The Duke's Ten Latest Models. Four Armor and Vehicles Here.

[Duke Maddog]

Here is my latest ten models I just completed:



These are the armor and vehicles from that above pic. First is the 1/72 scale Russian ZIL-5 truck with the wooden cab from AER Moldova I think:







Next up is another truck. This is the Revell of Germany 1/72 scale German MAN 5-ton General Purpose Truck:







Another German vehicle, this is the Revell of Germany 1/72 scale German M-109G Self Propelled Gun:







Finally, here is my Roden 1/72 scale WWI British Vauxhall Ambulance:








That's all I have for now. I also finished four aircraft and two helicopters so feel free to go check them out in the Completed Aircraft Forums. Meanwhile, thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

[speedgraflex]

This is a photography question. I am wondering why the tone of the sidewalls of the rubber-tired vehicles is such a uniform brown with a green cast. I actually think the lighting setup is causing this effect because I see this overall as a wash. I downloaded and dropped a frame of the Man 5T truck into VSCO and adjusted the exposure by dropping it half a stop, manually adjusting color balance, adding some contrast and a vignette to darken the backdrop reflected areas outside of the subject center.



I feel there is a green cast here that is not present to such a degree in reality. Perhaps setting up a folding TV table in your backyard to photograph your work in sunlight only will eliminate this (if indeed this is an issue).

Edit—check this out! Your bench image. I like this. No green cast. Final weathering is not complete here, which is why I was wondering if this was a weathering issue or photography.




Let me know your thoughts, Duke!

[Duke Maddog]

Bruce, I do not know enough about photography and color science to truly answer this; I can only speculate. One possibility is that; due to the preponderance of blue, green and black in the subject, it caused the camera to red more blue/green into the spectrum than normal. Contrast that with the tan-ish background in the production photo. It could also be the effect of the green hubs reflecting in some way to create the greenish tint. Another possibility is that I did not spray enough light brown color on the wheels, causing the black undercoat to create a greenish tint on the brown weathering color. A third slim possibility is that there was some green still in my airbrush when I loaded the tan, but that seems unlikely since no other model seems to have this greenish tint All I know is that it is not noticeable in person.

As for setting up a table in my backyard; that would be tough as I haven't one. Even my balcony outside my front door has no space to properly shoot a model in direct sunlight.

[speedgraflex]

Great points, Duke, and I apologize if any of what I wrote above is critical. The one advantage of my apartment is the high ceiling and floor to ceiling windows, but everything else about my place is crap, but those windows just flood the central space with light. I dunno! I sill think considering the scale sizes you could set up a folding table outside? Maybe behind St Crispin’s hall (a church meeting room?).

[Duke Maddog]

No apology necessary Bruce. I usually don't shoot any pics of finished models at St. Cripin's because I don't bring them to the hall after they are done unless I'm taking them to a different place (AMPS meeting for instance) or showing them off during Hobby Day for a special event. I always finish them at home so a second trip seems unnecessary and risky. One day I'd like to get one of those portable photo booths to shoot pics on; not to mention some kind of photo base (hanger and tarmac for aircraft, motor pool building and grounds for armor) to shoot more attractive pics. I used to shoot my works in progress in a 'factory' type setting with some crew around for fun; it sure added a touch of fun and uniqueness to each pic. Maybe I should get back to doing that.

[speedgraflex]

Here is the simple setup I use! One 9 x 12 pad of bright white paper... which I lift up with my right hand while taking the photo with my left:

[Stikpusher]

They all look good to me Mark. I sure can’t pick a favorite from these four.

As far as the greenish tinge on the MAN truck tires goes, it’s probably a combination of the lighting, your weathering, and possibly your camera as well. I had a similar result on my P-40 build last month.

[Duke Maddog]

Thanks Bruce! That idea might work for my small scale armor models and some of my smaller planes. Still, I like the blue background as the bright white sometimes throws off my camera sometimes. I'd be using my left hand to raise it and the right to shoot as I'm right handed.

Thanks Carlos! I appreciate the compliments. I also think it;s a combination of factors as you said.

[mostrich]

Duke, excuse my ignorance! Just saw this thread and I'm amazed by your latest finishes. I mentioned it before that I'm a big fan of your MAN 5ton. I love these trucks in all their variants. I have the US Airforce M1013 in my stash since Wednesday and I'm drooling all over the sprues atm.

[Duke Maddog]

No worries Mostrich! Thanks for stopping in and commenting. I need to get an M-1013 myself; Modelcollect supposedly has one available in my scale.