Ever evolvin dio. ft. 'THE INDESTRUCTIBLE TREE' as ft. on youtube.

[bhouse]

Could the farmer be feeding Les Tommies? French chequered table cloth over a corner of the tank, a few bottles of red, some cheese, baguettes, chicken, perhaps?

[Bullbasket]

8 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Been a while since I looked at this one and although it might be the "never ending dio",

Sorry Badder, I thought that I was echoing the title of your build when what I should have typed was "ever evolving dio". That'll teach me to put my glasses on properly in future.

 

John.

[Badder]

11 minutes ago, bhouse said:

It sounds as if it could be plastic or pvc skinned foam board. It might be worth phoning The Plastic People and describing it to them. They're usually very helpful...

Thanks Brian.

I've been informed that it's foam board and that it's available from Hobbycraft. I will be going there next weekend so I will have a look then just to confirm yay or nay.

 

BTW, I once found some strange type of very thick sandpapery type cloth, similar to Emery cloth, only on a thicker backing and sheet form and no one could tell me what it was or who manufactured it. I was advised to phone and ask the British Abrasive Society.

I phoned them and said 'Hello? Is that the British Abrasive Society?'

After a pause a someone said:  'Yes, you %%$£&&^^"^"^"**()()!! stupid :????Z""?""$C$C$!!'

 

Rearguards

Badder

 

 

[bhouse]

1 hour ago, Badder said:

I've been informed that it's foam board

Foam board is skinned with paper or thin card and it doesn't react well to getting wet (ask me how I know...) so I'd be  concerned about slopping -, sorry, carefully sculpting plaster of paris over it.

The stuff from the Plastic People has a waterproof (and much more durable) plastic or pvc coating instead.

[Badder]

3 hours ago, bhouse said:

 

Foam board is skinned with paper or thin card and it doesn't react well to getting wet (ask me how I know...) so I'd be  concerned about slopping -, sorry, carefully sculpting plaster of paris over it.

The stuff from the Plastic People has a waterproof (and much more durable) plastic or pvc coating instead.

Oh, well, it ISN'T foam board then!

It's one hundred percent waterproof for a start. All the way through. The 'skin' is smooth, plastic-like and so thin it's probably formed by compression, spreading and squeezing the substance against a smooth mould while the inner is only slightly less dense. I really don't know how else I can describe it. Like I said earlier,  I personally wouldn't call the inner foam-like.

 

Reargaurds,

Badder

[Badder]

The reason why I kept putting off building the ramp was because I wasn't looking forward to working the plaster to get it angled correctly, smoothly and level across the slope. It would require me to use a spirit level (I thought) and probably need a fair bit of sanding before gluing the rubber mat to it.

 

But today I realised I was once again being stupid. I didn't need to use plaster at all. All I had to do was glue the bottom edge of the rubber 'flap' to the ground and then fit stonework either side. As long as the bottom edge of the slope was level, and the top was too, the ramp could in fact be hollow.

Here's the result, again using the 'not foam-board' to make the stonework.

 

The bottom edge of the ramp was CA'd into a level groove which I countersunk into the plaster ground.

 

Before anyone asks, no I haven't forgotten about the drainpipe and where the water will go. I will be sinking a drain into the cobbles, the outlet pipe sticking out from the stonework at the side.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited February 22, 2018 by Badder

[PlaStix]

Hi Badder. I hope you are keeping well. As usual its been a pleasure catching up with your progress. What got me first today was the photos from low down in post 969 on page 39 - the first two low views show what an incredibly believable scene you are creating - even at this relatively midway stage. The depth of the greenery, from the foreground to the side of the house, really looks so natural. I kept going back to those photos. As long as you don't knock anything else all over it this is going to be an awesome diorama.

Kind regards,

Stix    

[bhouse]

Regarding those cobbles...

 

They look just like the ramps and floors in a couple of our barns - even though they don't have cobbles.

Apparently it was common practice to prepare a cement/shingle type mix and spread it over the desired area. As the surface started to go off, a diamond pattern would be etched in. The idea was to improve grip and drainage on the finished surface.

I'd send you a photo but I'm away from home for work at the moment.

 

Brian

[Badder]

9 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Hi Badder. I hope you are keeping well. As usual its been a pleasure catching up with your progress. What got me first today was the photos from low down in post 969 on page 39 - the first two low views show what an incredibly believable scene you are creating - even at this relatively midway stage. The depth of the greenery, from the foreground to the side of the house, really looks so natural. I kept going back to those photos. As long as you don't knock anything else all over it this is going to be an awesome diorama.

Kind regards,

Stix    

Hi Stix,

I am okay thanks, a period of stressfulness over at last with the step daughter having finally found herself permanent residence and no longer using our house as a hotel!

