Acceptable Radiation: Review

Friday, November 24, 2023

So You Want to Buy an Airbrush?

I am a constant fidgeter, so I'm scrolling through Facebook and forums a lot just to do something with my hands. And I see a lot of people wanting to get started with airbrushing asking the same questions. With me being the know-it-all that I am, I repeat the same answers pretty frequently but always off the cuff and always missing something of value. So I have decided to collect my thoughts all in one place so that I don't leave anything out next time!

Figure 2 from the US Patent on the first internal mix airbrush

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Plastic WIzards and Warcolours Paint Review

"Kali-ma!" Shouted the coven leader as he plunged his ceremonial dagger into the prone captive. The blood began to spurt from the body, but as it did so, the dagger began to pulse in a forbidding green light. It was absorbing the soul of the unfortunate victim. The lich lord would be pleased...

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Sandstorm Wars Review--Part 2

"Not all who worship the plague god gain the mutations of the truly devout. That is not to say that they are no less fervent in their devotion, but they lack the strength of will to attract the attention of their dark patron. But these cultists are the most worrisome, for they can blend in with the imperial masses to plot and scheme."

-Excerpt from the Reports of Inquisitor Corrigan, 3 226 765.M38

A lone guardsman calls in an airstrike after a cult overruns his squad's position

Monday, December 3, 2018

Sandstorm Wars Review--Part 1

"And when the Plague God show favors upon those humans that flock to his cults, he sometimes bestows upon them mutations to make the cultists resemble the Plague Marines who's aid they pray for. Even though they look like the dreaded heretic Astartes, they are not. But they do posses greater strength and resilience then regular humans."

-Excerpt from the Reports of Inquisitor Corrigan, 3 226 765.M38

A VERY large cultist heavy weapon trooper

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

MacroMat Review

I'm always looking for ways to up my photography game, mostly to make up for my terrible painting. For at least a decade, I've been using an 8.5x14 inch piece of paper with a blue gradient printed on it, with something behind it to prop it up. It's always been a little too narrow and a pain to keep up.

So when TableWar launched their MacroMat Kickstarter, I was all about the mat and the stand. Unlike some Kickstarters, TableWar shipped their product very quickly, it arrived in early February and I've been playing with it since then.

The first thing that was really nice is it came in it's own carrying case. For someone who lives in a major metro area where space is at a premium, it's nice to have something like this to keep everything organized.

The stand has two configurations, regular and extended. I opted for only the blue gradient mat, so I probably will never use it in it's extended setup. It can also be raised and lowered for a higher or lower stand. (Ignore the fact that the base in on backwards in the picture of the extended configuration, I wasn't paying attention and was too lazy to reshoot the photo)

The set includes four clips (two shown) to hold the mat onto the stand. This is necessary because the wingnut that connects the crossbar sticks up and without the clips to hold the mat up above the bar a little, the mat wrinkles really bad. This is one of my few real complaints, I wish the crossbar was designed so that the wingnut was recessed into the crossbar. The mat is heavy enough that you would not otherwise need the clips.

The mat itself is made from the same material as TableWar's F.A.T. Mats, although about 1 mm thinner (according to their customer service, which has been excellent by the way!). If you're not familiar with their products, it is the same material as a cloth covered mousepad but not as stiff. It is backed with a rubber type material that keeps it from slipping, which is really nice and solves one of the big problems I have with using a sheet of paper as a backdrop. The picture bellow does not really show the gradient vary well due to may poor lighting in the shot.

My first few attempts at using the backdrop was less than stellar. As you can see bellow, the weave of the mat is quite clear and if you have a tight crop, the gradient is not very recognizable.

When I attempted to shoot some scenery, however, those problems go away. This is noticeable on the box art as well where the example photos include those of model cars and other larger objects.

I was determined not to give up on the MacroMat though. And when discussing this with my artist wife, she reminded me "adjust your aperture, stupid." And I did so, and got much better results. The first photo above was taken with my maximum aperture so that I guaranteed I had the whole model in focus. So I cranked it all the way down to f/2.8 and that removed the weave, but resulted in a photo where only the face was in focus. My next step was to march through every aperture option until I found one that gave me the best depth of field while still blurring the background. For me, it seemed f/13 gave me the best result. As you can see in the picture below, the weave is only visible at the bottom. The mat's color is a bit off in the photo below for some reason, all my test photos came out perfectly, but my actual photos came out a little off (the terrain photo above is a much better indication of the color of the mat).

So there you have it. All in all, I am pretty happy with the MacroMat. I only have three complaints:

The size of the weave
The wingnut extending above the crossbar
No instructions were included

But those complaints are pretty minor. It is very quick to set up and stand helps me out since I don't have a dedicated photo area. If it retails for what the Kickstarter charged, I wholeheartedly recommend picking one up unless you have your own dedicated photo studio.