This will cause you to have two apparently distinct radii depending on the direction of the turn (clockwise or counter-clockwise). The difference between the two would be equal to the height of the original image before doubling its height to add the transparent. This is something that you probably would want to avoid. You should probably find a different way to accomplish what you want here. I would suggest that you subclass your actor with my QActor class which is located and demonstrated in my downloadable Asteroids w/improved QActor SuperClass scenario. If you do not mind the existence of dual turning radii, I can show you code for it. Just ask.