Monday, October 12, 2009
Lunar models
LIFE has a gallery of concept models built whilst NASA was designing the lunar landing module.
via BoingBoing
posted by Ian Pattinson at 8:27 PM link
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LIFE has a gallery of concept models built whilst NASA was designing the lunar landing module.
via BoingBoing
Labels: inspiration, reference, Space
posted by Ian Pattinson at 8:27 PM link
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Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Some inspiration for French customs
I linked to the full size bike designs of Olli Erkilla on Two Wheels Good. But if you look at his website you'll find lots of other cool stuff. The Digital Art section has lots of cool customs, mostly based on the good old 2CV. I'm a fan of the Traction Avant coupe shown above, and I have an old Matchbox kit I can make up like it.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 1:17 PM link
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I linked to the full size bike designs of Olli Erkilla on Two Wheels Good. But if you look at his website you'll find lots of other cool stuff. The Digital Art section has lots of cool customs, mostly based on the good old 2CV. I'm a fan of the Traction Avant coupe shown above, and I have an old Matchbox kit I can make up like it.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: custom car, Hot Rod, inspiration, model car
posted by Ian Pattinson at 1:17 PM link
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Monday, September 07, 2009
Soviet Fords, and Chevrolets
English Russia is tracing the history of the Soviet motor industry. Part one covers the beginnings, which mostly consisted of copying others' designs.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:19 AM link
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English Russia is tracing the history of the Soviet motor industry. Part one covers the beginnings, which mostly consisted of copying others' designs.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, reference, Russia
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:19 AM link
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Sunday, August 09, 2009
Billetproof
Jalopnik has pictures from Billetproof.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 3:34 PM link
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Jalopnik has pictures from Billetproof.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration, rat rod, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 3:34 PM link
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Wednesday, June 03, 2009
The Military Vehicle Technology Foundation
BoingBoing video visits the largest private collection of military vehicles in the world.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:19 AM link
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BoingBoing video visits the largest private collection of military vehicles in the world.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, Military, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:19 AM link
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Friday, May 29, 2009
Hot Rods and Custom Stuff
This professional customising shop has build photos of many of its projects online. If you know how it's done in real life you can better replicate it in scale.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:51 AM link
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This professional customising shop has build photos of many of its projects online. If you know how it's done in real life you can better replicate it in scale.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: 1:1, custom car, Hot Rod, inspiration, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:51 AM link
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The Jalopy Journal
The Jalopy Journal is an online car magazine specialising in more traditional rods and customs. It also has a busy forum for you to dive into, so you shouldn't be lacking inspiration.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 2:49 PM link
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The Jalopy Journal is an online car magazine specialising in more traditional rods and customs. It also has a busy forum for you to dive into, so you shouldn't be lacking inspiration.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: custom car, Hot Rod, inspiration, model car, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 2:49 PM link
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The Ferrari 2CV
A Ferrari F355 chassis with 2CV body. Mad, but the sort of thing you could model.
via Jalopnik
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:37 PM link
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A Ferrari F355 chassis with 2CV body. Mad, but the sort of thing you could model.
via Jalopnik
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: 1:1, inspiration, model car, silly, video
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:37 PM link
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Thursday, April 16, 2009
Post Apocalypse Camaro
I'm currently working on a 1960s Camaro to go with the Post Apocalypse Pony. If I find a 70s/80s version of the model maybe I can make it looks like this.
I've not put any bullet proof plating on the cars I've built so far, and that would be an obvious addition.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:25 PM link
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I'm currently working on a 1960s Camaro to go with the Post Apocalypse Pony. If I find a 70s/80s version of the model maybe I can make it looks like this.
I've not put any bullet proof plating on the cars I've built so far, and that would be an obvious addition.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, model car, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:25 PM link
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Thursday, March 26, 2009
Vintage Racers in action
If, like me, you've got a couple of the reissued Airfix vintage car kits from a couple of years go these vintage racing pictures could giveyou some conversion ideas.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 1:29 PM link
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If, like me, you've got a couple of the reissued Airfix vintage car kits from a couple of years go these vintage racing pictures could giveyou some conversion ideas.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, model car, pictures, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 1:29 PM link
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Monday, March 09, 2009
Hot Rod 7s
I recently got, from Ebay, this kit of a BMW Dixi.
