It looks like presenting this model goes nothing like I thought it will.
First of all, many thanks to Carter for featuring the model on TBB! I almost wish the writeup came a little later, as I'm preparing an extensive set of images on the Falke. Part of the images in the set will be used on Cuusoo, as I'll take my chances there with this model - so those interested, get your clicks ready!
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But the actual purpose of uploading this picture now is to answer one question that I've been asked a lot in the last couple of months (this morning, the most recent), and that is how do I make my bricks to look so polished and shiny... So here goes the answer:
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No, I do not polish them. I wish I had the time for such things but unfortunately I don't. Instead, I do the following:
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1. I never light my models directly or perpendicular. Because I use articulated desk lamps, the lights become "mobile". That means I can position them anywhere I want and I can search for the angles that give me the best effects, the least glares and so on. The white side panels that I use to direct the light back into the scene contribute a lot, they can be moved simply by hand when taking the picture so you can get particular shines and reflections. So no direct light on the model, but angled, side and deflected lighting. Many of the "shines" you see on my models are in fact the white panels themselves, reflecting onto the model. Using the right angled light and the panels usually hides most imperfections on the bricks, simply because the light/shadow contrasts tend to flood the scratches and the uneven surfaces.
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2. I ALWAYS take my pictures in RAW format. That means the images come with ALL the available color and detail the camera is capable of. When opening a RAW format, you can control color balance, shadow depth, tonal curve, sharpening and so on and so forth. The best way to describe this is, most hilariously, using a Lego example: you get a box filled with multicolored bricks - those would be the pixels. Using these bricks, you can build a red ship, or a yellow one, or blue... Or, in my case, almost always a black one due to my unexplainable Batman addiction. By the way, since I'm here, I want to set the record straight. Although you might think Batman is my favorite, he's not. Spidey is. Forever.
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Taking pictures in RAW format also means you'll take the pictures in the highest resolution your camera is capable of, which is related to point 4., image resizing. Also, on many occasions, surfaces that look overexposed, even white and completely burnt, actually DO CONTAIN the raw pixel information and color/detail can be recuperated in RAW mode, using tools like "Recover" - this is an option which any RAW opener should have.
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3. Surfaces control and smoothing, where needed - there are a lot of methods to do this. For those inexperienced, there are simple tools like "Dust and Scratches", "Despeckle", "Reduce Noise" and "Surface Blur". These are Photoshop tools, but any image processing software should have similar toys. Be careful how you use these - sometimes, reducing noise or blurring the surfaces will "wipe" or smooth the imperfections, but will also destroy the detail. The right use of these tools comes in time and by experiencing. Remember, always use these tools in the largest size of the image, where all of the pixels are. This way, when you'll reduce the image size (point 4), only the "good" ones will remain. Again, I can give the Lego example: if you build something in large scale, you'll get the studs, inevitably. If you build in micro, you'll get surfaces. That's why resizing is sometimes important (or not).
For surface control - scratches removal, dusting - I almost always use the "Clone Sampling" tool. It's something I also use in my work so I'm a lot more accurate with it than the automatic tools described above. In order not to destroy the details, I make selections on the areas that need a little touch using the "Bezier" (path) tool. The combination of the two methods provides surgical precision when used properly.
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4. Image Resizing. In most cases, you have absolutely no reason whatsoever for uploading images in the original size your camera is capable of. Flickr, with its, ahm... "clever" internal code will re-size it anyway so it can fit the user's screen resolution (attention, "user" means here the viewer!). Furthermore, uploading in original size means images load slower and sometimes they don't show in your frontpage. It's much like trying to swallow the whole cookie at once. Flickr has a sweet, yet sensitive and messed up little mouth and will inevitably choke. I RARELY upload images larger than 1024px (width).
But most important, image resizing means pixel reduction. The less scratches you've left at point 3, even lesser you'll get by resizing. Sometimes, they even disappear. Like... Magic!
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5. Sharpening. Now here's where the cool thing happens. If you have used by now the magic of image resizing, this is where "The Prestige" happens. You have by now reduced the image to the best pixels and by sharpening them a little, you'll get them to shine - not too much though, as you don't want the image to look coarse!
I use a special filter for this (this is my dirty little secret and I'll keep it this way) because not only it gives me the sharpen I want, but also allows me to control the "grain" in the image, which is something I particularly like. Still, simple sharpening is all you really need for a nice result and it's a tool available in any image processing software.
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If you've got this far, it means this was somewhat interesting for you. Try to remember, any "software" trick means precisely zero without the photograph itself, which provides the "box of bricks" for using the tricks. Other than that, I would only add that in most of the cases, I build my models using a box of "stock" parts in whatever color they come, and it's only when I'm sufficiently decided that's the final result I put on the "good bricks". I also don't play and do not display my models, so they don't really turn... "used". And when it comes to photographing the thing, the tripod is mandatory, of course.
Phew, this was quite an English exercise, I hope you'll understand the lacks, if any. And as I previously commented - joking of course - I hope this will get blogged or shared to death, just so I won't have to answer the damn question anymore :P
If you like the model, please take a moment to support it on Cuusoo:
lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/55846
Lots of pictures in the dedicated set, for those interested.
Tags: lego maschinen krieger falke aircraft antigravity armored hoovercraft mechanical vehicle speeder interceptor Pkf.85 Falke ma.k antigravity armored raider
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If you like it, please take a moment to support it on Cuusoo:
lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/55846
Lots of pictures in the dedicated set, for those interested.
Tags: lego ma.k maschinen krieger falke aircraft antigravity armored hoovercraft raider armor mechanical engine pilot cockpit vehicle speeder interceptor pkf.85 falke antigravity armored raider
© All Rights Reserved
If you like it, please take a moment to support it on Cuusoo:
lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/55846
Lots of pictures in the dedicated set, for those interested.
Tags: lego ma.k maschinen krieger falke aircraft antigravity armored hoovercraft raider armor mechanical engine pilot cockpit vehicle speeder interceptor pkf.85 falke antigravity armored raider
© All Rights Reserved
I've re-edited a picture from 2015 for my Instagram account and I figured it might be interesting for those who are not there.
— Instagram
Tags: lego ma.k maschinen krieger griffon falke aircraft antigravity armored hovercraft raider armor mechanical engine pilot cockpit vehicle speeder interceptor pkf.85 falke antigravity armored raider
© All Rights Reserved
Tags: lego ma.k maschinen krieger griffon falke aircraft antigravity armored raider hovercraft armor mechanical engine pilot cockpit vehicle speeder interceptor pkf.85 antigravity armored raider
© All Rights Reserved