The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

Here are images of blurred props for printing out onto acetate sheet. Provided are 3, 4 and 5 blades props blurred by 10, 15, 20 degs. I think the 15degs work best but thought I've let you make you're own mind. The images are 600x600 pixels which if printed at 300dpi will produce a 2inch disk at in 1/72 scale this equate to a 12foot prop. You will then need to cut them out either using a compass cutters or a regularly compass, scissors and a steady hand.

To reproduce the props at a scale S and real diameter D in inches, use the following equation and then scale the images on the page to the result in inches:

print size = D/S

I've also created an A4 PDF file which contains four of each prop with 15 degs of blur for your convenience.

EDIT Please see better images in the post below https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?p=27313#p27313;

The original idea of producing these as images came from Andrew R ( who was inspired by Jagewa's airbrushed examples). Andrew had some issues getting the radial blur dead centre which I managed to solve. So I hope you don't mind these v2.0 images. Images of the props were created in Inkscapeand then the radial blur applied to the images in Paint.NET both are free graphics applications. The images are PNGs which don't have the compression artefacts that JPEGs contain.

Very nice, james.
Any chance of yellow tips?

Regards,
Bruce

MerlinJones wrote:Very nice, james.
Any chance of yellow tips?

Erm they do! Maybe you're monitor brightness is set up a little different to mine. If other find them too pale I'll have a look at re-jigging the colour.

JamesPerrin wrote:

MerlinJones wrote:Very nice, james.
Any chance of yellow tips?

Erm they do!

Now you've mentioned it, I can just about see the tips.

Regards,
Bruce

Brews wrote:I might be nitpicking, but could you also do a set with apparently-curved blades (optical illusion)?

You'll want the Moon on a stick next

I think I know what your mean. I could try doing some sort of swirl effect before applying the blur.

Great stuff James. I've had mixed results printing blur props onto thin acetate, but I'm going to try printing onto clear decal paper then putting the decal onto a thicker disk and see what that looks like.

JamesPerrin wrote:

Brews wrote:I might be nitpicking, but could you also do a set with apparently-curved blades (optical illusion)?

I think I know what your mean. I could try doing some sort of swirl effect before applying the blur.

Is this the kind of thing you mean Brews? 15deg blur

EDIT Please see better images in the post below https://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?p=27313#p27313;

Brews wrote:Yes, that's looking the business

I've updated the post with the 4 and 5 blade curved blurs at 15degs. Have fun guys!

bluesteel wrote:Great stuff James. I've had mixed results printing blur props onto thin acetate, but I'm going to try printing onto clear decal paper then putting the decal onto a thicker disk and see what that looks like.

I've just finally got round to trying to print these with my ink jet and despite setting the printer for glossy paper the ink is really not suitable for acetate. I'm going to have to try this out on the colour laser at work which I know will happily print OHP slides.

James. Thanks for those. I'll try one out.

OHP film has a printable side which is slightly opaque. I'll go and get myself a pack.

Chuck E wrote:OHP film has a printable side which is slightly opaque. I'll go and get myself a pack.

If you manage to print on the OHP film with an inkjet you'll still probably need to seal it with a sprayed on coat of matt(?) varnish.

A few weeks ago I tried printing these out on my works laser printer. This had no problem printing on the transparency stock that I had. I wasn't quite happy with them because:

1. The laser printer insisted on colour dithering the blurred black, I found the setting which told it to use only black which it promptly ignored! The printout had a slight bluish tone.

Solution: I've ordered some transparency film for Inkjet printers we'll see how well it works.

2. They were a little faint for my liking.

Solution: I've increased the width of the blade. I also tried playing with the Gamma level but as you may need to do this yourself to suit your printer. (eg in IrfanView Shift+G, and decrease the gamma value to darken the image)

Please note these images are available to others for not-for-profit use.

ie You cannot print them and sell them. I reserve the right to do so.

Update for those with inkjet printers. I got hold of some special inkjet transparency sheets from Amazon. You can pay a fortune for some brands but these were reasonable and a review confirmed that they worked with my printer (canon MP630).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000I2GRSY;

These work just fine if you follow the instructions. The only problem is down to inkjet inks anyone who has made decals will realise that they are very translucent. I tried printing the about images as they were and then with gamma corrects of 0.6 and 0.3. It was at 0.3 that I got enough ink that you could see the prop blur without it becoming solid. The thing is results will vary with different manufacturers inks.

The other thing is that the sheet are '100microns' or 0.1mm which is quite thin and only really suitable for 1/72 a/c.

Hi James,

I've been following your thread with interest and I'm grateful for the help on this subject.

I build 1/144 helicopters and would really like to do a dio with a helo in the hover. I've tried to 'extend' one of your sets to match the helicopter, in this case a Sea King, but of course stretching the blade also causes it to widen etc.

Would there be any possibility of you doing any rotor blade versions in the future? I'm sure that there are a few helo builders out there that would appreciate your assistance on this (Let James know if you do!).

The Sea King model, in 1/144, has a rotor diameter of 13cm but I can only display my models in static form because of the blades. See image below.

Best Wishes

Mike

After the Telford I was gently reminded that I had forgotten to do two blade props so here there are.

Please note these images are available to others for not-for-profit use.

ie You cannot print them and sell them. I reserve the right to do so.





...reading this forum I'm reminded I've forgotten to make some heli ones too!