TJ_Tas

Google Earth and especially street view are your friends!!

Really don't mind if you sit this one out. Seriously though looks good. And far less work than I was describing.

Are you wanting to duplicate this on a model/ Slot body?. Its not really a single colour to be honest its a technique. I used to paint motorcycle tanks and have done similar things on them (real ones not models). Even if you match the colour the end result won't be what you expect. On the real item you start with a primer then you give it a coat of this stuff called mirror flake. This is like a gloss clear with small pieces of highly metalic chrome flakes in it (think of glitter). Once thats fully set you cut it back and give it a layer of a gloss clear. At this point if you are adding a design to the tank you airbrush that with a gloss black lacquer (like 10 parts gloss clear to 1 part gloss black). You never try and do the design in one go but build it up in many sessions. For a model this could be used to pre-shade the recessed lines and lower areas. Once this is all set you start building up layers of a coloured lacquer until you reach the desired colour. This is quite tedious as you are using a lacquer with very little tint to it, similar to the 10-1 mix on the black. Every 3-5 coats you need to smooth and cut it again. Obviously if you mix your lacquer thin enough you can avoid the smooth and cut stage. You could start with tamiya Chrome or another similar paint to represent the mirror flake. In fact the grain size of the metallic tamiya paint is probably about the scale size of the mirror flakes (at 1/32).

Is this a club based thing?. The people you are sending them to I mean?. Is it league based?.

Pardon a potentially dumb question. I see a lot of posts about proxy racing but I have no idea what is being discussed.

its ABS, About as resilient as a leggo brick

If you can design it I have a 3d printer and can make you one. Then you could make a mold of it and cast them out of resin. Alternatively if you only want a few (not hundreds) I could probably print them all.

Do you have any need for fallen leaves?. I have a heap of silver birch trees, the catkins when broken down yeald a very convincing fallen oak leaf. Its what are sold as fallen leaves for Military modelling dioramas. I can send you some if you like. I've sent a heap out to MM guys so I know customs don't mind.

Hmm... the links work for me... From the main Miniart site go to the catalogue and then to the 'Building and accessory" link. Main things I thought would be useful is the pedestrian bridge, the steel steps and the street and park accessories. You are right Ember not really a lot of use for tracks based on an Aussie theme but great for older European tracks.

Hi, I don't know if any of you guys have looked at miniart's range of diorama accessories for trackside scenery. Their stuff is all made from styrene plastic, while not the cheapest plastic models around they certainly offer some interesting items. It reminds me a lot of the sort of things more available for railway modelling. The scale is 135th but I'm sure its close enough. http://miniart-models.com/ http://miniart-model..._35_b/35522.jpg http://miniart-model..._35_b/35502.jpg http://miniart-model..._35_b/35525.jpg http://miniart-model..._35_b/35530.jpg http://miniart-model..._35_b/35539.jpg http://miniart-model..._35_b/35549.jpg I've bought some of their items for military dioramas and its very nicely done.. BTW I am in no way affiliated with them just thought I'd mention them.

I've got both types mentioned here. I use the headset type (which I added 3 bright daylight LED's to) for sculpting and find it great. The free standing illuminated Magnifier I got from Jaycar for $39.95. It doesn't use a fluro tube but has 60 white high intensity LED's. I love that for figure painting. I found the headset type less useful for painting as when looking elsewhere but the model (like my paint palette ) it was giving me a headache. The real advantage of the headset type is the variable magnification. Mine are low mag (maybe 3x ) as standard they have a flip down secondary set of lenses which take it to about 5x. they also have a Loupe lens for one eye which doubles the other mag.

Yeah I know you've already built a shed, which I really like. I just wondered if you were planning any more. If so I can take any amount of photo's you want of those above. I can also take photo's of the construction of them and even furnish you with dimensions. Just let me know. Oh and BTW I make my own scale corrugated sheets, I have been meaning to write up some directions. If this would be of interest to you PM me your email addy. TJ

Ember are you still looking for reference pictures?. I only saw this thread because of the new replies. I've got some wooden sheds I can photograph for you. they are Hay Barn, Shearing shed, Vegie drying shed, Outhouses and a shed that the sheep knocked over. These are just some photo's I had up on photobucket. I can supply you with more including interior shots if you want. TJ

What have you got?. I work in 3ds max, Google sketchup, Alibre design. There are a number of places where you can get free and cheap 3d car models. I've got a Saleen s7r and a 2008 Dodge challenger ready to print (once it arrives). I'm really interested to see how well the 3d scanner works. I've got a number of 1/20 F1 car kits, I want to try scanning one of those and then reduce it to 1/32. I've also been eying up that 1/18 scale XC Cobra, I love that car.

NimROD the one you linked to is what I'm getting. They have a special on with it at the moment where you get a free 3d scanner. I did have another type on order from a company called Botmill. They messed me around for 6 months so I cancelled it and ordered the UP! instead.