Killer article on scale effect!

[Pete J.]

I picked this up off the IPMS site. Although we don't use it like the armor and aircraft guys do, this is an excellent article that explains scale effect. Even if you don't use it, it is a great piece to tuck away in you general modeling knowledge data base.

http://www.fcmodeltips.com/2013/08/el-filtro-atmosferico-y-el-efecto.html

[Art Anderson]

Yes, lighting can make all the difference in how a model appears to our eyes. Cars, of course, have colors created to be seen in natural light, as that is their natural environment (just as it is with military vehicles) but are done for appealing appearance, rather than for camouflage. Also, when new, or carefully maintained, an automobile won't show near the weathering that armored or "soft-skinned" military field vehicles undergo--after all, a close comparison can be made, I think, between military field vehicles and civilian construction equipment--other than a battlefield (with all that entails!) and a construction site aren't all that different--sunlight, rain, dust and dirt, mud and rust all come into play with them.

Of course, even the best maintained automobiles, IF they are out in the elements, will have their paintwork suffer: UV fading, rain, even minute particles of dust or dirt that finds itself literally "ground" into even the finest of paint finishes with even the very best of care.

For the above reasons, it seems to me that unless a scale model (be that a civilian car or truck, or a military vehicle) is presented as part of an outdoor-scene diorama, it's probably more likely that shown indoors (particularly a car), whatever finish it has is most realistic when it's done as if the model subject would appear outdoors--after all, very few model contests are held out in the bright sun, or even under a cloudy sky. Consider that a model contest room will be artificially lighted, even though there may well be natural light coming in through such windows as there might be--isn't that very much like viewing the actual car in a museum setting or even a dealer's showroom? Food for thought there, methinks.

Generally speaking, we as car modelers do tend to do our models as pristine, generally striving to do them as showpieces (certainly street rods and customs fit this, as do models of factory stock antique cars), so I would submit that they generally come off better done as museum pieces, as opposed to worn, even slightly weathered subjects.

That said, if one is doing a model of a weathered automotive subject, just as with a worn and battle-weary tank or military truck, the first step should be research--what does/did the real thing look like in that state. With civilian vehicles, that's really pretty easy to do--just being observant, even taking pics of vehicles in everyday service (for example, just how does dirty water in a rainstorm spray on a car's body panels, or splatter the underside?). It's pretty much the same with rust, even greasy, or more so, dirt-caked oily or greasy undercarriage components. Digital camera's make this research oh-so-very easy, and in the bargain, dirt (no pun intended!) cheap too.

Of course, even with the best, most thorough of researching, and reference work, the end result is where true artistry comes into play--what looks "right" with regard to weathering, rusted out places, even rust stains, and certainly all those dirty, greasy bits may well look one way to you or me, but quite different in the eyes of others--so it can come to be very subjective. Is there a "right way" or a "wrong way" to paint, finish, even weather a scale model? IMO, beyond learning and understanding just how that appears on the real thing is the biggest thing, but the colors and even the techniques and end results may well appear differently to perhaps everybody who views the finished project.

Art

[southpier]

... it is a great piece to tuck away in you general modeling knowledge data base.

http://www.fcmodeltips.com/2013/08/el-filtro-atmosferico-y-el-efecto.html

you right; thanks for the link

[Pete J.]

Over the years, I have frequently heard, "I got the real paint from the dealer and the color just looks wrong." I think that this is a great example of why. I have done aircraft and had a source for the real deal paint(B-52 camo from the paint shop when they were painting one.) and it always looked way to dark. This is why.

[Art Anderson]

Over the years, I have frequently heard, "I got the real paint from the dealer and the color just looks wrong." I think that this is a great example of why. I have done aircraft and had a source for the real deal paint(B-52 camo from the paint shop when they were painting one.) and it always looked way to dark. This is why.

I remember being at an IPMS contest in the San Francisco Bay Area back in the 1990's, overhearing a conversation between a couple of judges and a contestant whose WW-II US Navy fighters were deemed to be painted in a too-dark USN Sea Blue. After a few minutes, the entrant excused himself for about 10 minutes, went out to his car and returned with a can of paint. The label? US Navy # whatever-it-should-be Glossy Sea Blue, and noting that the paint was the property of the US Navy, Alameda Naval Air Station. A swatch of the paint was still on the tin lid as well--END of story.

Art

[zenrat]

Scale Effect - another weapon in the rivet counters armoury...

[DanielG]

There is more to it than that for the riveters. I saw a pic of a brand new B-17 straight out of assembly and the O.D. shades were different depending on wether it was a paint or a dope or a laquer, all three being used for different parts. I hold to the truism, if it looks, sounds and walks like a duck then it is a duck! So if your chevy looks like a chevy that's good enough for me.

[Pete J.]

There is more to it than that for the riveters. I saw a pic of a brand new B-17 straight out of assembly and the O.D. shades were different depending on wether it was a paint or a dope or a laquer, all three being used for different parts. I hold to the truism, if it looks, sounds and walks like a duck then it is a duck! So if your chevy looks like a chevy that's good enough for me.

Paint also changes slightly from batch to batch. With the exception of the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels the military really doesn't care that much about the match of the paint. Between sun fading, batch differences, lighting differences(AKA scale effect), and paint aging anything with paint on it is going to have a variation. Heck, you can even find paint variation on different panels on a brand new car.