Portable hardstand for photographing models

[DesTROYer]

I have been envious of Uncle Les's photos of his models for a while now and have been determined to come up with something similar to what he shoots on, myself. So after asking him some questions a while back, I got to work on my adaption today. I thought I would start off with just one section and try out some techniques and see how they looked.

First up, I took some 0.75mm sheet and marked out an offset 6x4cm grid, scribed the lines, sanded swirl patterns on each grid and brushed on two coats of grey.


I then masked off and painted a couple of patches in a lighter grey and also added some yellow lines.


It looked pretty good, so I quickly did up a second sheet.


Then took them outside and took some photos to see how it all looked.






I think it looks pretty good, so I will head down to the hobby shop tomorrow and get a few more sheets. I want to do at least two more, but may do another two on top of that for more angles with better coverage. I am thinking about mounting them on a masonite board when all are done, but want to do it in away that they are not attached permanently so I can move them around if the need be. I'm also going to seal them, do a wash and then matt coat them which should make them more durable and look more realistic.

[uncle les]

[RayS]

Looks good Troy.

I have a 4 X 4' (1.2m x 1.2m)sheet of chipboard I want to do the same with so I can photograph some of my larger models on. Must get around the getting it done.

[DesTROYer]

After going to the hobby shop to get more sheet and finding they had not what I needed in stock, I had a brain wave (shit that hurt) and went to Bunnings and picked up two 600x450 plastic signs for $9.00 each and a rattle tin of grey primer for plastic. When I got home, I gridded it up, scribed the lines and gave it a good sanding.




I then went on to hit it sporadically with two other shades of grey that I had in the garage and then masked up some lines and airbrushed some yellow. Unfortunatly the wind and rain has prevented me from taking it out to the letterbox for some more photos, but I think it looks alright. The lines may be a mistake as they seem to dictate where the plane should be in the shot and may make photos harder to frame. I have one more sign and plenty more paint, so tomorrow I may do a V3 without the lines.

[DesTROYer]

I took my latest project out into the sunshine today to take some photos.

[tor lives]

That is good shit Troy!!!.....both the model and the hardstand.
The way you have it photographed sorta reminds me of the RAAF Richmond Air Movements hardstand area.
TOR

[Ansett A330]

Excellent as Mr Burns would say. I suspect Bunnings will be selling a fair few of those Signs from now on (and not for their intended purpose so Safety Incidences may be on the increase!). I think they should pay you commission for the promotion!

Must check Bunnings out next time I'm in the big smoke.

I've always had the long term (read actual definition : will never do or achieve) goal of having removable shelves in a Display Case so that they can be put together to form something over a large area. For example an Airfield or something like Walmington-on-Sea from Dad's Army. Maybe something like this as a "topping" for the shelves might be the catalyst I need.

To a certain extent that goal was effectively killed off when I saw in person one FNQ Modeller's permanent (multi level) setup in a 6 x 6 (metres not feet or inches!) Shed! You have to see it to believe it!

[DesTROYer]

Carefully check the prices. Some signs are much cheeper than others and some are way over priced, even though they are the same size and material.

[Ansett A330]

Thanks for the tip.

Yes I'd believe that the pricing would be based on a pricing hierarchy like :

Information Signs Base Price
Caution Signs Double Price
Danger Signs Quadruple Price

Wouldn't be the first time a Business makes money out of Safety as the risk increases!