Hello from the great southern land of Australia. My name is Steve, and I'm a model enthusiast, you might say, formerly from Perth and currently residing in Melbourne. I'm an IT Tech by trade, but I also do graphic design and photography on the side.

My interests in models lie primarily in wargaming (W40K) but I also enjoy building "mixed" dioramas (ie: a blend of sci-fi, fantasy, scratch-built, military, etc) and mini-vignettes, as well as general miniature painting.

I also take a great deal of interest in photographing models - I'm always looking for new ways to capture these on film and digitally, preferably without spending a great deal on specialised equipment.

I have an interest in building scenery, indeed this seems to be the main feature in many of the mini-vignettes I've built so far. I have a special interest in basing miniatures and models, anything from a co-ordinated multi-part base to hyper-detailed figure bases.

Scales are typically a mix of 1/35, 1/48 and 1/72, although due to no particular historic relevance in my work, I tend to use whatever scale best suits the diorama I'm making.

Well, thats enough about me. Gotta get back to reading all the great stuff on this site. I'm usually pretty vocal on these sorts of forums, so I'm sure you'll hear from me again shortly...

Cheers!

Steve
The Voyager

Steve, great to have you on board. You have quite a varied interest in modeling. I, for one, would like to see something you have built. Do you combine elements from all interests into one dio?

Oh, and with your experience photographing models, I'll be sending the ones looking for advice your way.

welcome mate,

sounds like you have a nice varied model collection!

cheers

joe

Hello


Welcome to the best modeling site in the galaxy.

Hasty

Ciao voyager,
Welcome to the site (as Hastyp said) "the best modeling site in the galaxy!! I look forward to seeing some of your work.
Ciao for now
Rob

Welcome to Armorama!

Seja Bem vindo...... Welcome.
Cheers from down south!

Hi Steve:

Welcome to de best modelling site in the www.
It would be great if you post some pics of your dios.
Saluti from Argentina, another great southern land !

Hi Steve
Welcome abroad, I live in Melbourne as well, and there are many friends from Victoria as well
cheers
Ricky

Welcome, welcome!!! cant wait to see some of your works.....

With so many kiwis joining up we'll have to get more shrimp for the barbie

Welcome Steve
I hope you are ready to laugh,

I'm extrememly senile and prone to excessive ramblings on my posts. You got a great bunch of guys that hang out here, and they ain't bad modellers to boot. A happy and jollier bunch of modellers don't exisit. For myself, I'm pushing 55, and been modelling for nearly all those years, But like most, time has been taken off for other things, like fishing.... females, fishing, females, fishing for females,

I work a rotating shift, and do the majority of my building at work on the afternoons, and midnight shifts. I do the finishing at home.
Cruise through the various forums, and find the ones that fits your interests, and give a campaign or group build a try. The first campaign I joined got me out of a terrible modelling slump, (didn't finish a thing for over 5 years) now I'm actually finishing up two other campaigns, and signed up for others, after these are completed.

I belong to IPMS/NJ, and IPMS/USAbut due to my work hours rarely ever get to make a meeting, so I come here regularly ....

Have fun... build a model...... and welcome once again

Welcome to Armorama Steve. It is great to see another modeler from down under here. Looking forward to seeing some of your work. Enjoy!

Welcome to Armorama Steve! Show us what you like to model - everyone is eager to share here!

Gunnie

Hi Steve, and a big welcome to Armorama, the finest modeling site on the net!!

Welcome Steve to the Lunatic Asylum,but here the loonies rule,and our illustrious leader Jim tries to keep us in line,but can you really control a thousand Van Goghs of the modelling world,glad to have you with us.
Arthur

Hi Steve, I enjoyed reading your intro. You sound like a very interesting hobbyist, with varied interests. I'm building up a simple UFO for a gentlemen in the Netherlands, who enjoys mixed media type war games and scenery. For instance, imagine the mother ship, with streams of little green aliens filing out to meet a human army arrayed across the table! Hey, I might have to build my own! From one new guy to another, welcome aboard! Tom

Steve, welcome to the family Cheers Kevin

Cheers all - thanks for the warm welcome. I'll definately post up some stuff - I have a large project I want to start on shortly, so once I'm finished the current one (a mini-vignette of a roughly 1/48th scale sci-fi warrior holding the battle line on his lonesome) I'll be underway with the new project.

And by all means - hit me with photographic questions - I'm more than happy to help out where I can.

Welcome to the Big Armorama family

Cheers

Costas

Hi Steve, You said ask the photo questions, so here goes: What is the easiest, cheapest, and quickest way to take decent photos of my models. I have a basic digital camera and no other special equipment. Any info you provide will help me post photos on this site, and also help with my ebay photos. Any insider talk will throw me, so dull it down a bit, no offense taken. I suppose you can look at my photos to see the random quality. Thank you, Tom

The photo answer probably doesn't fit in this thread, but I don't suppose it matters...

