Hi Vlad,
I have a whole range of your figures. I plan on doing loads more!

Joe.

I decided to run these photos through photo-shop or something similar & came up with these.
Hope you like them!






















































I hope you've enjoyed looking at the new photographs.

Joe.

Hey Joe! Both of your Nam based creations are outstanding! These guys got some real attitude — something I really like to see in figure construction/painting!

I see you’re really having lots of fun with that 98% humidity filter! Brother! … that’s exactly how I imagine the unbearable heat of in-country!

Glad this got bumped up in the forum so we can all have a look-see! Nicely done!

—mike

Outstanding.

Wow! Outstanding work! The photos make the figures appear very realistic right down to the wrinkles and dirt.

Superb work! Can you tell us the mixes you used to paint mixes you used for the uniforms?

Some of the best figures i have seen done.

Excellent figures and excellent photo effects. I'm not familiar with the photoshop stuff. What did you do to get the effect you show in these last pictures of your figures?

Cheers,
James

Wow, just...wow.

This is incredible! I think the only thing missing is the cigarette smoke.

My only quibble (and it's tiny) would be the ciggies look more like doobies (which, of course, IS period-correct for VN).

Looks great! 2nd and 4th shot are perfect and little clue that its not real.

Your setup is creating a very narrow filed of focus which is desirable but you might want to widen that up a little. Both shots have the point of the barrel in front blurry.

You might already know this and I only bring it up because of your follow up photo shop work; which eludes that you have some desire towards tweaking it.

Bear with or ignore this, I mean only to offer.

Photo wise, if you have or can use an SLR especially Cannon, use a manual depth of field mode or 'landscape'to get a wider area of focus but still blurring the background and some near foreground.

You almost have to use a tripod because the shutter time will be too long to hold steady. Put the shutter button on delay (5 seconds, 30 seconds etc.) then push and wait. Picture should come out with nearly all or all of the figures in focus (still blurring the background which adds realism.) Even the shot where the guy ion front is almost completely in focus and the guy behind is very blurry.

Many simple point and shoot cameras also have these functions. Landscape usually uses a mountain symbol and shutter delay is also common.

In a landscape or depth of field shot, a longer shutter exposure is used and a smaller aperture. This makes a wider area of the picture in focus; the statue 15 feet away and the buildings 200 feet away are both in focus for example in a regular picture taken by a tourist. A portrait mode will do the opposite so even though its a 'person' subject, this mode is not for small macro shots.

With a longer shutter, even pushing the shutter button will create motion and blur, that's why a delayed shutter is used to let the camera settle down from being pushed.
That's also why you use a tripod because you cant hand-hold a camera steady enough for what the shutter needs to do.

Quick advice, awesome figures and great pictures. I would hope I get to your level with figures some day.

Hi Joe!

I thought I'd seen it all. Rarely do I sit staring at my screen with my mouth open, but your work has done it. These figures are worlds ahead of the artillery figures I saw 2 years ago.
Okay, I taught you how to airbrush, and now I'm calling in my marker. You have to teach me how to paint figures like this!
Amazing, Bro, simply amazing.

Hey Matt!

How you doin' brother? It's been a long time, my friend.
A lot of water has gone under the bridge since we spoke last.
I'll gladly help you with any painting tips, buddy.
You helped me once or twice. It would be rude of me if I didn't return the favour!
Send me a PM so we can talk some more.
Great to hear from you!

Thank you to everybody else who has posted up their comments on here, too. It really is appreciated.
Thanks to you all!

Joe.

So Joe these are 1/1 scale are they ?




Superb work old son !

I thought I'd have another play on the PC & came up with these...










Could be The New York Times from January '68?
What do you reckon?

Joe.

Joe, really amazing job.

Hello Joe,

Probably not January of '68 because of the type of rucksacks these guys are wearing. In January of '68 these guys would still be using the lightweight rucksack instead of the tropical one. Now if this was towards the end of 1969 or sometime in 1970 or later, then the equipment would be more in line with that time period. And even then, the lightweight ruck was still being used, or at least the frame, until the end of the war. Lots of grunts started putting the tropical rucksack on the lightweight rucksack frames because the middle of the x-frame would dig into one's back. I had one back in the late '70s / early '80s and the rivet in the center of the x-frame would dig into my back.

The figures look excellent. Very detailed. I like them alot.

Cheers,
James