Artifacting is now gone!

But..

I have another suggestion. If you zoom in on the upper surface color, you will see that it quickly breaks up into multicolored dots.

This is caused by an underexposed image. When you push an underexposed image to make it bright enough to look good on a computer screen, the image starts breaking up.

Taking good pictures of models is not easy. I have taken a whole crapload of bad images before I started getting better at it. (there are others much better tha me at it!) The secret is more light. I shoot with two 100 watt bulbs just a foot from the model. I shoot in manual mode and bracket exposures. I've found that what looks good on the display screen on the camera sometimes don't look so great on a CRT.

Hope this helps. Such a cool model deserves some good photos.

Roy

PS. Did I ever tell you about the GIANT spider (think it was a Cane Spider) I encountered on the big island back in the spring of 1988?