Tamiya Spitfire Mk IX Kicked Up A Notch: Last Post

[richdlc]

excellent Chuck

[Bstarr3]

Wow. Just incredible, Chuck. Makes me want to pick up a Tamiya Spit, even though I won't be able to do it near as much justice as your outstanding effort

[Skyhawk174]

Hey Chuck that looks great and just amazing detail. I really have to borrow your shrinking ray gun one of these days  :thumbsup:

 

Also, I think what makes all your posts amazing other than the model work itself of course, is that the photography is also first rate. It is set up with nothing distracting you in the background and well lit. The best of course is that the images are SHARP with great depth of field.

 

It is always a pleasure to watch how your model transitions from a box of parts to a work of art. Thanks so much for posting your journey.

 

Cheers

Chris

[Rocat]

Stunning skills!

I love your posts, so much to learn about the kit and the real machine.

Thank you.

[Thunnus]

Beautiful work Chuck!  Excellent pictorial reference that beats many modeling publications.

[chuck540z3]

Hey Chuck that looks great and just amazing detail. I really have to borrow your shrinking ray gun one of these days  :thumbsup:

 

Also, I think what makes all your posts amazing other than the model work itself of course, is that the photography is also first rate. It is set up with nothing distracting you in the background and well lit. The best of course is that the images are SHARP with great depth of field.

 

It is always a pleasure to watch how your model transitions from a box of parts to a work of art. Thanks so much for posting your journey.

 

Cheers

Chris

 

 

Beautiful work Chuck!  Excellent pictorial reference that beats many modeling publications.

 

 

Thanks Guys!

 

I've been asked many times how I take my pics and although I'm no photographer, here's a cut/paste of a quick tutorial I did years ago, with some editing to bring it up to date. 

 

 

Model Photography for Dummies (like me)

 

 

Camera

 

The first thing you need is a decent camera, but owning a fancy DSLR with all the bells and whistles isn't necessary. Besides having a good lens and decent resolution of at least 8 MP, the camera needs to have an aperture priority setting, so that you can fix the aperture to a high number, giving a small aperture. The camera also needs to be able to focus on objects from a minimum of 2 feet or less. Zoom lenses help if you need to be further away, but maximum aperture settings often deteriorate as you zoom in. Most point and shoot cameras have a macro setting which is often displayed as a flower for close-ups, but just make sure you can adjust the aperture at the same time if you leave it on this setting.

 

Lens

 

If you can afford it, buy a Macro ("Micro" in Nikon-speak) lens, because nothing takes close-up pics better than a lens made for doing just that.  If you don't have a Macro lens, try using a zoom from a few feet away and then crop the image on a computer (see below), assuming the resolution of your camera is high enough to begin with.

 

Aperture Priority

 

A maximum aperture of “f-22†or higher is recommended for most model photography. With high aperture settings, you can achieve good depth of field, which is critical for close-up or “macro†photography. If you are taking a close-up of your model from, say, 1 foot away at f-3.5, the object you focused on will be in focus, but the other parts of the model just in front or behind the focus point will be blurry. With a higher aperture number of f-22, almost everything a few inches in front and a few inches behind will also be in focus.

 

Tripod and Self-timer

 

The next thing your camera needs is a self timer and the ability to fix it to a tripod. With high aperture settings, the shutter speeds will decrease dramatically, so you can't hand hold the camera without getting some blurring from shake. Anything longer than about 1/100 of a second will likely have some blur, but you can sometimes hand hold 1/60 of a second if you're very steady. For maximum apertures of f-22 or more and the lighting I routinely use, my shutter speeds are often 1-3 seconds or more, so a tripod is a must along with a self timer, so that you are not touching the camera when the shutter is released.

