Photoshopped models

[Ace-Garageguy]

So, what do you guys think about models presented as being as-built, but are in reality significantly retouched and improved with photo-editing software?

Every now and then I see this, and granted it makes the car look great, but it seems a little misleading to me.

I know folks complain about the manufacturers doing this with box-art builds, but everyone seems to let it slide here.

Just curious as to everyone's opinions.

[Roncla]

Thats' cheating to me

[Harry P.]

So, what do you guys think about models presented as being as-built, but are in reality significantly retouched and improved with photo-editing software?

You mean presented here "Under Glass?" That would be dishonest.

[disabled modeler]

To me if the computer corrected it....it might as well have built it but that is just me. Flaws or not the builder makes it his or her own and there for genuine.

[Harry P.]

So, what do you guys think about models presented as being as-built, but are in reality significantly retouched and improved with photo-editing software?

How do you know?

[cobraman]

I would never do that even if I knew how which I don't. My models are what they are good or bad.

[disabled modeler]

How do you know?

That is the question...but if a builder wants their work to be seen the Photoshop work should only be for glare or camera issues with the photo to me...be proud of your work or what you can do with a kit. Comments from other builders help us all learn how to build better but should not be discouraging we all had to learn as we go. I know most things are Photoshop these days anyway but the builder adds the unique factor to a build in my opinion making it their own. How do you know?....Good question.

[disabled modeler]

I would never do that even if I knew how which I don't. My models are what they are good or bad.

I am with you...mine may not be great or 100% accurate but there mine...most of the time that is good enough for me.

[Ace-Garageguy]

How do you know?

Well, since you work with the technology professionally, I'd think you'd be able to recognize a re-touched image even quicker than I can. Some things are just too perfect to be true, or colors too even, or the flakes in a particular "metallic" paint appear to be smaller than anything commercially available (these things I know), or reflections just a little off, or textures differ from image to image, etc.

There's also a "look" that images have when they've been "colored", and it's as obvious to me as the old hand-colored postcards made from black-and-white photos were. If you look at some advertising that shows images of the product in several colors, it's painfully obvious it's all the same basic image, and the "color" has been changed digitally. The same "look" appears on some models here occasionally.

I routinely sharpen the focus of the images from my older camera, or tweek the color balance to compensate for ugly lighting, or lighten or darken the image for clarity, but I never enhance the model...ever, ever, ever.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[MADDOG]

Anyone that would come on to any forum and post pics of a photoshopped model as their completed build should be ashamed of themselves!

[Harry P.]

Well, since you work with the technology professionally, I'd think you'd be able to recognize a re-touched image even quicker than I can.

Not if the person doing the Photoshopping knows what they're doing.

I don't think I've ever seen an image posted here that was obviously (meaning ham-handedly) Photoshopped. I mean, I know people post obviously Photoshopped images that they found online, like the shortened cars and crazy donks and such... but as far as posting their own work, I've never seen it. I think doing the stuff you mentioned (color balance, sharpening the photo, fixing the contrast, etc.) is fine. But once you start actually manipulating the model, that's cheating.

[sbk]

I use Photoshop to crop the photo & remove dust specs.

This is basically the original photo, only sized down to fit on the screen. See the dust speck on the door & the other dust specks on the floor & background?

Here it is after cropping & removing dust specs. I also lightened it up just a bit.

Edited August 3, 2014 by sbk

[Mike Kucaba]

Either you're pulling our (me) leg or I've gone blind!

[pharoah]

Slightly guilty. I've changed backgrounds - pretty obvious-and fixed little boo boo's that I didn't see until after I took the picture. BUT- I have never redone a car to post here. The things I saw after I took the pictures were fixed,too.

[pharoah]

Here's another one. The car from Half Life2 Episode 2. Half Charger -half dune buggy. I had to build a model of this.

The car is the actual model,but the background is a screen shot from the game.

[unclescott58]

Ah great... Another thing to worry about. I don't know anything about photoshop. The models I've posted are just what you see. The good, the bad, and the ugly. My models may not look as good as others. But, I and my models are honest representations of what we are. I'm one who tries to see the best in others. Sometimes I'm a little naive and don't pickup when others are being less than honest with me. I hope, maybe naively, that the pictures I've been seeing on this site are honest representations of what is really built. You can lie with photoshop, and I may never know. But, who are you really hurting in the long run by doing so?

