Hi Richelieu180, welcome to Shipbucket. First, I want to say nice work with these
Maya - class Destroyer drawings, they present a very solid first entry. There are a few areas that could use some work, I've taken the liberty of pointing them out in no particular order. Please don't take this as too severe of a criticism, rather just a few recommendations that you can use to improve this drawing and any future drawings you might create.
1. Rudder. Are you sure the rudder meets the hull so far up like you have depicted now? Something tells me it shouldn't join the hull so close to the waterline.
2. Propeller. I don't think this is the appropriate propeller for the Maya - class. It seems like a generic propeller that was taken from a different drawing. I'd recommend reviewing your sources and seeing if you can reproduce the actual propeller of this design.
3. The area where the propeller shaft meets the hull doesn't follow the form of the hull. Also, it is common to use your darkest hull colour shade to colour the top of this shape, as it doesn't meet the hull at an exact 90-degree angle. I've attached a zoomed-in section of Charguizard's excellent
Hatsuyuki - class Destroyer so that you can see what I mean:
4. Fin stabilizer. The black linework around this is somewhat crude. I feel that you could reduce a few extra black pixels here.
5. Bilge keel. Same comment as above, I think the shape of this is somewhat crude and doesn't follow the natural shape of the hull. The top line where it meets the hull could use the darkest hull colour, as I mentioned in the area where the propeller shaft meets the hull, as it's not an exact 90-degree angle. Also, I have some doubts about the shading here and the way it extends in a vertical line to the bottom of the hull.
6. Bow sonar. The linework where the bow sonar joins the rest of the hull could be smoothed more. I don't think this shape is accurate in the way it's currently depicted.
7. Hull number. Again, somewhat crude and not accurate to the real-life ship. Have a look at some reference photos of the real-life Maya/Haguro, I do not think the numbers are shaped like this. Numbers are generally painted on with a stencil and not shaped in such an asymmetric way.
8. SPY-1 antennas. The shading/highlights on these are kind of inconsistent. If you copy and paste from another drawing, you should adjust the shading and highlights to the hull colour of your drawing. Have a look at acelanceloet's fantastic CGN-9 USS Long Beach AEGIS Conversion in the Never-Built Designs to see how these should look.
9. Bridge windows. Your drawing has three different colours for windows - one for the bridge windows, one for the watertight door that opens to the bridge wing, and another for the helicopter control station on the helideck. It would be advisable to pick a single colour for all your windows. Also, are you sure about the window shapes? I expect them to be more consistent. Sections of the bridge that are angled either fore or aft could use some additional shading to show that.
10. Railings here are a different shade than the rest of the drawing.
11. Hull overhangs here seem excessively shaded.
12. What does this shape represent? It's more rectangular on the real-life
Maya - class than you have depicted it.
13. Same comment as number nine (9) regarding the window colouring.
A few last comments in no particular order:
- Your boot topping doesn't need a black line on either side of it. This is kind of an old way of drawing in Shipbucket that is no longer necessary.
- Are you sure about the shape of the Type 17 (SSM-2) missile? I doubt that the booster is as wide in diameter as you've depicted it.
- Some of your satcom domes have shading, some do not. Something to consider when refining your drawing.
- Shading on the underwater hull, in general, could be improved.
- Why the two hull colours between your
Maya and
Haguro drawings? It is natural that anti-fouling paint tends to fade and discolour leading to inconsistencies between vessels once in the water. I think it makes more sense to choose a single colour for both drawings.
- JS
Haguro will receive her SPQ-B radar at some point in the future. If you're drawing her at a specific date when the radar is not yet installed, you should provide a date so that the viewer knows this. Something like "DDG-180
Haguro, as commissioned, 2021".
Once again, I will conclude by saying that you've done great work here, especially for a new artist. I don't want my minor critiques to discourage you, keep up the good work and I hope that you will feel inspired to revisit these drawings and put the final finishing touches on them that they deserve.