Light Painting a Piper L-4 and a Willys MB Jeep
Here’s what our Canon R5 saw, and the actual setup photo on the screen of our iPad Pro.
Joannie and I have just returned from an amazing month-long working vacation to Florida. One of the five light painting photography projects that we had the opportunity to create on this trip was of this Piper L-4 and a Willys MB Jeep. They were light-painted near Carrollton, Georgia, while we were en route to Florida.
This is the base photo for the project. Once it got dark enough outside, we turned off the hangar lights and went to work, light painting everything that you see.
Fortunately, we got this project “In-the-can” less than 24 hours before the big ice storm that impacted that part of the country in late January. We hit the road early the following morning to get ahead of the storm to (barely) warmer weather in Florida.
Cold and Warm in Florida
While in Florida, we visited (and froze) for several days at Walt Disney World. Then we played golf and relaxed while staying several days (where it eventually warmed up) in Fort Myers with our long-time friends, Wayne & Sally. While there, I also had the opportunity to spend several early mornings capturing wildlife photographs at nearby Six Mile Cypress Slough (that place is amazing!).
Then, in the middle of the trip, Joannie and I headed to Naples, Florida. Where, for the second year in a row, we exhibited our light painting photography at Cars on 5th! This is an amazing exotic car show that raises a ton of money for charity. This year, it was for Habitat for Humanity!
Here’s our Light Painting Photography booth for the 2026 Cars on 5th Car Show in Naples, Florida.
Our next project, a stunning 1958 Porsche, was a direct result of Cars on 5th. That cool project will be coming soon!
While in the area, we also visited the nearby Ten Thousand Islands Marsh Trail as well as Big Cypress National Preserve for a full day of adventure with the wildlife in those two amazing areas!
It All Started at EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh
This cool project came about courtesy of our friends Ray & Melisa Fowler, whom I met at EAA’s AirVenture back in July. They were kind enough to allow me to create the three amazing light painting projects that you see below!
The finished light-painted artwork of “Old Crow” was created at AirVenture 2025!
Here’s the link to “Old Crows’ very entertaining story.
This is one cool-looking aircraft, and the amazing sunset was icing on the cake!
The full story about the CubCrafters XCub N920RS can be enjoyed at this link.
The completed light painting of Douglas DC-3 N728G with lots of fireworks! Pretty cool!
The story behind Douglas DC-3 N728G’s light painting can be found at this link.
On our way back home from Florida, Ray was once again kind enough to set up three more light painting projects for us – each one was of an amazing aircraft! It will be a bit before we get those created, but they will be cool!
Light Painting Piper L-4 N33579 “Grasshopper”
I did a bit of research and came up with the following information about the Piper L-4:
When W. T. Piper formed the Piper Aircraft Corporation in 1937, they began production of an aircraft called the J-3 Cub. That plane was originally designed and manufactured by the Taylor Aircraft Company.
In 1941, during WWII, the US Army ordered a militarized version of the aircraft. It was known as the O-59A (Observation). This designation was later changed to L-4, with the “L” signifying “Liaison”. That was because these aircraft were used as liaison, artillery spotting, courier duties, and reconnaissance aircraft during the war. Because of the war, many civilian J-3s were also pressed into service.
The Piper L-4 is a fabric-covered aircraft powered by a 65-hp Continental horizontally-opposed flat four engine. It carried a pilot and sometimes an artillery observer in tandem. They rode in a cockpit that was equipped with a “Greenhouse” skylight and extra rear windows for improved visibility.
Here’s the cropped view of PIPER L-4 J3C-65 – N33579. It’s pretty amazing to think that this aircraft was built way back in the 1940s and is still very airworthy today!
“Grasshoppers” and “Puddle Jumpers”
Cruising speed was approximately 75–80 mph, with the ability to operate from unimproved, short airstrips, hence the nickname “Grasshoppers”. They are also commonly referred to as “Puddle Jumpers”.
The U.S. Navy also bought military cubs, primarily for use as aerial ambulances. Designated AE-1 and NE-1. Some were retrofitted with a hinged “Turtledeck” fuselage, which allowed for a stretcher to be loaded behind the pilot. This enabled them to serve at outlying naval air fields to quickly evacuate the injured to a bigger facility with a hospital.
Almost 20,000 Piper Cubs were built, both military and civilian. Many of these wartime “Grasshoppers” were converted back to simple civil variants following the end of hostilities, usually registered as J3C-65s. With the increasing interest in WW2 “Warbirds”, many of them are now being converted back to military L-4 “Grasshoppers”.
Light Painting the 1945 Willys MB “Jeep”
Here’s the close-up of the Jeep.
Way back in WW1, Ford had contracts with the Government to build the Willys “MB” design Jeep, called the “GP’s” (they were also known as “Slatgrills”). The term “MB” stood for “Military B”. It was used to identify the vehicles produced by Willys-Overland and Ford for the US military during the war.
One of the first military vehicles mass-produced in the United States, the Willys MB and the Ford GPW US Army jeep were prime examples of wartime ingenuity. They quickly became the standard for the transport of personnel and cargo in the war. Eventually, they would become the “world-famous” Jeep.
The Willys MB and Ford GPW models were extremely effective on the ground. Willys MB’s had 60 horsepower at 4,000 rpm and were equipped with many standard features. Some of those were 6.00×16 tires, provisions for trailer lights, a blackout light system, sealed spring shackles, and a gas can bracket on the rear.
Ford built the majority of the jeeps, and a total of 277,878 GP/GPWs finished the war.
The Movie
Here’s the finished light-painted artwork of PIPER L-4 – N33579 and the Willys “MB” Jeep. Pretty cool! Thank you, Ray and Melisa, for the opportunity to create this for you guys!
This short Build Video begins with the images that were used to create the Master File. Then it shows the entire image coming together in post-production. All told, we took 239 images that night, and 62 of those, in 102 different layers, were combined to complete the one-of-a-kind light-painted artwork. It turned out really cool!
A huge thank you to Ray and Melisa for making this cool project happen for us! We look forward to completing the other 3 soon – and to anything you come up with down the road! – M&J