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


Badder

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Unfortunately, HostingPics, my image host, is shutting down. I have a 'few months' in which to retrieve and replace my photos. I am in that process now, but obviously with so many pages and photos to edit, it may be that at some point the links will be 'dead'. Bear with me, because I do intend to replace them before or after that happens.

 

 

Pics replaced up to and including page 42. :D 

 

 

 

:dalek::dalek:ATTENTION!:dalek: :dalek:

 

ANYONE WHO HAS FOLLOWED ONE OF MY DIORAMA WIPs WILL KNOW THAT THEY TEND TO EVOLVE OVER TIME!

 

THEREFORE IT WILL COME AS NO SURPRISE THAT THE ENTIRE THEME OF THIS DIORAMA HAS CHANGED, AS OF TODAY, 24/01/17.

 

WHISLT THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MINIART BUILDING (WITH MOULDS AND CASTINGS) CONTINUES AS PREDICTED THE SETTING FOR THE DIO IS NO LONGER A WINTER ONE, AND THE FEATURED VEHICHLE IS NO LONGER A STuG III. SO, THE 'WINTER TREE' FEATURED IN THIS THREAD WILL NO LONGER APPEAR IN THIS DIO. APART FROM THAT AND THE PROLOGUE/THEME PARAGRAPHS, THE THREAD CAN BE READ  AS IS, AND ALL OTHER CONTENT IS STILL RELEVENT.

 

FOR THOSE WHO ARE UPSET ENOUGH TO WANT TO KNOW WHY, THE REASONS ARE LISTED ON PAGE 9,:D

 

MY SINCERE APOLOGIES

BADDER

 

:dalek::dalek:ATTENTION AGAIN!

 

28/01/17 I DECIDED TO DOUBLE THE SIZE OF THE BASE, SO NOW THERE'S ROOM FOR ANOTHER BUILDING.

 

 

 

 

 

For the fourth time of trying... grrrr.... at interrupternet. Where's the Autosave function gone?

 

PROLOGUE

 

Having just completed my StuG III I now find myself with three finished AFV's sitting on the shelf with no bases. Now, when I joined BM I was determined not to move onto a new project until I had completed the current one, and that was to include a diorama for each. I am now three dioramas behind, or four if I count my dismantled Viller Bocage diorama which is waiting for a re-build.

So, how better to remedy the situation that to build a diorama for the AFV most fresh in my mind?

 

THEME:

It was about 1975 when I first started building models, inspired as I was by my elder cousin's Tamiya SAS Jeep, Tamiya Sd.Kfz 222 armoured car and Tamiya Pink Panther Landrover (you can see a theme developing here). And I positively drooled over the Tamiya Catalogues, or more precisely the Francois Verlinden dioramas featured therein. So, upon my return to model-making 35yrs later I had in my head those wonderful Verlinden dioramas. I could recall them all, in fairly good detail and one related to a StuG IV. It was photographed laid up in an ambush position, observing the lowland fields from within the ruins of a farm building. I want to pay homage to that diorama, although mine will be set in winter, in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. Oh, and of course, mine is a Dragon StuG III, but that's another story.

Anyway, a quick look at the title will tell you that there's going to be a bit more to this diorama than was evident in Francois Verlinden's and anyone who saw my entry to the Vignette GB will guess that this one is also going to feature a pig, only one that is somewhat larger and more ferocious. The 'ambushers' will in fact become the 'ambushed' or 'hambushed' hopefully, with humourous consequences.

Aaaah the luxury of having time to plan a diorama rather than rush a vignette and make compromises!

 

So, that's the theme and title sorted.

 

MATERIALS:

I will add to this list as each material comes to be used. I believe I have all the materials I require, but I may run out of some along the way.

For now though, I will be starting on the base and basic structures with:

 

MDF board roughly 80cm x 60cm

Pine battens.

Balsa wood. 2mm.

Privet Hedge 'Branch'

 

MiniArt 'Ruined Village House'.

MinArt 'Ardennes Building'

 

Plasticard sheets of varying thickness.

Semi-transparent 'white' Plastic Milk Container.

Thin card.

Graph paper.

Grass mat.

Corrugated cardboard.

High density polystyrene sheet.

 

Bryant and May extra long safety matches.

Bar-be-quick giant safety matches.

Toothpicks.

Balsa 'stick' from a spent firework rocket.

