For those interested in making custom bomber cards for planes, produced or yet to be, a few suggestions.
I try to find a decent plan-view line drawing somewhere. Depending on the plane card you wish to create, this can be nearly impossible. You could draw your own, but that would add to the work, and is a time investment you need to balance against the end product. However, if you are determined to have a card, it is sometimes the only way.
There are many resources for line drawings, a few I use are:
Wikipedia. This is hit or miss, but they sometimes have svg (Vector) drawings. These are infinitely scaleable, and usually nicely detailed. A recent example is the Lockheed Hudson:
Others:
Richard.Ferriere.free.fr - Plans 3-vues/ 3-view drawings
Virtual Aircraft Museum
Drawingdatabase.com - AirCraft Blueprints
This bomber has a nose arc and a dorsal turret. It also has a twin tail. If you check existing bombers, the Ares 'North American B-25 Mitchell' is a great template to use to start your new card:
If you are thinking of later versions of the Hudson, the ventral gun position was fixed, rear-firing, so the 360 degree arc on the B-25 won't work, but there are other bombers you can use for reference.
I also refer to the Unofficial Stats Committee files for planes to get the stats right, and the firing arcs. However, the Unofficial Stats Committee and I don't always agree on what the arcs should be. I will defer to them when I can't find any other references, but when I do, I go with the historical references, preferably the aircraft manufacturers' documentation. I have found errors in historical intelligence assessments that were later proved to be erroneous. Check and recheck sources and documents for this. For the Hudson Mk I, the USC File for Gunnery Arcs is in error. It is missing the fixed nose guns, and the ventral position wasn't introduced until the Mk III.
More to follow...
Bookmarks