kptucker

Hey Don... I would guess that you have already reached out to them but since you didn't say so... Steel Town and... Pinky through the years... I would go to the source if you haven't already. Steel Town says she is part of their history. Someone there has got to have additional info. If not, what SCCA Region did Ms. Mims belong to? Most of those regions have some type of history page set up. Cool photo... Kevin

Well Mr. Shunsaku Tamiya needs to get off the schnide... It was a dream list anyway. Most modelers are well aware of tooling and licensing costs. If R/C modelers can plunk down big cash for the Tamiya re-releases, Tamiya could bite the bullet and pop out a new 1:12 scale race car. If Tamiya releases another 1:12 scale Caterham, I'll puke...

I know that I'm not alone in thinking that the Gulf racing paint scheme is one of the most beautiful to ever adorn a race car. Take that and mate it with the newest challenger from Aston Martin... Schwing! AMR AMR Gallery Le Mans can't come quick enough especially since it won't make it to Sebring. Want list: A: Model Factory Hiro to do a full detail version. B: Tamiya to do this in 1:12th scale. I don't care if the kit cost $500.00... I'd buy it. One can only dream...

Rusty, I should have added one more to the list but it only just came to me. The work of Calvin Tan is to be studied. Calvin Check out his gallery as Tan's sculpting and painting techniques are some of the best in the business. Calvin is also known for his work with Alpine Miniatures. Kevin

No problem Rusty... Glad to help.

Rusty, Your best bet will be the TimeLines Forum. Timelines You can find more than enough info there and the people who are on this forum are top notch. This link gives you what I think you need: Sculpting Another site is Planet Figure: PF The author of the sculpting tutorial is Anders Heintz. He is one of the best up and coming talents out there. He is giving a figure sculpting seminar at the Atlanta Show: Atlanta (See show info link, bottom of page) He is also putting out a sculpting DVD for those who can't attend. Hope this is what you were looking for. Kevin

Excellent work on the Jordan and the Ligier. I think it should be noted that these are 1:43 scale kits for the viewers that may not be familiar with Tameo kits. Dave obviously can handle the "Braille Scale" of the automotive world very well...

No problem Ray... glad to help.

Ray, This might be of help to you: Petty Powerslide Decals Powerslide is an excellent company to deal with. Quality product and quick shipping. The decals are high quality and are not printed on an Alps printer. To my knowledge, all of his decals are done by Cartograf from Italy. Kevin

I saw the announcement on Hiroboy this morning and felt this was worth sharing since the large scale Tamiya re-releases don't last very long. Here is the announcement on the Tamiya USA site: Lola T70 MKIII There are two of these running on the historic circuit and James Garner was involved with the AIR (American International Racers) at Daytona in 1969. Would be nice if someone could do decals for the AIR team. With the addition of PE and turned aluminum velocity stacks, this should be a winner.

Speed.com has a gallery up from Friday's competition at the 2010 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion from Laguna Seca. It's worth a look since there are so many historic machines that call the West Coast home. Vintage Speed Hopefully they will put another gallery or two up...

Jay- I wouldn't let the remote capture turn you away from a camera. I know it's a nice function but if you become adept at reading a histogram Histogrammy it will allow you to capture images with less gear. As far as RAW and other file formats, RAW is a superior file. I shoot RAW for all assignments but that is because my work goes into print as well as the web. The majority of newspaper shooters shoot jpeg. One reason is for space. Jpegs can be handled quicker for the web and for press. Screen resolution is normally 72 DPI and print resolution (newspaper) is around 150 DPI. Jpeg files are fine for those usages. If you had a blog or were posting to this website, a jpeg is more than adequate. If you were going to submit an article to FSM, AFV, etc., their requirements are probably a minimum of 300 DPI and would probably need a tiff file which can be made from a RAW file. Sometimes they might even make the request to have the original RAW file so they can make their printing adjustments accordingly. If you had captured the image in jpeg format, you can't up-res it to a RAW. A photo program, let's say Photoshop, will just interpolate what it feels the image needs and add pixels based on its algorithms if you try to up-res a jpeg. It just will not look good. If you capture that same image in the RAW format, your possibilities are limitless as long as you don't overwrite the original RAW file. This will help you understand about jpegs: JPeg Section two, Typical Usage, will really tell you all you need to know. Simply put, RAW gives you the most options for your images. It also takes up the most space. It all depends on your needs...

Jay: One thing that I think needs to be pointed out is that a few of us who will be participating in this forum make our living as photographers. I'm fully aware of the costs involved but I hope that some ideas that are shared here will save some costs. Many items that you need can be purchased at an art store like Michaels or AC Moore. Diffusers can be made from white bed sheets, or other white sheer fabrics. Reflectors can be made from white foamcore as well as flags (word we use for blocking light or creating shadows) which can be made from black foamcore. You could consider a camera such as the Canon G11. G11 While you don't have the ability to change lenses, you can mount another flash on the camera, it has excellent close-up (macro) capabilities and allows for full automatic to full manual control (plus video). Chris: Here is some info on your flash: SB600 You would have the unique ability to "link" a couple of SB600s together to carry with you a mini studio if you so choose. SB600 Remote That way you can pump all the light you need to get good depth of field with your subject. One note on RAW or NEF (for Nikon): Nikon RAW It isn't so much that RAW brings out detail (which it does) it is that RAW is the closest to film that digital has. If you capture your images as Jpegs, you will have less control over your images than if you captured your images in a RAW format. RAW gives you the best file that can be recorded in digital. You can make multiple adjustments without quality loss. Jpegs don't afford that option. Just remember that if you choose to try RAW, you NEVER save the adjustments you make on the RAW file to that same file, hence over-writing the original file. You always save your adjustments/corrections to a new file. (Save As instead of Save) John: I would agree that you need some type of diffuser or more opaque material blocking any overhead light. You also need to be careful in bouncing your flash off of a wall because it will pick up a cast if the wall is not pure white. I would also recommend that you invest in some 'Cable Cuffs'. Cuffs You can pick these up at Home Depot. I would recommend that you clean up your wires and straps before an accident happens. I have seen it too many times in the past. I use these cuffs for everything photo related. And John, I have been shooting for as long as you have. Digital is nothing but a recurring expense to me every two years. Film bodies were much more reliable and durable. It's just a cost of doing business... ;)