Diamond patterned rubber mat (the kind you might find lining the tray in the dashboard of a commercial vehicle for example)

Coffee stirring sticks.

 

 

WIRES, FISHING LINES.

'Brass' picture hanging wire.

Maxima Nylon Monofilament Fishing line in spools of 100m.... 12lb, 10lb, 6lb, 2lb breaking strains.

Drennan Braided Fishing Line 6lb breaking strain. Green.

Drennan Micro Braid Hooklength Line 5lb breaking strain,  silver and black spiralled thread.

 

PVA glue

CA glue, thin, medium and thick.

Liquid Poly.

 

Squadron Products Green Putty.

Plaster of Paris.

Polyfilla.

Liquid Latex.

Sellotape.

Miliput.

 

 

Humbrol Enamels.

Humbrol Weathering Powders.

Humbrol Washes.

Tamiya Acrylics.

Japanese 'Grit Paints'

MIG Pigments.

Daler and Rowney Acrylic Artists Inks.

Winsor and Newton Watercolours.

 

Winsor and Newton Galeria gloss, satin and matt varnishes.

 

SCATTERS/EFFECTS:

Plaster of Paris dust (that is Plaster of Paris which has set solid and then been scraped away to form dust) As such, it acts much more like weathering powder than it does 'talcum powder'.

Bart's Dill Tops.

Bart's Chervil.

Bart's Basil.

Peco Scene Static Grass.

Woodland Scenics Static Grass in Light, Medium and Dark Green, Straw Yellow.

Woodland Scenics 'Yellow Grass' (scatter)

Woodland Scenics 'Field Grass', in Dark, Mid and Light Green, and 'Harvest Gold'.

Woodland Scenics 'Underbrush' in Dark and Light Green.

Cat litter.

 

RP leaf punches: Maple, oak, lime, beech, in scales 1/16, 1/24th, 1/35th 1/48th

 

Non-standard tools: 'Snowflake' paper punch from Hobbycraft for manufacturing 'ivy leaves'.

                                 'Chain of 3 snowflakes' paperpunch

                                 'Lace-doily' pattern paperpunch

 

 

 

That's it for now. If anyone follows this thread, I hope you find at least a few nuggets of helpful information. I will also welcome any advice/tips/criticisms.

 

Thanks,

Badder

 

 

THE FOLLOWING LIST OF 'CHAPTERS' IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION, BUT WILL GIVE PAGE NUMBERS AND CONTENTS. I'VE TRIED TO BREAK THE THREAD UP INTO CHAPTERS EACH CONTAINING A SPECIFIC 'THEME' SO THAT READERS CAN 'ZOOM IN' ON THOSE THAT INTEREST THEM, AND SKIP THOSE THAT DON'T.

 

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE LIST WON'T BE CORRECT UNTIL IT HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND CHECKED.

 

 

 

CHATPER ONE.

PAGES 1-3

MiniArt 'Ruined Village House'. It should be noted that this building was made prior to the purchase of the MiniArt Ardennes building, which ultimately supplanted it.

Making latex moulds of kit parts.

Casting copies of kit parts in plaster of Paris.

How to quickly and easily remove vacu-formed parts from their backing.

Using kit parts and casts to construct a larger  ruined building. 

Joining hollow plastic vacu-formed parts to plaster parts using CA-doused cardboard and paper to increase the contact areas and strengthen the model.

 

Pages 3-4

Painting, weathering, adding moss (herbs) and other details to the building.

 

 

NOT USED IN THE DIORAMA DUE TO CHANGE OF SCENARIO:

Page 4

Making a 'winter tree' from real twigs.

Making 'ivy' using Silver Birch 'catkins' and paper leaves made with a 'snowflake' paper punch. 

Snow effects using CA and Bicarbonate of Soda.

 

Pages 4-5

More work on painting and weathering the building.

 

Pages 5-7

Making a fireplace and chimney stack from plaster parts cast from Tamiya's Brick Wall Set and the Miniart building.

Painting and weathering of fireplace and chimney.

Soot and burnt hearth.

Moss using 'Grit Paint'.

Using paper to emulate old plaster.

 

Pages 7-8

A quick and easy method of making corrugated iron from corrugated cardboard, with the assistance of Thin CA.

