Military commemorative schemes have become relatively common, usually well done and telling a worthwhile story. Today’s is an ANZAC special. The Royal Australian Air Force Hornet above was seen at the Omaka Classic Fighters airshow near Blenheim, New Zealand this Easter weekend just gone. Provided by the Australian Defence Force for the show, it was…
Tag: Camouflage & Markings
Spit-Take
Tribute schemes on military aircraft are increasingly often seen, and overall popular when done well, as here. This one is particularly effective as the blue on the jet’s wings and horizontal tail match the sky, bringing the Spitfire’s famous plan view to life. It represents the Supermarine Spitfire of the late General Frantisek Perina, a…
Enhanced Kiwi
Something with a little extra, today. A bit of fun seen hung in the ceiling of a well known New Zealand restoration shop. The Kiwi RNZAF roundel (with two feet) came in during the 1960s, joining the RAAF’s kangaroo and the RCAF’s maple leaf in separating from the red dot of the British Commonwealth Roundel….
Modern ‘Colour’
Here’s a few pages from a book from 1931*, when roundels were RED white and blue, thanks to the hand tinting colour process used. We take full colour printing for granted these days, but it wasn’t that long ago it was a big deal to have any colour at all – this book has only…
‘Mozert’ to ‘Tokio’
Today’s image is a complete contrast to the racist violence of the secondary posters from yesterday, though the intent, from wartime America, is exactly the same. A classic calendar (see below) cheesecake artwork, this is unusual in being painted by ‘Zoë Mozert’, born as Alice Adelaide Moser, as shown here. Not a lot more to…
Spotty Roundels
Today’s Poster. I really like this one, partly because it features roundels as an active part of the design – roundels come up again and again in military aviation art. The text (and jokes) are a bit laboured, but the illustration works well even without the text. Apparently the design’s by Victor Hicks (1893-1946) and…
Fortune 100
This is the 100th post on the blog. So here’s a cover from ‘Fortune’ magazine. Fortune is, of course, a US financial journal. This issue, from June 1940 comes from an era when much of the world was at war, except the USA, and is linking industry and communication (in the form of aviation) to…
Special Wings
Something a bit different today, and (yet) another area that could furnish enough interesting examples of the topic to be a blog all of its own. Lapel pins. Here we have Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) lapel pins. Interestingly, they feature three types of such pin, the stick pin, here featuring the CAC Wirraway aircraft’s name,…
Garish Harry
A pulp magazine cover. This one, from ‘Air Stories’ magazine of the inter war period features much promise in the text, but I’ve chosen it because it features a reasonably accurately drawn Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8, known to its crews as a ‘Harry Tate’ after the music hall comedian of the era. But. The shape’s…
It’s a Chaps’ Air Force
Today it’s a brochure cover, offering further education in the Royal Australian Air Force. Having aircraft in the background might make it seem more attractive (while you’re on the phone thumbing your papers and with a classy wire in tray) but I think the earning for the wide open spaces implicit in the painting might…
A Year of Aviation Illustration & Art 