Tamiya AMX-13 French Light Tank

[Fatboydim]

This is the new Tamiya AMX-13 French Light Tank. The model was built straight out of the box, the only additions were the aerials.

Painted with Tamiya paints, weathered with a Flory wash and a Tamiya weathering set.

Thanks for looking. Here is the link for the WIP

[mcdonnell]

Hello,Joe - It's great to see you back 'on radar'.What a superb job you have done with this Tank build.I love the quality and detail of the paint and finishing work and the delicate weathering.I've yet to build an AFV subject but can understand and appreciate the appeal of them without doubt.Splendid work,my friend. All the very best,Paul.

[FrancisGL]

You has been very good, I see that the photos do not all have the same tone, I personally prefer the 4,5,6 and the last.
The AMX-13 has always seemed a more typical Sci-Fi vehicle. , best regards Fatboydim

[Fatboydim]

Hello,Joe - It's great to see you back 'on radar'.What a superb job you have done with this Tank build.I love the quality and detail of the paint and finishing work and the delicate weathering.I've yet to build an AFV subject but can understand and appreciate the appeal of them without doubt.Splendid work,my friend. All the very best,Paul.

Thank you Paul, I enjoy making an AFV now and then. Joe

You has been very good, I see that the photos do not all have the same tone, I personally prefer the 4,5,6 and the last.The AMX-13 has always seemed a more typical Sci-Fi vehicle. , best regards Fatboydim

Thank you Francis, I think you are correct. Some of the photos are still to dark. I need to improve my photography, and try to get my photos to a standard like yours. Regards, Joe

[Reini78]

[FrancisGL]

Fatboydim, on 12 Sept 2016 - 9:49 PM, said:

Thank you Paul, I enjoy making an AFV now and then. Joe

Thank you Francis, I think you are correct. Some of the photos are still to dark. I need to improve my photography, and try to get my photos to a standard like yours. Regards, Joe

Perhaps the merit is the camera I use. At first the RFI photos were made with the phone (WIP are still those of the phone, for obvious reasons). Now I have a different, much better phone (IHMO), a little older but still "a solid rock" (Samsung Galaxy Note3).

I realize that how good they are, do not reach for now, the quality of a good camera.

I am lucky that my brother let me hers, a Nikon D300 also something old, but still an SLR camera, and the lens they have is magnificent. If to that you add a tripod, and a twin lights (is what I lack), the result is almost pro (I'm not a photographer), makes you see details that at first glance not be able to see.

So if you have chance to get by some means a reflex camera, you're going to be pleasantly surprised.

Cheers Joe

[Badder]

Nice looking kit, constructed and painted beautifully.

Badder

[PlaStix]

I have looked at this kit before and wondered about buying one - it's an interesting looking vehicle. Now having seen your OOB build I'm going to definitely pick one up! You have really done an excellent job! Very well done.

Kind regards,

Stix

[Fatboydim]

Thank you Reini78

Perhaps the merit is the camera I use. At first the RFI photos were made with the phone (WIP are still those of the phone, for obvious reasons). Now I have a different, much better phone (IHMO), a little older but still "a solid rock" (Samsung Galaxy Note3).I realize that how good they are, do not reach for now, the quality of a good camera.

I am lucky that my brother let me hers, a Nikon D300 also something old, but still an SLR camera, and the lens they have is magnificent. If to that you add a tripod, and a twin lights (is what I lack), the result is almost pro (I'm not a photographer), makes you see details that at first glance not be able to see.

So if you have chance to get by some means a reflex camera, you're going to be pleasantly surprised.

Cheers Joe

You get some nice photographs Francis. I use a Panasonic G2 camera with a tripod to take my photos. I normally wait for a nice day, and take them outside. I think inside with better lights would improve them. Cheers mate

Nice looking kit, constructed and painted beautifully.

Badder

Thank you Badder.

I have looked at this kit before and wondered about buying one - it's an interesting looking vehicle. Now having seen your OOB build I'm going to definitely pick one up! You have really done an excellent job! Very well done.

Kind regards,

Stix

Thank you Stix. It's a very nice kit, and goes together really well. Takom have made some replacement tracks that Mike reviewed Here

Thank you all once again gentlemen.

