View from the Cockpit -- A Very Crude First Attempt...

[tmanthegreat]

Inspired by a calendar I once had that showed the cockpits of various vintage aircraft from a pilot's-eye view, I attempted to do something similar with some 1:18 scale planes. To do this, I angled a small mirror in the cockpit of a plane, zoomed the camera in, and took a picture of the mirror reflection. I then cropped the photo as closely around the mirror as possible and colored in the corners.

The results are very far from perfect, but sort of along the lines of what I was aiming to get... Any other suggestions from the photography experts would be appreciated! For starters, I think cleaning the mirror off would help the picture quality

Hopefully someone can take a bit of inspiration from this and carry it to the next level

Enjoy!

21c F-104 Starfighter (I didn't realize the instruments were so intricately painted until I took the photo...)


BBI F-4U Corsair (Canopy framing came out on that one...)

[AlloySkull]

Really cool idea Tman! I had no idea the F-104 was so detailed in the cockpit, there's actual flight levels, now that's cool. I might try this tonight. It turned out quite well honestly. But yeah, clean the mirror. Photoshop is magical, magnetic lasso is your best friend! Without giving it a go myself, I can't really help too much, but I'll have at it and let you know.

[AlloySkull]

I couldn't find a mirror small enough to sneak into my Sabre's cockpit.

[Ruger]

Go get yout teeth cleaned.

And while you're there, try to obtain a mirror. Depending on your personality, you can either try to steal one, of ask the dentist how to obtain one. They're not cheap, so I doubt he'll give one away, but hey, it's worh a shot. You're looking for the high quality ones, the ones made of metal, not the new plastic disposable ones. They are a very good quality mirror, and they're also somewhat unusual in that the reflective surface is on the front of the glass, not the back. That can make a difference in both photography and small detail work, and you're doing both.

On a related note, you can go to a local drug store and find a nifty little "Do-It-Yourself" dental kit with a couple of picks and a LED lighted mirror. It's not really the quality you are looking for for this project, but that little lighted mirror is dang handy for looking into areas.

MV

[tmanthegreat]

Thanks for the suggestions I attempted a few more this morning using largely the same technique. I had good lighting and also cleaned the mirror this time around. The photos came out much better. In the interest of time, I only edited the edges of two of the photos. I don't have a photoshop program of any merit, so blackening in the edges takes a long time... These are all 21c planes, so if you were sitting in the cockpit, this is sort of what you would see

Enjoy

Mig-15


F-86


P-51D (This one has painted instruments as well!)


Bf-109G


ME-262B Nightfighter (Pilot's seat)


ME-262B Nightfighter (Radar Operator's seat)

[AlloySkull]

Now that looks much cleaner. Very nice, love the way it worked out.

[olifant]

Very cool Tman. I had thought of doing this for a strafing photo shoot, but was too lazy to do it. I think the canopies are too thick to get much a view out of them but a Photoshop master could probably come up with a way to make it look good.

Ruger, good idea on the mirrors. An alternative would be from an industrial supply company. MSC has some pretty good mirror for what I am sure is a much cheaper price. Just type in "mirrors" and look at all the different types:

http://www.mcmaster.com/

[immeww2]

That is clever! Really shows the details! Thanks for sharing!