Hi guys ...I just bought a new camera and I'm trying out my talents as a photographer...I took a few pictures of my M4A3 and thought I'd post them ..I'll have a few better pictures taken by a friend later this week (thanks Daniel) Let me know what you think.




tried to get that finger print effect around the hatches ...ehh don't know if it worked to well ..no one noticed it..lol


cheers.

Rick

You have done well with the upper hull and turret. I like the sandbags, how did you make them? Only things I would say you could improve, I think the tracks look too similar in colour to the hull, they almost look green. And I might be mistaken, but didn't the roadwheels have black rubber round them? I may be wrong about that part.
By the way, I really like those plants on the back! It's these little differences that really make your model unique.

Hmmm I think my photography skills are more to blame than the model ...The wheels do have the rubber painted but are covered with a good load of dirt pigment colors...tracks are painted Tamiya's earth color with the pads touched with Tamiyas Panzer gray and of course more pigments...
Sand bags are made from Milliput with a very fine wire mesh used to get that tecture ..an exacto blade was used to make the seam and the few holes in the bags...

Rick

I think yourM4A3 looks very good Rick.
Just one thing that struck was the colour. To me it looks a little bluey green. I think this is probaly to do with the photo.

Think I'll try taking some more pictures ..lol :-) It is painted Tamiya OD and 4 more coats of lightened OD using tamiya Buff paint ...The stars were repainted in the original OD color after the fading was finished and before the weathering. Like I said I got the camera yesterday ..still figuring it all out...

Rick

Those are by far the best looking sandbags ive seen. I think you need to start selling them, youll make a profit off of them! Ill definatly by them. I love the tank, your photography skills need a bit of work. I shouldnt be talking, so do mine! :-) Well anyways, cant wait to see the next pics!

Real nice job on the Sherman, Richard. Like TsunamiBomb says your sandbags are very well done , I like the way they follow the contures of the hull. I also like the little bend in the "toe hole" on the front of the tank, brings in that realistic effect. The real neg ( for me), that distracts from the realism is the "fuzzies" on your tie down rope, this may be just your picture, not sure. I do like my tanks alittle more worn and dirty but thats only my opinion.

Ps: I use future on thread to reduce the fuzzies, paint it on & squeeze off the excess between fingers.
Light is your best friend for taking photos, try an outdoor shot , you will be surprized how much the details pop.
Bruce

Well next batch her we go...Wow I got lots to learn about this Camera.








hope these are better ..still need work so stick with me here..lol :-)

Hi Bruce thanks for the comments ..I too find that rope kinda fuzzy I ran super glue over it which usually does get rid of it but not this time ...Doesn't look that bad in real but when magnified it sure does show up ...Live and learn..

Rick

Richard, judging by your last photos, your photographic skills are not doing this tank justice ( don't mean to offend you :-) ). I like the looks of your tools and the texture on the hull is showing up some, you gotta get some real light on that thing and let us see it


Bruce

tank looks great.. and your photo skills are getting a little better...

best way to photograph a model is with a mini tripod using the timer. (prevents fuzziness or out of focusness) using Macro function ( setting is represented by a flower) (for up close pics.) in daylight with no flash (prevents paint color distortion because a flash really mess's with the paint color)

good luck on you future photos and remember there are some great freature articles on photo work for models under the photography section in the general modeling features...

Thanks for the tips on the pictures guys..(give me a break guys it'sonlybeen two days ).Hey it was raining yesterday...took it outside today and you were right ..colors are more natural..as for the tripod it won't be long ...I kinda blew my budget on the camera so it'll have to wait a week or two..


Rick
I took off the really bad pictures ..sorry for the red X's..Last try here before I buy a tripod..

Thanks for the comment India11A..and not mentioning the bad pictures.. :-) ..

Rick

Thats much better Rick, Though i can't comment my photography skills leave a lot to be desired.
Your sand bags just look better and better, also the weathering is very nice too.

Now THOSE are pictures. :-)
Great job Rick, on both the tank and the photos, details are a poppin!

Bruce

I must agree that those pictures do look better ..but I can still see the sheen of the wife's red car shining up on some of the pictures..I'm getting there..(note to self ..don't take pictures on red car..) :-)

Rick

Get yourself something non-reflective to take photo's on.. a light blue sheet works wonders and if you put a cardboard box under on one side you have a background wall also..

also mini-tripods are fairly cheap.. the 6" plastic ones run about $8 to $10 bucks.. on up to some of the larger ones..

but you must have a fairly good camera because even without the tripod your pictures are very clear..

I spoiled myself a bit ..I needed a camera that can take action pictures and do macro work for my models ...I picked up a Minolta Z5 ...certainly not the best camera out there but suits my needs fine ..It has an anti-shake stablizer and a super macro setting too..I'll be practicing with it for a while ..At least now I can take pictures myself instead of bothering friends every time I want to post a picture..

Rick

Richard your tank looks good to me and i like everybody else really like the sand bags, the new pics are pretty good to, my last tri pod cost me $20.00 well worth it makes a big difference.

Richard, stop taking pictures of that real Sherman, and show us some of your model....
The finish and tonal variation of your OD is too real.. superb job.
I take it your camera has a semi- manual setting, i.e. where you can choose either the shutter speed or aperture opening (Fstop). When you have your tri-pod, set your aperture to a minimum of around F5 to F6, as the larger the F number, the larger the 'field of depth', which means all of your pic will be in focus. This is imperative when you use the Macro setting, to avoid the fussy front and back effect. It will usualy bring the shutter speed down to 1/25 and less, but that's what your tri-pods there for.

Cheers
Henk

Hi Rick, I really like how this one has turned out. I know this is the RRB but I can't find anything to "complain" about. What method did you use for the "fingerprint" effect, a variation on the base color? As far as the pics go I think for just recently having gotten the camera they look good. I've had mine a little over a year and I'm still working on getting things just right. (lighting is the toughest part to get right for me)

Cheers,
Mike

Did you use some texturing material on the turret? The secon pic of the second set really looks great like it was cast

Hi Mike and Alan... First off the fingerprints were made by painting them on with tamiya's smoke .It just darkens the paint color a bit.It's very subtle but it shows when you point it out to people..The cast effect was done by adding tamiya putty diluted in testor liquid cement ...I just put it on and let it dry .. A light sanding was all it needed after that....Thanks for asking...

Rick

I really can't add to what has already been said. Great job. Thanks for the technique info too.

Excellent sandbags and stowage, a very nice sherman.