 

Pages 8-

More work on the building

Tea leaves as wall 'creepers'

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

Pages 10-

MINIART 'ARDENNES BUILDING

Cutting, removing, fitting and reinforcing vacu-formed parts.

Correcting mistakes in the kit with regards to fit.

Making moulds of the kit's walls and roof, casting and constructing new walls and roofing to create a whole building.

 

 

 

Page 22-

Creating a heavily weathered whitewashed wall.

Making 'ivy' leaves using Hobbycraft 'snowflake' paper punch.

Fixing ivy to the walls.

 

CHAPTER THREE

Page 27-

THE BIG TREE

Scratch building a large tree using my nylon monofilament fishing line method.

Real twig armature.

Wire-cored Gardener's Twine used to create branches, each holding bunches of fishing line 'twigs'.

Dipping bunches of 'twigs' in CA and herbs and attaching to the armature.

 

CHAPTER FOUR

Page 32-

STARTING TO ADD COMPONENTS TO THE DIORAMA BASE.

Constructing a hedgerow 'off the diorama'.

Metal gauze embedded in plaster to aid static grass application.Sea Foam bushes and trees.

Fishing line plants.

Flowers made from paper punch 'off cuts'.

 

 

Page 34-

Fixing hedgerow to the base.

Making a stream bed. (A Mill Race)

Mill Race 'walls' from Plaster cast brickwork.

Astroturf for marginal rushes. (Reedmace)

How to make streamer weeds using cotton wool and CA.

Sluice gate.

'Marigolds' and water plants made using paper punches.

 

 

 

CHAPTER FIVE.

Page 36-

THE GRASSY BANK AND BARBED WIRE FENCE.

Opposite bank with metal guaze embedded to aid static grass application.

Applying static grass.

Making a realistic barbed-wire fence using braided fishing line for the main wiring and nylon monofilament fishing line for barbs. Tamiya 'fence posts' from their Barricade Set.

Flowering the bank.

Gauzing and plastering the track area.

Painting the track area. (undercoat)

 

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

CHATPER TWELVE.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

CHAPTER TWENTY.

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On ‎06‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 4:27 PM, Ozzy said:

Sounds good Badder, I'm along for the ride.:)

Cheers Ozzy.

 

I hope it's worthwhile! I haven't done snow before. Blanketing everything would be too easy, so I'm going for drifted snow, old compacted snow, bare frozen earth, old and fresh vehicle tracks and frozen puddles.:unsure:

Badder.

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Oh dear, I've deviated already!:dalek:

 

 

No longer a 12x12 base, I'm going for 20x16. That'll give me more room to play with...  obviously. I feel a LONG PROJECT coming on!

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PICS REPLACED.

 

 

I've been asked about my Japanese 'Grit Paints' again. My sister-in-law bought me them for Christmas last year. She's Japanese and lives in Tokyo and even she couldn't tell me who the manufacturer is. I've posted pics before but didn't get much help there either. So here's a couple of pics of the label, if anyone can help. Sorry they are a bit dark, but zooming in might help.

 

EGMaGnv.jpg

 

 

 

The bottom line on the photo below may be an address, there's certainly a telephone number there.

kwoIfkk.jpg

 

And here's the new base, with the 1/35th StuG for a sense of scale. This is the rear of the frame which I will be using as the base. I've left the glass in the frame on the other side as it supports the hardboard and prevents it bending.

 

 

xB0KBsz.jpg

TFL

Badder

 

 

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CHAPTER ONE

 

 

 

I am currently designing the building. This is a paper exercise only, so I wont bother showing the sketches until I've got a finished design.

 

I can tell you that I intend to construct the walls of the building from plasticard and plaster of paris. In the past I've just used plasticard, cutting out windows and doorways, making cornices, lintels, window sills, and then adding other architectural features made from thinner gauges, and also adding brickwork patterns by scribing into the plastic with a scalpel. I will be doing similar here as well, but I'm also going to try making walls from plaster of Paris. I have the MiniArt ruined village house kit, and rather than use that in a diorama, I'm going to make moulds of it's walls with latex and use that to cast sections of wall. I can then chip and cut away at the cast walls and use them to make parts of this diorama.

 

TFL

Badder

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I've made a latex mould of the building's frontage, using liquid latex purchased from Hobbycraft. This was a simple case of applying many thin coatings of latex onto the wall and into the recesses where the door and windows will be. The instructions advised letting each coat dry before applying the next, and up to 15 layers in total to give a nice strong mould. I sped up the process by laying the latexed wall on some cardboard and placing that over an oil-filled radiator.

