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

[Badder]

The bridge/sluice got a real good soaking. I took it out and tried to bend it back into shape. There was some give in the stirring sticks and it was possible to hold it all in a straightened position. But I didn't fancy sitting here for possibly hours, with all of my fingers applying pressure along the bridge while the thing dried. It wasn't guaranteed that the bridge would stay straight once I'd let go either. It might just spring back to it's 'new' warped shape. Maybe, if I bent it 'beyond straight', it would spring back to straight?

 

I plumped for bending it beyond straight. And in the process the bridge split from end to end, right along the walkway, between two 'planks'.

Meanwhile, the cross-supports underneath lost their warp and stayed straight. Hey presto, the bridge is now all true and square again, the only difference being a slightly wider gap between two of the planks!

 

The bridge is now sitting on the corner of my dio, upside down, the dio frame acting like a 'testing jig' so I can see if it stays all true and square as it dries out.

 

Touch wood (even if it's a coffee stirring stick wood) all will be resolved.

 

TFL

Badder

 

ps, just watched 'world's weirdest weapons' featuring Das Maus. Apparently, and I did not know this, Hitler thought the gun on the Maus was made to look too small so wanted an even bigger tank with a 120mm gun!

 

 

 

 

[Badder]

While the diorama base is clear of the accumulated clutter of the past year, I decided to have another play around with the layout. The layout had been narrowed down anyway, but with the position of the mill race now fixed, I had some better idea of how the rest would sit.

 

The layout is now 95 percent certain, with the building and tree orientated at close to their optimum positions.  I don't predict any major deviations. (Says me, with a straight face)

Anyway here's a few shots of that layout taken from different points of the compass, hopefully to show that it looks good from all directions.

 

The front: I have enough space to add vehicles and or figures directly in front of the building, to the right of the mill race and outside of the porch. There is also enough room for a 'feature' front left near the sluice.

 

 

The rear: I've enough space to add a bit of the back yard to the left of the tree. The curved wall is only roughly placed here, but I imagine that it curves towards the 'porch' and a small gate will provide entry/exit to or from the yard. Possibly, I could place a vehicle in the yard. Meanwhile a vehicle/vehicles and some figures can be placed to the right of the tree, either entering or exiting the area.

 

 

The view over the mill race. This just looks good in my opinion, with both the tree and building providing colour, depth and perspective, while the hedgerow and race provide a nice foreground.

 

 

The view from the right. If the camera angle had been lower, there'd be a nice view of the building and whatever vehicle is out front; the tree providing a backdrop to whatever is in the rear yard.

 

BTW It's taken me an hour to get these pictures sorted, uploaded to hostingpics then copied to here thanks to a completely useless internet service provided by TalkTalk which cant handle me opening two windows and copying links from one to the other without each page freezing in turn.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited February 21, 2018 by Badder

[Badder]

Meanwhile MY LEAF PUNCHES HAVE TURNED UP!!!!!

 

Thank you Modellingtools via LITTLE-CARS. My wife ordered them Monday evening and they arrived by snail mail an hour or so ago. Very quick service indeed!

 

I am very disappointed to see that the punches were made in China though. Everything is made in China nowadays!!! I expect them to break within a week or two.

 

Is our once great country, (UK) the country that brought the world the industrial revolution, incapable of making little plastic and metal tools?

 

TFL.

Badder

Edited November 1, 2017 by Badder

[Ratch]

Beautiful - it's certainly taking shape

[Badder]

1 hour ago, Ratch said:

Beautiful - it's certainly taking shape

Thanks Ratch,

Much appreciated.

I've been messing about with the leaf punches trying to find a process for making very small plants to grow in the grass. (In between bouts of sleepiness) I think I've finally got a method sorted after lots of failures. Hopefully I can start knocking them out tomorrow.

I'm also hoping to get the sluice fixed in place and then I can start pouring the water.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Badder]

1/24th and 1/35th scale oak leaves used to make 'plantain-like' plants. Blobs of medium CA were 'toothpicked' into the grass and tweezers used to 'plant' the leaves on top. Finally thin CA was touched to the plants to ensure complete fixing. A total of 5 of these plants have been added along this bank. I'm going to add some 'daisy-like' flowers then apply some more grass.

 

 

I was going to go ahead with pouring the water today, but I forgot that I can't. I keep forgetting that I might be adding a 'set scene' to the mill race and that will mean having to add that first.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited February 21, 2018 by Badder

[Badder]

Some more static grass was applied to the grassy bank to help 'bed in' the added plants. I haven't added daisies yet.

