Yes, I have taken photos of my models in natural settings. These were all taken over 30 years ago, before digital cameras or focus stacking. They were taking using my Nikon SLR with a wide angle (28mm) lens and the highest f-stop setting (IIRC f22). Using smallest possible aperture increases the depth of field, resulting in somewhat acceptable results. Well, at least when compared to what can be do today with focus stacking.
The motorcycle and the black Mercedes are 1:8 scale (large models), wrecker is 1:24, and cars are 1:32. I mention this because the smaller scale the model is, the more problematic depth of field becomes, at least without the advent of focus stacking.
These images were all scanned from 4X6 paper prints, so they aren't the best quality.
Also keep in mind that in this kind of photography things like surface textures matter. For example the texture if 1:1 asphalt is out of scale for the models. Again, the smaller scale a model is, the more apparent the out of scale texture will become. It doesn't look too out-of-scale with the bike and black car, but it would have looked really odd with the smaller scale cars. That is why I used a piece of rubber roofing material to imitate scale asphalt surface. Unless you know what it is, it doesn't look out of place, and looks better than the coarse 1:1 asphalt.
The angle of the shot also makes a difference. Most of the smaller scale models were taken with the camera sitting on the ground. The wide angle lens also exaggerates the perspective, so the models look larger than they are.
Also the composition matters. I tried to have the tall background structures (buildings, trees) far enough so they would not look gigantic compared to the model.
