Seafuryfan, thanks! Yes indeed an earlier work-in-progress image had more contrast resulting in the aircraft being too dark for an effective book cover. It was more moody though and I preferred it in a way, but the plane needed to show more detail which prompted the addition of the AAA tracer fire for frontal illumination.
Paul, you’re possibly right, but it looked bad for the composition 😀 I had to take a bit of artistic license there, but due to gravity a tracer stream will ‘bend down’ so it’s not entirely wrong. Plus you could say that the crew was rather surprised and messed up their initial reaction by aiming very poorly! 😉
Don, thanks for the links. Amazing to read that the camera-to-nuke distance in that pic was 30 miles.
Deskpilot, I measured the actual distance you see in the artwork in Google Earth and it is about 8 to 10 miles. I virtually bombed the spot where I made the background photo using a B-61 nuke, on this website (a rather creative implementation of Google Maps!): http://www.carloslabs.com/projects/200712B/GroundZero.html
It would appear the TSR2 is out of harm’s way.
TSR2: Hell-For-Leather!
Here’s one of my latest works:
Hell-For-Leather
After their nuclear attack against a Soviet industrial target, the crew of this TSR2 dive back to the relative safety of supersonic low-level flight. With the bomber’s cover now broken, a “Shilka” self-propelled anti-aircraft gun is the first enemy unit to respond. As they speed away from the target, hopes are high for a safe return to their forward air base in West Germany… if it is still there. This is the doomsday scenario that could have unfolded, had the Cold War turned hot and had the TSR2 not been cancelled in 1965.
This image was created for Damien Burke’s superlative book TSR2, Britain’s Lost Bomber, published by Crowood. If you have any interest in the TSR2 at all, this is the one book to get. Freshly researched, it debunks all the misinformation and myths that surrounds it and adds lots of new insight, information and fantastic technical detail that has been hidden in archives for over four decades. An absolute must for anyone interested in Cold War aviation. More information about this book can be found on http://www.tsr2.info
Prints of the cover art are available through my web store at http://www.digitalaviationart.com
Merry Christmas everyone!
Ronnie
PS. Below a few close-ups:
Thanks Mercurius!
At last, the TSR2 art is finished and online. Please have a look here: http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=105691
PS. Prints are available on my webshop (link in my signature).
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