StokeModels

Hey Peter, I use a Canon T3i that I've had for about 12 years now. I run all of my photos through Adobe Lightroom that allows me to adjust exposure and contrast - I create presets that allow me to use my favourite settings quickly. The biggest thing I've found for getting realistic looking photos is to get the maximum depth of field that you can. I use very small aperture settings which means shooting with a timer and a tripod even in bright outdoor lighting.

I use the standard Elegoo Grey Resin and print everything at 0.01mm layer height. Takes a lot longer but the reduction in visible layer lines is worth it to me.

It's a printout of a photo for the background. The road and sidewalk are also just printouts with the sidewalk photo wrapped around a piece of foamcore.

Thanks Steve! Yep, will be there on the 29th - the Spitfire is still insured but only doesn't leak oil when there's no oil in it! ?

Thanks to all for the great comments, really appreciated!

The idea for this project had been running around my brain for a while and when I saw the new Hasegawa MR2 kit, I knew that would be the perfect starting point. I used the body and interior from the MR2 kit and mashed it together with the Tamiya Toyota GT-One LeMans kit to make a futuristic Cyberpunk style racer. The chassis, suspension and base engine/gearbox came from the GT-One kit and I added my own 3D designed and printed twin turbo setup. That included the intake plenum, intercoolers, turbos and all of the plumbing. Wheels and tires were 3D printed as well and were meant to look like some 80s F1 wheels. The livery was meant to look like someone had painted over the original white and gold two-tone finish of the MR2. The lettering on the side is an old version of the Toyota logo with the stripes and colours picking up from 80s era Toyota racing liveries. LED lighting was added to the front and rear lights. I cut the fenders off the body and made up some of the under fender detail but the Hasegawa kit actually comes with a lot of panel detail under the hood and bumpers which was nice. Tire lettering was done by airbrushing through a photo-etched stencil. All of the chrome finishes on the engine were done with Alclad Chrome over gloss black lacquer. The braided hose is from Top Studio and the carbon effect is a mix of decals and spraying through a mesh stencil. Thanks for looking! Martin.

Pretty easy, really. The fit between the 67 chassis and the Snap-Tite body is not perfect but about as decent as any Revell kit. I used the seats and door panels from the Snap-Tite kit on the tub from the 67 and I didn't have to trim the tub at all to fit inside the body.

Thanks to all for the great comments - much appreciated!

I've seen a few builds of the Revell Snap-Tite Corvette and was always impressed by the look of the body lines. The rest, not so much. I decided to build as close as I could get to a stock, fuel injected 63 by combining the Snap-Tite body with the chassis and interior tub from the Revell 67 kit as well as 3D printed engine, wheels, tires, grill and rocker trim. I started by shaving all the emblems off the body as I knew I would be replacing them with photo-etched pieces from The Model Car Garage. I custom designed and 3D printed the wheels and tires, including a bit of weight deformation to the tires. The whitewalls were made as separate pieces to make painting easier and tidier. The wheels and the rest of the chrome were all painted with Alclad Chrome. The body was painted with Mr Color Super Silver and cleared with Mr Color GX100. The bumpers are from the 67 kit with the 3D printed grill in place of the original Snap-Tite part that was all one piece. I used the dash from the 67 and drilled out all of the gauges. I used aluminum tube for the bezels and painted silver circles on the kit decals to try to get them closer to the 63 versions. I know I've probably missed some key differences on the 63, but I'm happy with the overall look. The engine was downloaded from a designer called Motabas on Cults3D.com. I changed a few things from his model including adding bellows to the air intake, plumbing to the fuel injection, fins on the valve covers and moving the alternator to the other side of the engine. I also added the aluminum tank, ignition cover and hood latches. The photo-etched fake vent pieces on the hood were tricky as they were probably sized for the AMT kit and didn't really fit on the hood of this kit. I ended up cutting through the hood and thinning it out to get them as close to the surface of the hood as possible. Thinning out the super thick Snap-Tite plastic around the hood opening was also time consuming. The exhaust trims were drilled out and replaced with aluminum tube and the antenna was made from a guitar string and small piece of styrene rod. The door handles were sanded off the Snap-Tite kit and replaced with the ones from the 67 and I added the door locks from the photo-etched set. And that's what it looked like when I bought the already assembled kit. Thanks for looking! Martin.

Wouldn't miss it Steve. See you then! I tried - I filmed the whole build of my Karmann Ghia but the shooting and editing turned into such a chore that I stopped.

Thanks to everyone for the great comments - much appreciated! The red is Tamiya Dull Red with Mr Color GX100 gloss clear over top.