The Dixi was basically an Austin 7 made under licence in Germany. I'm thinking of turning it into a rod, so this post about hotrod Austin 7s was interesting. I may use some of the stuff available from Scale Link in 1:24th, which includes a Rover V8, the quintessential british rodding motor.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:19 AM link
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I recently got, from Ebay, this kit of a BMW Dixi.
The Dixi was basically an Austin 7 made under licence in Germany. I'm thinking of turning it into a rod, so this post about hotrod Austin 7s was interesting. I may use some of the stuff available from Scale Link in 1:24th, which includes a Rover V8, the quintessential british rodding motor.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration, model car, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:19 AM link
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Monday, December 15, 2008
Where old Fords go to die
Jalopnik has a big gallery of photos from a secret junkyard in the woods. Given enough left overs and abandoned projects you could make a diorama depicting an abandoned corner of a place like this.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:15 PM link
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Jalopnik has a big gallery of photos from a secret junkyard in the woods. Given enough left overs and abandoned projects you could make a diorama depicting an abandoned corner of a place like this.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, model car, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:15 PM link
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Monday, October 06, 2008
Russian train pictures
English Rusia has some very nice pictures of Russian trains and railways. I wonder if anyone's built any Russia based layouts? Given the grand scale of the Russian network they'd probably have to be in one of the really small scales.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:35 AM link
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English Rusia has some very nice pictures of Russian trains and railways. I wonder if anyone's built any Russia based layouts? Given the grand scale of the Russian network they'd probably have to be in one of the really small scales.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, Model Railway, pictures, reference, Russia
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:35 AM link
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Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Lots of rat rod pictures from Billetproof 2008
Jalopnik has a mega gallery of pictures taken at the Billetproof rod meet in Antioch.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 1:47 PM link
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Jalopnik has a mega gallery of pictures taken at the Billetproof rod meet in Antioch.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, photo, pictures, rat rod, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 1:47 PM link
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Friday, August 22, 2008
Woodward Dream Cruise pictures
The Woodward Dream Cruise is a huge car meet. Jalopnik was there and they have lots of pictures- Hot rods, customs and muscle cars.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 6:31 PM link
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The Woodward Dream Cruise is a huge car meet. Jalopnik was there and they have lots of pictures- Hot rods, customs and muscle cars.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration, model car, pictures, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 6:31 PM link
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
More Death Race pictures
Jalopnik has a bunch of new photos from the upcoming Jason Statham starring remake of Death Race 2000. More inspiration for post apocalyptic motors.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 5:55 PM link
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Jalopnik has a bunch of new photos from the upcoming Jason Statham starring remake of Death Race 2000. More inspiration for post apocalyptic motors.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: Film, inspiration, model car, photo
posted by Ian Pattinson at 5:55 PM link
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Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Death Race
They're remaking Death Race 2000, now simply Death Race, with Jason Statham taking the role of Frankenstein. This may just be another example of the film industry running out of ideas, but at least the cars they've built for this version look suitably hardcore.
I've been collecting 1:32nd scale car kits for a while with the intention of creating a set of vehicles something like the ones made for Death Race. I think it's time to start work on a few of them so they'll be done by the time the film comes out.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:44 AM link
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They're remaking Death Race 2000, now simply Death Race, with Jason Statham taking the role of Frankenstein. This may just be another example of the film industry running out of ideas, but at least the cars they've built for this version look suitably hardcore.
I've been collecting 1:32nd scale car kits for a while with the intention of creating a set of vehicles something like the ones made for Death Race. I think it's time to start work on a few of them so they'll be done by the time the film comes out.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, model car, Science Fiction
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:44 AM link
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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Baikonur and St. Petersburg
English Russia keeps delivering the goods with cool photo collections. The Baikonur space launch facilities in Kazakhstan, as photographed by a visitor and the darker side of St. Petersburg.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:02 AM link
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English Russia keeps delivering the goods with cool photo collections. The Baikonur space launch facilities in Kazakhstan, as photographed by a visitor and the darker side of St. Petersburg.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, photo, pictures, reference, Russia
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:02 AM link
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Sunday, April 27, 2008
More rat rod reference
The hot rods of Dearborn.
Kustom Kulture.