I hope all is well with you and yours.

 

With regards to the photos you mentioned, the whole idea was to create a diorama with many interesting and photogenic viewpoints, not one with just the one dominant view. That particular photo was very pleasing to my eye as well, but the orientation of the building had to be changed in order to more easily create differences in ground level.  So all the views have now altered. I'm not sure that they've all altered for the better and it may have been a mistake, but hey ho, it's too late now. I suppose I could add some more shrubbery to 'repair' that particular view again.

Hopefully I won't knock anything over again. And the cats have now been barred from the room since I returned from work one day and found Connie asleep slap bang in the centre of the diorama! Grrrrr!

 

Thanks again for your comments and continued support,

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

[Badder]

9 hours ago, bhouse said:

Regarding those cobbles...

 

They look just like the ramps and floors in a couple of our barns - even though they don't have cobbles.

Apparently it was common practice to prepare a cement/shingle type mix and spread it over the desired area. As the surface started to go off, a diamond pattern would be etched in. The idea was to improve grip and drainage on the finished surface.

I'd send you a photo but I'm away from home for work at the moment.

 

Brian

Thanks Brian,

Much appreciated, again.

 

The diamond cobbles.... It's good to know that real life is mirroring my work!

The rubber mat was a good find indeed! Sadly, I've none left, but I may be able to source a bit more if I am lucky!

Any photos you have would be greatly appreciated, not just by me, but by everyone I'm sure. Too late for this diorama in respect of a full layout, but certainly some details could be added. And I'd love to make a diorama based on real life rural architecture and scenery!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

[Badder]

 

 

Guess what?

 

Having done all that work on the 'platform' for the building in its new orientation, I've had a long think and have decided to revert back to the building facing front!

I HAVE TO ADMIT I HAVE ALSO HAD A LONG HARD THINK ABOUT WHY IT WAS THAT I CHANGED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE! AND I CAN'T FOR THE LIFE OF ME REMEMBER WHY!

 

Here's why I'm changing it back though.

I REALLY liked the photogenic view referred to by PlaStix earlier, when the building WAS facing front. It wasn't such a good view when the building was re-orientated. But there was another negative brought about by the re-orientation, and that was a lack of space at the front of the dio. With the re-orientation of the building there is NO room for a vehicle here, and therefore I've lost a photogenic view. So, NOT ideal. Better to return to the original orientation now rather than later.

 

 

 

I could try to cut, lift and rotate the whole platform/building then bed it in again with plaster, but that would mean a lot of work. Far easier would be to leave the platform as it is, rotate just the building and then adapt the platform to make sense of the building's orientation.

 

A bit of a boo-boo today.... I managed to find some more diamond rubber mat... but then left it behind. I'm not sure it'll be there tomorrow, but if it is that'll be very handy to fill the gaps I am now left with.

 

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

Edited November 21, 2017 by Badder

[Badder]

Here's the front of the building now facing the front of the dio again. As you can see, there is a large area of 'uncobbledness' now exposed. I will wait until tomorrow to see if I can get that diamond rubber mat before I try option two, which is to skim the area with plaster and carve the diamonds by hand.

Also, you'll see that I've mocked up another ramp to access the platform and the double doors. If I were to slope the ramp so that it meets ground level at the edge of the dio, it would be rather steep and therefore illogical and unrealistic. But I don't want to make the slope shallow and chop it off at the edge leaving that black-painted 'cliff' I so dislike. So, what I'm going to have to do is increase the length of the ramp inwards, maybe half way up to the doors, and that means chopping into the platform, 'counter-sinking' the ramp. But that's fine. Better to do that than try to cut, lift, rotate and re-bed the whole platform!

But the result of all this messing about is that I can now add a vehicle and/or figures in front of the building, whereas before there was just the end of a building and no room for a 'set piece'. I'm thinking someone drove their Universal Carrier up there and parked up, much to the annoyance of the farmer or his wife.  

 

Meanwhile, there are a few areas where the building now sits on cobbles - those being the woodshed, porch and rear wall of the building. I could trim these strips off and maybe use them to fill in the gap out front.

TFL

Badder

Edited February 22, 2018 by Badder

[Badder]

I've just realised that I do in fact have some more diamond rubber mat: the stuff I used as a floor for the first building I built!

A quick recce and I believe there's enough to cover all of the platform.

I know what I'll be doing tonight!

 

TFL

Badder

[Badder]

I've just had a cracking idea....

 

A Universal Carrier has reversed up the new ramp to the double doors. The wicket door (which I deliberately left dry-fitted in case I decided to open it fully at a later stage) is wide open, exposing an interior. The interior is packed with stores of food, water, milk and the odd bottle of wine, which the grateful farmer is handing over to the UC crew for distribution amongst the platoon.

