A pair of bugs (a dirt bug and a dirty bug )

[happy grumpy]

Build from the nice Revell kit, the rusty one is stock while the off road is having big wheels from the part box and a dual custom pipe exhaust made of solder and turned aluminum. The fender arches were enlarged to fit the wheels. No other mods were made. The rusty one was my early experimentation to an advance rusted but still drivable bug.

thanks for looking

[Jim B]

They both look great!

[Kah puts]

No no, only model's are to be posted here, not real cars, geez some guys!

[afx]

Really like the dirt bug.  

[mr moto]

18 minutes ago, Kah puts said:

No no, only model's are to be posted here, not real cars, geez some guys!

Wow! Those do look real! That's great work.

[Mike C.]

Both are great. Really like the off road looking one.?

[Lunajammer]

Excellent lens/zoom choice. I try to shoot all my models in a similar fashion, usually at the bench.

[Zippi]

Mario...you've been holding out on us.  Really nice pair of Bugs and the photos are outstanding.

[TooOld]

Those are a couple of very well built Bugs , really like the Off-Road one !  And probably the most realistic photography I've ever seen !  Any tips for us laymen ?

[PappyD340]

Great looking pair of bugs!

[espo]

The rusted Bug looks real crusty and I'm surprised the floor pan is still there. Very well done. The Off-Road Bug hits my hot button being a former Baja Bug owner. This is very realistic looking, and I remember seeing a few done in just this manor in the past. 

[spencer1984]

Excellent work on both!

[happy grumpy]

4 hours ago, TooOld said:

Those are a couple of very well built Bugs , really like the Off-Road one !  And probably the most realistic photography I've ever seen !  Any tips for us laymen ?

Bob, i use a canon T3 rebel SLR camera. The lens is a typical 28-300 mm. I have no special skill, I just try to find with right distance, right angle, and focal length and what looks right. I also shoot with a tripod and trigger the shutter via a computer to adjust the settings manually. I also take several pictures which I combine later to augment the depth of field. You can also achieve quite good results with a simple point and shoot camera. I did a lot of trial and error but once you find what works for you, it becomes easier although a little time consuming. 

hope this helps.

And thanks to everyone for you kind comments. 

[TransAmMike]

Wow, talk about a rust bucket.  Showed it to my wife and she said, "thats a rear car right??"  Great job Mario as usual!!?

[Mattilacken]

Great work on both the models and the shoot! Everything looks great!!

[Dominik]

Wow. the rusty bug looks to much imo. but the pipes from the dirt or dirty? bug made me smile a lot. thats cool.

[ChrisR]

The off-roader looks cool!

[David G.]

What a great pair of Volksies!

I honest thought that the first photo was of a 1:1 Baja Bug in a parking lot that you were using as inspiration for a replica build.

The rust effects on the other one look great!

David G.

[crazyjim]

Very nice work on the bugs and taking such realistic pics.

[Snake45]

I thought the first two pics were of a real car. That's about the highest compliment I know how to pay. Model on! 

[happy grumpy]

Thank you all for your nice comments. It is indeed a great compliment when seasoned modellers think that a model is real at first glance, of course as modellers we can spot telltales of a model vs a real car. I sometimes on this forum have the same initial reflex of wondering"jeez is this the real thing?'' Then you look for hints for things that don't really scale down. I get the giggles at work though , my wallpapers are a slideshow of my models and a lot of people get tricked into thinking than these are real cars. I get a kick when I tell them it's a model.

It's a little time consuming but I found that photographing my models has become another side of a hobby that I enjoyed for a good part of my life. I also get a lot of inspiration from you guys and I really do appreciate it.

happy modeling to you all.

[70 Sting]

Excellent techniques!

[slusher]

great pair..

[ewetwo]

Like them both. I like the mods you did with the first one.

[doorsovdoon]

Amazing photography, and that weathering on the stock bug! What a great looking set. Awesome work.