[TC25] 42053 Volvo EW160E [Free instructions]

[SaperPL]

Looks really good, are you planning to make a video of how it works?

Also are those final photos for the submission? There's a lot of black in the model and it would help to bump up ISO/white balance a bit to see them more. I feel like photos of the set model were also brighter at those areas.

[1gor]

Cab and engine compartment look even better than original set because you use bricks and not stickers. 

[artemisovsky]

1 hour ago, TechnicMOCer said:

It looks very cool, I really like it. I'm not sure about that, how well reinforced is arm, because of using short thin liftarms, but anyways you did a very dissent job. 

Thank you, it's a tiny model and the arm is strong enough for it's size.

1 hour ago, SaperPL said:

Looks really good, are you planning to make a video of how it works?

Also are those final photos for the submission? There's a lot of black in the model and it would help to bump up ISO/white balance a bit to see them more. I feel like photos of the set model were also brighter at those areas.

Thanks. Yes, I plan to make a video with a short presentation, but it will be my first time doing something like this and the effect may be weak.
I brightened a bit them, do you think photos are ready for publication now?
Before

Now

1 hour ago, 1gor said:

Cab and engine compartment look even better than original set because you use bricks and not stickers. 

Thank you. I'm not a fan of stickers either.

I made also renders comparing sets:

Edited July 23, 2023 by artemisovsky

[SaperPL]

2 minutes ago, artemisovsky said:

I brightened a bit them, do you think photos are ready for publication now?

Yeah, it makes more sense now and those darker areas are easier to distinguish. It might feel slightly overburn, but with mostly black model, there's not much you can do about it without some professional lighting and skills for setting it up perfectly for taking the picture in the first place, I think.

[falconluan]

　Wow, this is a great looking model, it captures the original model very well 

[artemisovsky]

21 hours ago, SaperPL said:

Yeah, it makes more sense now and those darker areas are easier to distinguish. It might feel slightly overburn, but with mostly black model, there's not much you can do about it without some professional lighting and skills for setting it up perfectly for taking the picture in the first place, I think. 

Thanks for your help, lightened photos are much clearer and until I make better ones I will use them in the entry topic.

4 hours ago, falconluan said:

　Wow, this is a great looking model, it captures the original model very well 

Thank you for kind words.

[Berthil]

Very nice model! Photos are good, I also brighten them up a bit after a render. Setting the Lighten Intensity to 1.1 or 1.2 in Stud.io also helps. 

[artemisovsky]

On 7/24/2023 at 9:34 AM, Berthil said:

Very nice model! Photos are good, I also brighten them up a bit after a render. Setting the Lighten Intensity to 1.1 or 1.2 in Stud.io also helps. 

Thanks for the comment and tips. I will remember to use them in the future.

Video is ready. This is my first attempt at making a video (it's not perfect but it's tolerably in my opinion) so please overlook imperfections.

 

[Thirdwigg]

This build turned out great. I love the bucket.

The orange is a little too much for me (I can't believe I just typed that), but it's true to the subject model so I understand why you kept it.

[SaperPL]

20 minutes ago, artemisovsky said:

This is my first attempt at making a video (it's not perfect but it's tolerably in my opinion) so please overlook imperfections.

It's not that bad, it's actually pretty good for a first attempt. You've got a pretty good background, but you're missing some good light. If you don't have a proper light, I recommend using daylight around morning next time.

 

I'm not a fan of these type of controls where you handle arm actuation at each stage separately in-place and the video is showing the awkwardness of those kinds of solutions really well (at least I perceive this as awkward, but at the same time I didn't manage to make it perfectly acceptable for me at this scale yet).

And while that's a good model for the contest, the presentation in the video could be better if made into cuts of specific features without overexposing the awkwardness - the scenario with consequence of actions making sense doesn't mean you have to capture everything in one go. There's still few weeks till the end so you can consider some improvements on this.

 

The build itself is really good and it's surprising that the bucket can hold those small 1x1 pieces :D

[artemisovsky]

15 hours ago, Thirdwigg said:

This build turned out great. I love the bucket.

