those ships are bound to rule the seas!

Bladdy good stuff!

[skipper]

and some more links:

http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/orderof.html

http://www.100megsfree2.com/jjscherr/scherr/vonscheer-2.htm

http://www.richthofen.com/scheer/

http://www.kaiserliche-marine.de/

http://www.mdproduct.de/uboot061a.htm

[fairline]

First batch of graphics: British battlecruisers. Again, criticism is welcome (to help feed my POS )

EDIT: Moved a couple of turrets as suggested.

[Case]

Originally posted by fairline
First batch of graphics: British battlecruisers. Again, criticism is welcome (to help feed my POS )

While this may be asking the impossible, I think that you need to do something so that the different classes appear more distinct. My sugestion is to make each ships smoke plume appear different and/or have the turrets rotated at different angles on each ship class.

Oh, and aren't battlecruisers 'BC's rather then 'CB's as you've labled them?