David Carter:

Aviation Profile Artist

Introducing the artist:

David Carter is an aviation enthusiast living in rural NSW. He grew up in and around Sydney Airport during the 1960s when jets, turboprops and radial engines were still in balance. David’s interest in aviation has evolved over the years – from spotter to aviation writer to flight simmer to aviation profile artist.

Back in the 1960s, he used to admire the profiles and three-views done by English airbrush artists such Peter Endsleigh Castle. But his attempts to recreate these works were foiled by the lack of an airbrush, and more importantly, the complete dearth of talent.

Forty years later and Photoshop, a digital photo-editing program, was discovered. After initially fiddling around with repainting planes into Australian markings for Microsoft’s Flight Simulator, David realized the potential of Photoshop and its unlimited “undo” functions to finally produce profiles of aircraft.

From the outset, David wanted to do airliners, which was handy because everyone else wanted to do military. He also decided against jetliners because, firstly, reproducing the modern photo-real decals took more ability than David had and secondly, because information on colour schemes of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s was harder to get, making the final artworks less prone to being picked to pieces. The research proportion of an artwork is much greater for an old plane because there are fewer resources available.

The artworks:

The artworks are all digital, naturally enough, which on close examination shows an image made of pixels. From the earliest works shown here, the DC-3s, to the latest, the DC-6, the files have grown. A DC-6 profile is about 3000 pixels wide compared with 2000px for the DC-3. This increase in pixels has allowed more detail to show in smaller logos.

Why not go higher and get more detail? Well, the Photoshop files become monsters. A 3000px file is around 6-7Mb but a 10,000px file is more like 60Mb. Opening and saving would take ages and RAM would be quickly eaten up as every alteration is saved in Photoshop’s memory. So 3000px is the optimum balance between detail and practicality.

Every part of the artwork is original. No use is made of cut and paste from photographs. Colours are sampled from the best available photos or based on written descriptions or RGB formulas. Sampling is unfortunately affected by different films and fading of the paint, particularly red. Titling on the planes is also difficult be caused signwriters lacked the precision of a modern laser decal machine. At Ansett-ANA for instance, there were as many “S” characters as there were signwriters.

Availability:

Those interested in purchasing a print from these profiles, should contact the artist at dcarter2@bigpond.net.au

Price for an A4 print on high-gloss Canon photo paper is $35 including packaging and postage inside Australia. Postage outside Australia will be extra.

For a quote for larger purchases and payment methods contact David Carter by email.
In addition to the Australian planes shown here there is a growing range DC-4, DC-6 and DC-7 profiles in the colours of non-Australian civil and military operators. A list is available from the artist by email.

List of Profiles Available

Registration:
Type:
MSN/LN:
Airline:
Bristol 170-21E Freighter
12761
Australian National Airways Pty Ltd
Bristol 170-21E Freighter
12755
Ansett-ANA Air Cargo
Bristol 170-31 Freighter
13192
Ansett-M.A.L.
Bristol 170-21 Freighter
12746
Royal Australian Air Force
Bristol 170-31 Freighter
13176
TAA Sunbird Services
Douglas C-47B-35-DK
32668
Adastra Aerial Surveys
Douglas C-47A-20-DL
9285
Australian National Airways
Douglas C-47A-25-DL
9414
Ansett Airways
Douglas C-47A-50-DL
10082
Ansett-ANA Cargoliner
Douglas C-49-DO
3271
Ansett-ANA Victorian Air Coach Services
Douglas C-47A-80-DL
19694
Ansett-M.A.L.
Douglas C-49H-DO
1944
Airlines of N.S.W.
Douglas C-47A-30-DL
9559
Airlines of South Australia
Douglas C-49H-DO
1944
Butler Air Transport
Douglas C-47B-30-DK
16351/33099
C.S.I.R.O. Division of Cloud Physics
Douglas C-47A-25-DK
13506
Department of Civil Aviation
Douglas C-47A-20-DL
9286
East West Airlines
Douglas C-49B-DO
4096
Guinea Airways Ltd
Douglas C-47A-25-DK
13587
Mandated Airlines
Douglas C-47B-45-DK
34228
Mac.Robertson Miller Airlines
Douglas C-47A-30-DK
13906
Queensland Airlines Pty Ltd
Douglas C-47A-30-DK
13922/25367
Qantas
Douglas C-47B-30-DK
16135/32883
Royal Australian Air Force
Douglas C-47A-1-DK
11973
Royal Australian Navy
Douglas C-47A-50-DL
10001
TAA Trans Australia Airlines Cargomaster
Douglas C-47A-10-DK
12539
TAA Sunbird Services
Douglas DC-4-1009
42948-7
Australian National Airways Pty Ltd
Douglas DC-4-1009
42916-58
Air Madagascar
Douglas C-54A-15-DC
10365-96
Ansett-ANA Skymaster
Douglas DC-4-1009
43071-65
Ansett Air Cargo
Douglas DC-4-1009
42927-31
Airlines of N.S.W.
Douglas DC-4-1009
42918-14
British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines
Douglas C-54A-1-DO
7458-66
Malayan Airways
Douglas C-54A-1-DO
7458-66
Qantas Australia's Overseas Airline
Douglas C-54A-5-DO
7466-74
TAA Trans Australia Airlines Cargomaster
Douglas DC-6
43058-86
Australian National Airways Pty Ltd
Douglas DC-6B
45076-712
Ansett-ANA
Douglas DC-6
43128-135
British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines
Douglas DC-6B
44687-535
TAA Trans Australia Airlines
Douglas DC-6
43126-132
TEAL
Douglas DC-6
43126-132
Royal New Zealand Air Force
Lockheed Constellation
2562
Qantas Empire Airways
Lockheed Constellation
4680
Qantas
Lockheed 188A Electra
1044
Ansett-ANA
Lockheed 188C Electra
2004
Qantas Australia's Overseas Airline
Lockheed 188A Electra
1061
TAA The Nation's Jetline
Vickers Viscount 818
414
Ansett-ANA
Vickers Viscount 816
435
Royal Australian Air Force
Vickers Viscount 816
433
TAA The Nation's Jetline