Jake's Chop Shop.
Rumblers Hot rod hooligans.
100 percent kulture.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:17 PM link
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The hot rods of Dearborn.
Kustom Kulture.
Jake's Chop Shop.
Rumblers Hot rod hooligans.
100 percent kulture.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:17 PM link
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Monday, April 21, 2008
Alternate Soviet navy
English Russia has photos of planned Soviet helicopter and aircraft carriers that never made it beyond the planning- and display model- stage.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:54 AM link
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English Russia has photos of planned Soviet helicopter and aircraft carriers that never made it beyond the planning- and display model- stage.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, Russia, ship
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:54 AM link
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Friday, April 18, 2008
Rebel Rodz
I've found a local newsagent with a great selection of magazines that I've not seen anywhere else. I may have to visit once a month to pick up new reads.
This month's mag was Rebel Rodz, dedicated to old school rodz, bikes and tattoos. A great source of inspiration.
Sites mentioned in the mag include-
Chopper Festival.
Festivale de la Gente.
Ink-n-Iron.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 5:45 PM link
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I've found a local newsagent with a great selection of magazines that I've not seen anywhere else. I may have to visit once a month to pick up new reads.
This month's mag was Rebel Rodz, dedicated to old school rodz, bikes and tattoos. A great source of inspiration.
Sites mentioned in the mag include-
Chopper Festival.
Festivale de la Gente.
Ink-n-Iron.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration, rat rod
posted by Ian Pattinson at 5:45 PM link
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Aetheric Mechanics
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:09 PM link
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WArren Ellis has posted a set of reference images used in his upcoming Aetheric Mechanics graphic novel. They loo like prime materials for Luft '46 subjects.
Labels: inspiration, pictures, Science Fiction
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:09 PM link
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Friday, April 11, 2008
Soyuz on the train
io9 has pictures of a Soyuz rocket being hauled across the desert to its launch site by a diesel train. It might be hard to scale match a model of the rocket (or even find one, I couldn't get a match for "Soyuz" at Hannants) and a Russian train, but think of the diorama possibilities.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 8:40 AM link
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io9 has pictures of a Soyuz rocket being hauled across the desert to its launch site by a diesel train. It might be hard to scale match a model of the rocket (or even find one, I couldn't get a match for "Soyuz" at Hannants) and a Russian train, but think of the diorama possibilities.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: diorama, inspiration, pictures, reference, rocket, Russia, Space
posted by Ian Pattinson at 8:40 AM link
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Monday, April 07, 2008
Rebuilding a Sherman tank
Jalopnik has pictures of one man's project to rebuild a Sherman tank
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:29 AM link
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Jalopnik has pictures of one man's project to rebuild a Sherman tank
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, pictures, reference, Tank, World War 2
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:29 AM link
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Thursday, March 13, 2008
Autorama
Jalopnik have been to the Detroit Autorama, and have a lot of posts crammed full of inspiration for car modellers.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:46 PM link
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Jalopnik have been to the Detroit Autorama, and have a lot of posts crammed full of inspiration for car modellers.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration, model car, pictures
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:46 PM link
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Saturday, February 09, 2008
Russian soldiers in Chechnya
This photoset from English Russia shows Russian troops in less hectic moments during the Chechen conflict.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:08 AM link
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This photoset from English Russia shows Russian troops in less hectic moments during the Chechen conflict.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, pictures, reference, Russia
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:08 AM link
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
St. Petersburg reconstruction
The anniversary of the siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) was recently celebrated with a huge reconstruction of the battle featuring authentic uniforms and tanks.
Wikipedia history of St. Petersburg/Leningrad
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:44 AM link
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The anniversary of the siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) was recently celebrated with a huge reconstruction of the battle featuring authentic uniforms and tanks.
