Badder Posted September 18, 2016 Author Share Posted September 18, 2016 (edited) The 'tarp' pictured in the box art is way too thick for my liking so I am going to have to make another...from what I am not yet sure. Oh, and clearly, if I use these figures I am going to have to switch to a summer scene. TFL Badder Edited October 1, 2016 by Badder 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeoman1942 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Good to hear your back on line. The new forum looks good, and a few teething troubles are pretty normal. I take my hat off to you taking on that number of figures. I still can't get to grips with them. I am looking forward to watching this one develop 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted September 18, 2016 Author Share Posted September 18, 2016 1 hour ago, Yeoman1942 said: Good to hear your back on line. The new forum looks good, and a few teething troubles are pretty normal. I take my hat off to you taking on that number of figures. I still can't get to grips with them. I am looking forward to watching this one develop Things do look good. Just getting the hang of stuff, having a look round, personalizing the streams to get rid of all the dross lol. I'm no good at figures either, although I had success with the 5 infantry on patrol in my 'Lost in France' dio. I think that was primarily because they were excellent figures to start off with though. You can't paint a good face/hands if the underlying plastic is poorly moulded. These MB figures seem okay.... we shall see! Badder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted September 25, 2016 Author Share Posted September 25, 2016 (edited) A tiny bit of work today.... As stated before, I was not happy with the thickness of the tarpaulin being used to carry the casualty in the photo above, and, as I have just purchased some liquid latex to make some moulds of my scratchbuilt walls, I wondered if it could be used to make a thinner replacement. I experimented with coating the outside of the kit part with 4 coats of latex, letting each one cure before applying the next, then peeled it off. Success! Now I just have to see if it takes paint readily. Shame they didn't have polythene back then, I could get away with using the above as is! TFL Badder Edited September 26, 2016 by Badder 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Wow, that's very smart! Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted September 26, 2016 Author Share Posted September 26, 2016 10 minutes ago, giemme said: Wow, that's very smart! Ciao Thanks Giemme. I tried brown enamel and the stuff has dried very glossy and thinner areas of latex have split,... probably due to the thinners.. but that's okay because it looks realistically old and ripped. As for the gloss finish, I think it's due to the paint itself. It was an ancient pot (35 yrs old at least!) I will try an acrylic instead. Rearguards Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 39 minutes ago, Badder said: I will try an acrylic instead That's a good idea, IMHO. I would not use Tamiya's or the likes, though, since their alcohol base can be very aggressive too, especially when brush painted. Vinyl based acrylics such as Lifecolor, Vallejo or similar should be more suitable. Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Very impressive work on the tarpaulin! Looking forward to seeing it with the paint on. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 (edited) So, acrylic paint does the job on the latex replica tarpaulin pictured above. But I wasn't entirely happy with the 'wibblywobblyness' of the latex tarp. I didn't want the casualty bouncing around in his injured state. And imagine if the tarp caught on a twig... he'd be catapulted skywards! There was possibly a quick and easy solution, I thought. And solution is what it was.... Thin CA. A quick coat of CA on both sides sent the latex semi-rigid. OOOOH ERRRR! Problem solved. TFL Badder Edited September 28, 2016 by Badder 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 (edited) Looking great! CA is absolutely a smart idea! Ciao Edited September 28, 2016 by giemme 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 (edited) 3 minutes ago, giemme said: Looking great! CA is absolutely a smart idea! Ciao Thanks Giemme. I guessed that CA would have the same effect on latex as it does on my work trousers. Not that my work trousers are latex of course! Badder Edited September 28, 2016 by Badder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 I'm very impressed with that tarpaulin Badder. Top job! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 (edited) 6 hours ago, CliffB said: I'm very impressed with that tarpaulin Badder. Top job! Thanks Cliff. It actually looks a lot better now. Where the CA has stiffened it up it was far easier to remove blemishes and the 'mould line' with a sanding stick! And a bonus was that it took the paint back to the bare yellowish latex on the ridges of the creases and has highlighted them. It now looks like animal skin. Badder Edited September 29, 2016 by Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 That tarp really looks the business! Great idea with the CA glue too! Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted October 1, 2016 Author Share Posted October 1, 2016 2 hours ago, PlaStix said: That tarp really looks the business! Great idea with the CA glue too! Kind regards, Stix Thanks Stix. I am investing in some poly resin too, so I can cast some of my scratch work. I'm also experimenting with the latex more. I purchased a MiniArt ruined village house and have made a latex mould of the front. I plan on using it to cast plaster. If successful I can use the same technique to make moulds of future scratch buildings/walls, Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted October 2, 2016 Author Share Posted October 2, 2016 I've selected two pieces of ivy stem with which to construct the main trunk and boughs of the tree. They've been languishing in a firewood basket for over a year now, amongst other collected branches, twigs and stems, drying out. And here is the base again, as seen from underneath. I have used PVA to glue all the parts together. I will be drilling through the hardboard sheet to create a hole through which the tree trunk will be poked. Once it is in place and fixed, I will partly fill the base with Polyfilla, to add weight and increase stability. Then I will seal the base with the bottom piece of hardboard. I will now be playing around with the ivy stems and other bits and pieces, trying to make a pleasing armature for the foliage. I will join the two pieces of ivy stem with a dowel or two. TFL Badder 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 I've been impressed by the way you make trees for your scenes before so I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with these. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted October 2, 2016 Author Share Posted October 2, 2016 2 hours ago, PlaStix said: I've been impressed by the way you make trees for your scenes before so I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with these. Kind regards, Stix Hi Stix. I will be using the same technique as in my Carry on Regardless dio, but only for a smaller tree/bush. For the larger tree I am using seafoam... something which I did not have to hand before. Progress has been rapid and I am near to calling the tree finished. I have to seal and fix the whole thing with dilute PVA next and do a bit of airbrushing/washing to improve the colours. Pics later. Cheers. Badder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted October 2, 2016 Author Share Posted October 2, 2016 (edited) I joined the two bits of ivy stem with a matchstick dowel and fixed with PVA and CA for good measure. Here is the tree trunk and boughs fitted through a hole in the hardboard. To start off, I dribbled CA over the ivy stems and sprinkled crushed Dil tops over them. Most of this will be hidden behind the foliage, but it's nice to know it's there. Below is a pic of Silver Birch tree catkins. These ones are a bit manky... they almost went mouldy in storage, but you can see seeds (orangey 'pips' with fragile transparent 'wings' either side, AND the seed 'separators' These are shaped roughly like ivy leaves and will be used to represent such. I do have some better catkins somewhere, where the separators are in a better condition. 'Ivy' added to tree trunk and boughs, again fixed with CA and again, most of this will be obscured. The nearly complete tree in silhouette. The foliage was created by drilling small holes into the boughs and sticking pieces of Seafoam into them with CA. It can be seen that the tree is not 'whole' At some point the boughs have been snapped off, either rotted away or by high winds. At this stage, I'm not sure whether to add more Seafoam or not, but I've given the tree a spray with dilute PVA anyway. ... and here is the tree in poor lighting. That brings this WIP up to date. Work will continue tomorrow. TFL Badder Edited October 2, 2016 by Badder 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 Very realistic! Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeoman1942 Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 Great work on the tree as always Badder. love the latex tarp. Cracking idea and brilliantly executed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted October 2, 2016 Author Share Posted October 2, 2016 2 hours ago, giemme said: Very realistic! Ciao Thanks Geimme. I've not used Seafoam before. It's quick and relatively easy to use, but it's fragile and I think my own technique is probably better for a long lasting display. If I have time at the end, I may make a replacement for the tree above. Rearguards, Badder. 2 hours ago, Yeoman1942 said: Great work on the tree as always Badder. love the latex tarp. Cracking idea and brilliantly executed Cheers mate. I'm hoping my figure-work is better than my usual! Badder. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestar12chris Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Awesome looking tree, one question, using plant matter, will it not rot over time? or do you seal it with varnish. All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted October 3, 2016 Author Share Posted October 3, 2016 3 hours ago, whitestar12chris said: Awesome looking tree, one question, using plant matter, will it not rot over time? or do you seal it with varnish. All the best Chris Hi Chris. Thanks. As stated, I've never used Seafoam before so I cannot be certain of its longevity. However, it is and has been widely used in dioramas so I assume it has been tried and tested over time, and is accepted as a viable material. But yes, I am always wary about organics and so to strengthen and preserve it I gave it sprays with dilute PVA and then acrylic varnish. (The seafoam is really dry and brittle and I wouldn't trust it 'as is') So, I DO prefer to use non-organics wherever possible. If you'd like to have a look at my WIP 'Carry on Regardless' you'll see a method I devised for making trees using just twigs for the armature and herbs for the foliage (all of which will last a very long time) For the finer twigs and branches I actually used paper-covered wire and nylon monofilament fishing line.. which are basically much stronger than naturals, and as near as dammit non-degradable. In fact, I've even banged them around a bit to see how they stand up to abuse, and they survive very well. Similar treatment of the Seafoam tree would result in a pile of debris. btw I know that before constructing a dio, some people pop their organics in microwave and give them a zap to kill any living organisms animal or fungal, just as an extra precaution. Hope that helps, Rearguards, Badder 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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