Finally got time to post the thoroughly reworked Chicago, Houston and Augusta. (p.1)
I've carefully studied pictorial evidence to shape as correctly as possible the underwater hulls of these ships, and I hope even my dear friend Jan will acknowledge that.
Anyway, since my son, Eli will finally come home from the hospital, this might very well be the last ships that I post for a while!
sorry to say, but I have no idea what you are trying to represent. I included some cross sections in this drawing with how I interpreted them and why. I think I interpreted it differently then how you drew it, or you misunderstood the shading setup I work with, as I really doubt this hull shape comes close to what the ship was like in real life. could you explain to me with what set of rules you shaded?
a few comments that could improve the shading IMO, but, based on my own shading standards:
- limit the number of shades. one base colour, one highlight colour (rarely used but on bilge keels, bulbs and tumblehome), 2 dark shades, of which one is the 'hull shaper' and the other the 'shade' under bilge keels, on the rudder etc.
- limit the shading styles used at the same time. shading over the rudder and under the bilge keels looks like there is a blob in those spaces because it interferes with the 'hull shaper' shading.
- sublety is art. I try to give my ships shape without overshadowing the actual ship (the bright red of the underwater hull does that more then enough) for example,
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/632 ... 201947.png. on yours, in my opinion, I start looking at the underwater hull, and then want to close the page 'because the rest looks bland and uninteresting' while you put far more work into the upperworks then the hull, I think.
- match hull underwater and above the water. shapes often run higher up, like overhanging sterns or bows with flare. however, there are some shading lines suddenly stopping at the waterline on your drawing, further mismatching the two parts of the ship.
I hope you can get some use from these comments.