Wikipedia history of St. Petersburg/Leningrad
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, reference, Russia, World War 2
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:44 AM link
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Friday, January 18, 2008
Library of Congress photo collection on Flickr
If you're interested in modelling any American subjects then you might want to check out the Library of Congress feed on Flickr, which is filling up with documentary images, mostly from the start of the twentieth century.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 3:11 PM link
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If you're interested in modelling any American subjects then you might want to check out the Library of Congress feed on Flickr, which is filling up with documentary images, mostly from the start of the twentieth century.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, pictures, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 3:11 PM link
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008
American weapons in the Soviet army
English Russia has a gallery of American weaponry sent to the USSR during World War 2.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 2:43 PM link
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English Russia has a gallery of American weaponry sent to the USSR during World War 2.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, reference, Russia, World War 2
posted by Ian Pattinson at 2:43 PM link
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Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Down on the Street
Jalopnik has a regular feature called Down On The Street, where old cars on the streets of Alameda, an island in San Francisco bay, are photographed. It just reached its 150th vehicle. Each of these little photo essays has loads of reference, whether for particular vehicles or just weathering and realistic damage.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 7:08 PM link
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Jalopnik has a regular feature called Down On The Street, where old cars on the streets of Alameda, an island in San Francisco bay, are photographed. It just reached its 150th vehicle. Each of these little photo essays has loads of reference, whether for particular vehicles or just weathering and realistic damage.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: inspiration, model car, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 7:08 PM link
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GAZ 51 hot rod
Oh those crazy Russians. The GAZ 51 was a Russian workhorse during teh Second World War. Now one of them is being turned into a custom pickup.
Model Wheels do a GAZ 51 in 1:72nd, if you want to emulate the project.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:49 PM link
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Oh those crazy Russians. The GAZ 51 was a Russian workhorse during teh Second World War. Now one of them is being turned into a custom pickup.
Model Wheels do a GAZ 51 in 1:72nd, if you want to emulate the project.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration, Russia
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:49 PM link
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Monday, November 05, 2007
Mk 1 Zephyr Zodiac reference pictures
I've got a 1:76th Ford Zephyr Zodiac Mk 1 model from Classix that may become another Small Scale Custom project. So I'm looking for reference pictures.
Zephyr Zodiac and Consul Convention 1999.
Image from the Cotswold Classic Car Club
A V8 Mk1
No Zephyrs here, but some quite mad Capris and Cortinas.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:00 AM link
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I've got a 1:76th Ford Zephyr Zodiac Mk 1 model from Classix that may become another Small Scale Custom project. So I'm looking for reference pictures.
Zephyr Zodiac and Consul Convention 1999.
Image from the Cotswold Classic Car Club
A V8 Mk1
No Zephyrs here, but some quite mad Capris and Cortinas.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Labels: Ford, inspiration, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:00 AM link
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Coop goes to the So-Cal Speed Shop
Coop has a gallery up on Flickr from a visit to one of the most famous customising companies in the world- So-Cal Speed Shop L.A. Open House, 11/3/07
Technorati tag: Hot Rod
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:29 AM link
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Coop has a gallery up on Flickr from a visit to one of the most famous customising companies in the world- So-Cal Speed Shop L.A. Open House, 11/3/07
Technorati tag: Hot Rod
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration, pictures, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:29 AM link
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Volksrods
Volksrods are VWs customised in ways more often associated with hot rods and rat rods. They look like the creations of some sick but brilliant minds and are just begging to be modelled.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Volkswagen
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:41 AM link
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Volksrods are VWs customised in ways more often associated with hot rods and rat rods. They look like the creations of some sick but brilliant minds and are just begging to be modelled.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Volkswagen
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:41 AM link
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Monday, September 03, 2007
Reader's Rides
Pictures of hot rods belonging to readers of Hot Rod Gazette. As a number of these are very English it may be hard to get models of them in larger scales. But I have a liking of small scale customs, so I may take inspiration.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Hot Rod
posted by Ian Pattinson at 8:39 PM link
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Pictures of hot rods belonging to readers of Hot Rod Gazette. As a number of these are very English it may be hard to get models of them in larger scales. But I have a liking of small scale customs, so I may take inspiration.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Hot Rod
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration, pictures, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 8:39 PM link
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Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Russian photo reference
English Russia remains a great source of photographs for reference and inspiration.
World War 2 Photos by Dmitri Bal'termants
Military Aircraft Show in Monino. Moscow
Abandoned Trains of the Soviet Era
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Russia
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:09 AM link
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English Russia remains a great source of photographs for reference and inspiration.