The orange is a little too much for me (I can't believe I just typed that), but it's true to the subject model so I understand why you kept it.

Thanks. First version of bucket was a little thinner (using the 5L axle) but I changed it to 6L axles to make it completely black (and didn't want to use older black axles).
Those orange elements really enhance the look of real model even though they are too big so they must stay.

15 hours ago, SaperPL said:

It's not that bad, it's actually pretty good for a first attempt. You've got a pretty good background, but you're missing some good light. If you don't have a proper light, I recommend using daylight around morning next time.

Light is not a problem (made movie before 8 am in full sunlight in the room) but camera (with aperture ƒ/2.2) and operator skills. It is also difficult to focus on the presentation of the model while looking at the phone screen (hence the moments of awkwardness). Of course, I accept your criticism and in my free time will try to improve myself in this element. Thanks for feedback.

[gyenesvi]

Really cool model, nice functions at this very small scale.

As for the video, what I nowadays do for such presentations, is that I record continuously, in a way that I keep moving my hand in and out of the picture (just like you do here in the beginning naturally), showing each function separately (and also rotating the model in between if necessary), recording each function multiple times if necessary (for example the bucket closing took a lot of time here, could have been recorded again), and then cut the video at points where my hand is out of the picture and the model is cleanly visible, removing the segments when nothing interesting happens (hand is out of the picture, model is just standing there) and the ones that I screwed up, adding fade transitions between the remaining segments that have the actual action (hand is in the picture). This way, the result can be quite dense / short and to the point (as if you'd be teleporting from one side of the picture to the other), without lengthy parts where nothing really happens. Some boring segments can even be sped up, such as when a linear actuator is being moved for a while. In the end I add captions for explanation.

[MangaNOID]

Really nice build and would make a really nice set! I like this one a lot.

I forgot the original didn’t have a slewing mechanism. 

I think the video is perfect for a contest entry. No cuts, no smoke and mirrors. I’ll do similar because it’s also easier and less time constrained.

[artemisovsky]

On 7/26/2023 at 2:40 PM, gyenesvi said:

Really cool model, nice functions at this very small scale.

As for the video, what I nowadays do for such presentations, is that I record continuously, in a way that I keep moving my hand in and out of the picture...

Thanks for the advices - there's still some time left before the end of the contest so I'll try to improve the video soon.

On 7/26/2023 at 3:12 PM, MangaNOID said:

Really nice build and would make a really nice set! I like this one a lot.

I forgot the original didn’t have a slewing mechanism.
I think the video is perfect for a contest entry. No cuts, no smoke and mirrors. I’ll do similar because it’s also easier and less time constrained. 

Thanks for kind words.

I have also prepared a simple graphic comparing the original and shrunken models:

[Berthil]

4 hours ago, artemisovsky said:

I have also prepared a simple graphic comparing the original and shrunken models:

Nice idea with the graphic :)

[artemisovsky]

2 hours ago, Berthil said:

Nice idea with the graphic :)

Thanks but the idea was taken from you - I saw similar graphics in your contest thread 8479 Barcode Truck. I like that it shows clear the size difference shrunken model to the original set.

[Thirdwigg]

On 7/26/2023 at 4:49 AM, artemisovsky said:

Those orange elements really enhance the look of real model even though they are too big so they must stay.

Yeah, you made the right decision. I never should have suggested taking away any orange parts, as it's my favorite LEGO color. It looks great here.

Also, I have to try and figure out how to do one of those graphics. It looks great.

Edited July 29, 2023 by Thirdwigg

[artemisovsky]

3 hours ago, Thirdwigg said:

Yeah, you made the right decision. I never should have suggested taking away any orange parts, as it's my favorite LEGO color. It looks great here.

Also, I have to try and figure out how to do one of those graphics. It looks great.

Thank you. I also like orange. Unfortunately, this year is the first time in a long time without set in this color. The next one, however, I hope will bring a nice orange (perhaps even non-car) set with new micro panels and at last parts from unreleased Osprey.

I made graphics in the studio without rendering just by screenshot. Changed color all elements of the original model to trans-clear.