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Part 2
- Behind the Scenes - Once it was decided that Blériot was going to be the subject of the next story, there was a period of research needed in order to find out exactly what happened at that time, and also if there was any other point of his life that would be interesting or that would inform certain parts of the story we wanted to tell.
As part of the research process I took a little road trip. (of which some was over water). The story being told took place in the real world, so it seemed like a good idea to go to these places and see if they can be any help. I took a trip down to Dover, taking a few photographs of the landing area adjacent to Dover Castle.

 

Fortunately the place where Louis touched down has been clearly preserved. It also helped that a brick outline of his plane, the Blériot XI, has been placed in the ground.
The following week I took a trip across the water to Calais, to see the place where Louis took off from. It was quite interesting to go to the places that I would be drawing. Not only did it give me an idea of what it looked like, I also got a good sense of the colours of these places. It would've been nicer if it didn't rain while in Calais, but it provided me with a nice palette to play with.
On a research trip to the RAF Museum in Hendon for International Aces I knew that I would be using a variation on the Bleriot XI for use in Francesco's Baracca's story in Volume 2. Going back through those photos taken, I found that all I needed I already had. I forgot that there was a mannequin of Louis in the model which helped with working out the scale for drawing. You can see how the Calais pictures helped with parts 2 - 4. The Dover images were used in Parts 6-7. Next Week - Behind the Scenes - The Process.
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