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


Badder

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The last two photos are really quite good.  They show a nice variety of vegetation, with good lights and shadows.  Good work.

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2 hours ago, Badder said:

Cheers mate,

The hedgerow is coming along nicely thanks. I'm working on the edges of it now, starting the blending-in process with the base. I should be able to start work on the streambed tomorrow, adding stones to the bottom, water-weeds, rushes and painting it up.

 

Tigers live in Asia.

Oh, the tank. It will be a long time before I get to start that. I've got 3 or 4 vehicles to make for this diorama, and reckon it'll be another year in the making. And then I'm hoping the PzIII-IV STGB will be up and running so I'll be making a Nashorn for that.

 

Hope you are well.

Rearguards,

Badder

I almost picked up a Nashorn the other week but couldn't resist another Panzer IV, maybe next time.

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2 hours ago, Ozzy said:

I almost picked up a Nashorn the other week but couldn't resist another Panzer IV, maybe next time.

I can honestly say that Tamiya's Nashorn is THE best kit I've ever made. It's a pure joy to build, all the fits perfect and with very little cleaning up to do. It never ceases to amaze me how few of them there are on BM.

2 hours ago, RichO said:

The last two photos are really quite good.  They show a nice variety of vegetation, with good lights and shadows.  Good work.

Thanks Rich,

That was the plan. The hedgerow has been a bit of a test bed, trying out new methods of 'plant construction'. I feel I'm narrowing down how to make certain species. The opposite bank will be the clincher, I think.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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I will be making rapid progress today.....

First off, I've painted up the stonework support for the hedgerow bank. I used a dark earth wash followed by a stippling with one of my green Japanese Grit Paints. I stippled up the bank itself as well, covering those areas of the baton that hadn't been covered previously. I then used the dark earth again, on the stonework, and on the bank, applying it more as a pin wash.

During the short drying times I carved away at the PoP streambed, increasing the depth and forming channels and irregularities. By scraping and carving in a downstream direction only, the result is more realistic than would otherwise be.  No photos of this just yet.

 

Whilst I was a bit laid back about the stonework, with sections clearly not blended, most of this will be hidden behind rushes anyway and is not really an issue.

nJttF1U.jpg

More vegetation will be added to the hedgerow batton, covering up some bare patches, and overhanging the stonework.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited by Badder
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Whilst continuing to work on the vegetation along the top of the stonework, I got distracted by the 'marsh marigolds' meaning I realised I could have made them look more like Marsh Marigolds. So I had a go, converting the 'ground ivy' into clumps of marigold foliage instead and adding the yellow flowers. I am not entirely happy with the flowers though. I stupidly painted them AFTER fixing them in place and some are a bit messy. So, what I am going to do is make the flowers' petals double-layered, adding a second flower over the top. These will be painted PRIOR to fixing and should tidy everything up.

 

I did get some grasses added to bank further along the top of the stonework and I will add a few more clumps. Once all this is done I will take photos and post them here.

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Major_Error said:

I liked the marigolds best with the slight darker shade. They did not look so flashy.

 

Very nice!

 

8-)

Hi Major,

I'm not sure what you mean by the marigolds with the slightly darker shade.... because the only other photos of the marigolds were taken in very poor lighting, and I've replaced those photos now. :wonder: 

Now I've made them more realistic by bulking out the foliage to look more clump-like and I'm just about to improve the flowers. I'm using pure Tamiya xf-3 flat yellow which is almost a precise match for marsh marigolds (and buttercups) although obviously they have a gloss/satin sheen in real life. But marsh marigolds ARE extremely bright!B)

I should have them 'improved' within the hour and I will post photos shortly after that. (The daylight is fading here though, so again the photos may be a bit murky)

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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So, as promised, a photo update of the Marsh Marigolds, and a bit of grass work further along the hedgerow. Both will need a bit of tidying up, but not much.