[Andy Dyck]

Fantastic !  Very nice build! The figure Looks also amazing and realistic 

 

 

Andy 

[Fatboydim]

47 minutes ago, Andy Dyck said:

Fantastic !  Very nice build! The figure Looks also amazing and realistic 

 

 

Andy 

Thank you Andy, your too kind, I promise you, the figure is not that good 

[Andy Moore]

Fantastic result Joe. Love the subtle dusty weathering. The photos look great. They just need a bit of white balance compensation and exposure adjustment, both of which you could do in camera.

 

Andy

[Fatboydim]

5 hours ago, AndyRM101 said:

Fantastic result Joe. Love the subtle dusty weathering. The photos look great. They just need a bit of white balance compensation and exposure adjustment, both of which you could do in camera.

 

Andy

Thank you Andy, any tips on how to get better photos are more than welcome. I'm using the camera on manual, but as you can see, I'm struggling to get it right. Thanks again, Joe

[sinhow]

Nice build and neat painting!

[Andy Moore]

5 hours ago, Fatboydim said:

Thank you Andy, any tips on how to get better photos are more than welcome. I'm using the camera on manual, but as you can see, I'm struggling to get it right. Thanks again, Joe

 

Hi Joe,

 

The photos are great as they are. The main thing to adjust would be the white balance, which will be in the menu somewhere on the camera. I've just looked at the online manual for the G2 and it seems to have quite a comprehensive set of WB options. There's one for manually setting the WB by shooting the white background card (without the model on it, of course). That would probably give you the best result, but you'd probably have to re-set it a few times as you take the shots, as the light levels can change while you're shooting (if the sun goes behind a cloud etc.) The other way would be to set the WB to whatever the conditions are (sunny, cloudy, artificial light) and leave it at that. I believe the G2 allows you to adjust the WB after the photo is taken, so it isn't critical that the original shot is right.

 

The other option is to correct it later in an image editor like photoshop or gimp. Gimp's free to use, and does most of the things photoshop can. The adjustment below was done in photoshop using only one tool (the white point sampler). It only took a couple of seconds and one click to do. I've put the original on the left for comparison

 

 

It's a really quick and easy adjustment to make, and any image editor would be able to do it. In photoshop you need to select 'levels' which will bring up a window (see below) which will have three eye dropper symbols. The one on the right sets the white point. Simply select that eye dropper, then click on the photo anywhere on the white background. That will remove the blue colour cast and brighten the image at the same time

 

 

I also added a tiny bit of sharpening, as most digital cameras leave images a bit soft.

 

Andy

 

 

Edited September 19, 2016 by AndyRM101

[Fatboydim]

8 hours ago, sinhow said:

Nice build and neat painting!

Thank you sinhow. I'm glad you like it. 

 

7 hours ago, AndyRM101 said:

 

Hi Joe,

 

The photos are great as they are. The main thing to adjust would be the white balance, which will be in the menu somewhere on the camera. I've just looked at the online manual for the G2 and it seems to have quite a comprehensive set of WB options. There's one for manually setting the WB by shooting the white background card (without the model on it, of course). That would probably give you the best result, but you'd probably have to re-set it a few times as you take the shots, as the light levels can change while you're shooting (if the sun goes behind a cloud etc.) The other way would be to set the WB to whatever the conditions are (sunny, cloudy, artificial light) and leave it at that. I believe the G2 allows you to adjust the WB after the photo is taken, so it isn't critical that the original shot is right.

 

The other option is to correct it later in an image editor like photoshop or gimp. Gimp's free to use, and does most of the things photoshop can. The adjustment below was done in photoshop using only one tool (the white point sampler). It only took a couple of seconds and one click to do. I've put the original on the left for comparison

 

 

It's a really quick and easy adjustment to make, and any image editor would be able to do it. In photoshop you need to select 'levels' which will bring up a window (see below) which will have three eye dropper symbols. The one on the right sets the white point. Simply select that eye dropper, then click on the photo anywhere on the white background. That will remove the blue colour cast and brighten the image at the same time

 

 

I also added a tiny bit of sharpening, as most digital cameras leave images a bit soft.

