1. Calista in the aspens, 2. The Old Aspen Forest, 3. Calista - Age 13, 4. Calista, 5. Jillian, 6. Jillian, 7. Clint, 8. Danielle,

9. Danielle, 10. Danielle, 11. Justin, 12. Justin, 13. Justin, 14. Baby Lainey, 15. Maya, 16. Maya,

17. Calista, 18. Baby J, 19. Vampire, 20. Vampire, 21. Winter Flowers, 22. Danielle, 23. Danielle & Calista, 24. Daydreamer,

25. Damien, 26. Calista In Color, 27. Sleeping, 28. Stunning, 29. Calista *Explored*, 30. Calista, 31. Gorgeous, 32. Snow Angel,

33. Snow Princess, 34. My Nine Sweeties, 35. Elliott & I :), 36. Indoor Pullback, 37. Elliott & I :), 38. My Natural Light 'Studio' Pullback, 39. My Natural Light 'Studio' Pullback, 40. The P. Family,

41. IMG_2368Small, 42. Maya, 43. Picking Flowers, 44. Lucienne, 45. Calista in the Powerhouse, 46. Intense, 47. Sunset in Sedona, 48. Forest Pixie,

49. Picking Flowers, 50. Octavia ~ 9 months, 51. Miss Millie, 52. Dreaming, 53. Miss Calista, 54. Smile Tavia! 6mo Old, 55. Toni's Senior Pics, 56. Calista | Black and White,

57. Calista, from October, 58. Sweet Baby Smiles, 59. Renaissance Princess, 60. Octavia - Almost 4 Months Old, 61. Calista - Color, 62. Karina, 63. Oldest and Youngest, 64. Alissa,

65. Charli, 66. Sweet Miss Octavia, 67. Masche Sextuplets, 68. Adorable!, 69. Pretty, 70. Garden Baby, 71. Serious, 72. Her First Smile

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

This propeller plane is my 8th alternative model built out of LEGO Technic set 42106. It features pullback motor that is connected to propeller, engine with moving pistons and landing gear. Building instructions will be available at www.buildinst.cz/en soon.

dreamers trauma

"is there anybody in there?"

(Pink Floyd)

inspiration: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJNyQfAprY

LeonArts.at

youtu.be/FlImZUlarcM

Shockingly good copy of the Maisto Flatbed Truck by a company called Xin Ka Er and one which quite literally equals the quality of the original. Using a pleasing modern looking American bonneted design which does have hints of International ensuring credible believability and one which is impressive in terms of detailing, paint finish and super intricate looking wheels. It features a pullback function as well as a fully functioning rear load bed.

Mint and boxed.

Ok so this is how it works: there are 5 types of toys: Pullbacks, Wind-up's, Water Squirters, Plush, and Image Viewers, with 6 different figures in each type. So that's a total of 30 toys to get + the rare Darth Vader = a lot of trips to BK. This BK let me buy 2 extra toys with my meal so I got Plush Wicket, Luke image viewer, and Jabba water squirter BK site

1. Danielle, 2. Danielle, 3. Justin, 4. Justin, 5. Baby Lainey, 6. Vampire, 7. Damien, 8. Calista In Color,

9. Sleeping, 10. Stunning, 11. Calista, 12. Snow Princess, 13. Snow Angel, 14. Indoor Pullback, 15. Elliott & I :), 16. My Natural Light 'Studio' Pullback,

17. The P. Family, 18. IMG_2368Small, 19. Maya, 20. Picking Flowers, 21. Lucienne, 22. Calista in the Powerhouse, 23. Intense, 24. Sunset in Sedona,

25. Forest Pixie, 26. Picking Flowers, 27. Octavia ~ 9 months, 28. Miss Millie, 29. Dreaming, 30. Miss Calista, 31. Smile Tavia! 6mo Old, 32. Toni's Senior Pics,

33. Calista | Black and White, 34. Calista, from October, 35. Sweet Baby Smiles, 36. Renaissance Princess, 37. Octavia - Almost 4 Months Old, 38. Calista - Color, 39. Karina, 40. Oldest and Youngest,

41. Alissa, 42. Charli, 43. Sweet Miss Octavia, 44. Masche Sextuplets, 45. Adorable!, 46. Pretty, 47. Garden Baby, 48. Serious,

49. Her First Smile, 50. She loves her Daddy...., 51. The Pose? Kind of?, 52. Jill21, 53. Isabel_12, 54. Arizona Strip Wild Flowers, 55. It's Theron!, 56. 29 weeks,

57. Lucienne 19, 58. Pull Back shot

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Despite being in the minority I am a proud collector of the cheapo Chinese end of the diecast spectrum as i've always found them fascinating, even as a young child. My tastes are extremely varied from crude and basic to models like this which despite not being licensed offer a higher level of accuracy, realism and working features.