World War 2 Photos by Dmitri Bal'termants
Military Aircraft Show in Monino. Moscow
Abandoned Trains of the Soviet Era
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Russia
Labels: inspiration, reference, Russia
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:09 AM link
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Friday, June 22, 2007
A tank from a lake
Tanks from the Second World War are still being pulled out of the lakes around St. Petersburg. If I remember my history correctly, the city was resupplied across the frozen lakes during the winter phases of the siege and at times the ice broke. The site refers to it as a "BT" tank. You can get BT5 or BT7 tanks in 1:35th scale from Zvezda, or BT5, BT7 or BT2 from Unimodel in 1:72nd. A salvage operation like this would make for an interesting diorama.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Russia, Reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:01 AM link
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Tanks from the Second World War are still being pulled out of the lakes around St. Petersburg. If I remember my history correctly, the city was resupplied across the frozen lakes during the winter phases of the siege and at times the ice broke. The site refers to it as a "BT" tank. You can get BT5 or BT7 tanks in 1:35th scale from Zvezda, or BT5, BT7 or BT2 from Unimodel in 1:72nd. A salvage operation like this would make for an interesting diorama.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Russia, Reference
Labels: diorama, inspiration, Military, pictures, reference, Russia, World War 2
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:01 AM link
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Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Japanese Kei cars
Kei cars are a class designed to get around Japanese tax and insurance legislation. They're tiny, the light weight making them nippy around town despite their one or two cylinder engines.
Jalopnik drove a trio of kei cars belonging to an American fan, then took anexample of Mazda's first ever four wheeled vehicle to a dealer so they could compare it to the manufacturer's current models.
If you want to model these cute little things, then Arii's Owner's Club range has a number of them, and the three wheeled delivery trucks and other classic Japanese vehicles of the 60s and 70s that you keep seeing in Kung Fu movies.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Model Car, Japan
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:14 AM link
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Kei cars are a class designed to get around Japanese tax and insurance legislation. They're tiny, the light weight making them nippy around town despite their one or two cylinder engines.
Jalopnik drove a trio of kei cars belonging to an American fan, then took anexample of Mazda's first ever four wheeled vehicle to a dealer so they could compare it to the manufacturer's current models.
If you want to model these cute little things, then Arii's Owner's Club range has a number of them, and the three wheeled delivery trucks and other classic Japanese vehicles of the 60s and 70s that you keep seeing in Kung Fu movies.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Model Car, Japan
Labels: inspiration, Japan, model car, reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:14 AM link
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Friday, June 08, 2007
Bizarre Russian tanks
Strange Russian tank designs on English Russia.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Tank, Russia
posted by Ian Pattinson at 3:16 PM link
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Strange Russian tank designs on English Russia.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Tank, Russia
Labels: inspiration, Military, Russia, Tank
posted by Ian Pattinson at 3:16 PM link
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Monday, June 04, 2007
Mad Russian trucks
Two photo galleries on English Russia-
A scrap yard of mad looking trucks and amphibians.
A part tracked ambulance.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Photo Reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 2:05 PM link
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Two photo galleries on English Russia-
A scrap yard of mad looking trucks and amphibians.
A part tracked ambulance.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Photo Reference
Labels: inspiration, photo, Russia
posted by Ian Pattinson at 2:05 PM link
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Friday, May 25, 2007
Ekranoplan
Jalopnik has video of Ekranoplans, Soviet era transport planes that used the Wing-In-Ground effect to skim mere feet above the waves.
Revell released a model of the A90 ekranoplan.
Remote control WIG effect models.
Alternate history ekranoplan.
An ekranoplan blog.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Ekranoplan
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:32 AM link
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Jalopnik has video of Ekranoplans, Soviet era transport planes that used the Wing-In-Ground effect to skim mere feet above the waves.
Revell released a model of the A90 ekranoplan.
Remote control WIG effect models.
Alternate history ekranoplan.
An ekranoplan blog.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Ekranoplan
Labels: inspiration, reference, Russia
posted by Ian Pattinson at 10:32 AM link
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Sunday, May 20, 2007
A bundle of reference links
Whilst going through the archives of Spinneyhead, I've found a few posts and links that might be of interest to modellers-
Fetch!
The Russian dog anti tank mine.
Captured
In the dynamic flow of a battlefield equipment can get lost or captured. A quick trip through captured and repurposed weaponry-
The world of captured planes
Captured Planes
Captured Allied planes (Warning- cheesey beyond belief music, which is a shame because there are some very useful images here.)
