Thanks guys!

Nothing new on the Leo at the moment. Found and extra tube of putty, so I was able to finish the turret on my Pershing. Just did the highlights and undertones and I'm about 5 steps from being done with her......for now that is! But, that's another thread. I'll have more on the leo later on this evening.

nice pershing very brute upperhull well done tony fantastic

Thanks Karel.<div>
</div><div>I don't know what this picture came out so green!!! I hate this new camera!</div>

mine to i have a new Fujifilm Finepix S2100HD but can't realy take close ups , my cheaper samsung could do it much better, i bet we have to learn to use them anyway

Finally figured out the setting on my camera. This is the closest I can get it to what I actually see. Still a touch darker than in real life, but this is better than the last photo. Guess I made up my mind. I'm gonna have to get an SLR camera that captures exactly what I see!!

Still have to paint the lower half, wheels, decals and accessories, then finish up the commander!!! Then it's tanking time! Whoot! Okay, enough about the Perhing, time to get back to work on the leo!

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nice pershing looks very mean

Tony did you use sharpening settings in the camera or afterwords in a photo program on this Photo looks overly processed to me?
Also don't think a SLR is better and will capture what you see better and make your shots come out like a pro because if you do not know what you are doing F stop focus distance and so fourth a SLR will be your worst nightmar they do not work in no way the same as a regular digi cam I used them and they are great but you have to know a lot to get them to work to there best potential... for example a F stop of 2.8 on a normal digi cam has more focus depth than a SLR probably on 8.0!! A good digi cam is panasonic with the leca lense look at some reviews on them they take real good photos.

Hey Steve,<div>
</div><div>I used the "Food" setting on color white, with the flash. No photo editing on picture, but still looks closer to the color of the tank (at this point) than the previous photo.. You're probably right about the SLR camera, as I'm a total noob when it comes to that. I've just read the SLR will actually capture what you see better than an actual digi. The cam I'm using isn't too bad, but it really isn't capturing the exact color tone of the Pershing. I may need to take another pic on a sunny day (when I'm done with it.) I've read the Nikon d300s is pretty good, but I settled for the Nikon L110 because I thought the 15x zoom was pretty decent for what I need. Turning out to be a big pain.</div>

Hi Tony for your photo you are better off taking the shock in macro mode ( flower symble ) and do not zoom in on the tank just go closer to it with the camera. you may also be able to stand a few feet away in normal mode and take the photo You never want to use the ZOOM as this will use a smaller F Stop wich will make less light enter the lense there for making the shutter speed much slower and you won't capture a good shot unless on a tripod.

You want to use the largest Fstop lowest # your camera goes to (example F2.8) this will take the best shot with the least light needed and a fast shutter speed. you can use AV mode and select and set the F stop to the hiest setting (lowest # shown) and shut off the flash.

Also if your camera has a manual white balance setting place a light grey or white paper in the light you are going to be taking the photo of your tank in and use the manual white balance setting and set it up how they say most say push a button or take a photo of the white paper this will give you the correct balance setting and your photo should look much better for the light you are in.
SEE PHOTO this was taken with my panasonic point and shoot Lumix FS7 works pretty good for point and shootand it was on low Mega Pixel setting.
Hope this helps!
[img]{akamaiimageforum}/upfiles/107591/Lj23530.jpg[/img]

Nope.........nope, ....can't say that did help, LOL! <div>
</div><div>The don't use zoom makes sense. But please clarify this, Fstop F2.8. That will probably make everything fall in place. lol</div>

Hi Tony i just looked at the specs of your cam and it only has Fstops of 3.5F to5.4F that's no good for low light photo taking with out a flash. also your camera does not have aprature priority mode or shutter priority mode so you can't really adjust anything as it's a point and shoot camera ...for better photos a camera with the features obove will work best.Your best bet is to not use the zoom so it will stay at 3.5F and get the lighting the brightest you can and force the flash off so it don't flash ..also do as i said set the manual white balance if done correctly you should get more life like colored photos...see how they say to set this function for your camera.

Alrighty, this is where I'm at. I've held off on mounting the convoy marker for later painting due to the clear housing. If the photo etch guard werepermanentlymounted to it, I wouldn't be able to mask it. It'll be a few more minutes before I move on to the next step. Waiting for the sprockets to finish baking in the toaster oven!



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Thanks Steve! I'm taking the camera back, lol! It's alright, but I'm not really all that happy with it.

Your welcome if you want more flexability get one with a turn dial on it with the different settings like manual ,AV and shutter priority... I know canon amkes good ones and panasonic do some searching www.dpreview.com and other places test the cameras.
Hey the tank with that beast of a gear box looks very tuff and mean!!!!

Big tony, that sure does look one mean tank that you have under construction

Very nice Tony! After owning 2 VS Tank T-72's, I wish all gearboxes were built that way.

I have become a real fan of Lumix(Panasonic) Digital cameras. Great optics, and they are really pushing the old guard way of thinking about SLR's. If you are looking for a camera you should have a Panasonic on your list. My Lumix is old and it has been a great camera. I needed a camera that had a focus ring to allow multiple shots to be taken from one spot with about eight diffenet focal points. This was so I could process the shot through Helicon software that gives you limitless depth of field on model photography Works great

Here is an example. You can see the foreground all the way to the background is clear and in focus.





