F-4 Phantom (US Navy) by Larry McManus

These four foot wide "High Definition" prints were created to be reproduced at this width. This is the reason for the excellent detail, sharpness and color saturation that you'll see in every print. These are the most detailed aviation prints at this size you can find!

About the print:

The McDonnell two-place, twin-jet, all-weather F-4 Phantom II, with top speeds more than twice the speed of sound, was one of the most versatile fighters ever built. It served in the front line of more Western air forces than any other jet. Just 31 months after its first flight, the F-4 was the U.S. Navy's fastest, highest-flying and longest-range fighter. It first flew May 27, 1958, and entered service in 1961. It was named Phantom II on July 3, 1959, during a ceremony held at the McDonnell plant in St. Louis, Mo., to celebrate the company's 20th anniversary. It remained in production until the company's 40th anniversary. The F-4 established 16 speed, altitude and time-to-climb records. In 1959, its prototype set the world altitude record at 98,556 feet. In 1961, an F-4 set the world speed record at 1,604 mph on a 15-mile circuit. By the end of production in 1985, McDonnell had built 5,068 Phantom IIs and Mitsubishi, in Japan, had built 127. Modifications incorporated improvements to weapons, avionics, radar and engines. The RF versions were equipped with cameras and surveillance gear for aerial reconnaissance. Armament ranged from cannons to missiles. F-4s saw combat in both the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm and served with the air forces of 11 countries in addition to the United States. Both U.S. military flight demonstration teams, the Navy Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds, flew the Phantom II from 1969 to 1973. The 5,000th Phantom was delivered on May 24, 1978, in ceremonies that also marked the 20th anniversary of the fighter's first flight, and McDonnell Douglas delivered the last St. Louis-built Phantom II in October 1979. By 1998, approximately 800 were still in service around the world.

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HOW THEY'RE CREATED - IN THE ARTIST'S WORDS:

A great deal of planning and passion goes into each large format image...

The Concept...

First I sketch out what I want the nal image to look like and then create a shot list for the various parts of the image. Locations need to be identi ed for the background and aircraft shots and models need to be hired. Only then am I ready to shoot the various parts of the image.

The Plane...

By shooting the plane by itself on the ground in a controlled situation, I can get much better detail and dynamic range in the image than shooting in the air. The plane is set up at the right angle with the shadow in the right direction. The pilot is positioned and looking in the right direction and the plane is trimmed out with the control surfaces in the correct positions. Multiple shots are taken at various exposures and different angles can be easily achieved during the photo session.

The Background...

This is where you have to wait for nature to behave. The air to ground or cloud formation shots have to be taken at the right time of day with the shadows in the correct position. When you are just shooting the background from the air and not worrying about exposing a plane correctly, you are able to create more dynamic views and color saturation that meld together and make the aircraft pop out of the image.

The Creation...

There are no short cuts in creating the nal large format photo illustration. You start by editing fty or so shots down to the ten that will be used in the nal master image. This is where my background as a designer/artist comes in. The nal 2 GB master image can take forty hours or more of painstakingly detailed work to combine all the photos, re-illustrate parts of the scene and to color balance the nal image to achieve the original vision.

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HOW THEY'RE PRINTED:
(HINT: LARRY'S FOUR FOOT WIDE (HD) MURAL PRINTS ARE NOT PRINTED USING ANY INKS!)

To reproduce the fantastic detail and saturated color, these aviation images are printed using actual red, green and blue lasers that can produce 68 billion colors. The lasers project the image on actual photographic material and then is processed through chemical baths. This gives you a TRUE HIGH DEFFINITON (HD) CONTINUOUS TONE IMAGE with no dots like you see in offset lithography printing. This printing method is far superior in detail and color depth than any other reproduction method.

WE OFFERS THESE PRINTS ON TWO TYPES OF (HD) ARCHIVAL MATERIAL... OR CANVAS:

1) A very high gloss for the best detail and color saturation
2) A semi-gloss for a very sharp and more muted feeling
3) On canvas

The canvas prints are printed with archival quality inks onto a unique impregnated glossy canvas media. This allows for the highest color saturation and detail you can achieve in a canvas print. The Giclée printing process provides better color accuracy than other means of reproduction on canvas. The quality of the Giclée print rivals traditional silver-halide and gelatin printing processes and is commonly found in museums, art galleries, and photographic galleries.