Vesa Lehtimäki
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avanaut.bsky.social
Vesa Lehtimäki
@avanaut.bsky.social
400 followers 120 following 230 posts
Illustrator and an occasional photographer of small things. Never won any awards but I was nominated for a HUGO once. You’ll find no AI here. avanaut.com
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avanaut.bsky.social
While the book was mostly made with photographs I already had, several were photographed exclusively for the book. These four, for example.

I think the book succeeded in capturing the essence of my discoveries photographing Lego.

Good times!
Sample from the book. There is a music jam session in the ewok village. They’re playing music by a bonfire up on a platform in a tree. A sample from the book. A sandtrooper caught by a surprise by a big rancor beast jumping on him from behind. A sample from the book. The Millennium Falcon having a problem on a landing platform. There is smoke coming from the rear deck. Chewbaccca is on his way to fix it. A sample from the book. Inside Jabba’s lair with some villains and Han Solo in carbonite. A dark and moody scene.
November 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
Some photographs from the Small Scenes book. These existed before the decision to make the book was made. It is basically a collection of works I had managed to achieve by the time of publication.
A sample from the book. Snowtroopers by a snow lantern next to a gigantic AT-AT Walker in dark Hoth night with a big moon on the sky. A sample from the book. A Y-wing fighter landed in what looks like a forest. Maybe Endor. The pilot standing bext to it looks a bit startled. A sample from the book. Darth Vader with red lightsaber walking in a blizzard dangerously close to several AT-AT walkers. A sample from the book. Darth Vader standing in fierce Hoth blizzard. I find this one very amusing, you just have to imagine quiet bossanova music coming from inside Vader’s helmet. Regardless of the weather it is always very comfortable inside that costume (or is it armor?), I think Vader is wearing comfy pajamas underneath that thing.
November 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
All the Presidents Men hands down. It's ever so important and topical, a brilliant film with chilling undertones. Never grows old.
September 16, 2025 at 1:29 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
Siinä on UCS Snowspeederin kaikki palikat. Ollut laatikossa (valolta suojassa) vuodesta 2017, purin osiin jotta pystyin varmistamaan että kaikki osat tosiaan on.
September 2, 2025 at 2:45 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
The best Star Trek gif. 🙂
August 23, 2025 at 6:52 AM
avanaut.bsky.social
It’s a brilliant design, a seamless continuation of the Apollo program look.
August 22, 2025 at 2:35 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
I sampled a few of the scale models with lighting for this post and added some background info to them. Random picks in no particular order. Let's call this a #FlashbackFriday post.

Have a great weekend!
Copper/orange coloured Maserati Boomerang scale model photographed on a white tabletop from two angles with front and rear lights on. The 1:16 scale Maserati Boomerand with front and tail lights. The pop up headlight mechanism on the model was not very good so I just glued them shut. The smaller lights below were doable so I settled for them. I didn't add dashboard lights to this because if you look at a real car from a little distance you never really see any lights on their dashboards. Less is more. Only, I regret not adding rear registration plate lights, they shoud be there. Two Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raider models fly away from camera towards stromy cloud background. Engine lights burning bright with some lens flare. This was the one with the Photoshop cheat. There are three versions of this photograph, each with different clouds. The Cylon Raider model is old, I built it as a kid around 1980, or so, and it has no lighting. I didn't want to pry it open and rebuild it for this so I settled for a cheat. This time. This was a nostalgic one-off. I did consider buying the awesome big Moebius kit but let it go for now. A yellow Ferrari Dino 206 GT scale model photographed from top front and top rear against black floor. The model has front headlights and tail lights on. This is my first attempt to try lighting a 1:24 scale car with glossy paint. Bigger car models are really expensive and I'm testing whether the small, more budget friendly scale works for creating realistic images. My modeling skills set some limits to this of course but we'll see. I'm still waiting for the paint to dry on some of the parts on this one. Photographing it a little later, maybe next week. A Space 1999 Eagle Transporter scale model added to a real NASA photograph of an astronaut and a moon rover vehicle on the surface of the Moon. As if the Eagle was really there too. The Eagle model has some experimental lighting on the tubular chassis. I added red "emergency" lights in the structure thinking it might look cool in a photograph. It didn't and I've never really used them. In this photograph the small yellow light on the cockpit window adds a lot, I think. Small detail, a little splash of colour to tie the Eagle together with the coloured spots on the Moon Rover.
August 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
I think using Photoshop for adding light takes away the fun. If I photoshop lights on then where's the limit? It never ends. There is an appeal to that as well of course, nothing wrong with it, but I enjoy the limits of what can be done with some leds and optic fiber. It feels more real to me.
A closeup of a K-2SO Star Wars scale model droid head with brightly lit eyes. I was adamant in lighting K-2SO's eyes. There was very little room inside the head and I had to carve out lots of plastic to fit my lighting in there. It worked out well eventually. A white custom painted N-1 Starfighter from The Phantom Menace / The Mandalorian photographed against black with bright overhead lighting. Engine and cockpit dashboard lights are on. Amber engine lights because blue reads terrible on digital camera sensor. Tight fit here as well but nothing too complicated. You can see a power socket next to the left wing root, the three small round holes. No batteries inside this one, external power only. A Dune Ornithopter scale model photographed on tabletop, dark with overhead lighting with the front floodlights on the vehicle burning brightly. The Dune Ornithopter had powerful floodlights on it in the movie. The small 1:72 scale model had the light pods too but not much room to add actual lights in them. I sourced some very small leds from my pile of leftovers from earlier builds and gave it a go. The lights on the model were meant to be movable, you could turn them sideways and up and down but due to adding the lights I feared the movement would wear the wiring and end up severing them. I decided to glue everything down just in case. I haven't photographed this model much, never with lights on, but I will use the lighting option some day. Star Wars B-wing Starfighter photographed from front and rear quarter angles. Amber engine lights and a couple of red light dots seen in the cockpit. The B-wing engine lights were a no-brainer. The Bandai model even had a sort of optical lighting system with the kit, only the light source was needed. The cockpit however, was a different story. I spent a lot of time to get that to work as I wanted. There are just a few tiny optic fiber lights in the dashboard and rear wall of the cockpit but the whole thing rotates freely without the light cutting off, unlimited 360° with constant light. Now, that took some head scratching.
August 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
They have their heads in the clouds.
July 6, 2025 at 7:38 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
The underwater cinematography is astonishing.
May 27, 2025 at 5:11 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
Yeah, it's a Finnish game, they snuck some references to Finland in it. :)
May 23, 2025 at 1:40 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.
May 23, 2025 at 12:21 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
han solo and chewbacca are sitting in front of a computer in a dark room .
ALT: han solo and chewbacca are sitting in front of a computer in a dark room .
media.tenor.com
May 23, 2025 at 12:20 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
Saw the Spiegelman exhibition in Angoulême, 2012 (he won Grand Prix in 2011). Reading Maus from the originals was a profound experience.

Maus is essential reading for everyone.
May 18, 2025 at 9:53 PM
avanaut.bsky.social
Yeah, the Ukraine flag reference was clear I think. The final shot was loaded with meanings.
May 17, 2025 at 7:15 AM
avanaut.bsky.social
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May 15, 2025 at 4:07 AM