This rather sturdy looking Nissan GT-R is made by a company called AMZ Toys or Aimingzheng to give them their full title and is part of a range of novelty aimed diecasts. Their selling point is that they can be attached to a plastic arm which has been designed to be stuck to your car dashboard and when you're driving the model bounces up and down with the motion.

Not something I have ever intention of trying out but on its own theres a lot to admire with the casting itself. Crisply cast with a lovely metallic white finish but also opening doors AND rear hatch plus attractive wheels and pullback function.

Sourced recently directly from China.

Mint and boxed.

Been inside my bro's car when I noticed this interesting pattern of colors.. Saffron, White and Green - You know what that means! Thought it would make an interesting republic day postcard.. so here's it!

I've added a pullback shot as well just to give you an idea of how the whole scene looked like..

And after all.. Happy Republic day guys!!

youtu.be/VHZs2RBByPc

The GMW Tank 300 is a very distinctive Defender-esque styled SUV made in China and one which I believe would do well here in the UK. Both the new generation Land-Rover Defender and Ineos Grenadier are ridiculously expensive and a big gap for something in a similar vain but cheaper is ripe for filling!

A few premium 1/64 Chinese brands have already tackled modelling this vehicle but as of yet very few at the budget cheapo end of the market.

Yuze Toys are a new brand to my collection and one which I managed to source several of their SUV castings from AliExpress recently. All unlicensed despite its "Tank 3000" branding down the sides but really crisply cast and ultimately rather accurate. Flawless paint finish and a one piece plastic upper half to save on costs and hide its pullback motor.

Part of a four vehicle set.

Mint and boxed.

Penny Racer / Blue Box / Takara

Corgi Mercedes-Benz Sprinter box van Ocado – Courgette.

There are six versions of this which is from the first series, marked ©2008, with pull-back motors.

The second series had ten colours, were packed in smaller card boxes, and the vans had off-white cabs. The designs on the box bodies were less abstract than on this series.

Here is a link to my complete set of the second series: www.flickr.com/photos/adrianz-toyz/53371984637

It took me a while to figure out how to best replace my old blinds. I finally decided to go with curtains. I found a telescoping 144" rod, pullbacks and clip rings at Lowes. I didn't like the matching curtain brackets -- they were too long -- so I bought fancy hooks to use as brackets. The material is cut from two Ralph Lauren fleece blankets I bought at Ross.

I finally gave in and bought a cordless drill (Skil at Costco). But neither the drill nor screwdrivers nor elbow grease could budge some of the old blind brackets, which are at a terrible angle. So there they remain for someone stronger than I to remove.

Let's build it! zbudujmy.to/

Contains: Blue drawstring backpack (homemade), Composition notebook, "You can be a nurse" and EPA coloring books, picture wall hanging (kayaks), jelly beans, hacky sack, inflatable globe beach ball, rainbow marble bag, marbles, white and black stocking hat, black T-shirt, dental floss, pullback car racer/eraser, 8 pk mechanical pencils, 10 pk regular pencils, 1 color changing pencil, 2 pens, yellow plastic cup, toothpaste, toothbrush with holder, 2 bars soap, red crocheted washcloth, Birthday teddy bear, clear pencil pouch , 5 envelopes, Thin notebook, Still needs: comb, pencil sharpener, crayons/colored pencils, tape or glue stick

To date, this is one of my favorite photos. This Hanalei sunset just didn't want to end! As I said in my last post from the same location, I travel with more than one camera for this exact reason. I would have lost my mind standing around for the 405 second exposure to end knowing I wanted to grab shots like these, too. ***No.....I can't afford a bunch of camera bodies and tripods!! I use BorrowLenses.com to rent cameras and lenses and happen to have access to loaner RRS tripods.***

I'm a firm believer in understanding concepts such as the rule of thirds, never having your horizon line in the center of your frame, etc., etc. BUT sometime you have to break the rules. The horizon isn't directly in the middle of the frame here, but it's awfully close. What are you going to do? There was so much happening in the sky and the low angle I got for the foreground helped add elements I wanted to keep in tact.

