Not sure I’d have time in 2023, but there’s a picture of the processing trucks of 165SPC circled at an encampment in WW2 that I’d love to build! But it’s not a model of photographers and their subjects…
It would be great to see a set of Vietnam corespondents/ photographers. Tim Page, Sean Flynn, even the women that covered the French war and the American. I believe there was an article in Vietnam magazine that talked about the ones who lost their lives covering the war. Wayne
1 Like
I know I have sort of lead this thread astray from that of a new product review. (I have not even taken the parts out of the bag yet.)
But you know, I really don’t care. My ultimate goal will always be to honor the Signal Corps Photo Units and the many Wartime Correspondents who walked right alongside the guys with the guns with only a camera (and hopefully a 1911) to protect themselves.
(Yeah, I know they were ordered NOT to carry weapons and to be “non-combatants” but now let me tell you what really happened. p.s. I will be quoting from the actual man behind the camera!)
1 Like
Nor do I. The info is so informative and I love when you post these pics. But then again, I am biased as you also added pics when I scratch built my Arriflex set up 
A guy wearing a helmet and holding something is thought to be a target at any range…
2 Likes
Bark, I would just pose some photographers with their cameras in front of the trucks while having their picture made by another Photog. Simple.
Three unidentified Photogs: (I to r); Rolliecord Twin Lens 120/220 film, Graflex 4x5 sheet film and K-20 Aerial Camera. (Uses 8 inch wide roll film for super high quality and super fast lever cocking/reload.)
Our unit Commander (Reenactor) spent his real Vietnam hitch in a truck like this, up on jacks and next to an airport hanger, in country, processing daily aerial recon film.
And I spent at least some of my civilian days processing 35mm & 4x5 stills as well as 16mm news film for the local ABC TV Affiliate and they used some of the exact same cameras seen here in this thread!. (I “won” an extremely high draft lottery number - what can I say.)
WWII Photographer/Life Magazine Journalist; Margaret Bourke-White in high altitude flight suit, holding K-20 aerial camera. Lever on right side of camera is single action cocking/film advance lever which also includes the shutter trigger.
I never noticed this before but this famous photo of Bourke-White has been printed backwards. The hand grip on the K-20 should be on the left side lens housing and the cocking lever and trigger on the right, as seen in the two photos immediately above.
3 Likes
You’ve just reminded me that I have this set and a sheet of decals for British Army AFPU Jeeps somewhere. I had intended to make a little diorama with them, but other projects came up.
Quite a nice set of figures from what I remember.
1 Like
Brilliant thread Mike (check out my avatar image) & thanks for the great photos. Question – the box says actual figures may vary from box-art. Is that the case or is it fairly accurate?
4 Likes
Nothing useful to contribute here other than this is a really cool thread. Like opening an encyclopedia on this specific subject
3 Likes
My immediate reaction to the “assortment” of individual figures from seperate eras was basically, huh?
Mike - a spectacular thread, T he a nod c so much for sharing so much detail!
Jimbo
1 Like
The figures appear very similar/same as boxart. I think they might just be referring to “your painting results may vary.”
1 Like
So . . .
The kit comes in an adequate box, printed in full color with painting and assembly instructions on the back. (See opening photographs) There are otherwise no further printed instructions.
The box contains 3 parts sprues molded in lite gray plastic. I would say molding quality is excellent though the detail depth on some of the molding depicting the clothing, in my opinion, could be more distinct. (Done in greater/deeper relief.)
The three sprues come in a resealable clear plastic bag which I happen to think is a very nice touch given some of the small parts involved here.
Sprue A:
Sprue B:
Sprue C: the Cameras;
3 Likes
Tim I have been noticing your avatar for some time now!
Is there a connection to your personal history or perhaps a hobby appearing there? You have already shown yourself to be an outstanding model photographer - super realistic model shots!
1 Like
The Cameras Themselves:
The Graflex:
Front
Based just on the molding as seen here, this would be a Graflex rather than a Speed Graphic as there are no controls seen on the right side rear of the camera body to operate the faster focal plane shutter of the Speed.
One VERY small criticism here: The fat “bulb” of the flash bulb should be centered in the reflector and not below center as seen here. Such an arrangement would cause the main thrust of the light to be angled upwards and not directly towards the subject. Later on, smaller bulbs did become available but even then there was a pop-in adapter that raised the smaller sized bulb up to be centered in the reflector. (I have one in my kit.)
Also no 4x5 film holders included with the camera (and no carry case.) Cannot shoot film without film holders or at least a film pack.
Rear
That somewhat odd profile seen on the left side, rear is supposed to be the profile of the canvas carry strap. I will be replacing that with a small strip of Evergreen plastic or etch metal (shown here in tan)
German Arriflex Movie Camera:
Seems very nicely done here. I have no remarks other than it needs a tripod and more cases for camera, film magazines and batteries.
Comes also with lens turret head, lens shade and battery box.
Vietnam era camera. Could be most any rangefinder camera or an Argus. (certainly NOT an SLR)* Would be nice if it were a Leica but the shape is wrong for an early Leica. Could be a later rectangular body model.
The user here would be more likely to have a camera bag rather than a backpack carrier.
Modern Camera; SLR or DSLR with larger zoom lens.
Probably a Nikon but could be Canon or others.
Backpack carrier is perfect for this modern era. With wide ranging zoom lenses there is much less need to quickly reach for a secondary lens.
Front:
Rear
With these modern DSLR cameras you might carry a macro lens and/or a telephoto in the backpack but the rest of the gear might consist of a fair sized pad for image editing and viewing. A solar battery charger. Extra camera memory cards, a solid state hard drive and perhaps even a small satellite upload antenna to upload your images back to your editor on a daily basis. (In case something happens to you!)
3 Likes
NOTICE:
I started putting the Graflex together tonight and . . .
. . . just discovered that the folks doing the Graflex camera for AK assumed (incorrectly) that the lens board and bellows extends all the way out to the front edge of the folding front door. In reality it does not. The AK bellows as portrayed in the model, is exceedingly too long! In this arrangement the camera would only be good for shooting a bumble bee sitting on the end of a leaf six inches in front of the camera. (that arrangement would be for doing Macro-photography.) Again as I have said before the Graflex camera is a VERY versatile machine!
The dimensional photos I posted earlier in the thread are correct and portray the camera and lens in their normal shooting position. (Please trust me on this, as I have used these Graflex cameras successfully for WELL over 20 years.)
More photos and info to follow in the morrow . . .
Below is a portrait of Norman Bate; 165th SPC, The camera as seen there is in the normal “ready to shoot” position. The Joe Rosenthal photo also shows his camera in its’ “ready to shoot” arrangement.
1 Like
The Arriflex IIC is not bad, but the kit has the front of the body and lens head as solid, when that area was open and only covered by a metal flap so the lens can be seen:
3 Likes
Also the band where the electric cod is plugged is very wide:
Is the plug receptacle oval or round?
That little nipple on the side of the hand grip is where the cord to the battery plugs in. I have to assume it is most likely a round, low voltage plug. I really don’t know.
Is this “stump the teacher day?”
Yes, what I meant was is the kit a round nub or an oval one like my pic above:
On the model it appears to be somewhat roundishly oval. It is smaller than 1/64th inch so kind of hard for my old eyes to tell but I would say it would appear more oval than round.
Even before you asked, I was already debating as to if I could drill that out to insert some thread to represent the power cord to the battery.
2 Likes