 

I am going to make a frame for the mould so that the edges are supported and then I'm going to try a first casting. As I said earlier, this first casting will not be used in it's entirety, rather it will be broken up and used to create smaller sections of wall.

 

Pics will follow later this evening, while I'm having my tea.

 

TFL

Badder.

 

 

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On ‎08‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 6:07 PM, Ozzy said:

Sound like it's coming along nicely Badder, can't wait to see the home made moulds. It all sounds very interesting.

PICS REPLACED

 

 

Hi Ozzy,

I've barely started! I've been messing about with the mould and plaster of Paris, and I mean messing about. I basically wanted to see if the mould had captured the nice clean details of the stonework and if the cast was equally good. If the details weren't nice and crisp I'd have to do some work on the casts with a scalpel. So, I did a test, just to see if the stonework came out good or not. I didn't bother trying to cast the entire wall and didn't worry about the edges. In fact, I didn't really worry about the plaster of Paris setting fully. I peeled the latex away when the plaster of Paris was still damp. The small bits that broke or fell off will come in handy for rubble.

 

Results below!

 

 The MiniArt building. It's not the best. You only get the section that's in colour. There are definitely some scale issues, but it does come with extra 'street furniture' that Is not shown on the lid.  I doubt I'll ever construct the house. I think using the parts to create moulds would be a more economical use, and probably they'll look better too.  

5RSGQ6w.jpg

 

 

 

Below. To the right, the MiniArt frontage, to the left the latex mould and some trial casts. Ooooo sorry about the blurry photos.

IFqQpH7.jpg

 

 

 

Below, The mould again, and some more test pieces.

hv5wj0Z.jpg

 

 

 

As you can see the casts are nicely detailed. Obviously they are only detailed on one side, but that's no problem. The test run has taught me that I need to cut off the lip around the edges of the mould and replace them with a solid frame. 

 

TFL

Badder

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10 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Those tests look good, as for only moulding on one side it will look as though the inside has been plastered.

 

Cheers Ozzy.

Yeah, there's that, but I might be placing some casts back to back as well.

Badder

 

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I've made a frame for the MiniArt house-front so that I can pour latex into it and make a nice thick mould. Last time I brushed the latex on, which was time consuming and ruined my biggest brush. The wall has a back to it (a separate piece) with plastered areas and exposed stonework. I am going to make a thick mould of this as well. I'm wondering if I can pour plaster of Paris into the frame of the external wall and then press the internal mould down on top. If that doesn't work I can just cast them separately and then fix casts back to back.

 

TFL

Badder

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The new mould for the front wall is still in the process of being made. I poured rather too much latex, which filled up the recesses for the doors and windows before spilling out across the stonework. The latex on the stonework has dried, but the deeper doors and windows are still liquid underneath the skin. I've put them over a radiator to help them set. Next time I will build up the latex in the door and window recesses in thin layers.

Meanwhile, I am making a frame for the internal face of the wall.

 

Pics later

TFL

Badder

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22 hours ago, Col68 said:

Can't wait to see the results badders I'll follow this if you don't mind 

I don't mind at all Col. Don't expect rapid progress though.

 

At the moment I am having trouble making the moulds. It's turning out a bit more difficult than I thought because the latex is shrinking. It may look nice when still in situ on the master but once removed the latex tightens up a bit and distorts, especially around the doors and windows. The stonework around the doors and windows stands slightly proud of the rest of the stonework, so the mould is thinner in these areas and this doesn't help.

I'm experimenting with different ways of solving this problem. I think I'm going to have to make a 'form' to support the mould and hold it in the correct shape during casting.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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Not sure if this will help mate but I watched a demo in a local craft shop where they built a frame slightly bigger and deeper than the piece they were using for a mould then they cut notches into the frame and inserted pins into the master and then they inserted pins into the notches and suspended the master and poured the latex around it !

Hope that makes sense

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4 hours ago, Col68 said:

Not sure if this will help mate but I watched a demo in a local craft shop where they built a frame slightly bigger and deeper than the piece they were using for a mould then they cut notches into the frame and inserted pins into the master and then they inserted pins into the notches and suspended the master and poured the latex around it !

