Dominic Thomas Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Having become disenchanted with posing my aircraft in the kitchen, I started to look more closely at the way others photographed their aircraft and decided to put more effort into my backgrounds. I posted my first attempts on my Recent Efforts post, receiving some very favourable comments, for which I thank you all again. I wanted to see if I could improve and this post shows the next stuttering efforts. These use a Coastal Kits rough field base with my landscape photos behind. These experiments show problems that I hadn’t anticipated so I thought I’d share them here. The first attempt featured several aircraft, and here are just two showing the Lysander & the Battle with the same background. The lighting wasn’t too bad, and the background seemed to be in scale. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 However, the background was printed on an A4 sheet which was about half the width of the base, so a lot was removed by cropping. Also, it wasn’t possible to photo more than one aircraft unless they were really small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 I tried to photograph two bits of countryside and then lay the two A4 prints side by side. This was a failure as I hadn’t allowed enough distance between each photo location. I tried using a bland background in the form of trees. It kind of worked but I felt that the break between the base grass and the photo grass needed to be reduced bringing the trees closer. I was reasonably pleased with this but still could only have one aircraft in shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 Then I managed to obtain an A3 print of the original background. This at last was the same width as the base. However, the new problem was one of scale on the background - the posts seemed huge compared to the aircraft. Suffice to say that this is a work in progress. I’ll update once more experiments have been completed. Obviously, it would be great to see any of your efforts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 This last picture shows a Frog Blenheim If. The previous pictures with the biplane featured a KP Sopwith Dolphin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tour de Airfix Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 I think the Lysander works really well against that scale of background and agree that the others less so due probably to their smaller scale. It’s a great idea though. I’ll have to look out some of the attempts I’ve made in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Sometimes I take my builds outside to have real countryside in the background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tour de Airfix Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 So @Dominic Thomas, here are a few ideas I tried Using a camera with a short focal length I blurred my paper background to give it the look of both being way off in the distance and to hide any imperfections in scale and joins with my base. Unfortunately this does not hide my bad modelling nor the unrealistic elephants 😂 The scene here was inspired by Tim Peake’s early service with the Army Air Corps heading elephants with a Gazelle in Kenya! I’ve also tried using a flat computer screen to display a background image. Here are two example from a Falklands conflict project I did back in 2022. A Sea Harrier prepares for takeoff from HMS Hermes And HMS Invincible closes in on the Falkland Islands Working on the perfect image to display one’s work can be so rewarding … looking forward to seeing more of your collection. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 I think the Battle and Lysander were beginners luck. I’m glad I have the other pics on file now though because I can see the problems. I would like to think I can get some other backgrounds for this base, then it’s on to another base and start again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 I like your approach Ratch. It’s worth doing but I’m trying to avoid going out in the cold at the moment 😆 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 1 minute ago, Dominic Thomas said: I like your approach Ratch. It’s worth doing but I’m trying to avoid going out in the cold at the moment 😆 Oh yes, I only do it on nice days 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 TdA, you have given me a bit to think about there. My FAA post only had a deck and no background other than the obligatory kitchen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kavanagh Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Some interesting experiments there. I like Ratch's real countryside idea, but I don’t have anything like that near me. It’s all built up around here, and I don’t fancy driving miles to some open country with a lot of models in the back of the car! So, I invented what I’ve come to call my "Universal Airfield". It's a piece of A1 sized foamboard. I painted it a dark earthy brown and applied some scatter material to give the impression of rough close-cropped grass. To give a back drop, another A1 board has some photoshopped prints stuck to it, from photos I took of a nearby valley. Here it is, propped up on my workbench, with an LED light panel pretending to be the sun. (My aim is always to try to fool the eye of an observer that they’re looking at a photo of a real aircraft. I don’t always succeed. However, paying attention to lighting helps. I have two LED panels, but when I use both I get double shadows under models - something of a giveaway that it’s not a real full-size scene.) This setup has served me well for a couple of years. I’ve not been happy, though, with the way the backscene simply arrived sharply at the back edge of the board. I spent a good deal of time thinking about how to improve things, and spent an enjoyable amount of time studying photos of aircraft at dispersal around airfields in the early 1940s. Here's what I’ve come up with. Some balsa wood strip was carved to give a low bank. Originally, this was to be a loose piece of scenery that I could swap out if I wanted. It was actually easier to glue it in place and fill any gaps between it and the main board! More flock scatter material blended the bank into the base. I bought a laser-cut wooden fence and gate kit, and found a rubberised horse hair material beloved of railway modellers that can be made into hedges. I spent a happy few hours playing about with these materials, making a right old mess, until I was pretty happy with the finished effort. I haven’t had an opportunity to set it all up with the proper photo studio gear yet, so this is a quick mobile phone shot to show the bank/fence/hedge hides the scenic join just about right. With my Big Camera, of course, everything will hopefully be in focus and simulate the wartime photos nicely. One day, I’d love to be able to set up a permanent photo base. Sadly, I don’t have room at the moment, so my pop-up Universal Airfield has to suffice. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 Great discussion, Heather. Thank you. You have put a lot of effort into this. I do like the ‘blurred’/distance effect. My thought was to try to get something similar as a result of photographing landscapes near me - lazy : Yes! I’m still trying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hangartime Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 All the above, fortunately it can be done simply with a roll of railway grass and a camera phone. Best backdrops are natural as it sets the tone for the model. If you prefer, just about anything can be printed onto A3. I have about 3/4 ground scenarios for this, 2 with railway grass rolls glued on. Rather than thousands of words.. in brief. Natural backdrops, mist/fog can be useful. Action shots, even wind or a fan has advantages. Angles and shadows can make all the difference. Night scenes can be made even without a backdrop. Even daytime dioramas don't necessarily need a backdrop. I'd say muck around and find out what works for you. You'll eventually find your own style. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kavanagh Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 46 minutes ago, Hangartime said: railway grass rolls An early attempt I did used this material. It was all a bit too uniform, more like a cricket pitch than a grassy field, and too bright a green. But, as you say, experiment until you find what works for you. I’m after a specific look to my photos, others have different ideas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 good points from Heather & Hangar. I can see the reasoning behind creating a specific look. I also like the idea of various angles. The advantage of Heather’s approach is I think the large base to more easily accommodate a variety of model sizes. I’ve decided to stick with the Coastal bases, so angles will give me an added dimension. I will still need to improve my background subject photography though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hangartime Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Definitely check SD45elect2000's setup. They're best background boards and shots by far. Crisp, in focus, simple and very effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD45elect2000 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Wow, thanks for the call out ! im delighted my photos are being looked at. Now if I figure out how to attach photos I can continue my adventure. Randall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted March 3 Author Share Posted March 3 Randall, would you know if you have exceeded your attachment quota? If you can’t attach photos by clicking the ‘Add Files’ button, this might be a reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD45elect2000 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Hi Dominic. AS far as i know I have exceeded my quota by alot, I assume the fix is to start deleting stuff. Randall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 8 minutes ago, SD45elect2000 said: Hi Dominic. AS far as i know I have exceeded my quota by alot, I assume the fix is to start deleting stuff. Randall No, just use the workarounds. Members gallery, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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