 

But I have added a small Seafoam bush to the hedgerow bank near the bridge, mainly because I wasn't happy with the openness of this area and also because I think the Black Eyed Susan look better growing out from under it.

 

Meanwhile the supporting walls downstream of the sluice have been painted up and now require nothing more than a bit of moss to call them finished. And I am in the process of bedding in the bridge.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited February 21, 2018 by Badder

[James B]

I'm really enjoying following along with this and learning so much with every post you make. I've been pretty silent and just lurked, but I want to add to the other comments from others and just say thank you.  In addition to building a beautiful diorama, it takes a silly amount of time to photograph and write up the detailed and well thought out posts you make, and I just wanted to tell you it's really appreciated. 

 

Your diorama is looking stunning. The new leaf punches and the way you've used them to make the small plants has worked perfectly, they're spot on. Reminds me of dandelion leaves... Would a little speck of cotton wool make seed heads for them?

 

Again, thanks 

[Badder]

22 hours ago, James B said:

I'm really enjoying following along with this and learning so much with every post you make. I've been pretty silent and just lurked, but I want to add to the other comments from others and just say thank you.  In addition to building a beautiful diorama, it takes a silly amount of time to photograph and write up the detailed and well thought out posts you make, and I just wanted to tell you it's really appreciated. 

 

Your diorama is looking stunning. The new leaf punches and the way you've used them to make the small plants has worked perfectly, they're spot on. Reminds me of dandelion leaves... Would a little speck of cotton wool make seed heads for them?

 

Again, thanks 

Well, I thank you in return James, for your kind comments AND for stepping out from behind the curtains and revealing yourself.... Ooh er!

It's all too easy to believe that those who comment or hit 'like' are the only ones watching.

 

As always, I really appreciate it when someone takes the time and effort to tell me how much they appreciate the amount of time and effort I'm putting into this thread.... I very nearly got dizzy typing that! I do actually write all this for my own benefit though, because it makes me THINK about what I'm doing, or what I'm going to do. However, I also know that as I learn and post my findings, conclusions, results etc, others may find it useful and if nothing else save some time in their own builds.

 

So, I'm glad you've found some of the stuff useful!

 

And you're quite right about the leaves looking just like dandelion leaves. They look more like dandelion leaves than they do plantain. That's because when I typed the post I was thinking ahead,  thinking of using the lime tree leaves as plantain, and plantain stuck in my head!

I have been thinking about the dandelion flowers themselves, and I've worked that one out. I'll be punching out little circles from the grass mat I used in post #912 on the previous page. It has a high density of fibres and should paint up just right.

 

Rearguards,

Badder.

 

Edited November 3, 2017 by Badder

[Badder]

14 minutes ago, Badder said:

. It has a high density of fibres and should paint up just right.

Except that the mat is too thick and the punch can't handle it. So, a rethink on that then.

 

 

[Badder]

White and yellow flowers added. The foliage for the yellow flowers was made from the Maple leaf punch.

 

 

I am calling this bank done for now, but may well add some more 'feature vegetation' at a later date. For sure there will be some overspill of grass which will be applied to the slope down to the farm track.

Before I do that though, I'm going to make the 'cattle wade'. As I said before, I am going to use Green Putty for this so that I can make hoof prints in it.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited February 21, 2018 by Badder

[Hewy]

Lovely work badder, your nerve damaged fingers have certainly performed minor miracles there, 

[Badder]

5 hours ago, Hewy said:

Lovely work badder, your nerve damaged fingers have certainly performed minor miracles there, 

Thanks Hewy,

Sadly, more than several plants and flowers WERE harmed during this process!

Put it this way, if every one of the punched out leaves and flowers had been successful, I could have populated Kew Gardens!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Vince1159]

Fantastic job Badder,just when i think it can't get any better like the fence you do the flowers,amazing....

[bhouse]

1 hour ago, Badder said:

I could have populated Kew Gardens!

Your next diorama, perhaps? I have some useful suggestions for a scratched Chinese Pagoda using hose nozzles and evergreen strip...

😉

[Gorby]

Absolutely stunning work on the stream - look real.

Looks like you are having fun with your leaf punches. 

[Badder]

1 hour ago, Vince1159 said:

Fantastic job Badder,just when i think it can't get any better like the fence you do the flowers,amazing....