Sorry Tony for the sidetrack. The Pershing looks great. Texture perfect.

,

Your build is coming along nicely Tony. I had the same issue trying to decide about the convoy marker, especially since I did not know if the light was only suposed to come out the little hole in the PE part or illuminate the whole marker (I still dont, but I thinkI figured it out now and did it wrong, oops).

As for photography, if you are very new to it, there is a lot to learn to get the best pictures you can. You have received lots of great advice above. One thing I wojuld add is that it is not always about the tool. A good photographer can take a mediocre tool and still make great pictures, but a mediocre photographer will not necessarily take great pictures with a professional digital SLR. Skill trumps technology here. I have a Nikon D300 and the wife has a Canon Powershot D9 (used to be mine). While the D300 is a vastly more capable camera, outdoors in good light, the Poweshot can take excellent pictures that I would be happy to print up to 8 x 10. Even though it is a P&S, it has a full complement of manual controls, which I think should be a requirement for anyone who wants to get the most out of their pictures. If your Nikon does not have any manual controls, I agree you should return it and get a camera that does. There are lots of great P&S cameras out there with manual controls. The advice of looking at dpreview is good advice. Just don't bother with their forums, unless you want PC vs. Apple arguments in photo form.

Back to the topic at hand. My Leo came to life yesterday. What an awesome feeling it was to see that imposing shape crawl around my living room, picking of my kids one by one. I will finally post some pics of it when I get back from a business trip later this week. It won't compare to the work done by the artists here, but I am happy for my first attempt.

I am looking forward to more pictures Tony (mostly to see what I could have done better).

Steve

I'm getting wood. LOL

if you build at this rage further the tamiya's you will have at the end of the year the whole tamlot

Hey guys! Thanks for the education on cameras! I took back the Nikon L110 today and spent most of the day looking for a new camera. Unfortunately there isn't many retail stores around that carry a broad selection of cameras, other than the inflated prices of BestBuy. I've been tossing between the Canon S90, Lumix LX3 or LX5. Not sure if it's worth getting the LX5 thatsupposedlyshares many of the same features of the LX3, but reviews I've read on the cameras point towards the LX3 or LX5 (which has very little reviews being so new.) So for now, stuck with my Kodak C875 which has more manual features than the Canon L100 just no stabilizer, (sigh.)<div></div><div>As for the Leo......gotta slow up a little on it and do some back tracking. In step 21, I left off parts H12...accidentally. Got as far as installing the tracks and speaker box only to realize that I forgot them, and it's a severe price to pay for doing so because the gearbox has to be removed to install them. It's amazing how long it takes to back track, so let me tell you.....it ain't fun! So, that said to me...."Tony, your gonna have to do this again when it's time to paint the lower half and swing arms." Needless to say, I'm going to apply the base to everything while I have it re-disassembled! lol</div><div></div><div>Steve, can't wait to see the video!!! As for seeing if you could have done something better based from what I've done/will do.....HA!! If you didn't make a foul up like I did, you did great!</div>

I thought of the same thing with H12. Luckily, I dry-fitted my gearbox before continuing with the build and discovered there would be no way to install them at a later date without removing the gearboxes. I will hav eto go back and deal with the tail lights at some point, which will entail the removal of the turret, but I want this thing operational so bad that I am willing to deal with that. Plus, the electronics guy in me is devising a way to eliminate the fiber optic cables - stay tuned.

For your new camera, if you don't mind a little more research and buying online, I have only one word for your (or URL). That would be www.bhphotovideo.com (I hope it is OK to link them). This is the ultimate photography store (plus way more). They have everything (and I mean everything) from the lowest end point and shoot cameras to the highest end medium format digital backs and systems, plus every accessory you could ever want. The bet thing is they have user reviews for thousands of productsm, which may help you on your quest for a more capable camera.

Steve

Hi Tony looked at the 2 cams you like and i say get the LX5 it has a little more zoom the LX3 don't have enough and the LX5 has 2F stop will work awesome in low light condoitions!!
read this it compaires photos from the two cameras the LX5 looks much better.
http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/digital...2201687,00.htm

Man, you guys are given me a headache!!! lol Searching for a good camera is going to be a bit of a difficult process for me since I'm going to have to order what I wan online........which means, I may not be able to send it back or too much trouble to, if I don't like it! lol I'm gonna take my time on the purchase for sure and make sure to do my research......must resist the impulsive buying that I do! lol

Anyway, this is where I'm at. A whole day essentiually wasted by having to back track and rectify a little mistake and watch paint dry. Right now, it's a birds nest in there, not sure what to zip tie or if needed at this point, or what alternative I may take in wiring some of this altogether. But, moving on!

P.S. Excuse the even more craptacular photos.




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Tony, you are killing me!!! Your paint work on the Pershing is stunning brother! Now I have a question for you. Being an artist and all, and figuring you post about 50 times a day, why is there not a tutorial on your painting technique? Hint Hint!!!!