Jim Alley's Computer Generated Aircraft Drawings

The following images were created by Jim Alley (alleyjim@earthlink.net) using a 2d drawing / drafting package. I think of them as 'Electronic Models'. His comments are below:

Jim also maintains his own WWW page at: http://members.aol.com/jimalley


I've been drawing WW1 aircraft on computers for a number of years. My background is in art, and at various times I've been a painter, an illustrator, a photographer, and a graphic designer. I am currently a professor of graphic design at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

I am more interested in the romance of these aircraft themselves than in the history of the squadrons or jastas. The idea that, within just a few years of the first powered flight, these amazing (and often amazingly decorated) aircraft could have developed into so many different shapes and colors is what fascinates me.

These drawings were created on a Macintosh with Macromedia FreeHand. The original files are in PostScript format, which means that they are not tied to any particular resolution. In fact, they print very well at any size on just about any printer available. For Web viewing, the PostScript files were rasterized (converted into pixels) at 72 dots per inch. This means that they will look good on the Web but won't print any better than any other Web graphics. I use any research material I can find when working on these drawings: old photographs and schematics as well as models.


Bregeut 14Pfalz D-IIIPfalz D-XII
Roland C-IIAirco DH-2RAF Re-8
Albatrosses2 NieuportsFokker Dr-I
Be2cHanover CL-IIIPhonix FH7
Aviatik Berg D-IPfalz D-XII 3/4 ViewSiemens Schukerts
Fokker D-VIINieuport 28Short 184
Albatros B-IVosin IIIAviatik C-II
Bristol ScoutHalberstadt D-IIRoland D-II
Rumpler C-IV

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