Heather Kay
Western Thunderer
As the current Mk1 build reaches a conclusion, the time comes for "official" photos.
I do have a nice big light tent, and for the Collett build I took their photos on a black background. This was okay, but it still felt wrong. Nice for portfolio shots, but lacking a certain something.
You often see models posed on a nicely scenic length of track, essentially a short bit of embankment. I still want something like this, but the issue right now is the background. I need a large background to avoid doing too much photoshoppery to remove extraneous stuff that happens to be in the background. I also didn't have a lot of time spare to create a lovely bit of overgrown scenery.
As a quick way to create a backdrop, I thought about making a brick wall. It needed to be long enough to allow front three-quarters shots of coaches without revealing the "studio" behind. It also needed to be high enough that low level shots didn't reveal the ceiling.
With the need for a background imminent once the weathering of the current build was complete, I did a bit of research over at Scalescenes. I had in mind a wall, with arched windows, like many railway or factory workshops of yore. I spent the massive amount of £3.98 on a set of PDFs, and then spent a happy childlike hour or two printing out brick wall and window sheets, cutting out 24 window apertures and sticking anything and everything to a couple of large sheets of scrap card. I love this on-the-fly kind of freeform modelling. No plans, no rules, just an idea and some materials.
The result is a bit rough and ready, but I can refine it in time. The beauty of the Scalescenes system is I can print out as many sheets as I need, and modify if I need to. For something I spent a maximum of three hours on, I'm happy.
The darker section on the right is because the yellow toner ran out mid-print, and the new cartridge made a difference to the overall colour.
Again, some of the window frames suffered from the dying yellow toner, but these are essentially just stuck to the back of the "wall". Joins in the brick paper need more thought and care, too.
Here's the "set". A somewhat unorthodox use for a crocodile clip lead, but it works. For a proper shoot, I'd set things up more carefully, but this was a proof of concept. I need to fill in the gap behind the track, and set the lighting up more carefully, but not bad for a few hours' work.
The idea is to provide a "we've dragged it out of the paintshop for the official photographer" look, and I think it works.
Something a little better than a plain backdrop, at least.
Now, on with that weathering!
I do have a nice big light tent, and for the Collett build I took their photos on a black background. This was okay, but it still felt wrong. Nice for portfolio shots, but lacking a certain something.
You often see models posed on a nicely scenic length of track, essentially a short bit of embankment. I still want something like this, but the issue right now is the background. I need a large background to avoid doing too much photoshoppery to remove extraneous stuff that happens to be in the background. I also didn't have a lot of time spare to create a lovely bit of overgrown scenery.
As a quick way to create a backdrop, I thought about making a brick wall. It needed to be long enough to allow front three-quarters shots of coaches without revealing the "studio" behind. It also needed to be high enough that low level shots didn't reveal the ceiling.
With the need for a background imminent once the weathering of the current build was complete, I did a bit of research over at Scalescenes. I had in mind a wall, with arched windows, like many railway or factory workshops of yore. I spent the massive amount of £3.98 on a set of PDFs, and then spent a happy childlike hour or two printing out brick wall and window sheets, cutting out 24 window apertures and sticking anything and everything to a couple of large sheets of scrap card. I love this on-the-fly kind of freeform modelling. No plans, no rules, just an idea and some materials.
The result is a bit rough and ready, but I can refine it in time. The beauty of the Scalescenes system is I can print out as many sheets as I need, and modify if I need to. For something I spent a maximum of three hours on, I'm happy.
The darker section on the right is because the yellow toner ran out mid-print, and the new cartridge made a difference to the overall colour.
Again, some of the window frames suffered from the dying yellow toner, but these are essentially just stuck to the back of the "wall". Joins in the brick paper need more thought and care, too.
Here's the "set". A somewhat unorthodox use for a crocodile clip lead, but it works. For a proper shoot, I'd set things up more carefully, but this was a proof of concept. I need to fill in the gap behind the track, and set the lighting up more carefully, but not bad for a few hours' work.
The idea is to provide a "we've dragged it out of the paintshop for the official photographer" look, and I think it works.
Something a little better than a plain backdrop, at least.
Now, on with that weathering!
