Luft 46 Reloaded

[matrixone]

Here are a few pics of some Luft 46 planes and my just completed control tower for my photography base.





                                                                     Matrixone  

[nev]

Very nice!

Is that Tower scratchbuilt?    

[Martin H]

Nah thats the old Airfix kit Nev.
Nice job thou

[matrixone]

Thanks nev and Martin H,

Yes thats an Airfix kit for the control tower. Right now I am working on fuel trucks and a couple of Kubelwagons, the 1/72 scale figures I ordered a while back still have not arrived yet. Yesterday I bought more plywood so I can expand my photography base and add some hangers.

Here is another pic...

                                                 Matrixone

[John Howling Mouse]

Your diorama work looks fabulous!  

If I might make a slight suggestion: the store-bought plastic trees do not nearly live up to the superb realism you've managed everywhere else.  I would shred them up a bit to make them less "perfect" and uniform.

Also, there are some very interesting, inexpensive techniques to make both coniferous and deciduous trees at home.  Model railroading sites are great sources for such how-to info.  I saw one guy who unravelled a portion of rope, gave it a shot of spray-adhesive, and rolled it around in some diorama "leaves" to obtain a deciduous kind of tree in mid-Autumn.  The end-result was incredibly realistic and could be customized to any scale and season required.  Some people even do this for a winter look!

http://www.pwmrc.org/billhow2/corner.htm

http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=mod...tpage&artid=135

http://users.pandora.be/ronny.noben/websit...ips.htm#diorama

[matrixone]

John,

Thanks for the comments!
I am not pleased with the trees on my photographic base, you are very correct in what you said. The trees look too much alike, I don't know how to make better ones at this time. I will be making a new backdrop next weekend and will airbrush the side where the trees are on my base a much darker background that will give the effect of a more dense forest area.
This is my first attempt at building a photography base and backdrop for photographing my models, I need feedback on how I can improve it.
There are no other modelers in my area that I know of, so I value constructive criticism of my work since no one else is likely to see it except what I post on the
forum.

Here is another pic shot last week...

Matrixone

[Captain Canada]

Looking good, matrix !

And while we're on 'tips'....I'd say move it a wee bit farther away from the hangars ?!

And thanks for the links, JHM...love the tree idea, and can't wait to try it ! Looks like something to do on those long, boring days at work !

Cheers !

[matrixone]

Thanks Captain Canada,

Friday I bought more plywood and will be adding more area to my photographic base, and might have one base with mostly tarmac. I found out my nearest hobby shop sells Plastruct in a variety of shapes and sizes and might be building a hanger soon... as always time is a big factor, I never have the time to do all I want to as well have it turn out as good as hoped.  I have well over a hundred kits now and need to start on them soon, I have many new Hasegawa and Tamiya kits as well as several Huma Luft 46 type of models I am looking forward to building.

Thank you for your input, it is most welcome.

                                  Matrixone

[nev]

Matrix, how'd you get that nice wispy grass effect under your 110?

[F-32]

excellent work Matrixone, can we expect some articles from you shortly?  

[matrixone]

Thanks nev and F-32,

That grass is standard static grass with a mix of tall grass cut to shorter lengths, all were mixed together when they were applied, beginners luck worked for me that time for sure! That was my first attempt at any sort of base with grass applied.

As far as any sort of articles are concerned I am making things up as I go, when I learn a bit more and get some more experience in making photo bases and photography I would very much like to do an article or two. But I have only learned how to post pictures two weeks ago, I have so much to learn yet!

Here is a pic of how I am planning to age my pictures...




                                                                             Matrixone

[Joe C-P]

That last black and white photo is eerily realisitic. Fix up those trees, mess up the ground a bit, then add some scratches and spots to the photo and you'll really have it.

 

[matrixone]

Thanks JoeP,

I will be making a number of changes to my photography base, but the trees will probably remain an eyesore, I will have to work around them until I make the new larger hanger I plan to build. Most of my pics are of models built out of old or at least poorly built kits, and if newer and better built models were in these photos they would look convincing even with the flaws of the current photography base.


Here is a new photo of an old model...



Matrixone

[Supertom]

Excellent work Matrixone!  Looking forward to more pics.  Hey, you really ought to write an article on photographing diorama setups like yours.

[matrixone]

Thanks very much for the kind words Supertom,

When this current project winds down I will strongly consider doing some sort of article about doing a project like this, but right now I am learning as I am doing this. Also I am gaining experience with my camera, which I bought a few weeks ago. It has been fun learning what works and what won't when it comes to scale model photography.
The next big project with my photography base will be a hanger, I found out my nearest hobby shop has a good supply of Plastruct in many different sizes, ideal for what I have in mind. However that hobby shop is a two hour drive from home.
Progress will be slow as far as building things such as props for my photo base so it might be a while before I can post any new pics.

Matrixone