Public Domain Aircraft Art

**jhawley** · 10-23-2020 08:17

Not sure if this would be the right place for this inquiry or not, but this strikes me as a group very knowledgeable about the hobby side of WWI aviation gaming, and I'm hoping someone out there can help!

I'm working up a basic WWI dogfighting game of my own design in Roll20 for online play. I'm using placeholder art for the planes right now, but was just wondering if anyone knew of any good resources for public domain or Creative Commons side views and top-down views of WWI aircraft (CC0 or CC-BY-SA license, as if I can get it working the way I want I may want to make the game available in the Roll20 marketplace as a self-contained module). I found these (link), which would be perfect if they represented a full set of planes, but they appear to be limited to just French and British designs.

Thanks in advance!

**OldGuy59** · 10-23-2020 09:21

For things I develop for publication, the only safe thing to do is to do my own images. I have borrowed and stolen other's line drawings for cards, but I won't and really can't charge money for the work.

For the BSG solo app I tried to produce, I did all my own images using vector graphics. But, they are based on images and IP from other sources. I have no idea what that would do for copyrights, should I actually attempt to publish the work online.

**jhawley** · 10-23-2020 13:00

Thanks for the quick response, and definitely agree! My only problem is that I'm an awful artist, so if I want a reasonably nice-looking result I'd need images that are better than what I'm capable of generating on my own

. I do respect creator rights, so I'd only be looking for materials that artists have released under Creative Commons or which would be firmly in the public domain. Alternatively, if there are any artists out there who have created this type of work and would be interested in licensing it, I'd be happy to talk; just know that this is a zero-budget hobby project, and I wouldn't be expecting it to make much.

**ReducedAirFact** · 10-23-2020 14:02

All of the top-down orthographic ones in this album are in the public domain: https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/al...p?albumid=3067, because I put them there.

It's not a complete set, though, because I haven't modeled every common plane yet, and it only includes top views. If you want a higher resolution image, there are some on the Wings of Linen wiki, or you can just ask me for specific ones. (The album is limited to 800x600, but they're easy to regenerate at any resolution.)

**jhawley** · 10-23-2020 14:12

Originally Posted by ReducedAirFact

All of the top-down orthographic ones in this album are in the public domain: https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/al...p?albumid=3067, because I put them there.

It's not a complete set, though, because I haven't modeled every common plane yet, and it only includes top views. If you want a higher resolution image, there are some on the Wings of Linen wiki, or you can just ask me for specific ones. (The album is limited to 800x600, but they're easy to regenerate at any resolution.)

Wow -- phenomenal! This is going to be a huge help -- thanks for the link!

**jhawley** · 11-03-2020 06:31

Originally Posted by ReducedAirFact

It's not a complete set, though, because I haven't modeled every common plane yet, and it only includes top views.

Out of curiosity, is this a project you're still working on? There are some other airplanes that I'd been planning on incorporating in my game which I couldn't find in either the album or on the Wings of Linen site (Dr.I, D.VII, S.E.5a, and a few others), so was interested to see if you had plans to model more.

**ReducedAirFact** · 11-03-2020 08:08

I prioritize higher planes that aren't available from other designers on Shapeways, but I'm starting to run out and I'm getting back to ones like the Dr.I, SE5a, etc. So, yes. Though it may take a few months.

**decapod** · 11-03-2020 10:45

A lot of my aircraft are made from scans of drawings from a book my dad has as a kid, published in 1954 - how long does the copyright last?

Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War by Thetford and Riding

Message me if these would be ok... e.g.

Click image for larger version.

Name: book0026.jpg
Views: 25
Size: 181.7 KB
ID: 293914

Click image for larger version.

Name: book0027.jpg
Views: 25
Size: 72.5 KB
ID: 293915

Paul

**decapod** · 11-03-2020 10:58

Just checked the rules - in the UK it's 70 years after the authors death.
This book was first published in 1946 and revised in 1954 so not quite there yet I guess.

**jhawley** · 11-03-2020 12:08

@ReducedAirFact -- Thanks for the info! I'll keep checking back here and on Wings of Linen. That's a great resource!

@Decopod -- thanks for the thought! US is also death-of-author + 70 years before a work enters public domain, so that particular work still has some time left in the oven. Curious, though, if the authors generated those blueprints on their own or it they were sourced from somewhere else... There's actually a copy on Amazon available for about $15; I'm tempted to pick it up!

**Jager** · 11-03-2020 14:05

Originally Posted by jhawley

@ReducedAirFact -- Thanks for the info! I'll keep checking back here and on Wings of Linen. That's a great resource!

@Decopod -- thanks for the thought! US is also death-of-author + 70 years before a work enters public domain, so that particular work still has some time left in the oven. Curious, though, if the authors generated those blueprints on their own or it they were sourced from somewhere else... There's actually a copy on Amazon available for about $15; I'm tempted to pick it up!

Yes, if you have an interest in WW1 german plane, absolutely!
Karl