Kimono Troop lighting and background tests

I've not been posting much lately because I've been busy with other things, which does not mean that nothing is going on in my 1/6 scale universe.  I am revamping the wardrobes and equipment of some of my figures, plus have two new bodies shipping in from Giantoy, plus lots of little gear and uniform items always coming in from other sources, though chiefly, Monkey Depot.  Today however, I did have a bit of time to do some more test shots with my blue seamless paper and so I'm sharing a few here, with more to come.

1 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Kamiko is now showing some cleavage with a OD green crop top and is now wearing the rank insignia of a Lieutenant-Colonel instead of a mere captain.  She was Lieutenant before that. My reasoning is that now that she is a "Commander" in S.I.M.O.N. she needed to be promoted to higher substantive rank to be on a par with the other HQ commanders.

2 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

3 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

6 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

I wonder what Kamiko and Miyori are aiming at?  A dinosaur, robot dinosaur, or a Stahltruppe member?  

4 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Heidi has ditched her old .38 Smith & Wesson as a sidearm and is now carrying what she should always have been carrying; a Colt M1873 Peacemeaker,

5 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr




Page_1 by Gary Menten, on Flickr

Looks good. I really like this made environment; the sky, the rock formation and the plants. Makes sense Kamiko would get promoted. Nice work, Gary.

Stryker2011 wrote:Looks good. I really like this made environment; the sky, the rock formation and the plants. Makes sense Kamiko would get promoted. Nice work, Gary.

Thanks Mark.  Lieutenant-Colonel is the army equivalent of the naval rank of "Commander."  Since all S.I.M.O.N. H.Q.'s are headed by someone holding the rank and position of "commander," This choice was a logical alternative.  And since James Bond, (A character in this universe) is ranked as a commander in the Royal Navy, then Kamiko's promotion is easily justified.

The insignia being worn are those of a lieutenant-colonel in the British, Canadian or Australian armies, as New Mexico, in my little universe is part His Majesty's United States...the part of America that decided to revert to having the British Monarch as its nominal if largely ceremonial head of state, following the 2nd American Civil War.

The sky is looking amazing! And I'm liking the evolution of all your figures and their environment. I know how slow the process can be of getting everything 'just the way you want it', especially when it gets held up by shipping. ;p

Fantastic work Gary, I can why you have been busy. All the upgrades to both the dio and your figures look amazing. Kamiko's new uniform additions also look amazing.

Yay you made the blue gradient work!

Cool new outfit, still looking authorative despite the skimpiness. Btw, are you planning to give them dog tags/individual necklaces some day? I mean, there is some space for ot now.

And I think they are shooting at a Stahl Robot Dinosaur.

Ovy wrote:Yay you made the blue gradient work!

Cool new outfit, still looking authorative despite the skimpiness. Btw, are you planning to give them dog tags/individual necklaces some day? I mean, there is some space for ot now.

And I think they are shooting at a Stahl Robot Dinosaur.

I plan to give them all dog tags, as soon as I can find some cheap or make them myself.

The gradient really makes it look like sky, great job.

Lighting, backdrops, and environments have been a focus of mine lately, and I'll admit it's really hard to pull off and look good. (for some dumb reason my lightbox didn't come with a blue backdrop) Yours looks excellent and the bright lighting really matches the subject matter and the way you portray them in your "comic" series (which by the way is really hilarious). Great job!

Although, I think they need way more gear! Where are all the pouches, canteens, radios, etc? 

tankgirlfuzzy wrote:Lighting, backdrops, and environments have been a focus of mine lately, and I'll admit it's really hard to pull off and look good. (for some dumb reason my lightbox didn't come with a blue backdrop) Yours looks excellent and the bright lighting really matches the subject matter and the way you portray them in your "comic" series (which by the way is really hilarious). Great job!

Although, I think they need way more gear! Where are all the pouches, canteens, radios, etc? 

Kamiko is wearing two magazine pouches on her left hip, a bayonet behind that and on the right side (camera left, a pistol and canteen.)


Miyori definitely needs more gear on her belt.

Glynnis is wearing a 3 cell Thompson magazine pouch on her left hip, a fighting knife behind that, and on the right side, a Browning High-Power and pistol ammo pouch.  She does need a canteen however.  When fully loaded, they also wear small assault packs with rations, more ammo, and extra socks and undies.

ThePhotogsBlog wrote:

tankgirlfuzzy wrote:Lighting, backdrops, and environments have been a focus of mine lately, and I'll admit it's really hard to pull off and look good. (for some dumb reason my lightbox didn't come with a blue backdrop) Yours looks excellent and the bright lighting really matches the subject matter and the way you portray them in your "comic" series (which by the way is really hilarious). Great job!

Although, I think they need way more gear! Where are all the pouches, canteens, radios, etc? 

Kamiko is wearing two magazine pouches on her left hip, a bayonet behind that and on the right side (camera left, a pistol and canteen.)


Miyori definitely needs more gear on her belt.

Glynnis is wearing a 3 cell Thompson magazine pouch on her left hip, a fighting knife behind that, and on the right side, a Browning High-Power and pistol ammo pouch.  She does need a canteen however.  When fully loaded, they also wear small assault packs with rations, more ammo, and extra socks and undies.

Of course you know I was saying that in jest, your figures are perfect with the gear they have and anymore would ruin the look! Although, I do like the good sense of packing extra socks and undies in their assault packs, you're going to have to do a bit with them arguing about how much to pack!

ThePhotogsBlog wrote:
Glynnis is wearing a 3 cell Thompson magazine pouch on her left hip, a fighting knife behind that, and on the right side, a Browning High-Power and pistol ammo pouch.  She does need a canteen however.

The canteen is a sure way to spot the difference between the Real Glynnis and counterfeits, imposters, and knock-offs:

tankgirlfuzzy wrote:Lighting, backdrops, and environments have been a focus of mine lately, and I'll admit it's really hard to pull off and look good. (for some dumb reason my lightbox didn't come with a blue backdrop) Yours looks excellent and the bright lighting really matches the subject matter and the way you portray them in your "comic" series (which by the way is really hilarious). Great job!

Although, I think they need way more gear! Where are all the pouches, canteens, radios, etc? 

What I use is a roll of 4.5" blue seamless. One camera mounted flash with bounce card is pointed at the ceiling and another slave unit is low, between the scenery and the seamless, and pointed at the seamless, slightly upwards. Getting the light right is a trial and error process.