I may add a spot of orange or even black to the centres of the flowers. Whilst neither would be accurate for Marsh Marigolds, it would make them look a bit more 3D.

yV5M1wN.jpg

 

6irYDA8.jpg

 

VEmcDox.jpg

 

K5imjTZ.jpg

 

For those interested to know how I applied the Marigold flowers here's how I did it.

 

First, I placed all of the flowers on a tray and tried not to sneeze. Then, using a toothpick, I picked up a dab of medium CA and dotted that on the spot I wished to place a flower. Then I reversed the toothpick, licked the end and used that to pick up a flower. I pressed the flower to the palm of my hand to sink the centre and raise the flower's petals around the edges. Then, with the flower still in place on the end of the toothpick, I pressed the flower against the spot of CA. Then the toothpick was switched back and another blob of CA was gathered.... etc etc etc. The process is quite quick and the only danger really is of licking the wrong end of the toothpick by mistake! Yes, of course I did, before you ask.:blush:

 

I used exactly the same method to fix the foliage in place beforehand, although I occasionally dribbled thin CA over the entire growing clump in order to bond everything together more securely. For those who don't know, this was also how I added all the ivy to the building.

 

Coats of satin varnish will be applied tomorrow before applying some varied green washes to the foliage.

 

Finally, I also used my usual method of filling out the undergrowth by dabbing medium CA over the bare 'earth' and sprinkling Dil Tops over it. If I don't add any more grass/plants etc, in these areas then the Dil Tops form a natural looking ground cover.

Tomorrow I hope to be finalizing the hedgerow and starting on the stream.

 

TFL

Badder.

Edited by Badder
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20 hours ago, Badder said:

I can honestly say that Tamiya's Nashorn is THE best kit I've ever made. It's a pure joy to build, all the fits perfect and with very little cleaning up to do. It never ceases to amaze me how few of them there are on BM.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

I've seen a few built and it looks a really nice kit, I built a dragon Hummel a few years ago and enjoyed building that. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for one.

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For comparison, here are real marsh marigolds. As you can see mine aren't very accurate, but they will do. I have an idea for increasing their accuracy in future.

OtZQRGu.jpg

 

TFL

Badder

 

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1 hour ago, Vince1159 said:

When i saw this photo i thought you'd taken it outside at sunset then realised it was the table,lovely work Badder...

But I didn't make the table. We bought it. :D

 

Seriously though, thanks Vince, as always.

Rearguards,

Badder

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I've added black spots to the centres of the Marsh Marigold flowers.... now making them NOT Marsh Marigolds. Now they are just common or garden Marigolds, but as I said, I think they look more 3D now.

w0EbfNv.jpg

 

As is often the case Macro photos show up the flaws. In the photos the flowers are magnified x5 and so are the flaws. Well, they are on my laptop anyway! I will touch up the worst of them.

 

TFL

Badder

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I've extended the support wall for the hedgerow bank. And I've begun work on the streambed, giving it a coat of PVA (spread on with a large soaking wet brush) and a sprinkle with crushed cat litter. I haven't been too fussy with the cat litter as there will be a lot of weed in this stream.

7nNij5j.jpg

 

I will be painting the streambed tomorrow and adding some water weeds. Remember that I won't be adding the water for a very long time yet.

TFL

Badder

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Hi Steve,

Sorry it's so long! I figured if I explained every single stage people could skim through the photos and stop to read just those bits they are interested in. There's no point reading how I make ivy if you're genre is WWII AFVs in  the North African Theatre!

Anyway, I thought the buildings might be of particular interest. As you can probably tell, the first building will not now be appearing in this diorama, but I do have big plans for it in the future. I also thought the large tree might have some followers.

I am delighted to read that you have found inspiration in this WIP. That really is my main reason for posting anything on this site. And of course. I find a lot of inspiration in other people's work here! It works both ways.

 

So thanks for your kind comments and again, I'm glad you found something of use!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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So, the stream.....

With the bed shaped and scattered with cat litter fixed with PVA, the stream is now waterproof and should accept Woodland Scenics 'Realistic Water' without it soaking in. I will of course have to dam both ends to stop the 'water' draining out. But as I said, I won't be adding the water for a long while yet.

