Autoscale Studio
 

Hello all,
This month I started a blog about my Autoscale collection.
I wanted a studio lighting so I use my trusty Nikon D800 with a micro 105 f/2.8, lighting being a sole iphone4s LED.

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MZP214T Nissan GT-R SUPER GT GT500 Test Car 2008

MZP416SV Formula D Impreza No.12 Cooper Tire / Crawford PERFORMANCE
 

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MZP416SV Formula D Impreza No.12 Cooper Tire / Crawford PERFORMANCE

MZP415KM Formula D RX-7FC No.99 Kyle Mohan Racing
 

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MZP415KM Formula D RX-7FC No.99 Kyle Mohan Racing

MZP409M Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Mitsubishi Motors Dealer team PWRC 2008
 

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MZP409M Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Mitsubishi Motors Dealer team PWRC 2008

MZG302MP Motul Pitwork Skyline GT-R R34 JGTC 2003
 

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MZG302MP Motul Pitwork Skyline GT-R R34 JGTC 2003

MZG302CS Calsonic Skyline GT-R R34 JGTC 2003
 

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MZG302CS Calsonic Skyline GT-R R34 JGTC 2003

MZP201W Ferrari Enzo White
 

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MZP201W Ferrari Enzo White

MZP220BK Enzo Ferrari GT Concept
 

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MZP220BK Enzo Ferrari GT Concept

MZP214YH YellowHat YMS Tomica GT-R 2008
 

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MZP214YH YellowHat YMS Tomica GT-R 2008

MZP213YC Yellow Corn McLaren F1 GTR
 

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MZP213YC Yellow Corn McLaren F1 GTR

MZC31RL Chrysler Dodge Viper GTS-R Team Larbre Competition Chereau
 

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MZC31RL Chrysler Dodge Viper GTS-R Team Larbre Competition Chereau

MZC24AU Toyota Supra au Cerumo JGTC 2002
 

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MZC24AU Toyota Supra au Cerumo JGTC 2002

Very nice pictures Optima, you drive mini-z ?

Steve ;)

Awesome pictures!
Love it

fantastic pics

Thanks.
Yes, I began with a MR01 and a Z8 body yeaaaaaaars ago.

fantastic photos! have you thought about doing 3d rotational compilations? a new site popped up recently offering this for GI Joes. while a formal studio collection for autoscales is a first, rotational compilations would be a great asset as well.

again, great photography. :cool:

Great job!

Hello and thank you dear moderator :),

Actually I take pics of each model from 8 angles but the lighting is different for each angle (I move my phone in the dark, checking the pic after each exposure, so it's changing all the time) so it would be difficult to make rotoscopic images. For this I would need a static lighting setup and a rotating plate/background.

you get a very similar effect once you click to enlarge the image and scroll through the images back and forth. absolutely wonderful!

Btw all angles aren't always beautiful per se, so I have to find a good-looking lighting for each shot. It takes time, typically 30-40 shots by car, but once the shooting is done, I bring the pics in Lightroom to enhance the lighting and select the best pics.
When uploading, I now try to sort the shots in a rotating order to keep a certain coherence. :D

MZG40BG Lotus Europa Special British Green
 

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A rarely seen body, the Lotus Europa Special.:)

Mzc12ws warsteiner amg clk
 

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I had lots of difficulties to get this one. I had lots of wreck but no pristine one. :p That's the lot of numerous race cars :D

Mzg35cs calsonic skyline 1990 (r32)
 

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calsonic again

Very cool. Do you generally leave the LED near the top of the frame, pointing downwards? Really clean lighting for a single point source (and I assume no diffuser box providing secondary, indirect lighting). Please teach us. :)

superb pics… truly studio like quality work! went to your site, always wanted to do something like that, incorporating some history behind the cars, i recall posting one merc c9… thanks for sharing :D waiting for pics on honda's hsv10

Mzg105uj unisia jecs skyline 1993 (r32)
 

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I'm doing R32 series this week because I wanted to have a look of these bodies with some wheels :D

As I don't want a complex studio set-up, I use a technique called light painting.
Basically, very slow shutter speed, cam on tripod in a darkened room, and a bright light moving around the subject to hilight what you want to focus on. (in my case, an iphone, but it could be a lighter, a torchlight, whatever creates a strong contrast with darkness). You can test a lot of different lightings quickly.
I use shutter speed of 6-30sec, an apertures ranging from f/22 to f/32, depending on the angle and the color of the body.

Thanks for the compliments.
I have so many bodies now, and they all are hidden in closets, so I don't see them usually... What a pity isn't it? Hence the idea of taking pics of them, to be able to see them when I want, and putting them online, so I can see them from any mobile device too, and besides, if anyone else than me would be delighted to see a (kind-of) visually uniform mini-z gallery... I always have been so frustrated by the official Kyosho website... uncomplete infos, uncomplete list, errors in the descriptions, etc. etc. I'd have loved a website explaining why Kyosho choose to make a body instead of another, how they choose the colors or liveries, short stories behind the makers, etc.

there are some pictures floating around on how they make them, the molds used and glosscoating the bodies. i recall there being at least 2 brief interviews of sorts that have occurred over the years. all of it should be here on the forum as well. i have copies of the pictures of the molds if you want them for a background page.

Very, very nice pics! Posted you link on my FB account.

Also thanks for your photograph pics, will try a bit on my own too. I would like to combine it with a garage diorama.

Thanks for the info.
Actually I read from time to time the official mini-z blog but it mostly depicts the mini-z cup and this doesn't interests me :D Though this subject indeed is very interesting, the pics are sooooo small it's really a pity!

yeah, i wish we had the opportunity to interview a kyosho product developer about mini-z history, production, etc. i don't have those contacts or level of resources to reach those kinds of people though.

I don't understand why Kyosho publish a yearly catalog for diecast and nothing for autoscales??? They could easily publish a yearly catalog for mini-z as they did in 2005 with the small one they gave away with autoscales.

MZM404BP BP Oil Trampio SKYLINE JTC 1993 (R32)
 

MZM404C1 Calsonic Skyline JTC 1991 (R32)
 

MZM404FE FET Sports SKYLINE 1993 JTC (R32)
 

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As you perhaps noticed I'm focusing the R32 now :D

MZM404KS Kyoseki GP-1 Plus SKYLINE 1993 JTC (R32)
 

Mzm404nl skyline gt-r napolex 1991 jtc (r32)
 

MZM404RB Reebok Skyline No.3 1991 JTC (R32)
 

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The Reebok... Funny to see the Union Jack on a japanese car :D