Hi,
My useual modelling prefference is for 1/48 WW2 fighter aircraft and I am a recent convert to 1/35 Armour. The wealth of detail on the models is stunning and the idea of the diorama in this scale is mouthwatering.
I am also an Artist working in Watercolour and Acrylics so I found the article by Rick Lawler very interesting. The play of light on a subject is what art (painting) is all about. If you paint a subject in its natural colours you have a "so what" picture but as soon as you select a source of light and add the shadows it changes to a "wow" picture.
Rick's Marder is fantastic and I wish I could do as well. But. Is it Art or Modelling?
A Model is a miniture representation of the real thing so therfore its lighting must be representative of the real thing too. The moment a light source is selected and a highlight or shadow added to the model then it has changed into an Object of Art. A well detailed model creates its own natural shadows and highlights that will change with abient conditions.
Take the light source away from directly above, after all we don't all live on the Equator, and select Dawn or Dusk and you'll have a model that can only be viewed from the same place and the display lighting will need to be selected accordingly.
Colour modulation has its place in weathering a model but shoulden't be used to "model" a model.
Nice to read a mag. from the otherside of the pond. Do your letter writers ever do any modelling in their workshops? Mine always looks like a bomb went off in it!
Regards
DAN982