I've been wanting to build another hot rod and I kept coming back to images of Frankie Klepadlo's Model A- super low with some really nice details - you can see his real car here: https://www.instagram.com/panammotorcycles I started with the Revell 1930 Model A Ford kit and lowered and narrowed the chassis before adding a lot of custom designed and 3D printed pieces to replicate his ride. The first thing was to replicate the wheels and tires so I started with my earlier Firestones but added a bit more detail this time with extra sidewall lettering and a deformation to the bottom of the tire to give it a bit of weight. I designed and printed the wire wheels and V8 hubcaps as well as the chopped grill and grill shell to match the actual car. Paint is Tamiya Dull Red with Mr Color GX100 Clear over top. The taillight housings were 3D printed and I made the lenses by shaping some leftover clear red sprue. I think the engine is the star of the show of the real build so I built spent the time to make the intake, exhausts, Offenhauser valve covers and generator to match. The chrome was all done with Alclad Chrome over Mr Color Gloss Black. One of my favourite details from the real build is the leather strap on the cowl. I 3d printed the buckle and then painted a couple of layers of masking tape for the strap. Thanks for looking! Martin.

Does that mean you're coming to the show in April? With models? ?

It's a custom mix of silver, black, engine grey and a little bit of brown. I had a bit of paint left over from my T.50 build and just added stuff until I liked it. ?

Thanks! Nice to see them blown up a little bit. ? Thanks Phil! I know, the camera picks up so much more than I can see with my eyesight. ? They are 3D printed from my own design. I just switched over to Blender for 3D modelling and these were the first tires I did. Blender handles importing the lettering way better than my old software did so I went all out and added all of the sidewall detail, down to the safety info. I use a Canon T3i that I bought back in 2012 with the basic 18-55mm kit lens. I shoot everything outside in natural light to get real reflections in the paint. I live on a cul-de-sac and in the third shot you can see the reflection of my neighbour's house down the side of the car. For the first and second shots, I drove down to a local parking lot that is much more wide open. That gave me a much cleaner and smoother scene to reflect in the paint. Also, the sunset light really allows the sky to cast a nice gradient over the tops of the fenders.

Thanks everybody for the great comments - much appreciated! I have a Canon T3i that I bought back in 2012. I use the basic 18-55mm kit lens and shoot in natural light. Thanks! It's an iron-on elbow patch I found at my local fabric store.

I had been looking for this kit for a while and ended up finding one local to me for a decent price. I had a few different ideas for the build but ended up going with an 'Outlaw' build in the style of Rod Emory's Porsche builds. I made a few 3D printed changes to the kit including the wheels, tires, mirrors, fog lights, seats, steering wheel and engine. The body colour was a custom mix of silver, black, engine grey and a little bit of brown. I made the 3D files for the most of the parts myself but the engine and seats are from blackboxstl. For the interior, I added a textured fabric for carpet, seat belts from Studio 27 and drilled out the gauges to make bezels with aluminum tube and then put clear plastic and gauge decals inside them. Some detail shots: Thanks for looking! Martin.

Lots of great builds but the Nova is my favourite!

So great to see this one finished Steve! Looks absolutely fantastic, probably the toughest looking Cadillac I've ever seen.

Thanks Phil! Thanks! That was a fun chat with those guys. No, this is cleared with Mr Color GX100 Super Clear III. And thanks to everyone else for the great comments!

This is my build of the recently released Tamiya 1/24 scale Gordon Murray Automotive T.50. As a huge fan of the original Murray designed McLaren F1, I knew I was going to build this one. I like most of the styling and think it's a nice update to the original except for the rear end. I get the connection back to his racing engineering but it's a bit busy for my tastes. I wanted this to look more like the original F1 GTR, so I designed and 3D printed my own wheels and rear spolier and added a sheet styrene front splitter. I also used the colour scheme from one of the original F1 GTRs. If you built the Tamiya McLaren Senna, this one is going to feel familiar. There's a one-piece underbody that all twelve of the body pieces attach to. As busy as the rear design is, Tamiya has done a good job including a few photo-etched pieces to replicate the mesh. They were quite easy to install as a press fit between plastic pieces. The same can not be said for some of the panel fit. This is probably the first modern Tamiya kit that I've had issues with, but the gap between the nose piece and the doors was quite large. I trimmed all of the mounting points off the underside of the nose and then did some persuasive glueing to get the fit as close as I did. Exterior colour is a custom mix of Mr. Color and Tamiya lacquers. I also painted the roof pillars and scoop body colour to look more like the old F1. The actual car is all black/carbon around the glass. Thanks for looking! Martin.

Thanks Tim!

Those are all fantastic builds Steve, but now I have to track down a Chrysler Imperial. ?

I mostly shoot with a Canon T3i that I bought back in 2012. I'm just using the basic 18-55mm lens that came with the camera. I sometimes shoot interiors with my iPhone as it has a wider angle lens.

Excellent choice! I'm trying to only upgrade my printer every other version so I'm waiting to see what the Mars 5 will be like but the 4 has some great specs.