Hope that makes sense

Thanks COL.

Yeah, I get what you mean. That method would do in certain circumstances, but I don't think it would help me much. I only need to capture the details on the wall's surface. I'm not worried about the sides or the back. And I have no problem applying latex to the wall's surface as I've built a frame around it. The problem occurs when I peel off the latex...it distorts and shrinks. I'm now trying a fresh pour of latex and letting it air dry rather than drying over a radiator. Maybe letting it dry naturally will lessen or remove the 'shrink' effect. If that doesn't work I'll try doubling the thickness of the latex.

Rearguards,

Badder

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Some progress today with the moulds. It turns out that drying the latex out over a radiator, or letting it air dry makes no difference to the 'distortion' of the latex once it is removed from the master. So, as I had guessed, the cause of the distortion was too few layers being poured. So I made a frame around the master and poured double the amount of latex, drying each fresh layer over the radiator. The mould still shrank when it was removed from the master, but it shrank evenly in all directions so there was no buckling, bending or warping.

With my confidence restored, I then set about making a different framework to hold the latex mould and allow a deep pouring of plaster over it. I used plasticard to form the base and the 'retaining' walls.

I then poured plaster over the mould and it is in the process of drying. Now, I still have room to pour more plaster over this, and I plan to press the second mould into this to form the internal details of the wall.

 

Oh, one problem.... the wall is rather heavy and I can see this dio weighing a tonne! IF the building proves too heavy I may have to scrap the idea and use plasticard to construct the building.

 

Pics in a bit.

TFL

Badder

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PICS REPLACED

 

Below right: The master surrounded by plasticard strips so that layers of latex can be poured over it to a depth of about 4mm.

Left: The latex mould, flipped over and placed in a second frame, ready for plaster to be poured over it. I haven't seated the latex mould fully into the frame at this point.

jgPETi7.jpg

 

Below left: With plaster poured over the mould. Right: a second mould made as a spare.

FM1LicB.jpg

 

 

Below: The plaster of Paris cast. Unfortunately the windows and doorway are bowed inwards in the middle, but they can be straightened out no problem with a scalpel

and sandpaper. I've left the interior surface rough and am yet to decide whether to carve the details on the back myself, or add a casting of the interior wall.

qCFtVVf.jpg

 

TFL

Badder

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Cast cleaned up and door and windows straightened up. I reworked some of the stonework with a scalpel, re-sculpting the individual stones around the edges, and adding some damage and surface details to others.

 

DXJK1Gk.jpg

 

 

I am currently making a mould for the reverse side of this wall. However, I will probably use that mould for making the wall at the other end of the building. Meanwhile, the reverse side of the wall above will be made from plasticard. This will help reduce the weight of the diorama.

TFL

Badder

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I've made the 'reverse-side' mould and its frame, and have poured plaster of Paris into it. The cast will remain in the frame for an hour or so. It will require 24hrs or more to harden fully but any sculpting of the cast will be done before this.

 

TFL

Badder

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13 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Nice job on the casting of your building, before you know it you'll have Kevin Mccloud knocking on your door.

I hope not. It'll fall off the hinges. And then He'll make me replace it with a door made from tea bags which were chewed by goats and then dried out over a compost heap.:blink:

 

Badder.

 

.

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PROBLEM...   Removing excess plastic  around vacu-formed walls.

Anyone who's built a MiniArt building will probably have faced the same issue. Because the walls are vacuum formed, there is a  large amount of excess plastic which needs to be cut from around the walls before assembly. One has to be careful not to cut off too much though, otherwise there will be gaps when the parts are joined. Now I know some people will cut carefully all around the form, removing the excess plastic, but this is tedious and slips do sometimes occur despite taking care.

So here's a tip:

Instead of cutting all around the wall with a scalpel, flip the whole  form over and with the blade at a 45 degree angle to the perpendicular, scrape all along the rear where the wall and excess plastic meet. This will thin the plastic all the way along the join whilst not affecting the wall  or the excess plastic. It's then a simple case of bending the excess plastic back and forth and causing it to snap off.  Using this method I was able to remove all the excess plastic from a wall in a matter of 5 mins with no damage to the wall itself. I was left with a perfect wall and therefore a good join was created with the adjoining wall.

 

I'll post pics later to help explain.

 

In the meantime, I am still working on the plaster casts.

TFL

Badder

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