Thanks Vince,

You are too kind! The yellow ones are 'May Duppy' and the white ones are 'Summer-Oak-Hay'

 

.

 

Reaguards,

Badder

Edited November 4, 2017 by Badder

[Badder]

48 minutes ago, Gorby said:

Absolutely stunning work on the stream - look real.

Looks like you are having fun with your leaf punches. 

Thanks Gorby,

Much appreciated. I do enjoy making streams/water features. I have an interesting challenge ahead on that front. It works in my head, hopefully it will work in practice!

 

As for the punches the challenge is finding the right type of paper. I haven't quite got it right yet. The stuff I've used so far is too fibrous. I'm going to try a high quality photocopier paper when I can get my hand on some.

 

Unfortunately the punches can't handle anything with stretch, so polythene and things like the grass mat are a no go.

 

 

Reaguards,

Badder

[Badder]

1 hour ago, bhouse said:

Your next diorama, perhaps? I have some useful suggestions for a scratched Chinese Pagoda using hose nozzles and evergreen strip...

😉

My next dio will DEFINITELY be a winter scene. Like this one was supposed to be.

 

Reaguards,

Badder

[Badder]

The 'cattle wade.' It's only wet because it has just received a dark earth weathering powder and water wash.

 

I think the wade is a bit narrow at the water's edge TBH. So I will probably cut back the reeds either side and rectify it. I also have to add some of the collapsed stonework to the stream.

Oh, and obviously the 'grassy bank' has now been fixed permanently to the base.  I can now go ahead and make the slope down to the farm track, finish off the mill race downstream of the sluice, and fix the bridge/sluice permanently.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited February 21, 2018 by Badder

[Vince1159]

1 hour ago, Badder said:

The 'cattle wade.'

 

I hope they're Guernseys,fantastic milk...

Edited November 4, 2017 by Vince1159

[Badder]

J

6 minutes ago, Vince1159 said:

I hope they're Guernsey's,fantastic milk...

Jerseys. Even better I hear! 

 

To tell the truth I have no model cow, only a big sow and piglets, a mule, a dog, some assorted poultry and two dead rabbits. How many of those will get used I don't know. They are all pretty naff.

Funnily enough I bought Tamiya's German Tank Arming Crew set which for some odd reason comes with 2 cats, and German Tank crew at rest, which comes with a deformed crow and something which looks like a corn bunting only 4 times the size!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Vince1159]

18 minutes ago, Badder said:

Jerseys. Even better I hear!

Ouch ....

[Rob G]

On 11/2/2017 at 12:45 AM, Badder said:

I am very disappointed to see that the punches were made in China though. Everything is made in China nowadays!!! I expect them to break within a week or two.

 

Is our once great country, (UK) the country that brought the world the industrial revolution, incapable of making little plastic and metal tools?

 

Everything is made in China for one reason, and one reason only - price. The UK (and for that matter, Australia, the US, Germany etc) are well capable of making any little blivet or widget that is required by anyone for any task. The hangup though is that none of the workers in those countries will work for less than what they think is a fair wage, because 'living standards'. The Chinese WILL work for low wages, which leads to cheap goods, which leads to US being able willing to pay for them - would you pay 35 quid each for genuine made-in-Sheffield-with-Real-British-Steel paper punches to use in your hobby? We are, in most ways, part of the problem y'see.

 

Once upon a time, the Tamiya Livestock set was THE source for animals. Mostly because it was the only one. It's a bout a hundred years old and Tamiya really should retire the moulds and make a new version.

This wee enterprise o'yourn is looking good Mr Badder. Pray continue!

[Badder]

9 hours ago, Rob G said:

would you pay 35 quid each for genuine made-in-Sheffield-with-Real-British-Steel paper punches to use in your hobby? We are, in most ways, part of the problem y'see.

 

I will address the last part of that sentence first. No, WE, the general public, are NOT part of the problem, we are the victims. The problem is caused entirely by governments that encourage cheap imports while doing nothing to protect and encourage businesses in their own country. I for one would be willing to pay higher prices to stop this increasingly stupid situation. Did you now for instance that the UK imports chickens, by ship, from China and sells them 'fresh' and cheap in supermarkets, putting British chicken farmers out of business? This is madness!

But of course, it means EVERYONE having to stand by their guns and buy British.

 

I will not be drawn into further conversation on this topic, because I could be here for months and it would severely effect my progress with this diorama!

 

I do appreciate your appreciation of this WIP though and thank you for your participation and encouragement!

 

Reaguards,

Badder