 

Lighting

 

Generally speaking, you can't have enough light when taking pics, so try to have 2-3 light sources coming from various angles to fill in shadows. Having one light source stronger than the other is OK, which creates a natural looking shadow, but if the light is too strong from one direction, it will overpower what the camera measures for light. If you can find them, there are some excellent coiled gas bulbs or LED's available that give off strong natural and balanced light of 3200 to 5000K, which is a “color temperature†close to natural light. They are not expensive- about $8 each- and I use at least 2-3 of them in goose-neck lamps over my model and one held in my hand, so that I can direct the light at shadows that I want to tone down as the self timer on my camera takes the pic. For example, check out “Alzo Digital†here for the lamps I use:

 

http://www.alzodigital.com/online_store/replacement_lamps.htm

 

White Balance

 

Colors will shift according to your light source. Fluorescent lighting is greenish in color, incandescent lighting is reddish and natural sunlight is neutral, which is why many modelers take their pics outdoors. You can hand hold many outdoor pics due to the strong light and resultant fast shutter speeds, even at high apertures, but strong sunlight can also produce too harsh shadows, so a cloudy day is better than a sunny day to take pics. If you're taking pics under artificial light, you need to compensate for the color shift of your light source and many cameras have a white balance compensation setting, other than “autoâ€. More sophisticated cameras allow you take a measurement of the colors your light source is sending to your model, by taking a picture of a white card (sometimes grey) as a base line for what is supposed to be pure white, which is saved as a setting in the camera. The pics you take are then color shifted accordingly to provide a neutral look, rather than one that is red looking because you used an incandescent light bulb, etc.  You can also change the white balance using computer software, as described below.

 

ISO

 

This is the sensitivity of your digital light sensor, with low numbers of 100 to 400 being the most commonly used. ISO settings in this range will give your pics the most resolution, but sometimes you need a higher ISO setting to get the pics you want under poor light if you're not using a tripod. High ISO settings, however, tend to be grainy, with the higher the number the grainier the pic. My camera goes to a smoking high setting of 50,000 (and higher), but the pics will look fairly grainy. If you have good light and a tripod, you don't need to worry about using a high ISO, so you should leave it at a relatively low number.

 

Flash

 

If you own flash umbrellas and light tents, you know a heck of a lot more about photography than I ever will, but for most people who use the built-in flash on their camera, my advice is to leave the flash down and never use it. Flashes tend to totally overpower the front light of the photograph, making them look artificial and washed out. With adjustable external flashes you can bounce the light off the ceiling, etc. to create a more natural look, which might work great for some. I like to use my own external lighting so that I can see what the pic should look like before I take it, rather than what it might look like with a flash.  Having said that, some good cameras with "TTL" (Through The Lens) metering/flash can turn out pretty good.

 

Light metering

 

Many cameras give you options for how the light is measured on your light sensor, from tiny “spot metering†to versions that measure a wider spectrum in your viewfinder. I generally use the spot metering option, because I can control where the lighting is measured. This isn't all that important due to “bracketingâ€, which I also use.

 

Bracketing

 

Most of the time your pics will be properly exposed automatically, but sometimes you might want a little bit darker or lighter pic as a comparison to choose from. I sometimes shoot 1 “stop†under and 1 stop over what the camera measures as correct, so that I have 3 pics for every shot. My camera does this automatically if I set it this way, but you can always do it manually if your camera doesn't have this capability. I sometimes find that the slightly overexposed pic is the best and sometimes it's the under exposed one, so I eventually toss the other two that don't look as good.

 

HDR (High Dynamic Range) Setting

 

My "Go-To" method of shooting model pics these days is to use the "HDR" setting on my Nikon cameras.  I'm not sure what other camera manufacturers call this setting, but I'm sure it's not unique to Nikon.  Essentially, the camera takes two pics, one that exposes the lighter areas properly and then another that exposes the darker areas properly, then stitches the two into one pic.  As a result, using a tripod is a must, so that the two pics are exactly the same for what is framed.  This is usually much better than just taking bracketing pics like above, because each shot is an average of both light and dark areas, which doesn't always work very well.   Using the HDR setting is the single best trick that I have learned for taking pics of models, which is why they are often very balanced for exposure.

 

For more info, a link to Nikon's HDR Photography is here:

 

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/high-dynamic-range-photography.html

 

 

Background

 

Ideally, you don't want to see anything in the background, because it can distract from the model. Having all sorts of modeling crap in the background for an in-progress shot can add some nice realism to your photography, but for a finished model, I want to see nothing but the model and maybe the diorama the model is placed on. To accomplish this I use a very easy and cheap background, which is a large roll of white poster paper that is placed on the flat surface like a desk or table and draped up and taped to the wall behind, so that you can't see any folds. Since your photograph is focused on the model, the background will be slightly out of focus, achieving a nice nothingness to the background, which is called "Bokeh".  I have also experimented with using a black background, which can be very effective to show contrasting details, but for most of my pics these days, I prefer the white or near white background for a completed model.  For In-Progress shots, I use a very small photo-booth with a dark blue background.

