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Armor/AFV: Braille Scale
1/72 and 1/76 Scale Armor and AFVs.
Hosted by Darren Baker
Task Force 1-78th Mech
DaGreatQueeg
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Napier, New Zealand
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Posted: Saturday, November 24, 2012 - 11:06 PM UTC
Well finished my first batch of moderns for my Wargaming "Team Yankee" themed task force, mostly.

Gotta search out some Preiser US tank crew and custom decals for the "correct" bumper codes, until then they're naked except the REFORGER unit markings. I wanted to put radio tac codes on em, as I'd want to be able to identify individual vehciles if they were mine (ok for wargaming purposes), but apparently the US army during the Cold War period didn't feel the same OCD need for control.

As usual they're all brush painted with GW acyrlics and consist of a Hasegawa M1E1, Revell M2A2, Italeri M113A1 ACAVs and ACE Lav-IT. All built OOB with no corrections and a little minor detailing.

cheers

Brent



















wing_nut
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Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 - 12:50 AM UTC
Some of those pics could be superimposed on a real landscape and be quite convincing.
tread_geek
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Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 - 04:34 AM UTC
@DaGreatQueeg - Brent,

Very nicely done "Task Force." Great to see some more modern subjects for a change and I only wish that I could get around to trying some. Maybe this post will give me the inspiration I need to do so!

Cheers,
Jan
Braille
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Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 - 01:50 PM UTC
@DaGreatQueeg – Brent,

YES, so awesome, I’m drooling dude!!!

Ahhh, so Brent what type of lamps / wattage are you using to get such fine quality lighting in your photographs?

~ Eddy
DaGreatQueeg
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Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 - 02:30 PM UTC
Thanks for the comment guys, and go on Jan, try a modern, it doesn't hurt!



Quoted Text

Ahhh, so Brent what type of lamps / wattage are you using to get such fine quality lighting in your photographs?
~ Eddy



Hey Eddy,

My lighting setup is actually pretty primative and I've promised to build myself something a little better this xmas.

Basically I take my pics on the kitchen table usimg the main overhead light which is a 150w daylight bulb, an adjustable fluro light for fill lighting and the model is set up on curved card.

One essential trick is the curved card I think, as you can get back lighting from overhead by adjusting it's curvature (I pack it with whatever's at hand, CD's books etc). The adjustable lamp is the next thing. I can position it to control the amount of direct light, lower for more, further up for less, move it to one side to light the hull and fill in any shadows if needed.

I look through the camera and adjust the amount of light by eye in the aperture, moving the lamp about a little as required, sort of like using a proper exposure meter. With a little practise I can tell if the subject is tendinmg towards being overexposed (a really bad thing) or under (bad thing) .....

The new set up I'm planning is going to be large enough to shoot 1/35th stuff and hopefully have three adjustable lamps.

Hope this makes some sense .....

cheers
Brent

skyshark
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North Carolina, United States
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Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 - 02:50 PM UTC
Dio looks good just one thing. There would have not been a LAV there. It would have been an M901 ITV from the Echo Co of your Bradley.
DaGreatQueeg
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Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 - 03:32 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Dio looks good just one thing. There would have not been a LAV there. It would have been an M901 ITV from the Echo Co of your Bradley.


Hi Joey, yeah I know, unfortunately the Lav is just there to make up numbers until I can source some correct ITVs.
HeavyArty
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Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 - 03:42 PM UTC

Quoted Text

...the Lav is just there to make up numbers until I can source some correct ITVs.


M901 ITVs would be easy to make using the targeting head, props, and short armor plates from the LAV-AT. Simply add them to an M113A2 model, add the Squad Leader's periscope and you now have an M901 ITV.
DaGreatQueeg
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Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 - 05:05 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

...the Lav is just there to make up numbers until I can source some correct ITVs.


M901 ITVs would be easy to make using the targeting head, props, and short armor plates from the LAV-AT. Simply add them to an M113A2 model, add the Squad Leader's periscope and you now have an M901 ITV.


Good idea Gino! Stock M113s are common and the ACE Lav-IT is available realatively cheaply at the moment, so it's not out of the question to get some as donors for the mast parts.

Brent
Dangeroo
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Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 - 07:38 PM UTC
Brent, great looking team there. I always find such groups look cool. Don't think you need a new photo arrangement, your photos are coming out great!

Cheers!
Stefan
njtp80
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Posted: Monday, November 26, 2012 - 05:43 AM UTC
Your work are brilliant，really like the paint, i have to learn a lot from your painting and weathering skills. cheers !~
Braille
#135
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Posted: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 08:19 AM UTC
@DaGreatQueeg – Brent,


Quoted Text

Brent, great looking team there. I always find such groups look cool. Don't think you need a new photo arrangement; your photos are coming out great!

Cheers!
Stefan


Thanks for the feedback Brent; from what you posted I think it’s a combination of techniques that you are using for obtaining such high quality pictures. I appreciate you taking the time to show all of us how you’re currently taking your pictures.

I stumbled across an article this weekend entitled ‘Taking Professional Looking Photos Without a Professional’ that you and others here may be interested in checking out. The concept and setup, like yours, is relatively simple but also requires the use of a photograph software program. I’m going to give your method a try and use the articles SBS for editing the photographs. Let’s see how things go?

~ Eddy
DaGreatQueeg
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Posted: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 09:43 AM UTC

Quoted Text

@DaGreatQueeg – Brent,


Quoted Text

Brent, great looking team there. I always find such groups look cool. Don't think you need a new photo arrangement; your photos are coming out great!

Cheers!
Stefan


Thanks for the feedback Brent; from what you posted I think it’s a combination of techniques that you are using for obtaining such high quality pictures. I appreciate you taking the time to show all of us how you’re currently taking your pictures.

I stumbled across an article this weekend entitled ‘Taking Professional Looking Photos Without a Professional’ that you and others here may be interested in checking out. The concept and setup, like yours, is relatively simple but also requires the use of a photograph software program. I’m going to give your method a try and use the articles SBS for editing the photographs. Let’s see how things go?

~ Eddy


Great find Eddy !! Yup it looks very similar to mine and is a very good article, I've book-marked it too. I use Corel Photopaint to edit and adjust exposure/colour balance while editing my pictures, but you need a resonable pic to start with.

As an aside, I tried a light tent to get more diffused and surrounding light but just couldn't control the light level to my liking. Even with daylight bulbs there was always too much yellow cast and the pictures were almost always over-exposed, no matter where I put the lights. I know you can get good results with them but went back to my tried and trusted "basic" set up.

cheers
Brent
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