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A very good trip to Aberdeen Proving Ground on Saturday. Got to help Bob with a couple of tours (not that he really needed much help of course) and meet the new museum staff - new director, and a new staff member. The new director (who comes from Carlisle Barracks) seems to have very eager, refreshing and open attitude.

Anyway, here's some new pics from Saturday. I could use some help with the "green-shift" on some of these.

M1914 White "Armored Motor Car No. 2" - the first time I have seen it. It apparently went to the warehouse sometime last year, after being behind the fence for decades...

smg.photobucket.com/al...tor%20Car/

The XM800W ARSV has been stripped and tape applied to the windows/viewports.

smg.photobucket.com/al...%20XM800W/

The PzJg 38(t) Marder III has recently been refurbed.

smg.photobucket.com/al...der%20III/

One the T25E1s has gone through refurb and has unfortunately been misidentified - though it looks very good otherwise.

smg.photobucket.com/al...9%20T25E1/

The M51 Heavy Recovery Vehicle is now at the museum, after being unseen for 13 years (since it went from the old Mile of Tanks to the Recovery Division), and looking pretty good after refurbishment.

smg.photobucket.com/al...492%20M51/

The Hetzer has gone through refurb and is now inside the museum

smg.photobucket.com/al...%20Hetzer/

I also finally got some pictures of the "First US Sample Tank" M1917 now in the museum.

smg.photobucket.com/al...le%20Tank/

Neil

I did a try to improve the picture of the M1914 White ard car :





could someone have a better result?

P-O

Seems like you've got the white balance wrong. It's very hard to remove that green cast from jpg files. Is your camera able to shot RAW instead of JPEG? With RAW you can always adjust white balance at a later stage. I've moved to RAW just a few months ago, after making mistakes both at Sinsheim and Thun SHP. It takes more disk space and more time to post-process, but I would never go back.

Once again you can see how point-and-shot cameras are fine as long as light conditions are okay, but they show their shortcomings whenever conditions are problematic.

Massimo

Actually Neil provided a lot of help Saturday. Our firtt 'tour' was running late so I had to leave the 'group' in his care for the last stop (The t23s, Ontos and M551) while I rushed back to the Museum to start the next group.

As a side note I got an unofficial admission that the yellow on the Hetzer isn't 'quite right' It is supposed to be a 'creamier yellow' The paint looked good in the can and on the sample spray but the final result turned out much brighter than expected. Anyone who says that paint matching is a science hasn't had to deal with 60+ year old samples of paint of unknown origin that have been aged and overpainted several times. On top of that they have to convert it to modern (EPA approved) formulations.

Bob

So you just had to mention the Ontos huh??

Anyway, we are quite familiar with the paint 'problem'.

EPA has long ago inspected all onhand stock and disposed of old 'formulas' of paint as 'hazmat'.

The solution was to have new paint purchased but with particular shades being mixed to ensure the right color and texture.

Insuring the proper mix during the application process is also important. Gotta have a good 'paint guy' who can appreciate the importance of getting the 'shade' right.

Regards
Don

Nice, wish I could be there sometime.

As far as the camo on Hetzer and the M1917, what examples are they taking the camo patterns from?
(and wow, that is a yellow!) What samples did the museum have to match to? What is the history for the Museum's Hetzer-- where can I find if it is already online, etc.?
Shawn

As Massimo says, it can be hard to remove colour cast. Here's my go:

Before:


After:


In this case I haven't tried adjusting the colour balance, as it's hard to get it right and not introduce other colours and you need to be continually assessing by eye. Instead I've simply dropped the overall (master) saturation in Photoshop by about 40 and then dropped the green saturation by 40. It's a recipe that may work for the others.

- SHAWN

What is the history for the Museum's Hetzer-- where can I find if it is already online, etc.?
Shawn

Shawn, this is what I have:

Uid 246: APG Hetzer

Neil, could I add your photo's to this page?

- SHAWN

Nice, wish I could be there sometime.

As far as the camo on Hetzer and the M1917, what examples are they taking the camo patterns from?
(and wow, that is a yellow!) What samples did the museum have to match to? What is the history for the Museum's Hetzer-- where can I find if it is already online, etc.?
Shawn

Well the 'window of opportunity' is closing. This summer the museum will be closing for most of the month of July in order to prepare the next shipment of artifacts to Ft Lee. After that it will reopen but there may be more limitations in the schedule as the staff concentrates on preparing and crating artifacts for the move. Eventually the Museum will close for (probably) a year before it reopens in Ft Lee. This schedule is very approximate (and based on my memory of a conversation I had this weekend) but the 'closed for a mont this July is pretty solid. The problem is staffing. The museum has a staff of 4.

They will attempt to accomodate serious researchers during this period but it would be best to check ahead of time.

The Hetzer paint job was based on what they found as they stripped it. I am pretty sure the vehicle was captured at the factory in 1945 (but would have to check the file at the museum to be sure). The vehicle files are not on line. They are in folders in a file cabinet. Some are very good others almost nonexistent. It would be nice to get all the vehicle files scanned and digitized so they could be put online but with all the other pressures I don't see much of a chance for such a project to be started before the move is completed at the earliest.

Trevor,
Please go ahead - just be sure to give credit is all I ask.

Shawn,
The Hetzer was captured at the Škoda Works in Pilsen in May 1945, according to several sources including Joe Rainer, The Jagdpanzer 38 "Hetzer", Military Vehicles Magazine, the Ordnance Museum Guide CD, and Tank Data, 93.

Neil

Hey gang -

I've been talking with armyjunk2 about the EXPODISC and using it to get accurate color balances while shooting.

The EXPODISC is used to set a custom white balance for your camera.

It has helped in so many situations that my wife and I each carry one on every shoot.

I prefer to get the color as close to right on as I can IN camera - I mostly shoot in jpeg.

I really don't want to spend time in Photoshop unless I HAVE to.

Give it a try - you'll REALLY appreciate the difference!

Check out the examples I posted for AJ2.

Cheers!

any better ?

Hey Bob,
Do you know/did you see where the Semovente da 90/53 su M.41 and Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha are?

A year ago they were outside Restoration, just having been repainted? Are they at the museum now?

Neil

Would love to see the Semovente da 90/53 somewhat restored! It's the one survivor worldwide

Massimo

They are probably at Ft Lee know. I know the Chi-Ha isn't at the museum (It is another one like the KV1 and the PZKW1 that were part of my standard tour)