Hey JoeDios!

Im Kalash, new here (obviously). If I put this thread in the wrong area, I apologize. I just wanted to introduce myself to the community here. Some of you might know me from Hisstank, anyway, Im in college, studying Graphic Design and Photography, and I live in Philadelphia. I've been a Joe' fan my entire life and I've been collecting more or less (ARAH, 12" figures when VvV, JvC, etc was out, and 25th) ever since I was 3 or so. However, I lost almost my entire ARAH collection (vehicles and all) years ago while moving. I still have everything else though. I've begun recollecting 3.75" Joes when the 25th came out, rebuilding my collection, and Im about to get back into ARAH stuff (Just my favorites). Mostly I only collect Joes, but I do have a few Cobra figures.

Alright, well thats that, now I have some questions.

As I mentioned I live in Philadelphia, PA. And as you can Imagine I don't have much room to store and display Joes' and what not, I hardly have enough room to set up my light tent. This leads to a pretty big problem for me. I wanna do some good sized Dios, but I have no room to build anything (a mini-pit, warehouse, nothing!) unless it can break down and be stored away flat. In addition to this I don't have any outdoor area I can shoot a dio like many of you do. I envy those of you with backyards that have grass and such.

So I wanted to ask, is anyone else here in my predicament? If so what do you guys do about making/shooting dios with lack of resources/space?

Are there any solutions to this problem?

I've got so many ideas floating around yet 90% of them require me building a set and such which means its a no go.

Also, I see so many wonderfully lighted dios here, what are you guys using to light your dios? Any particular types of lights that work well?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

-Kalash

Howdy partna!

Alot of us are in the same sort of situation as you in terms of space. I used to have a garage but when I got divorced, well... Anyway... I keep a corner of the room reserved for fotography or painting or whatever. I tend to build on the ground simply cuz it's easier to cut foamboard on my knees than raised up. (I put a piece of wood underneath and I often paint on the floor too.

All my sets are modular. Therefore, i have a bunch of wood bases w/ L-brackets screwed in. I set my foamboard walls against those. They break down easily and i can use them in the future often by just repainting them.

Check out my dios to see what you can do fairly easily with a 48"x40" space. (two cheap tables from the store placed next to eachother, storage space underneath...)

Yup, Graham (Sonneilon) is the master of Modular sets. As for lighting, try looking at the "How-to" section. I use any and every thing to make mine. Christmas lights, floral lights, flood lights....anything!!

Welcome. The how to section has good ideas in there.
You could pack up a few things and take them to a park for some pics.
I took that big step last year to take some pics and never looked back.

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My Collections

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22356329@N03/sets/

I will check out the how-to section.

@Beast: I wish I had a park near me...I live in the heart of the city.

Howdy welcome aboard


I have limited space and I'm current designing cardstock sets that I can use and share wit folks. What i designed thus far is very modular and if need can be disposed of of reused many times


i fact here are some of the things I designed

Hi now that I've got this little camera figured out ...... for the most part, I can show off the wall set I designed. This is a paper model. The original is blank so folks can add in there own textures. For this one I chose a brick wall exterior and a bluish wall paper interior and adding in some of my furniture. The doors can open and close, and while this is basic, the potential to make a more complicated building is there. Included in the set, as well, is wall with a window.

Download here:
Joe Scale Wall Set.zip

Here another site thanks to Hisstank member Crims:
http://www.tacticalconsole.net/tank...caleWallSet.zip

Here another site thanks to Hisstank member Freedom:

Tracker's Walls



Here's a shot of the blank with the window.



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I recently finished up B.A.T Repair/Analysis Alcove...I may change the name.

I used media fire to host it an C-net and PC magazine both recommended it. If there any problems with that please delete the link

B.A.T Repair/Analysis Alcove.

Here another site thanks to Hisstank member Crims

http://tacticalconsole.net/tanker/Androd_Alcove.pdf

It can also be downloaded here thanks Hisstank member Freedom

Vexar Designs - Tracker

Thanks to GIJoeKing65 over at TNI Forums for the B.A.T display graphics.

And here is a photo of it. Sorry for the picture quality, but it it not too bad. Amazing what the out doors plus cleaning the lens can do for key chain camera.

Sorry there's no B.A.T in it. I was going to set him in it when it started to rain. I take a picture of it with a B.A.T tomorrow.




If anyone wants a copy p.m. me or if anyone knows of a place I can up load it to I'd be happy to share it. It's in PDF format

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Tracker's Pictures

Welcome to Joe Dios, I too like many of us are also members on the Hisstank board but over there I am BadWolf, hated by many and on the mods s#$t list because I love getting them worked up over there (such wankers) Not here though this place is Joe Zen for most of us! So your schoolin in Philly, it wouldn't happen to be Art Institute would it?
As far as sets, I tend to have plenty of room, I just waist to much time online instead of building them If you look at some of my pics most recently I have been photoshoping my backgrounds. Not the easiest way of doing it but definately limitless depending on your skill with PS. most of my photos are done on top of a washing machine with small doller store LED lights a portable desklamp, and a red LED that was built into my old apartment key to help see the lock at night! I did the pack a bag and go on location once for my dio story but its summer here in Arizona and I decided those trips will not be done again until winter

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Im quite handy with photoshop, Infact I fixed the background of that helix photo I posted last night, its made up of two seperate photos that I combined. I had to fix up the background after I merged them to, here are the originals I took to combine:



I fixed the area above Helix as well, to make this:



Ive been using PS for like 5 or 6 years now. So I might just give that a try.

As for school I am going to the University of the Arts.

First off, welcome!

As far as sets go mine are mostly assembled from various pieces I've made or whatnot and therefore can be easily broken down and stored. Personally I prefer homemade sets as opposed to what you could buy in a store as no one else will have it and it will always make for a different looking set than viewers may know.
There's TONS of great stuff to print off on here to really make sets come alive and like Scuba said you can always use photoshop if there are no other options for what you need.

A couple quick tips:

-get yourself to a hardware store like Lowes or Home Depot, obviously there's wood but I recommend getting a couple 12"X12" tiles or sheets of lenolium. There's lots to choose from and it works great for walls and/or flooring.

-Dollar stores are great for odds and ends bits like fake candles, a bags of stones that works well for rocks, you might even find a couple gems in the toy section.

-Household objects can be your best friend. I can't tell you how many times I've seen folks use the inside of a computer or parts from one. Kitchen cabinets can double as warehouses if you're really strapped, hell I used you a spice rack once and it worked perfectly. Wire mesh paper holders make for great fences.

-pocket LEDs are perfect for this hobby as well. I take it you know about lighting since you're in Photography but having one or two pen or puck lights is great for atmospherical lighting.

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