Here are some in-progress pics of my new hanger I am building for my photobase.

This first pic shows the walls and part of the front of the hanger minus the doors, the roof structure as shown is only half way built, it will be finished today.





When the hanger is finished it will get painted in camouflage colors as was seen on many hangers/buildings near the end of WWII in Germany.

Here is one more pic of the backdrop I painted two weeks ago...


Matrixone

That's looking good Very convincing.

Off course, it needs some weathering

Hi Les!

Great pictures! Very inspiring! It's 1/72 scale I presume... now don't tell me you're not gonna write a feature about all this!

Jean-Luc

Thanks Richard and Jean-Luc!

Richard,
When the hanger is built it will get painted in camouflage colors and patterns like many hangers/buildings had near the end of the war in Germany. I will weather it slightly for a more realistic look.
It will not look anything like it does in my test pics.

Jean-Luc,
The hanger is a 1/87 scale kit by Faller, it is close enough to 1/72 scale that it will work as a prop in my model pictures.
This hanger is big enough to place my camera inside of it so I can take pictures from the inside looking out towards the airfield, I am not sure it will work but it will be fun trying new camera angles this next summer.

Today as I was building the roof structure I lost my grip on it and it fell only a short distance but it was enough to break it nearly in half. I was able to repair it but it is not nearly as straight as it was before the accident and now I am not sure how it will effect the final construction of the hanger.

Matrixone

Indeed! Since your pictures a few weeks ago of your new backdrop I've done some research on aircontrol towers and hangers. I'm planning to do a little dio much like yours to start displaying my planes in when I photograph. I've already bought myself a large piece of foamboard and when my airbrushing skills improve I'll give it a go.
I also had another idea Les. I was thinking about building a 1/48 P-47 that's in my stash when my backdrop is done. I wanted to build a couple of cheap $6.00 1/72 scale P-47's as well so that it would give the scene even more depth. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Hermon

You mean, of course, like an Allied bomb hole in the roof & crater in the floor !!! :-) :-)

Actually, a very neat idea -- I'm not sure I'll get into hangers, but I just started collecting some Airfix & Flight Path stuff to do the same for my 1/72 RAF kits .... I'm going to get some good ideas from this work and would welcome an article or two as Les appears to have skills way past mine ...

John

Thanks Hermon and John!

Hermon,
That sounds like a good idea you have with those P-47s, I would suggest when you photograph the 1/48 scale model make sure you are using the macro function on your camera and that you make your photobase or bases large enough to have the 1/72 scale models at least two or three feet behind the 1/48 scale model.
What I do sometimes is only use two of my photobase sections and just leave a wide space between them, it creates enough distance from the model being photographed and the models placed in the background to give the illusion of the base being much larger than it really is. I don't worry about any spaces between my photobase sections because I shoot nearly all my pictures from scale eyeball level and they are not visable in my pictures.

When you photograph your models always point the camera level with the ground or even slightly upwards at your model. NEVER have the camera higher than the model and point downwards, it ruins the effect you are trying to get and reminds everybody it is a model.

HTH

Les

Good tips Les.
I understand where the "eye level" technique makes for a more realistic feel. I had noticed this about your pictures in the past and since then I have started to experiment with my photos this way. Must say, it does indeed make a difference.

Hermon

Hermon,

One more thing that might help you, make sure you place your backdrop at least three feet behind the model you are photographing.
About a year ago on another modeling site, someone painted a real nice backdrop to use for photographing his models, he posted the pics and they did not come out like he was hoping they would, he made the mistake of placing the backdrop too close to the model and the result was it looked like he was trying to photograph his backdrop and a model airplane just happened to be in the way.

There is a very good reason why I went through the trouble of airbrushing my backdrop instead of painting it with a brush, I wanted everything in my backdrop to have a slightly soft edge to them, it helps create the illusion that the things in the backdrop are very far away. It helps make for more realistic looking pictures.

HTH

Matrixone