 

But I can go ahead and do everything else.

First to paint the bed and pick out the stones. I will be applying washes of green weathering powder and black acrylic ink, Tamiya acrylics and some green grit paint for the stones. This process will be pretty quick.

 

Photos to follow shortly,

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

TFL

 

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First up, a chromium oxide wash, or Humbrol Dark Green Weathering Powder mixed with water....as I like to call it.

YTavlOp.jpg

 

And then a wash with Daler and Rowney Acrylic Black Ink.

jDNHyIN.jpg

 

I used water as the solvent for both as it doesn't stink the house out.

 

TFL

Badder

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A coat of acrylic gloss varnish, then a wash with the Dark Earth Weathering Powder (again with water as the solvent) Once this was dry I gave the whole streambed a going over with a damp stiff brush, taking off some of the Dark Earth and lightening the higher details.

 

Here, the hedgerow is sitting directly on top of the underlying baton but will in fact sit further to the left so that a distinct step is formed. This step will be the ground for the rushes. Again please excuse the murky photos! Candlelight isn't very good for taking piccies.

nbcB8iW.jpg

Since this photo was taken, I have stippled green grit paint over some of the stones/rocks. and slopes.

 

Tomorrow I shall be 'vegetating' the streambed with weeds. This will be done using a variety of techniques - one of which I 'invented' for the very short length of stream which features in my diorama 'Carry on Regardless'.

 

TFL

Badder

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Here we go with the first of the waterweeds, using a method I came up with for my Carry on Regardless diorama. It's dead simple, but very effective.

4z1MLZp.jpg

 

So, as you can see, I CA'd blobs of cotton wool along the streambed, placing them in areas with less stones.

Now to tease, comb and scrape at the cotton wool, always in a downstream direction....

 

TFL

Badder

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I pulled off the excess of cotton wool and used a blade to scrape, score and shape the remaining fibres. Then I soaked them in 'green water' teased at them again, and finally fixed them solid by dribbling thin CA over them.

xHM5XkX.jpg

Next I will add longer 'streamers' of weed using some stuff I bought from a haberdashers. It's called 'Wool Roving'. I have no idea what it's used for (stuffing?) Again, I will fix it to the stream bed with CA and give it a good combing.

 

TFL

Badder

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So this is the 'manky weed' that is often found growing in streams. It's actually, I think, a type of algae rather than a plant.

I will be working on the bankside rushes before adding any more plants to the stream itself.

 

EZEdOay.jpg

 

 

209082DSC09630.jpg

 

xHM5XkX.jpg

As I wrote earlier, these particular 'weeds' were doused with thin CA to turn them more or less solid. I did this because the fibres have to be fixed in position before the Realistic Water is poured.

 

TFL

Badder

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Now I get to use the Astroturf.

 

Diorama makers should always be prepared to debase themselves and have a rummage through fly-tips! I found myself a 1m x 1m 'slab' of the stuff by doing just that.This is good quality stuff with built-in undergrowth/dead rushes. In the past I've simply cut this stuff into strips and planted it pretty much as is, knowing that all the tips of the 'rushes' were square! This time I am actually going to take the time to trim them all and make them pointed!

zcj7t0m.jpg

The first job to do though, is to CA the underside of the Astroturf. As you can see in the photo below, the strands of 'grass' are woven through the rubbery/plastic mat, with each single strand creating two blades of grass. The 'undergrowth' though, is not attached in anyway to either the mat or the grass, but rather is held in place by sheer 'tangledness'.

 

132939DSC09632.jpg

In short, it is not a good idea to cut the Astroturf into strips until everything has been held together with CA.

 

TFL

Badder

 

Edited by Badder
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And it's a simple job to fix the strips of Astroturf directly to the MDF with medium CA. A scattering of Dil Tops along the bond finishes the job. More rushes will be added either side of the stream.

w4em5wn.jpg

 

TFL

Badder

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