A collection of pieces about captured B-17s
Fleet Air Arm planes captured by the Axis
A gallery of tanks captured by the Germans
Modelling a captured Russian KV-2
Israel made good use of captured T54s and T55s and various other vehicles.
Russian tank museum, including many captured tanks.
Captured First World War tanks.
Ships captured by the German Navy.
Test Beds
I've just been to the Museum of Science and Industry and checked out the aviation hall. Interesting stuff-
Avro Lancasters were used as flying test beds for jet engines. Video of the tests is online here.
The Avro 707 isn't quite a flying wing, but I have a soft spot for the delta wing planes such as this and the Vulcan.
A picture of the Hafner Rotachute (more) hiding away in the corner of a painting has given me ideas for another novel way to land assault troops. The Germans used similar devices for spotting from U-Boats.
But the most affecting plane in the whole display is still the tiny Yokosuka OHKA, a suicide jet that was pretty much a desperate last gasp from the Japanese.
Wing and a Prayer
The Me-163 'Komet' was quite an astounding beast. I alluded to a similar plane when the Wasp squadron visited Dreamland (Chapter Three, blink and you miss it). Flight Journal has a long interview with one of the Komet's chief test pilots.
It also has to be remembered that the Germans weren't the only ones experimenting with new and unusual aeroplane designs. The Allies' first jet plane was the Gloster Whittle, a pre-cursor to the Meteor and test bed for jet engines.
The 'Hiller-copter' and Landgraf H-2 were early twin bladed helicopter designs.
America experimented with flying wings in designs such as the XP-56 and XB-35, which I've mentioned many times before, but there were also experiments with gliders along the same lines.
The Brits also experimented with flying wings, as well as canard and tandem wing designs.
Even the Swedes got in on the act with the Saab 21A.
And also- Engines of the Red Army
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Reference
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:45 PM link
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Whilst going through the archives of Spinneyhead, I've found a few posts and links that might be of interest to modellers-
Fetch!
The Russian dog anti tank mine.
Captured
In the dynamic flow of a battlefield equipment can get lost or captured. A quick trip through captured and repurposed weaponry-
The world of captured planes
Captured Planes
Captured Allied planes (Warning- cheesey beyond belief music, which is a shame because there are some very useful images here.)
A collection of pieces about captured B-17s
Fleet Air Arm planes captured by the Axis
A gallery of tanks captured by the Germans
Modelling a captured Russian KV-2
Israel made good use of captured T54s and T55s and various other vehicles.
Russian tank museum, including many captured tanks.
Captured First World War tanks.
Ships captured by the German Navy.
Test Beds
I've just been to the Museum of Science and Industry and checked out the aviation hall. Interesting stuff-
Avro Lancasters were used as flying test beds for jet engines. Video of the tests is online here.
The Avro 707 isn't quite a flying wing, but I have a soft spot for the delta wing planes such as this and the Vulcan.
A picture of the Hafner Rotachute (more) hiding away in the corner of a painting has given me ideas for another novel way to land assault troops. The Germans used similar devices for spotting from U-Boats.
But the most affecting plane in the whole display is still the tiny Yokosuka OHKA, a suicide jet that was pretty much a desperate last gasp from the Japanese.
Wing and a Prayer
The Me-163 'Komet' was quite an astounding beast. I alluded to a similar plane when the Wasp squadron visited Dreamland (Chapter Three, blink and you miss it). Flight Journal has a long interview with one of the Komet's chief test pilots.
It also has to be remembered that the Germans weren't the only ones experimenting with new and unusual aeroplane designs. The Allies' first jet plane was the Gloster Whittle, a pre-cursor to the Meteor and test bed for jet engines.
The 'Hiller-copter' and Landgraf H-2 were early twin bladed helicopter designs.
America experimented with flying wings in designs such as the XP-56 and XB-35, which I've mentioned many times before, but there were also experiments with gliders along the same lines.
The Brits also experimented with flying wings, as well as canard and tandem wing designs.
Even the Swedes got in on the act with the Saab 21A.
