PlaStix Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 (edited) Hi all. This is my second entry in the Vignette GB. Both my vignette builds involve the IS-2 Russian Heavy Tank but this one is in 1/72 and from Italeri whereas the other one is Tamiya's 1/48 version. I will be using these for the tank and figures: I will be building the tank itself in the Great Patriotic War GB and will only be posting a couple of progress images here. This was the current state of play with the tank on Sunday afternoon - most of the parts here have been painted and it has had some weathering applied: The start of the WIP for the Italeri IS-2 can be found here. I'm not sure about the artwork on the box for the figures but the figures themselves seem to have some nice detail and get reasonable reviews: The plastic the figures are made from is a little rubbery and there is a lot of flash in places - but a quick test with a scalpel blade showed that the flash and seams cleaned up reasonably well. I don't think I will be able to sand them though. The plastic isn't quite as bad as early Airfix figures. Like with my 1/48 version I will be using this frame that I got cheap from Wilkos: My intention is to make a Berlin street scene of some kind, the buildings for which I am going to scratch build. With some buildings I made for my model railways many years ago I used filler over thin plywood - the stonework and bricks were then scratched in with the point of a needle. I haven't made any plans yet but will hopefully do so soon. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix Edited July 4, 2016 by PlaStix 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimbledon99 Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Hi Stix, this is another I'll have my notebook out for 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREG DESTEC Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Another nice plan Stix. I'm looking forward to seeing how you create the buildings as its something I'd like to have a go at, Cheers Greg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Orion figures are a bit hit and miss aren't they.....There's some nice detail under there if you can just carve it out from all the flash and seams. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted June 29, 2016 Author Share Posted June 29, 2016 (edited) Hi Stix, this is another I'll have my notebook out for Hi Nigel - it might be a while before I get on to the buildings and scenery on this one but I will hopefully get some work done on the tank this weekend. Another nice plan Stix. I'm looking forward to seeing how you create the buildings as its something I'd like to have a go at, Cheers Greg Hi Greg and thank you. When I get around to the buildings I'll take as many photos of the different stages as I can. It's been quite a long time since I've done any buildings using filler and scratching the stonework with a needle - I'm probably going to be a little rusty! I haven't got many digital photos of my old layouts on my PC but I've found some photos online of one of my N Gauge layouts on which I have some examples of the stonework I have done before. (I did have a couple of websites of my layouts but I've not managed to keep updating them so a lot of stuff has disappeared.) These are obviously all of rustic type stonework structures so I'm going to have to adapt a bit to do buildings on the way into Berlin. I used mounting board for the actual structures and walls, with filler on the surface. On previous layouts I had used plywood for the structure and walls but these buildings were quite small. The needle I used was reasonably large but I wrapped it in tape to make it more comfortable to hold. The photos were all taken by Rob Carter at the Kidderminster Model Railway Exhibition in 2008 where Mrs PlaStix and I were exhibiting it - the layout was completed a couple of years before. Orion figures are a bit hit and miss aren't they.....There's some nice detail under there if you can just carve it out from all the flash and seams. Yeah, they are rather hit and miss. The detail is quite nicely done but there is a lot of flash and heavy seam lines in places. Shame about the type of plastic used too. Never mind.....it all adds to the experience. Kind regards, Stix Edited June 29, 2016 by PlaStix 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 You are multi-talented Stix for sure Stix (just look at that sketch in your 1/48 thread!). I'm looking forward to both of your dios. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 :popcorn: Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 You are multi-talented Stix for sure Stix (just look at that sketch in your 1/48 thread!). I'm looking forward to both of your dios. Hi Cookie - thank you - you are way too kind! :popcorn: Ciao Hi Giemme. Thank you for stopping by. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carius Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 I'm looking forward to seeing the street action scene. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted July 4, 2016 Author Share Posted July 4, 2016 (edited) Thank you Carius - I'm hoping to get some planning done soon. I haven't done anything for the actual base for this project yet but the tank itself is progressing nicely over in the Patriotic War GB: I also did a bit of work to sort out some of the figures I'm going to use for this project: As mentioned before - some of the detail is quite nice but a lot is lost under flash and in some places I've had to cut away a lot of extra plastic - there was quite a few places where gaps between parts were just infilled with plastic. These still look a bit furry in places where I cut the extra plastic away so I need to try and sand them off....if I can. I've still got some other figures to clean up and I may do some German figures as well. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix Edited July 4, 2016 by PlaStix 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 Suggestion: patience, lots of it. I'm afraid I haven't anything better to say Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted July 4, 2016 Author Share Posted July 4, 2016 Suggestion: patience, lots of it. I'm afraid I haven't anything better to say Ciao Hi Giemme. Yes I think you are quite right. It's shame really because the figures themselves are nice but a bit more care by the manufacturer could have resulted in a much superior product - ah well. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 You may be able to kill the 'vinyl-fur' with careful use of a soldering iron or heated knife tip.....There is an interesting aritcle about converting figures this way here: http://umpapas.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/converting-and-sculpting-plastic.html 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 You may be able to kill the 'vinyl-fur' with careful use of a soldering iron or heated knife tip.....There is an interesting aritcle about converting figures this way here: http://umpapas.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/converting-and-sculpting-plastic.html Hi Sarge - thank you - that is a fascinating article - I will have to have an experiment. My soldering iron is a bit basic - it's either on and hot or off! But I could try with a heated knife tip. No progress on the base itself but the actual IS-2 is just about complete: Once I decide the colouring for the groundwork in my scene (which will be somewhere on the way into Berlin) I will see if I need to add any additional weathering to the lower areas to match it in. The RFI for this tank can be found here. Here is a photo of the tank on the frame I'm going to use as the base for this project: At some point this week I will try and cut out the MDF that I'm going to use for the actual base I'll build the scenery on. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 (edited) This tank looks just real, Stix! I can't think of a better praise to say Looking forward to the base, now Ciao Edited July 11, 2016 by giemme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 If you need any dead vehicle bits I'm yer man.....Half a StuG sir? For the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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