 

Andy

 

 

Hello Andy, thank you for taking the time and trouble to explain that to me, I really appreciate it. I just wanted to say thank you now as I will read it and take it in later. I only work from my ipad, so I don't know if that limits me. You've just reminded me, I have an app called PhotoName. I'll have a look and see if that's of any use. Thanks again for the tips and advice, much appreciated. Joe

[FrancisGL]

Andy is right, the white balance is one of the most decisive things in a tone of a picture, only try test modes are preset in the camera, which uses more fits what you see,.If then also you use an editing program, it is the end point for some photos to your liking. I also use Photoshop, and is a great tool to arrange backgrounds of the image, and if something does not fit the image you see.

Cheers Joe

Edited September 19, 2016 by FrancisGL

[Etienne]

Hello,

 

very nice tribute to a rather unconventional frenchy tank ! I've seen many as gate guards, unusual tiny things with big guns.

 

Thanks also to Andy for the tip about the pics, I'll give it a try.

 

E

Edited September 19, 2016 by Etienne

[Andy Moore]

44 minutes ago, Fatboydim said:

I only work from my ipad, so I don't know if that limits me. You've just reminded me, I have an app called PhotoName. I'll have a look and see if that's of any use. Thanks again for the tips and advice, much appreciated. Joe

 

Full PC photo editing suits can be pretty overwhelming when you first see them, and these days you can do all the things they do with apps (baring the really complex stuff which isn't really relevant to model shots anyway).

I haven't used PhotoName before, but I imagine it would do all the stuff necessary to tweak model shots. I've got Snapseed on my iPad and that will do all the stuff I did in photoshop for the above shot, and the end result will look pretty much exactly the same.

 

Andy

[Fatboydim]

 

1 hour ago, FrancisGL said:

Andy is right, the white balance is one of the most decisive things in a tone of a picture, only try test modes are preset in the camera, which uses more fits what you see,.If then also you use an editing program, it is the end point for some photos to your liking. I also use Photoshop, and is a great tool to arrange backgrounds of the image, and if something does not fit the image you see.

Cheers Joe

Hello Mate, thank you. You also take a great photo. Cheers Francis. 

 

53 minutes ago, Etienne said:

Hello,

 

very nice tribute to a rather unconventional frenchy tank ! I've seen many as gate guards, unusual tiny things with big guns.

 

Thanks also to Andy for the tip about the pics, I'll give it a try.

 

E

Many thanks Etienne, I can't remember seeing one. But I'm sure they would have one at the tank museum at Bovington in the uk. 

 

49 minutes ago, AndyRM101 said:

 

Full PC photo editing suits can be pretty overwhelming when you first see them, and these days you can do all the things they do with apps (baring the really complex stuff which isn't really relevant to model shots anyway).

I haven't used PhotoName before, but I imagine it would do all the stuff necessary to tweak model shots. I've got Snapseed on my iPad and that will do all the stuff I did in photoshop for the above shot, and the end result will look pretty much exactly the same.

 

Andy

Thank you Andy, I've been told about Snapseed. I tried before, but need to update my ipad before I can down load it. My wife updated her ipad, and I don't like it as much as mine and didn't bother. It might be time to move on. 

[Etienne]

42 minutes ago, Fatboydim said:

Many thanks Etienne, I can't remember seeing one. But I'm sure they would have one at the tank museum at Bovington in the uk. 

 

My years of service in the french infantry gave me many occasions  ... and yes, you are right, there's one at Bovington.

 

E

[Fatboydim]

On 19/09/2016 at 7:45 PM, Etienne said:

 

My years of service in the french infantry gave me many occasions  ... and yes, you are right, there's one at Bovington.

 

E

Hello Etienne, I'm going to the model show at Bovington on the 11th February. I will make a point of going to have a look at their AMX-13. 

[Sgt.Squarehead]

He's a good lad that Andy.....Talented, knowledgeable and helpful! 

[Bullbasket]

I think that just about everything that could be said about this model, has been said, but I think that even if you'd taken the photos with a Box Brownie, it would still have looked brilliant. Nice one.

 

John.

[Fatboydim]

3 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

He's a good lad that Andy.....Talented, knowledgeable and helpful! 

He is that Sgt.Squarehead. I'm miles behind him with my model making, and photography. 

 

3 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

I think that just about everything that could be said about this model, has been said, but I think that even if you'd taken the photos with a Box Brownie, it would still have looked brilliant. Nice one.

 

John.

Thank you John. Andy did make it look better for me with his spin on the photos.