John, That is a good setup but I would have to agree with Dennis about the light mixture you are dealing with. When utilizing a shutter speed as low as you are using, you are gathering light from not only your setup, but also from any ambient light in the room (could be additional daylight if there is a window) and the over- head fluorescent lighting. You must have the flash dialed down or that must be Nikon's metering system that is allowing just a little flash to kick in via TTL. You have very little catchlight (highlight) on the models. I would say that the shadows you are getting are from the overhead lights. Not from your two lights that are low and angled. The shadows from those lights would be long to the left and right of the model. I'm not seeing that. I wouldn't be surprised if those two bulbs are providing little if no light to your subject due to the low wattage of the bulbs. Like Dennis, (I read your blog Dennis) I come from the film and darkroom days and have transitioned to digital (Wasn't happy about it, still ain't). I also shoot RAW but I'm not happy with the 'hard drive farm' I now own that grows every year. I have backup upon backup... I just purchased one of these: Mini Cyc I had my friend work out a shipping imperfection and paint it with a matte interior blue (PPG Auto Paint). I'm letting the paint gas out for another week or two before I bring it in the home. Thanks for adding this photo forum within the forum...

But RobG... if you notice, there are three busts. One Vader and two stormtroopers. "Heh... he doesn't know how to use the three busts... heh..."

Dennis, There are still some manufacturers of white metal figures though the sculpts coming out of companies like Alpine and New World are some of the best out there. But, as you know, these companies cast their figures in resin. Colorado Miniatures has a wide variety on their site: Colorado Miniatures and Andrea Miniatures still casts their line in white metal: Andrea Miniatures This should help narrow down your searches...

Did not see this listed so I thought I would share... MIG looks to be dipping a toe into the Sci-Fi 'what if' realm with his two latest releases... MIG KV Conversion MIG KV-2 Full Resin Kit It is interesting that the lead on the main homepage for these kits is "No more boundaries". "Just imagine, Paint and Enjoy." I wonder how many MIG has waiting in the pipeline if modelers actually gravitate to this. With the re-release of the SF3D line by Hasegawa and Wave, albeit slow, this line could have some interesting options.

Why would you think that Jack? Most of the guys who like her are interested in her "chassis" not the Dallara chassis she drives. The auto world is more focused on models such as Danica die cast than on plastic. Resin is only made of drivers that have world appeal. Studio 27 and Model Factory Hiro aren't going to rapid prototype a driver's ride based on their looks. I could be wrong but I know of no IRL cars currently being made in resin/multimedia. Neither Strada Sport nor Hiroboy across the pond have any current IRL cars and if they don't have them, they aren't made. There use to be a very small cottage company that produced the Indy winners but she hasn't done that yet and I haven't seen the company advertise in a while. You'll just have to keep helping Sports Illustrated's page views Jack. I'm sure their ad sales department will love you for it... :P

Mike, This offering is from the series that used to be called SF3D from the mind of Kow Yokoyama. Basic info: Wiki MaK info This modeler's work is excellent (in my opinion) and a good source of reference: MaK dude And even more reference: Another MaK dude The kits used to be produced by Wave/Nitto. Hobby Link Japan was a big supplier of these. There was also a large amount of garage resin kits produced that would show up on the 'bay. I had heard a year or so ago that Hasegawa had entered into a licensing agreement so it should be interesting to see what they produce past this kit. Hope this helps...

For those who remember this line (MaK), Hasegawa is going to issue their first release: Pkf.85 FALKE The kit features new tooling and a full interior. I received the pre-order email from Dragon Online and they included a few more photos than what was on Hasegawa's website. Antigravity Armored Fighter/Pkf. 85 I'm sure that your local hobby shop or internet hobby shop will have the kit soon.

Don, No disagreement on your take but many well written books don't make it through the Hollywood process. Soylent Green or as the book was titled, Make Room! Make Room!, was much darker than the movie. Who knows if the audiences of the times could have handled it? If it was remade today, should it follow the movie or the book? I find 2001 a little difficult to take but I also take it for what it is in the time in which it was made. The movie was run recently on TCM and I watched it and 2010. I'm not rushing to the Blu-ray player to take Wall-E out though...

Very cool thread... Golden Age: 1) The Day the Earth Stood Still 2) Forbidden Planet 3) The Thing from Another World (The Thing) Silver Age: 1) Aliens 2) Blade Runner 3) The Black Hole 4) 2001 Current: 1) I Robot 2) Serenity 3) Chronicles of Riddick Animated: 1) Akira 2) Ghost in the Shell 3) Rahxephon 4) Wall-E 5) Appleseed: Ex Machina Upcoming: 1) Watchmen 2) Star Trek Most of these have been mentioned. I will always include Japanese Animation in my list due to the overwhelming beauty and depth of the medium... Overall number one favorite of all time... V for Vendetta... Alan Moore, what a genius...

Thanks Eric... I was just making my way over here to post it if it hadn't been posted yet. No new NASCAR kits means you can most likely kiss any new drag racing kits good-bye too. I realize that there is still a ton of other plastic auto kits out there but affordable racing kits are becoming few and far between. Donor kits for all of those resin CoT bodies will start to become very hard to find...