And also- Engines of the Red Army
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Reference
Labels: inspiration, Military, pictures, reference, Russia, World War 2
posted by Ian Pattinson at 12:45 PM link
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Friday, May 11, 2007
Donut Derelicts
Coop's photostream on Flickr is a great source for hot rod photo reference. The most recent set he' uploaded is of the Donut Derelicts cruise.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Hot Rod
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:32 AM link
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Coop's photostream on Flickr is a great source for hot rod photo reference. The most recent set he' uploaded is of the Donut Derelicts cruise.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Hot Rod
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration, photo
posted by Ian Pattinson at 9:32 AM link
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Wednesday, May 09, 2007
More belly tank inspiration
Hot Rod TV has a short clip on the early history of belly tank racers on the salt flats.
An extract from a history of belly tank racers. This disagrees with the video on one small detail. It says the first tanks used were from Mustangs, before moving onto Lightnings, whilst the video says they went straight to Lightnings.
The Monster Garage TV show made a belly tank racer from an F4 Phantom tank.
It should be possible to find a belly tank from the spares box if you've built enough Second World War era fighters, though it will probably be in a non-traditional scale for car modelling. A 1:48th speedster could be tended to by remodelled air crew, but a 1:72nd one would be tiny- though I guess that makes it more of a challenge.
Update There are belly tank racer models available. This online magazine (pdf) has a feature on one modeller's attempts and the three resulting models.
For more inspiration-
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Belly Tank Racer, Hot Rod
posted by Ian Pattinson at 4:17 PM link
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Hot Rod TV has a short clip on the early history of belly tank racers on the salt flats.
An extract from a history of belly tank racers. This disagrees with the video on one small detail. It says the first tanks used were from Mustangs, before moving onto Lightnings, whilst the video says they went straight to Lightnings.
The Monster Garage TV show made a belly tank racer from an F4 Phantom tank.
It should be possible to find a belly tank from the spares box if you've built enough Second World War era fighters, though it will probably be in a non-traditional scale for car modelling. A 1:48th speedster could be tended to by remodelled air crew, but a 1:72nd one would be tiny- though I guess that makes it more of a challenge.
Update There are belly tank racer models available. This online magazine (pdf) has a feature on one modeller's attempts and the three resulting models.
For more inspiration-
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Belly Tank Racer, Hot Rod
Labels: Hot Rod, inspiration
posted by Ian Pattinson at 4:17 PM link
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Thursday, April 26, 2007
CODE Guardian
CeeGee Studios created an awesome compueter animated short about Nazi super robots (YouTube part 1, Part 2). It got me dreaming up possible propellerpunk (that's my name for it, which I coined for a story called Heavensent, others call it Dieselpunk) battle scene dioramas.
Take the sort of robots and sci-fi subjects available through Hobbylink Japan, kitbash them with second world war era tank and plane parts then set them against some period tanks or ships. To give an idea of the size of the robot you'd really need to do it in a scale such as 1:144, or even smaller. Revell does a 1:200 oil rig, the destruction of which would be an opening scene from the giant robot movie. Mirage does a Polish harbour diorama in 1:400 or the Clyde, circa 1940 in the same scale. In larger scales 1:144 is well supplied. Here's Hannants' list, and that of interesting looking Japanese garage kit company Kami de Koro Koro.
I'm going to be on the lookout for giant robot kits now.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Robot, Diorama
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:46 AM link
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CeeGee Studios created an awesome compueter animated short about Nazi super robots (YouTube part 1, Part 2). It got me dreaming up possible propellerpunk (that's my name for it, which I coined for a story called Heavensent, others call it Dieselpunk) battle scene dioramas.
Take the sort of robots and sci-fi subjects available through Hobbylink Japan, kitbash them with second world war era tank and plane parts then set them against some period tanks or ships. To give an idea of the size of the robot you'd really need to do it in a scale such as 1:144, or even smaller. Revell does a 1:200 oil rig, the destruction of which would be an opening scene from the giant robot movie. Mirage does a Polish harbour diorama in 1:400 or the Clyde, circa 1940 in the same scale. In larger scales 1:144 is well supplied. Here's Hannants' list, and that of interesting looking Japanese garage kit company Kami de Koro Koro.
I'm going to be on the lookout for giant robot kits now.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Robot, Diorama
Labels: diorama, inspiration, robot
posted by Ian Pattinson at 11:46 AM link
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