Scott

[pharoah]

The model makers have been doing it for years. How many times have you seen 'retouched photo of actual model' on the box? And a lot of times it's pretty obvious. I know,that's a whole other post.

[Agent G]

Playboy has done this with their models for decades now........................................

G

[Hawk312]

I usually just resize and crop mine, as I know virtually nothing about photoshop. Sometimes in the past I would go into Paint Shop to adjust the brightness and/or contrast in "washed out" pictures, but I can remember the last time I did that. Even with the magazine cover car, I am pretty sure I gave Harry the pictures straight from the camera untouched, if memory serves me. But who knows what he did with them! (just kidding Harry)

I don`t think anyone can be faulted for removing dust specs (can`t remember if I have ever done this). I don`t think the absence or presence of dust in a picture at all reflects the abilities of the model builder.

[bbowser]

Talk about a gray area! If you go from removing dust specks to cleaning up mold lines on bumpers or making your paint work flawless, where's the line? Photoshopping can be a whole 'nother hobby, if that's what floats your boat I'm OK with it. Just put in a disclaimer so us mere mortals don't get too depressed

[Mike 1017]

I use the first 20 photos to find any flaws and try different camera settings.The flaws I fix by hand.This can take hours.I use a small photobooth.

II use the auto correct and that is it.I would love to photoshop a Drag Strip behind my Gassers or my Olds on the ocean beach.

My hobby is model building not photography.

Mike

[Custom Hearse]

I don't have Photoshop, and I don't even know how to use it. Everything I post is how it looks in reality...

[Harry P.]

I usually just resize and crop mine, as I know virtually nothing about photoshop. Sometimes in the past I would go into Paint Shop to adjust the brightness and/or contrast in "washed out" pictures, but I can remember the last time I did that. Even with the magazine cover car, I am pretty sure I gave Harry the pictures straight from the camera untouched, if memory serves me. But who knows what he did with them! (just kidding Harry)

Actually the photos you provided (including the one I put on the cover) were Photoshopped by me. Virtually every photo that appears in the magazine has been Photoshopped to some extent.

It can be as minimal as cropping the image to fit the "window" that is has to go into, sharpening the image and taking out any obvious junk, like a hair on the model, or dust specks. And almost every photo is color corrected to some extent.

But it can go a lot further than that. You would be amazed at how bad some of the photos I get are... some of them spend quite some time in the Photoshop "operating room"... sometimes they are so dark that you can't see any detail, or the color balance is way off, or both. Some photos are so bad that even after I apply as many PS tricks as I know, the image is still "iffy," but I have to go with it regardless, because it's all I have.

Most people who submit stuff to the mag are not professional photographers (or even decent amateur photographers)... I know that, so Photoshopping the images is a normal part of the job. There are a handful of people who are "pros," and submit photos that usually take only very minimal work (Tim Boyd and Bill Coulter come to mind, but there are others, too).

Sometimes the photo itself is fine, but I want the model on a different background to fit a particular layout design, so I'll take out the existing background, or put in a different background. Sometimes after taking out a background, I'll go in and create a new shadow under the model so it looks like it's actually sitting on a surface. Sometimes I will take two separate photos, take the models out of each photo and "pose" the two models together in a new photo and create a new background, so that the models appear to be side by side and in the same photo.

Those are just a few examples of what I do to the photos you see in the magazine. And yes, sometimes I fix a ragged foil line or a small painted detail if the builder was a little messy. But that's pretty rare; most of the time if there are imperfections in the model, I leave them alone. The good news is that in the vast majority of photos, the models themselves don't need any touch-ups aside from removing dust specks. I've never had to straighten a bumper or move a wheel or anything like that. Basically, the model you see is the model as it appears in real life.

[crazyjim]

I have no idea how Photoshop works and don't plan on trying to find out.

[Tom Geiger]

I have a program called IrfanView, that's a free program. I can do minor stuff like cropping and brightening. There is a button for sharpening too. But for the most part, I just take a mess of photos and one or two are bound to come out nice enough to post.