Description:
It’s been a while since I’ve made an OC. So to get a little creative, I decided to make my own take on what plane ponies would look like. This is probably because of how much I play War Thunder
Anyways, I want to talk about Hunter, here. Yes, that’s her name! She’s a Hawker Hunter F-1, a post-WWII British fighter jet. Initially, I started this out as a Boeing 777 but I immediately ran into some trouble when you start to consider passengers and all the windows that would have to have been on her sides. So I then decided to try a fighter jet.
-The reason the Hunter F-1 stuck out to me so much was because of the turbine being inside the aircraft rather than hanging off the wings. This made me feel there was a better comparison with actual avian wings since they are relatively flat.
-The wings are lowered to the middle of her torso to resemble more of an aircraft’s wing positioning. Some plane pony designs I’ve seen have the wings planted on the spine which I felt wasn’t “organic” to the overall design, as if you could just lift the wings off entirely like they weren’t attached.
-Her entire head originally started out as an equine. Slowly, I turned it into a sleeker look. The word I really stress her overall appearance is “streamlined”. Much to my surprise, her muzzle took a similar form to Latias or Latios. This was just by coincidence. I asked a couple peers of mine what they initially thought of her head. They liked the look, but some preferred more definition to her jawline. They felt this was an essential part of maintaining some equine aspects.
-The first sketch of her I made was her being airborne. To keep on this streamlined functionality, her legs were getting in the way. At over 500 miles per hour, her legs would surely rip off. So I drew her without legs and it was a revelation to me. I have never seen a plane pony design treat legs as retractable landing gear! This was something I had to exploit. But how? Initially, I imagined her legs collapsing into her body like how some radio antennas do on some vehicles. This was a horrible idea, because not only did they have to collapse but had to move like a horse’s legs would on the ground. I asked DragonaDeMetal for help. She sketched up one idea where her legs bend up into her chest. It was on the right track, but I felt it needed to be refined to look more smooth. So that is where I decided the upper joints would do most of the work and the legs would mostly stay in a natural position. When her legs retract, they shape to the rest of the body. When her legs are out, there is a cavity underneath where her legs would fit in to.
-Her eyes initially started out as a black window in the shape that you see. I didn’t want the eyes to be separate from the windows of a cockpit, but I didn’t want to have multiple windows either. There was one design of a plane pony that I liked in this aspect where her eyes are more of an electronic display. I tweaked it slightly, but it retains much of the original look.
-Her tail needed to be extended. I don’t believe tail fins slapped on the buttocks of a horse is as aerodynamic as it could be, especially since now I have to worry about a massive turbine engine providing thrust in this area. So I extended it and made it flow naturally from the underside of her body. This surprisingly worked out great! I think this is the right amount of length for the tail. Any longer would look too overdone, but too short and you would lose how natural it looks.
-When I added her 30mm cannons just above her shoulders, you could argue that if Hunter moves her head that she might shoot herself. So what I decided is that when preparing for takeoff, her head and neck will lock into place as a safety mechanism.
-When she is engaging an enemy, her eyes will turn to an orange color once she has locked onto her target.
Anyways, I want to talk about Hunter, here. Yes, that’s her name! She’s a Hawker Hunter F-1, a post-WWII British fighter jet. Initially, I started this out as a Boeing 777 but I immediately ran into some trouble when you start to consider passengers and all the windows that would have to have been on her sides. So I then decided to try a fighter jet.
-The reason the Hunter F-1 stuck out to me so much was because of the turbine being inside the aircraft rather than hanging off the wings. This made me feel there was a better comparison with actual avian wings since they are relatively flat.
-The wings are lowered to the middle of her torso to resemble more of an aircraft’s wing positioning. Some plane pony designs I’ve seen have the wings planted on the spine which I felt wasn’t “organic” to the overall design, as if you could just lift the wings off entirely like they weren’t attached.
-Her entire head originally started out as an equine. Slowly, I turned it into a sleeker look. The word I really stress her overall appearance is “streamlined”. Much to my surprise, her muzzle took a similar form to Latias or Latios. This was just by coincidence. I asked a couple peers of mine what they initially thought of her head. They liked the look, but some preferred more definition to her jawline. They felt this was an essential part of maintaining some equine aspects.
-The first sketch of her I made was her being airborne. To keep on this streamlined functionality, her legs were getting in the way. At over 500 miles per hour, her legs would surely rip off. So I drew her without legs and it was a revelation to me. I have never seen a plane pony design treat legs as retractable landing gear! This was something I had to exploit. But how? Initially, I imagined her legs collapsing into her body like how some radio antennas do on some vehicles. This was a horrible idea, because not only did they have to collapse but had to move like a horse’s legs would on the ground. I asked DragonaDeMetal for help. She sketched up one idea where her legs bend up into her chest. It was on the right track, but I felt it needed to be refined to look more smooth. So that is where I decided the upper joints would do most of the work and the legs would mostly stay in a natural position. When her legs retract, they shape to the rest of the body. When her legs are out, there is a cavity underneath where her legs would fit in to.
-Her eyes initially started out as a black window in the shape that you see. I didn’t want the eyes to be separate from the windows of a cockpit, but I didn’t want to have multiple windows either. There was one design of a plane pony that I liked in this aspect where her eyes are more of an electronic display. I tweaked it slightly, but it retains much of the original look.
-Her tail needed to be extended. I don’t believe tail fins slapped on the buttocks of a horse is as aerodynamic as it could be, especially since now I have to worry about a massive turbine engine providing thrust in this area. So I extended it and made it flow naturally from the underside of her body. This surprisingly worked out great! I think this is the right amount of length for the tail. Any longer would look too overdone, but too short and you would lose how natural it looks.
-When I added her 30mm cannons just above her shoulders, you could argue that if Hunter moves her head that she might shoot herself. So what I decided is that when preparing for takeoff, her head and neck will lock into place as a safety mechanism.
-When she is engaging an enemy, her eyes will turn to an orange color once she has locked onto her target.
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