Airbrush Step by Step – July 2019

INTERVIEW | Christian Erhart

46 AIRBRUSH STEP BY STEP 03/19 E

Christian, how did you end up painting airplanes and heli-

copters for the Austrian Armed Forces?

Christian: I needed a little bit of talent and a whole lot of

luck! (Laugh) My basic military service was in Eurofighter

airline operations, where I already got to carry out a paint-

ing job or two. It began with room and wall designs. For a

flight show, I received the order to create the guest gifts for

the artistic flight squadrons ”Frecce Tricolori“ and ”Pa-

trouille Suisse“ in the form of painted pictures. This ended

up being the first time I had an airplane under my airbrush.

It was a Saudi jet from the team “Royal Saudi Hawks“,

which was to receive a Styrian panther on the side of its

plane nose. It was just a little something, but it ended up

having a big effect on the look of the plane – and in gener-

al. The media reported on it and word got around right

here within the Austrian Air Force. And well, that’s how it

all got started...

46

Nose art, the painting of the front nose section

of an airplane, has been around since World War

I and the airbrush has been a preferred part of

this artwork for quite some time now. Christian

Erhart is, in his free time, an airbrush artist. His

profession is that of an aircraft engineer in the

Austrian Armed Forces. No doubt about it, these

two occupations can be combined wonderfully

with one another...

NOSE ART

Military Use of the Airbrush