No matter what your eye was going to the heart of the sunset glow, but the foreground tide streaks coming out of both corners, the pink cloud streak coming out of the top right corner, the dark thunder head over the mountains and the wide angle distortion of the pier all MADE SURE your eye got to that glow.

I set up a little more than knee deep in the tide (man, it's nice shooting in WARM water for a change!) and kept waiting for the perfect time to fire 1.6 second exposures to get the pullback. Here the composition I was after allowed me to show the horizon line under the pier. Any higher up that gap would have been too small and just plain awkward.

-Nikon D800

-Nikkor 16-35mm/f4

-Really Right Stuff TVC-33 Tripod and BH-55 LR Ballhead

-LEE 0.75 Soft Grad ND

-Singh-Ray 0.9 Soft Reverse Grad ND (Some of you will remember me showing off this filter. For you seascape enthusiasts it's incredible--the center of the filter is the darkest, which is perfect for those sunsets where the sun peeks below the clouds just over the horizon line) Here's a link to it and it will work on those LEE holders: www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/615228-REG/Singh_Ray_R_63_...

-16mm

-ISO 64

-f16

1.6 Seconds

Again, a smaller aperture here to get as much foreground and background detail as possible. A focus stack at f8 would have been ideal, BUT with the tide shifting the tripod base in between exposures this can be difficult. ISO down to 64 to assist in keeping that exposure at 1.6 Seconds (a perfect time for achieving this pullback effect).

So as to avoid any vignetting I handheld the filters in front of my lens and avoided the LEE holder.

My editing was like a mad man for this one, so I'll be as brief as I can, and yes, I'll post the original, out-of-camera version shortly.

1.) LR5 for lens correction and chromatic abberation removal. I've not really gone over chromatic abberations. I'm sure most of you know what I'm referring to but just in case: often times you can get a colored line around contrasty edges. Often times these color lines are green or magenta. They do NOT look good, but they're simple to remove, especially within LR5, where you can just check a box, and then adjust sliders if need be. I tend to start really seeing them with smaller apertures, f16-f22.

2.) I cleaned my sensor right before the trip but still spent a good 30+ minutes just getting rid of dustspots on this one--they're so pesky when they are in the tide streaks!!

3.) LR5 to bump up shadows and bring down highlights.

4.) Now to Nik Color Efex Pro.

a.)I started in Color Efex Pro for Pro Contrast (this is the only one of the filters I'll use globally, as opposed to control points). I did color correction to the max. I added a few control points to the sky for dynamic contrast.

b.) Polarization in the sky

5.) LR5 to check on aberations.

6.) Now to Nik's Viveza

a.) Viveza is an excellent plug-in and this is a fun one for color play and "structure," which is similar to clarity in LR5 or Camera Raw but a heck of a lot less destructive, and minimal use, even globally, avoids getting "halos" around your edges. Halos are up there with biggest pet peeves in a photo and they can be avoided by easing off the clarity slider. So in Viveza I added some red tone and warmth through the center third of the photo. I used several control points around the foreground and sky to add structure, making both the clouds and the definition of the streaks pop.

7.) LR5 to check on aberations

8.) Back to Color Efex Pro

a.) Glamour Glow for heart of the sunset and tide streaks--minimal glow, but a lot of pushing on the warmth slider within this filter.

b.) VERY MINIMAL Detail Extractor for the top right of the sky. This is another filter than can add halos, noise and make a photo look more like a cartoon. Because the left side of the sky was a massive, dark thunderhead there wasn't a whole lot of detail to pull out, but top right was the very opposite.

c.) Sunlight as a control point in the sunset's reflection only

d.) Darken/Lighten Center for my vignetting

9.) Back to LR5 to check aberations, a small shadow boost brush for the mountains on the far left and a couple small brushes to remove some of the aqua color in the waves in the center of the frame.

I hope you're finding these helpful!! If you have any follow up questions please direct them to markg@silentgphotography.com for fastest response times.

Hey, are you on Facebook or instagram? I primarily post on both those social media platforms, and please feel free to connect!

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mark.gvazdinskas

instagram: instagram.com/silentgphoto (I post lots of behind the scenes shots on instagram)

Thank you all again and have a great day!

