Show us yer stuff!

Vorster · Post by **Vorster** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:19 pm

Hi guys here is some pics of the stuff I finished recently. I am still experimenting with the oil washes. The technique gets a bit more complex in 1/285 than in 1/35. Hope you enjoy.

Bundeswehr units.

More Bundeswehr.

Marder 1A3

Jagaur 2

Morser trager

Leopared 2A4

Luchs

Fuchs

Now for the opfor some Warpact equipment.

T80

Another T80 but with era.

BMP 2

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 2:50 am

Hi,

nice items as always - very good work!
Some small "Buts" on the Bundeswehr items:
The Marder is not a Marder 1 A3 it's a 1 A2 and the it is not a Jaguar 2 but a Jaguar 1 (for more info on German Raketenjagdpanzer see the "Raketenpanzer" topic

).

Best greetings,
Ben

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 4:52 am

Okay,

I've posted this some time ago but that topic is gone.
So here again some bits of mine:

Cheers Ben

Vorster · Post by **Vorster** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:07 pm

Ok sorry it's a A2 not a A3 my bad. But the jagaur is the one with the add on armor and the HOT missle. I am not sure which category it falls under after reading the thread on the Jagaur 1.

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 2:26 pm

Hi,

the Jaguar 1 is the HOT armed vehicle, also known as Raketenjagdpanzer 3.
Jaguar 2 is TOW armed (and looks different), also known as Raketenjagdpanzer 4.
Both are carrying the add-on armour.

Cheers Ben

Cav Dog · Post by **Cav Dog** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 11:24 pm

Ben,

Nice work, how did you do the cobblestone streets? Are they printed paper?

Abram Joslin · Post by **Abram Joslin** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 5:26 am

Hi all, I was just wondering how you all do your buildings and streets, etc. I'm planning on doing a dock side diorama with my 1/350 ships using GHQ vehicles etc and wondered what you guys did for buildings, train tracks, streets, etc. Any help would be appreciated! I'll be sure to post pictures as I build.

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:19 am

Cav Dog wrote:Nice work, how did you do the cobblestone streets? Are they printed paper?

Hi,

the streets are from the model railway shop, it is Z-scale stuff which comes in "tape style" (is self adhesive the correct word, I don't remember

)
The (working) streetlights are Z-scale surplus as well.
All my houses have been painted by my wife - I am a lucky man

.

Cheers Ben

cbovill · Post by **cbovill** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:14 pm

What better than to finish another batch of ships than to also get a new digital camera to take pictures of them with too! Following are pictures of some of the German Micronauts I just completed.

GHQ doesn't currently have the Gneisenau so I modified the Scharnhorst by moving the mainmast forward abaft the funnel and installing the small platform aft where the mainmast was using spare parts from other kits (Scharnhorst is in the background for reference):

Admiral Hipper with additional masts/yard arms added:

The supply ship Altmark in civilian colors, I just had to paint her in a nice tuxedo scheme:

A mid-Atlantic rendezvous with Altmark resupplying the Gneisenau for another raid:

Still trying to figure out how to get a good fleet shot as the camera tends to focus on just one or two ships and blurrs the rest.

Chris

HMSDiomede · Post by **HMSDiomede** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:01 pm

More really beautiful work, Chris! My 1/700th ship models aren't painted that cleanly.

David

Ritter · Post by **Ritter** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 4:04 am

Looks Good!!! I like the scratchbuilding!

For a fleet shot, try line astern and back the camera away to get all in the shot. This will allow for good focus on subject.

Troy

cbovill · Post by **cbovill** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:49 am

Thanks for the great comments guys! I've tried the line-em-up shot and this is what I get:

First ship in focus, all others blurred:

First ship blurred, the others in focus:

Any camera pros out there that can tell me how to get a better shot?

Chris

Ritter · Post by **Ritter** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:48 am

What you need to do is have the subects all the same distance from the camera (read- across the pic from left to right) not on a diagonal. You could try to flatten the angle as this will allow more subject in focus.

The DOF (depth of Field is the problem. If you dont know anything about f stops or are using a camera w/o a manual setting, the line abreast, left to right is your best bet. Also a top-down shot will keep all in focus as the distance to each ship is the same - not too realistic looking but ...

Troy

tstockton · Post by **tstockton** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:50 am

Chris,

First off, I am not a "camera pro" (far from it!

) -- but that is another hobby I've "dabbled with"...

I believe you need to increase your "depth of field". The best way to do this is to increase the "f-stop" setting -- the larger the number, the greater the depth of field. (f2 = wide-open lens = narrow depth of field... f32 = really "shut down" lens = much greater depth of field.) The reciprocal of this is that you need to increase the amount of light on the subject, decrease the shutter speed, or a combination of both. With a decrease in shutter speed, the use of a tripod and a remote shutter release cable becomes necessary.

This is one area where my old, trusty 35mm camera had it all over my "newfangled" digital camera -- other than increasing the amount of available light, I have no idea how to accomplish what I've noted here... And I have a sneaking suspicion that it may well fall to the realm of the "high-end" digital SLR cameras, with interchangable lenses and many of the features of the "standard" SLR camera.

One idea comes to mind... I don't know if you happen to also be a collector / modeler of 1:1250 scale / 1:1200 scale ships... There is a fine gentleman who is a "mail-order" retailer of these ships, whose name is Chris Daley. He has a website:

http://www.1250ships.com/index.htm

In the left-hand "navigation panel" is a link called "Features" -- click on it for one of the best descriptions of "miniature photography" I have ever seen. Chris' photographs are REALLY good! I have corresponded with Chris many times, and he has been very helpful to me with hints / tips on photography... I also have purchased several models from him (as this "genre" is another of my hobbies!).

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Tom Stockton

cbovill · Post by **cbovill** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:12 am

Guys,

Thanks for the advice. All this camera terminology kills me. But I have to learn as we (wife and I) bought this camera so we could take high quality photos for the website of the company we are launching. So I've been practicing on my miniatures to get the hang of it. Its a Canon EOS Rebel Digital SLR with a macro lens. It takes 8.1 Mp shots, but as I'm slowly learning, its got a lot to do with the photographer who's clicking away as to how the photos come out.

I'm going to go try switching it to manual and see if I can make some of those focal adjustments. ...and visit that website too!

Thanks,
Chris