 

File Format

 

My photography-geek friends always tell me to shoot my pics in “RAW†format, so that you can play with all the information the camera has recorded on a computer without the compression (and loss of data) by converting the pic to a “jpgâ€. If I am taking vacation shots, I record my pics in RAW for this reason, but when I'm taking 24-36 MP pics that are at least 6,000- 7,000 pixels wide, I don't worry about it because jpg format is easier for me to deal with (and store) and most of my pics are shrunk to no wider than 1,600 pixels when I save them on my ImageShack account for posting here. However, if you are planning to submit your build to a magazine for publication, taking the final pics in RAW is probably a good idea, because the magazines like all the resolution- and information- they can get.

 

Computer Editing

 

All pics can be improved and enhanced with photo editing software. Contrast, brightness, shadow compensation, histogram manipulation, color shifting and sharpening are some of the more common things tweaked after you take the pic. This all takes practice and there are many software packages out there, but I quite like the standard and easy to use “Windows Live Photo Gallery†that comes free with Windows 7 and you can download from Microsoft if you have Windows 10. I'm sure there are free Apple versions that are even better, or you can step up and buy the Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom software if you want to get really serious, although I never have found the need- yet.  One day I probably will, when I have more time to play with pics over modeling.

 

What do I use?

 

Although I have a Nikon D810 with 36 MP of resolution, I always use my Nikon D610 with 24 MP.  It has a full frame sensor, so I get all the resolution I need and it makes a terrific travel camera because it isn't as heavy as the D810.  For a lens, I have a Nikon Micro 60mm, although if I was buying this lens today I would have gone for the 105mm version instead, so that I didn't have to get as close as I do now, which is often only 6-8" away.  The 60mm lens has a maximum aperture setting (smallest hole in the diaphragm) of F36, so it's has fantastic depth of field.

 

Summary

 

Taking good pics of your model is easy if you follow a few of the steps above.  If you have a fantastic model and crappy pics of it that you took with your phone, nobody will care, because the details are lost.  With a little extra effort, you can record your masterpiece properly.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

 

Now a few of my favorite pics (and models!) that I took using much of the above:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by chuck540z3

[skydivin]

Wow Chuck.. Great build...

 

I have a question on gluing.  I hope you have not answered this before so your not repeating yourself.  When you have pre-finished parts like the engine you did  & frame.  What do you use to attach them together?  I assume CA but thought I would ask.  Do you scrape away any of the paint?

 

Thanks

 

Rod

[chuck540z3]

Wow Chuck.. Great build...

 

I have a question on gluing.  I hope you have not answered this before so your not repeating yourself.  When you have pre-finished parts like the engine you did  & frame.  What do you use to attach them together?  I assume CA but thought I would ask.  Do you scrape away any of the paint?

 

Thanks

 

Rod

 

 

It depends, but mostly CA glue.  After painting, regular plastic cements really attack the paint finish, so I avoid using them unless the bond will be hidden.  The other advantage of using CA glue on finished parts is that you can wipe up the excess with a micro-brush if you do it quickly, leaving almost nothing behind.  For the engine to frame gluing that I did last night, the fit was tight and the parts wanted to flex out of place.  Using CA glue and accelerator, which did not attack the paint, it was a relatively easy and the bond is now very secure.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[misha71]

incredible models

[Thunnus]

Thanks for the photo tips, Chuck... greatly appreciated.  I have access to the technical stuff... good camera... appropriate software but I lack the commitment to use the good stuff during the build itself.  I usually use a compact camera for the in-progress shots and the DSLR for the finished shots and even then I don't have a proper lighting setup so I usually shoot outside using ambient lighting.

[Lucio Martino]

Chuck,

 

What kind of advantages in using Mig washes instead of thinned oil paints ?

 

You keep improving, build after build. Thank you for sharing your work with us.

[chuck540z3]

Chuck,

 

What kind of advantages in using Mig washes instead of thinned oil paints ?

 

You keep improving, build after build. Thank you for sharing your work with us.

 

Thanks Lucio for those kind words.  I try!