I don't think I've EVER had so many pics from one shoot explored. Very cool! Especially since they are my own sweet girl! :)

1. Calista In Color, 2. Sleeping, 3. Stunning, 4. Calista, 5. Snow Angel, 6. Snow Princess, 7. Indoor Pullback, 8. Elliott & I :),

9. My Natural Light 'Studio' Pullback, 10. The P. Family, 11. IMG_2368Small, 12. Maya, 13. Picking Flowers, 14. Lucienne, 15. Calista in the Powerhouse, 16. Intense,

17. Sunset in Sedona, 18. Forest Pixie, 19. Picking Flowers, 20. Octavia ~ 9 months, 21. Miss Millie, 22. Dreaming, 23. Miss Calista, 24. Smile Tavia! 6mo Old,

25. Toni's Senior Pics, 26. Calista | Black and White, 27. Calista, from October, 28. Sweet Baby Smiles, 29. Renaissance Princess, 30. Octavia - Almost 4 Months Old, 31. Calista - Color, 32. Karina,

33. Oldest and Youngest, 34. Alissa, 35. Charli, 36. Sweet Miss Octavia, 37. Masche Sextuplets, 38. Adorable!, 39. Pretty, 40. Garden Baby,

41. Serious, 42. Her First Smile, 43. She loves her Daddy...., 44. The Pose? Kind of?, 45. Jill21, 46. Isabel_12, 47. Arizona Strip Wild Flowers, 48. It's Theron!,

49. 29 weeks, 50. Lucienne 19, 51. Pull Back shot

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Contains: Blue drawstring backpack (homemade), Composition notebook, 'You can be a nurse' and EPA Coloring books, Keelboat Project (print & make toy boat), red zipper pencil pouch, mixed hard candy, jelly beans, 10 regular pencils, 8 mechanical pencils, pullback car racer/eraser, 2 pens, 1 color changing pencil, crocheted slippers, white and black stocking hat, T-shirt, sculpey clay, inflatable globe beach ball, 24 pack crayons, stuffed bear, rainbow marble bag, marbles, toothpaste, toothbrush, yellow plastic cup, bar soap, crocheted blue washcloth.

I took this out the window of the pullback right next to it. I live in the mountains now and I LOOOVE it! <3

1. Calista, 2. Snow Princess, 3. Snow Angel, 4. Indoor Pullback, 5. Elliott & I :), 6. My Natural Light 'Studio' Pullback, 7. The P. Family, 8. IMG_2368Small,

9. Maya, 10. Picking Flowers, 11. Lucienne, 12. Calista in the Powerhouse, 13. Intense, 14. Sunset in Sedona, 15. Forest Pixie, 16. Picking Flowers,

17. Octavia ~ 9 months, 18. Miss Millie, 19. Dreaming, 20. Miss Calista, 21. Smile Tavia! 6mo Old, 22. Toni's Senior Pics, 23. Calista | Black and White, 24. Calista, from October,

25. Sweet Baby Smiles, 26. Renaissance Princess, 27. Octavia - Almost 4 Months Old, 28. Calista - Color, 29. Karina, 30. Oldest and Youngest, 31. Alissa, 32. Charli,

33. Sweet Miss Octavia, 34. Masche Sextuplets, 35. Adorable!, 36. Pretty, 37. Garden Baby, 38. Serious, 39. Her First Smile, 40. She loves her Daddy....,

41. The Pose? Kind of?, 42. Jill21, 43. Isabel_12, 44. Arizona Strip Wild Flowers, 45. It's Theron!, 46. 29 weeks, 47. Lucienne 19, 48. Pull Back shot

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Wow, 3 of Calista's winter pics made Explore...that's the most I've had, like...ever! LOL

Pullback Motor Drag Racers, (Mostly not built by me & in no particular order)

youtu.be/VHZs2RBByPc

So I wanted a bigger photo area than the shelf in the living room. But I didn't want to rearrange everything to move the desk away from the window. I should have. I couldn't spread the backdrop out far enough, I got light leaking through the blinds. I tried to bounce that desklamp off the white foamboard in the chair, and had paper taped around the lamp to shield it and point it at the foam but it was still too bright over there. My homemade softbox is on the other side. But the light was all still all crappy and the photos are full of noise and I had to use a tripod from across the room to get non-blurry shots. I dunno. Lots of fail. Oh well, this is how we learn.

This was the lighting for all the pics in this set: www.flickr.com/photos/cowpewter/sets/72157632395059580/

youtu.be/VHZs2RBByPc

PictionID:42923163 - Title:Atlas-Agena, Launch Tower, Pullback Test Date: 10/03/1963 - Catalog:14_002961 - Filename:14_002961.TIF - - - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum

Hi everyone! I recently build this BMW 3.0 CLS imaginary tuned for group B. Since I was a kid I always wanted to build a real car look alike, and NOW after almost 10 years of absence of Lego, I build this in some 2-3 weeks tweaked out like this.