OK - here's a couple of really quick and easy tips that you can try, plus if you're really going to do this seriously (ie: lots of pics), then you may want to invest a few $ (and I mean only a few) in a couple of items.

OK, firstly, in order to best answet this, I need to explain 2 basic concepts of cameras. I'll do this very briefly so as not to overload you with mostly useless technical information.

1. Simply - a camera is designed to measure light, and then calculate how fast to operate the shutter to let the right amount onto the film. It does this by measuring REFLECTED light, and adjusting the exposure so that everything, on average, is at 18% reflectance (which is the reflectance of pure middle grey). Because of this, highly reflective or unreflective surfaces stuff up the readings, and ruin your photos.

2. Most typical digital cameras like to do everything for you. Read this as "stuff everything up". Your average cheap digital camera seems to be geared towards taking pictures of people, either inside or outside, mainly at short ranges. To this end, they typically like to fire the flash for every photo, which is extremely annoying.

Now consider a miniature in a photograph. We've tried to simulate the world by painting in shadows and highlights, relying on people's perception rather than lighting to show depth. Your camera, however, works solely with light. When it fires its flash, you suddenly have an intense light blasting your diorama or model from front-on (which is THE WORST PLACE for it). Your highlights become glaring white hotspots, and your shadows either vanish or go featureless black.

Now, armed with this knowledge, we can make 3 simple adjustments to the way we photograph our miniatures. These are, simply:

1. Switch the damn flash OFF. If your camera doesn't let you do it, you can try adding more light to the setup (see below). If you still can't shut it off, then your camera really is going to be a nightmare for miniature photography.

2. "Fool" the camera into always giving us the perfect exposure. This is easy, and my favourite way to do it is not to get fancy equipment, but to go to the local photographic equipment store (even the local Kodak Express will probably have these) and get a packet of Photographic Grey Cards. You typically get 2 8x10" and one 4x5" in a pack, and they don't expire, so you'll have them forever. They cost about $20 AUD, so probably about $10 US. If you're serious about this, get them. No arguments!

3. Set up a "mini studio". Don't panic - it packs flat, and you don't have to spend much! This is good for models and small vignettes - anything larger will require additional trickery. Set it up like this:

Find a nice flat area, preferably one that sees plenty of nice, diffused light. The kitchen bench is typically a great option, and nice workable height.

Now, get some form of support for your camera. A tripod is perfect (not one of those rubbery things - they're useless), but if you don't have one, put the camera on a small beanbag - these make a great camera support.

Now, get your 2 large grey cards. Lie one of them flat on the bench so that it buts up against the edge. Stand the other one vertically behind it (use a tin or something to hold it up. Finally, place the small card on top of the bottom piece - this will raise up your mini just enough to eliminate ghosting effects from shadows.

Place your mini on the small card. Try to keep it close to the front of the whole rig, as your camera will pick it out better for autofocusing.

OK, now some additional lighting. Grab your modelling lights from the table where you work, and set them up on 45 degree angles away from the camera (obviously pointing at the model). This combined with the overhead light AND the diffuse window light should give nice, even lighting and won't blow out any detail. I know it sounds like a LOT of light, and it is, but it really makes a difference. If you have Daylight bulbs in your work lights (and who doesn't ???) it will be even better, but normal bulbs will be fine.

Right, now get your camera. Set it up for MACRO mode, if any (sometimes called "close up", or a picture of a flower). Now, ZOOM the camera to its absolute maximum, and then back it off just slightly (this will assist the autofocus). Now, switch OFF the flash, and engage SELF TIMER mode (so when you press the button, there is a 10sec delay). Also set the MAXIMUM resolution and quality setting.

Line up the photo by moving the camera into position on its beanbag/tripod. You want to move the camera so that the miniature fills up 80 - 90% of the view. Now, half-depress the shutter release button (the one you press to take pictures) and ensure the Autofocus gets a lock. If so, fully depress it, and take your hands OFF the camera. If not, move the camera a little further away and try again. Once you get it, fully depress the button.

This will take the photo. Now, do NOT rely on the screen. Download the initial picture to your computer, and examine it there. Happy ? Keep it. If not, erase it, make a SLIGHT change to the setup (move the mini slightly, etc) and try again. You'll soon work out the characteristics of your specific camera, and will get good results.

Shooting a diorama ? Everything I've said so far should hold. The ONLY difference is that you need to be careful about your exposure, because you can't stack it into the grey card surroudings. SO - don't use the self-timer, but keep the flash OFF. Aim the camera at the grey card, and partially depress the trigger. This should lock in a neutral exposure. Now, swing over to the diorama itself. The focus should lock on, and then hit the trigger to take the photo.

Hopefully some of this helps.

Steve.

Steve, Thank you, thank you! This is great stuff. I'll let you know how things go as I apply your knowledge to my subjects, Sincerely, Tom

Glad to help !

Very useful stuff!
Tom, thanks for asking the question and , Steve, thanks for the answer.
Chuck