By the time you read this it will be, odds are, any time but Christmas. However, as I write this Christmas is still a couple of days away. I am sitting on my couch enjoying “family time” watching Tim Allen movies. I find my mind wandering to other Christmas-y things, like snow, eggnog and modern mechanized warfare.
Mainly, I am thinking back to the time I made an image out of a model tank. Let me take you back to the heady days of late September 2020.
As a kid, I was never into model building. I tried making a few now and then, but they ended up being a horrid mess of poorly glued disasters. All those little plastic parts, fast-setting glue and chubby, uncoordinated fingers was not a great combination. But since I was trying new things with making my own props and dioramas, and having some decent success at it (and my fingers being less chubby), I tried my hand at model making again.
I had in my head an idea of a tank in mid-battle, shooting its gun, all dramatic and action-filled. So I went to my local model shop and picked out a suitable model—something not WWII (because the allied tanks didn’t fit my aesthetic, and screw Nazis), and I didn’t want something from the current era. This dramatically limited selection (tanks all seem to be WWII German Panzers or modern M1 Abrams). I ended up buying a Korean War era British M41 Walker Bulldog model kit from Tamiya.
When I got home, I put it all together and painted it up. It took about an hour and it looked pretty slick. I also made some hedgehog-style tank traps out of foam. The shot I had in mind was the tank breaching through enemy lines, so I made some of the traps appear broken and distorted by bombing.
![Walker British Bulldog tank](https://toyphotographers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bts2.jpg)
As a final touch to the paint job, I took some dirt from my backyard, made a slurry out of it with some water, and spread it on the treads. That way I wouldn’t have to worry about matching paint colours for the dirt on the tank and the dirt in my scenery. It matched the dirt I would use because it was the dirt I would use. Work smarter, not harder.
Tank photography
Once I had the model painted, it was time to set up the shot. To accomplish this, I grabbed some more dirt from my backyard and put it into an aluminum tray. Then I positioned the tank and the tank traps.
![](https://toyphotographers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bts1.jpg)
I mounted a Lume Cube on a gooseneck attached to a Platypod. Lighting is an important part of this shot. Mainly, I wanted to show the tank’s gun shooting. This involves a muzzle flash, which looks quite impressive from a tank cannon. I would add the flash in post (not being an armorer, I lack a real tank from which to create a muzzle flash). To make my life easier, I wanted to illuminate the tank and surrounding area just as it would appear from a real muzzle flash.
To accomplish this, I put a snoot attachment on the Lume Cube. A snoot is like a long funnel that directs the light into a point. I then took a couple of shots—one that put light on the bottom of the barrel, and one above it. Muzzle flashes are a tight, harsh, single source of light, and the snoot would help mimic that effect.
![](https://toyphotographers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bts4.jpg)
![](https://toyphotographers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bts3.jpg)
By merging the two together, I was able to get semi-realistic light on the tank.
In post, the muzzle flash would be created by painting in some light with a soft brush. But until then, the light on the tank would suffice.
Background
Now all I needed was a suitable background. While the tank is Korean War era, I didn’t necessarily envision the battle it was in to be during the Korean War. I just wanted a random battle, not based in reality. So I set about creating a mid-century scene.
Starting with the sky, I went spelunking through my archives and came across this photo of Vancouver from a few years ago:
![](https://toyphotographers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bts6b.jpg)
That sky looks perfect for a dark, moody night scene. I added some building elements from Pixel Squid and came up with this background.
![](https://toyphotographers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bts7.jpg)
Then it was simple matter of adding back in the merged tank shot. Note that the light on the barrel is bright on both the top and bottom.
![](https://toyphotographers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bts8.jpg)
Finishing off the image was a simple matter of some colour grading and adding in the muzzle flash. The final piece looks like this.
![Tank at night](https://toyphotographers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/tank-at-night-1.jpg)
Wrapping up
Just like the movie I am being forced to watch ends, so does this post.
Making models for use in toy photography opens a whole new avenue for finding subject matter. Models are not only fun to shoot, they are fun to make. It is a little more work than just pulling a pre-assembled toy from a box, but that work is a creative outlet all on its own.
I wonder what my next model to make will be? Heck, it might be under the Christmas tree right now. I’ll know by the time you read this, but as I write, that future is yet to be written. I have high hopes! If not, the hobby store is just down the road.
[dave]
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It’s amazing that you got the tank put together and painted in such a short time. You must have some laser focus. The tank traps are incredible — hard to imagine them being light as foam because they look metal. The entire photo – and your words here – are very interesting (and often funny) to read!
Thanks Christina! Foam is a wonderful building material. With the right paint you can make almost anything look realistic.