 

Yes, I could have used the same 'set piece' with the building facing the mill race, but that would just 'clog' the view from the left hand side of the diorama. By turning the building to face front, I can now, as I said a few posts ago, have two photogenic and interesting scenes instead of one.

 

I like it.

 

And I do have to thank @PlaStix and his 'liking' of those earlier photos, because if I hadn't returned to them to have a look and remind myself of that view over the mill race, I would surely have gone on to leave the building as it was, and wouldn't have come up with any of this!

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2017 by Badder

[Badder]

BTW, can someone please tell me how you do that quoting a member's tag/name and it highlights it in black and notifies the person that they've been mentioned in a post?

 

TY

Badder. 

[bhouse]

Type "@" followed by the user name (without a space). The site does the rest, @Badder !

[Badder]

Ahhhh! Thanks @bhouse

 

Nope, that didn't seem to work

 

@bhouse

 

But that did. And I don't think I did anything different.

Edited November 21, 2017 by Badder

[Badder]

Well, that was interesting. I've made in-roads into the new ramp; cutting away a section of the cobbles, the top layer of 'foam board', sanding the plaster down and removing a section of the wire gauze. The PVA sandwiched between the two layers of foam board was still wet. I guess the lack of air in there prolongs the drying process.

 

I'm not sure how far the ramp has to extend towards the doors yet and I've only roughed out the width, but I do have enough mat to complete the cobbles if I cut it up and make a mosaic from the pieces. It won't be ideal though, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can get that other piece later today.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited February 22, 2018 by Badder

[Badder]

More rubber mat has been 'sourced'. Once this has been laid down I will sit the building on top of the cobbles and cut around its perimeter Removing the mat from directly beneath its walls will allow me to 'sink' the building into the cobbles and hide the irregularities at the bottoms of those walls.

Again, I won't be fixing the building in place until the very end of the build, but I have to make sure that it will sit level before continuing.

 

Photos of the new ramp later tonight.

 

TFL

Badder

[Badder]

Well, this is taking me longer than I predicted!

 

I trimmed the rubber mat to accept the new orientation of the building, but after pulling the 'cobbles' away there was a lot of residual rubber left stuck to the 'foam board'. I'd used CA to fix the mat and it had bonded really well. That took a fair bit of energy and time to remove. Rubber isn't easy to sand, file, or scrape off especially if your muscles don't work properly and also ache even short periods of repetitive movements. In places the 'foam board' was cut away as well, but that wasn't an issue so long as the majority of its surface was left intact. Anyway, once this was done the building sat level .  The trimming hasn't been precise and a few gaps will need filling... probably this will be done with weeds!

 

The most awkward fit for the cobbles is obviously that at the front of the building. However, I had by pure chance cut the centre of the top layer of 'foam board' out, turning it into more of a frame. And as it turns out, almost the entire frontage of the building straddles this 'hollow'. So I filled the hollow with plaster then scraped it back so that there is a 2mm gap under the walls and the double doors. This means I don't have to trim the mat to fit the walls and doors, but can instead slip the mat neatly underneath.

TFL

Badder

Edited February 22, 2018 by Badder

[Badder]

BTW, I popped into Hobbycraft yesterday to purchase a 'glass fibre pen' - a much vaunted item discussed in @Steve_farrier Jagdtiger WIP. And beside said item was a soldering iron. So I purchased that as well. It may be that the iron will be a waste of money if my silly hands can't handle it. I haven't done any soldering since I was an apprentice Quality Engineer for a British car company back in the early 80's, but having had little success with PE and CA I thought soldering might be the solution (That's very nearly a clever pun)

 

And I also had a look for the 'foam board' @bhouse They stocked it and at first glance I thought 'yes, this is the stuff' but as soon as I lifted it up I knew it wasn't. It was about a quarter the weight of the board I've been using, soft and visibly spongy in the middle.

 

Beer calls later, so there'll be little progress today.

 

TFL

Badder

[bhouse]

2 hours ago, Badder said:

soldering might be the solution

Soldering is a bind, glue is a solution...

[Steve_farrier]

Good luck with it @Badder modern solder is awful. It doesn't flow. But if you can get your hands on some proper lead stuff you'll be happier :-) 

[Badder]

A bit of progress at last. I've cut the mat to fit the various structures and just have some tidying up to do before it is finally CA'd in position.

 

I was going to run cobbles along the side of the building, but this would mean having to chop the path off at the edge of the dio, and again, that's something I don't want to do. Instead I am going to grass this area and bung some weeds an shrubs in there, plus an outside loo.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited February 22, 2018 by Badder

[Jo NZ]

You'll find that the plants near the outside loo grow very healthily.