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Sniper Shots!
The Sniper Shots Ok, Where to start? Start with an Idea. I wanted to show a sniper TEAM. So often people think that snipers are the lone wolves of the battlefield. This is a misconception. They work in two man teams. One Spotter, one sniper. Both are Expert marksman, but I digress. I wanted to show two snipers, at night. I found some Halloween lights (or Lamps if you prefer to call them that) at Michaels.  The lights from Michaels.  The lights in the package and out.  The lights turned on! I found them in the Halloween section, they had a little town scene, similar to Christmas scenes, but what caught my eye was the bluish-purple hue of the lights. I immediately bought a set intending to use them to illuminate my Bailey bridge set.  My Bailey Bridge |
Anyway, I started with some background stuff:  1.) Styrofoam boards (black) from Staples. 2.) Tree trunk decorations for a fish tank from PetSmart 3.) A piece of interesting twisted wood I found on a walk (Sorry, guys, you want one, you gotta go for a walk in the Mojave Desert and hope you get lucky!) 4.) Moss from a train hobby Store 5.) A light up moon from Michaels! (you gotta love that Halloween section!) 6.) a sheer piece of black cloth. When I did this the first time, I didn't have this piece of cloth, so I used a piece of my wife's lingerie and it worked well. And as an added bonus, it worked out well for that little celebratory cross-dressing after I got the shot....err..I mean...nevermind.....but the lingerie part is true! I wanted stars and moon behind my shooters, so I got some small lights from Michaels in the floral department. They come in a battery powered 10 packpack and they use AA batteries.  Using tape I taped them randomly to the black Styrofoam backboard.  |
I found out in an earlier shot (check out my Zarana/Roadpig on the Black Pearl Pics) that the lights were too bright, so to dim them, I draped the black cloth over them.  Then I positioned the light up moon,  Then I positioned the trees.  I added the Moss to give it a realistic feel.  Then, I positioned the purple Halloween lights.  |
Check your light position!! Make sure it's illuminating everything you want it to!  Now, to chose your subjects and accessories!!!  I went with DTC Lowlight and NightForce Crosshairs(1) because of their night colors. For the choice of Rifle, I tried the BBI Barret .50 cal.The Desert Version(2) was too bright and the gun metal gray(3) was too big to fit in LowLights shoulder. The Corps!PSGAT (4) lacked the bipod that I wanted to show the rifles power. I didn't want to use the Power Team Barret (5) due to it's cartoonie look. The Marauder Dragonov (6) is for bad guys. The Bivouac scope(7) was too big and the Power Team binoculars (9) couldn't be seen at night. I ended up using the PowerTeam Scope (8) and the Power Team Barret (5) because it fit best in LowLights hands. Next, position your figures! It takes time and work. Every time I set up Crosshairs, I had to adjust LowLight. After 20 min, this is what I came up with:  Turn on the Purple Halloween lights and turn off the Garage lights and Viola:  Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I don't know it all, and I don't claim to. I have a crappy camera (but I'm getting a better one soon!) but I found a way to make it's grainy quality work for a change! The best way to see what works is try it and post it. Maybe someone can give you advice on what works for them, and it might work for you. If not, maybe it will give you an idea. |
WOW! Thanks for posting this.
Now, maybe the bridge should be the next how-to cuz that is f'n awesome!!! |
great tutorial. Very easy to be fallowed. You hit the exact points to be helpfull, no waste of words! It's cuz of that you are STB TOP!
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Thanks for the tips on the stars, Frank. I've tried to capture real stars in my night pics, but once you focus on then figure, you lose 'em. You've given me another idea which, providing it works, I'll share with everyone. :)
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Escellent! Really simple process to obtain some wonderful shots! Thanks for sharing.
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Love using the lights. I have those same lights in my project bin for use as an exhaust lighting for a power plant. I'm also using the white two LED lights on a customized attack vehicle I'm working on. The use of the UV in a night scene never occured to me and I'm looking forward to duplicating your effect in some of my night scenes. By the way, the Bailey bridge rocks!!! In scale is the bridge a one lane or two lane? :)
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Thanx
That was a lot of excellent information. Now about the cross-dressing thing, is there a custom Klinger figure in your future?
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Very clear. Thanks for the info. The moon effect definitely works. Your bridge is superb! Can't wait to see some battle pics with maybe some Hiss tanks trying to cross or something. I wish I had the talent.
Good stuff! |
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The Bailey is a one lane bridge. It was used by the US and British Armies until the 1990's. With the new emphasis on mobility on the battlefield, it has been superceeded by the Medium Girder Bridge, which is faster to erect and considered a "temporary" bridge vice the Bailey's "Semi Permanant" nature. The Bailey also cannot handle the weight of an M1 Abrahms unless you take it up to "Double-Double" configuration or higher, and still the weight of the tank tears apart the decking (chess). Baileys are still used in humanitarian service in countries hit by natural disasters needing bridges being built or replaced, but they now fall on the Army Corps of Engineers I believe! In combat, the MGB rules and the Bailey is a throwback to the great wars, but it is a beautiful piece of engineering. It's creator, Sir Donald Bailey was Knighted for his invention! Mine is an actual scale model used by the US Army and it was sent to a Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, where someone bought it as scrap and sold it to me on ebay! I have two other model bridges. I have a Pontoon Treadway and a LTR (Light Tactical Raft) which uses canoe like pontons (NOT inflatable Pontoons like the Treadway) and can be a section of a bridge or by having outboard motors attached, it can be used as a raft to ferry vehciles and equipment. Both are former military scale models used to train Army Combat Engineers when weather or safety conditions would not allow them to work on the REAL bridges! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailey_Bridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium_Girder_Bridge All this and an education, too! :O |
Oh sure, dont' show us how to build these things OR show us the other bridges. I'd love to see the pontoon!
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I'm at the Staff academy in Camp Pendleton Ca. When I go home this weekend, I'll break out my new camrea nad get you all some really bitchin shots of all three bridges I have! I might set them up in my living room or my backyard and take some pics with figures.... As far as building them, do you mean how to manufacture the parts? Or how the parts go together? I didn't manufacture them, I bought them. They are old models created by the Army to train Combat engineers. If you wanna know how to assemble them; http://www.military-info.com/MPHOTO/p021a.htm FM 5-277 :eek: :D |
Wow :eek:
That was the best tutorial I've evr read. The finished product is just too frickin awesome. Great job. |
:eek: Whaaahhh! That bridge! You are very lucky! Mind-blowing dio prop!
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Yeah, but now that I got it in my Garage, It's harder than hell to move! |
Bridging?
Ok so who in the joe team would be responsible for bridging?, Is Tollbooth the only one capable for military construction?
I still don't have that figure complete.. he's on my target list though. awesome bridge btw. |
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Tunnel Rat..he's a combat Engineer. All Combat Engineers are trained in basic Bridging techniques. And Zap. hmmm...who else is a Combat engineer? |
Very nice man! Thanks for the tips!
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simply terrific sir! and killer posing on the figures in the last to pics, I can't wait to try this!
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