 

Generally speaking, the washes that are available are water or solvent based.  Using enamel and lacquer paints exclusively, I have historically been using Flory ProModeler wash and a few years ago The Detailer, which are both water based and won't attack the paint.  I prefer solvent based washes, because they are thinner and get into tiny detail that the water based ones can't quite find or stay into, but even after a good coat or two of Future/Pledge on my models, I have had some disasters applying solvent based washes, so I avoided them.  ProModeler washes are OK, but they are a bit "gritty" and The Detailer can work well too, but it dries to a much different wash pattern than what was applied as the wash dries and shrinks, so you need to repeatedly re-wet the surface and move the wash around again and again to get the look you're after.  It helps if you add a drop of dish washing detergent to break up the surface tension, but the final version still looks different that what you applied.   Not a big deal, but a bit of a pain.

 

That was all before I discovered using Tamiya X-22 gloss clear coat instead of Future.  This acrylic paint is easier to spray than Future and dries to a very hard coat in only an hour.  With 2 good coats of this stuff on my model parts, I now have no fears of solvent based paints attacking the paint, which leads to some of the Mig washes, like the one I used above.  Although solvent based, this wash is much thicker than others and allows me to build it up where I want it and remove it where I don't.  What I see is what I get the first time, because there is no water evaporating, changing the composition and distribution of the wash and for an engine compartment, there is no better color or composition than Mig's "Engine Oil".  It dries fairly quickly too- maybe 30 minutes before you can touch it without leaving finger prints.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[chuck540z3]

April 16/18

Enough is enough. I've been fiddling with this engine for so long, that each additional detail is now wrecking detail I've already made. Also, as feared earlier, lots of handling with my greasy fingers is now eroding some of the paint- sealed or not-so it's now time to call this engine done. There are many more plumbing lines I could add, but I think this engine looks busy enough and finding out where every line goes is becoming more and more difficult.

First, a few modifications. The glycol tank in front of the engine requires a cap at the top which is easily added using spare PE, but the oil tank at the bottom needs a filler tube, cap and supporting bracing. The opposite side can use a few more rivets, which I added using Archer resin decal rivets. Yes, this rivet pattern should be crooked and there are portions with no rivets.





For the filler neck, I using 1.6mm styrene tubing, which is a bit small for scale, but any bigger and it interferes with the cowling frame. There are two large circular reinforcement plates at the base of it and a supporting cross member, as well as a rod-like gizmo at the top of the cap. After painting Alclad Aluminum, it's nice and shiny, for now….







The cowling frames were painted brown on the outside, then the rub strips were masked off using thin tape and then most of the frame was painted RAF interior green, other than the area around the exhaust which was painted aluminum.





The kit exhaust stacks have a major flaw, because the sprue join is right in the middle of the top of each stack where there is supposed to be a seam line. If you clean up the sprue join, you destroy the seam line. Stupid! Why the sprue didn't join to the bottom of each stack that you can't see is a mystery, but fortunately Quickboost makes a really nice set in resin, which I used instead. Here they are after a base coat of gloss black followed by Alclad Steel.





Looking at several reference photos of the real deal, the stacks should look fairly blotchy with both steel and exhaust staining, except the front stack which only has staining at the tip. To help create this look, I painted on a salt mixture in a fairly random pattern, almost totally covering the front stack at the bottom.





I then sprayed on a thin mixture of flat white with a hint of brown. When that dried for an hour or so, I washed off the salt and sprayed a very thin mist of a rust brown color. You don't want the stacks truly rusty, but there is a definite brownish tinge to go with a whitish exhaust staining.


Now the results, after a LOT of new plumbing and electrical lines added, which are a bit hard to see under the cowling frame. That's another reason to not go too far with detail, because much of it will get lost with the cowling frame in place. Anyway, I'm calling this engine DONE! Now a “walkaround†to see how it looks....

You can see how the front green paint has been rubbed off as I handled the prop spindle and rear pins in sort of a rotisserie fashion. I'm not sure I'll replace it, because the prop will hide all of it.

Edited April 16, 2018 by chuck540z3

[chuck540z3]

 

 

 

 

 

While the fit is tight, those little spark plugs wires can still be seen underneath, along with a lot of the other wiring detail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the two toughest parts of this build behind me (cockpit and engine) I can now turn my attention to the rest of the fuselage.  That gap at the rear of the engine will disappear when I glue it in.  Downhill from here boys!

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited April 16, 2018 by chuck540z3

[KitmodellerNZ]

Beautiful work!