It has functional steering mechanism and 2 mid pullback engines.

Details include: perfect fitted angled front sing, all 3 review mirrors, dashboard, seats, gear stick, handbrake, roll bar, MASSIVE side air vents, 3 round sing imitations, doorknobs, HUGE rear wing, small rear diffuser and 2 chrome exhaust.

This is actually product of me organizing and tidying up my Lego collection... which is in pieces he he as I always wanted to build something new :). Although, I have kept all my instructions safe and even after almost 10 years since I got my last model as a kid, I remember from which exact model are borrowed bricks. And this is the list : Red Dragster 5533 (red parts and few black), Star Wars Pod Race 7171(black parts and details), Hot Buster 8382, Zonic Strike 8357, Wlliams F1 1/27 8374 (black parts, engines&wheels), steering mechanism, handle wheel and other technic parts from big TECHNIC 8446 and 2 BIONICLE gears.

This is only version of a kinda real car I could build with my bricks. I could build it in classic, non tuned way, but my brick collection allows only this way and I kinda can not manage to have a Lego found here in Croatia :/ .

#LEGO #GroupB #LegoCar

Visit my shop at:

www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5079199

Pull-Back Motor! :D :D

Simon Hucko pushed me in round 21.

(have a look at his stream, he is experimenting with a lot of different things that may give you ideas).

Simon's push was:

- a table top still life of a subject of your choosing.

- light source can be anything from a flash to a window to a desk lamp to a work light,

- mold and shape that light using diffusion and reflectors to add to your subject.

- Bonus points for including a "pull back" setup shot.

I had been playing with these elephants (opium weights my wife picked up during her travels in Asia) and wanted to use their shadow but with the soft window light there was not enough shape in so I decided to use the flash for that and then needed a second flash to prevent the background from being too dark. I did play a bit with contrast and so and cropped on in PS Elements to get to this result (might have overdone that a bit, and will give the processing another go.

Camera Canon EOS 7D

set-manually: Exposure 0.033 sec (1/30), Aperture f/10.0

Focal Length 30 mm

Lens Sigma 30mm 1.4

ISO Speed 400

Exposure Bias 0 EV

Flash On, Fired (to trigger the two strobes)

Brake band and linkage has been fitted for testing "next fine day". Band lining won't be applied until the results are in. Elbow has tab projection for mounting a microswitch to cut power once brake is applied. Temporary cardboard for lining the band during testing.

Brakes are applied and set in these views, there is sufficient over centre weight in the linkage that may not require the 2 release pullback springs to be fitted.

Back when the first Drome-Racers wave came out, the Power-Crusher along with the Nitro Pulverizer were among the leading-sets. The big difference was the pullback vs. slammer as means of getting the racers moving. Sometime in the last 3 years, I decided to rebuild the two.

Mr. Bones with his spooky ride :)

Wicked racing machine built with pullback brick.

Here's my custom pullback taking flight. Powered by one very cheap elastic band rather than a proper pullback motor - see the underside shot for a better look at the mechanism.

The products of Sun Hing Toys are probably dismissed as cheap souvenir themed toys but for me they hold a lot of charm and are surprisingly well made for their price point.

I dare say this unlicensed first generation Mercedes-Benz Sprinter has been continually produced for decades and yet its entire body is still made of thick gauge metal giving it a really weighty feel. As accurate as it dare considering its unlicensed status and features clear lense headlights, rear detailing and pullback function.

Found in a toy shop in Hong Kong recently.

Mint and boxed.

youtu.be/VHZs2RBByPc

A great series of nicely detailed die cast cars given away as part of a promotion for Suntory Boss coffee out of Japan. With the exception of the 3 that came with stands, these are all "pull back" cars that go zipping forward once you pull them back and let them go!

CHROME NORTON 7/8 BARS

BLACK TRIUMPH 7/8 BARS

BOTH STYLES ARE AVAILABLE IN CHROME OR BLACK...

ASK FOR PRICES...

DIMENSIONS-

WIDTH 840

RISE 120

PULLBACK 140

CENTER WIDTH 140

Inspired by Shurik*'s dragster, I decided to make my own. I think it meets your specs, Shurik* ;).

PictionID:42923255 - Title:Atlas-Agena, Launch Tower, Pullback Test Details: Date: 10/03/1963 - Catalog:14_002968 - Filename:14_002968.TIF - - - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum