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

[Badder]

 

As is my habit, I have continued to assess the previous work done on this building. I always have a very critical eye - an eye which has grown more and more critical as my 'skill' level has increased. Developing an evermore critical eye is how we all improve.

 

So, I've had to admit to myself that I'm not happy with the 'ivy' at the porch end of the building.

 

Here's the 'problem' as I see it:

Plants always grow following a set pattern, as defined by their genes. They have some symmetry, some logic to their overall shape, and whilst I am very, very, happy with the ivy at the other end of the building, I am not happy with the ivy at the porch-end. Unlike the ivy at the other end, the majority of leaves here do not hang downwards. They are more haphazard in their placement, more chaotic, less regimented.  I had thought it would be okay, that it would differentiate it as a different species, but now I've come to realise that it just looks a mess.

 

So, I'm going to have to get out the 'snowflake' punch again! I'm thinking I can 'rescue' my ivy by adding another layer of ivy over the top.

 

And now for some actual progress....

I've added my scratch-built CA'd-paper gutter to the rear of the building.

It was dead simple.  The gutter is fixed under the eaves using metal pins (thick wire cut from a large paperclip) Those pins are glued into holes in the back of the guttering and then into holes drilled under the eaves.

 

TFL

Badder.

Now, more leaves.

 

Edited February 4, 2018 by Badder

[Badder]

Well, I grabbed the bull by the horns and set about re-doing the ivy.

 

As you can see, I've fully replaced some areas, have left some untouched, and have applied new layers of ivy over others. I did remove the worst of the ivy beforehand though, knocking and chipping it off with the blunt end of a flat file.

The area I've re-done is obvious, and to me it looks much better than before, so I am happy to continue re-working the rest.

 

Here's the ivy as it stood before re-working. As you can see very few of the leaves hang vertically downwards. Most are sticking out sideways or upwards.

 

And now the re-work, so far:

I hope you'll agree with me that the work was worth it!

 

TFL

Badder.

Edited February 4, 2018 by Badder

[Vince1159]

Well worth it,lovely job...

[Stonenkey]

Just stumbled across this!  AMAZING work pal.  Really incredible.  Some of those photos could easily be confused with the real thing.

TOP WORK. :-)

 

[Ozzy]

image by clive osbaldeston, on Flickr

 

badder I took this yesterday in Saint mere Eglise, big door frame but normal size door.

[Badder]

On ‎30‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 1:25 PM, Stonenkey said:

Just stumbled across this!  AMAZING work pal.  Really incredible.  Some of those photos could easily be confused with the real thing.

TOP WORK. :-)

 

Thanks Stonenkey,

I'm glad you stumbled. As always, comments like yours are really appreciated and help me through such things as the extreme tediousness of sticking on leaves. Leaves, leaves, leaves and more frelkingnggghing leaves!

And yes, all of the photos are real actual photos and not drawings or paintings of photos.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

Edited February 4, 2018 by Badder

[Badder]

2 hours ago, Ozzy said:

badder I took this yesterday in Saint mere Eglise, big door frame but normal size door.

Hi Ozzy,

Thanks for the photo.... Yeah, I know there are such things as tall doorways with short doors, it's just that MiniArt supply tall doors. It would have been simple for them to supply a 'skylight' above a shorter door. I, stupidly, never thought of that option, but will certainly use it in the future (not on a humble country farmhouse though)

 

It's interesting to see the little black catches that hold the window shutters open on the first floor. It seems one would have to lean quite a way out of the open window in order to swivel them around.

 

But I'm more interested in the fact that you were at Sainte mere Eglise. I take it this was a research/holiday trip?

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

Edited June 30, 2017 by Badder

[Ozzy]

11 hours ago, Badder said:

Hi Ozzy,

Thanks for the photo.... Yeah, I know there are such things as tall doorways with short doors, it's just that MiniArt supply tall doors. It would have been simple for them to supply a 'skylight' above a shorter door. I, stupidly, never thought of that option, but will certainly use it in the future (not on a humble country farmhouse though)

 

It's interesting to see the little black catches that hold the window shutters open on the first floor. It seems one would have to lean quite a way out of the open window in order to swivel them around.

 

But I'm more interested in the fact that you were at Sainte mere Eglise. I take it this was a research/holiday trip?

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

 

After 18 months in the planning ( more to get enough people in the same place), off we went to France our camp site was on the orne canal. A 5 minute walk from Pegasus bridge. We had a look at the Merville Battery including the observation point on the beach, 9 paras forming up point through to the battery, then down to the reorg point then we moved off to the chateau St come. We had a good look around bridge which included a surprise free lunch thanks to Madame Gondree. We went down to Gold and Sword beaches then up to sainte mare Eglise (which is pretty much untouched). Down to Omaha beach and cemetery, I found a couple of chaps I had read about in the book the Bedford boys about the 116 infantry battalion, they were all from the same town in Virginia. Even with inclement weather it was a fantastic week.

[Badder]

10 hours ago, Ozzy said:

 

After 18 months in the planning ( more to get enough people in the same place), off we went to France our camp site was on the orne canal. A 5 minute walk from Pegasus bridge. We had a look at the Merville Battery including the observation point on the beach, 9 paras forming up point through to the battery, then down to the reorg point then we moved off to the chateau St come. We had a good look around bridge which included a surprise free lunch thanks to Madame Gondree. We went down to Gold and Sword beaches then up to sainte mare Eglise (which is pretty much untouched). Down to Omaha beach and cemetery, I found a couple of chaps I had read about in the book the Bedford boys about the 116 infantry battalion, they were all from the same town in Virginia. Even with inclement weather it was a fantastic week.

I'm sure it was very interesting, educational and emotional. Thankfully, wars won't be fought like that any more. I suspect you may have gathered quite a lot in the way of reference photos?

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Ozzy]

24 minutes ago, Badder said:

I'm sure it was very interesting, educational and emotional. Thankfully, wars won't be fought like that any more. I suspect you may have gathered quite a lot in the way of reference photos?

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

Hopefully not, I've got a couple of snaps, I will post them once I've worked out a suitable PB substitute. I'm looking at postimage at the moment.

[Badder]

Just now, Ozzy said:

 

Hopefully not, I've got a couple of snaps, I will post them once I've worked out a suitable PB substitute. I'm looking at postimage at the moment.

Hmmmm has something happened to photobucket then? I did see earlier someone's pics had all gone. I fear I may have lost my 'carry on regardless' photos then?

 

Badder

[Ozzy]

7 minutes ago, Badder said:

Hmmmm has something happened to photobucket then? I did see earlier someone's pics had all gone. I fear I may have lost my 'carry on regardless' photos then?

 

Badder

 

Photobucket changed there terms and conditions on 3rd party sites, you have to pay for the privilege. There is no free allowance any more, it looks as though any thread with photobucket links are replaced with a speedo looking graphic in its place. There is a thread either in announcement or FAQ.

[Badder]

Just now, Ozzy said:

 

Photobucket changed there terms and conditions on 3rd party sites, you have to pay for the privilege. There is no free allowance any more, it looks as though any thread with photobucket links are replaced with a speedo looking graphic in its place. There is a thread either in announcement or FAQ.

Just checked my previous WIPs etc and yeah, the photos all replaced by notice. Had a look at PB, but it says have to sign up to twitter. Not doing that. So I've lost my photos, but PB still have them in their library. There's a word for them but I can't type it here.  I'm going to have to search for my old memory stick to re-post all those photos. LOL

[Badder]

After much gnashing of teeth and countless failed attempts to access MY PHOTOS on PB - including getting the wife to browse as a visitor and somehow stumble across my photos amongst the trillions - I've found an old and semi-broken memory stick which, miracle upon miracle, has virtually all of my old diorama WIPs and RFI photos on. So in between leaves, I can have even more excitement uploading photos to Hostingpics and re-posting the photos to BM. Joy of Joys!

 

A very relieved Badder.

 

Photobucket. Rhyming slang.

[dave665]

@Badder can't you follow the image link in your old posts to see the blocked image on PB's website?

 

If I right click on the PB "upgrade" image and open the link in new tab I can see the original image on PB. In one instance I could even go through some of the other images in your account. I sometimes just get a re-shown the upgrade image but in Chrome if I open the link in an incognito tab it always works.

 

Hope this helps get to PB so you can identify the missing images.

 

[Badder]

Just now, dave665 said:

@Badder can't you follow the image link in your old posts to see the blocked image on PB's website?

 

If I right click on the PB "upgrade" image and open the link in new tab I can see the original image on PB. In one instance I could even go through some of the other images in your account. I sometimes just get a re-shown the upgrade image but in Chrome if I open the link in an incognito tab it always works.

 

Hope this helps get to PB so you can identify the missing images.

 

The image links have been removed from BM. I just get a notice with a link to the 'upgrade' option on PB. When I 'visited' the site, PB automatically logged me in (funny how previously one had to log in before seeing anything) And as soon as I was logged in the notice came up saying my account had been suspended. I was unable to do anything. You obviously are not me, and can visit and see things that I can't.

 

As it happens I have now found all of my images on a memory stick which had loose connection inside, but I managed to get it to work.

But thanks for trying to help.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Badder]

Just now, dave665 said:

@Badder can't you follow the image link in your old posts to see the blocked image on PB's website?

 

If I right click on the PB "upgrade" image and open the link in new tab I can see the original image on PB. In one instance I could even go through some of the other images in your account. I sometimes just get a re-shown the upgrade image but in Chrome if I open the link in an incognito tab it always works.

 

Hope this helps get to PB so you can identify the missing images.

 

Actually, I've just done as you said above again, and yes, I can get to that block of images and copy them to my files. I couldn't do that the other day for the reasons I mention in the previous post. Whether the PB site was having issues at that time, or they've 'freed up' some of the functions since, I don't know.

 

Thanks again,

Badder

[Badder]

Progress has been slowed due to the time spent re-posting photos for my Carry on Regardless and Somewhere near Villers Bocage RFI's. I still have to replace the photos for Lost in France, and then of course there's all the photos for their WIP's.

I've also run out of the lime green paint I was using for the 'ivy'. So a trip to the 'model train store' is called for.

 

Here's how far I've got with the re-leafing of the porch/end wall though.

 

 

I have yet to replace the leaves in the area beside the porch. Hopefully this will all be finished later today.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited February 4, 2018 by Badder

[Badder]

I've said it before, more than twice, but doing leafery is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo very boring! And it takes longer than you'd think. I'm very nearly there now though. Just one more final push. But I'm taking a break from it and having a think instead.

 

Now, I will be making several trees for this diorama. At least one of them will be very big.... at least as tall as the building.

 

I'm thinking I might use my nylon fishing line method for the thinner branches and twigs and the snowflake punch again for the leaves. I don't want the leaves to look the same as those of the ivy though. Firstly, and most obviously, I can change the colour of the leaves, but I can also change which part of the snowflake I use for the leaves.  I can just use the very tips of the snowflake's 'arms'. So instead of looking a bit like oak leaves, they will look more like those of a sycamore...not a perfect match, but close enough.

Obviously this will mean me having to glue thousands of individual leaves to the tree armature. I'm NOT looking forward to it. However, it has to be done. UNLESS I can come up with a faster method. We shall see.

 

Here's how the ivy stands at the moment. I post this only because it brightens up this otherwise dull post.

 

 

 

TFL

Badder

Edited February 4, 2018 by Badder

[Ozzy]

Looking good Badder, I'm glad you've updated your threads. So invaluable tips throughput. In regards to your leaf dilemma, have you thought about outsourcing?

[Badder]

Just now, Ozzy said:

Looking good Badder, I'm glad you've updated your threads. So invaluable tips throughput. In regards to your leaf dilemma, have you thought about outsourcing?

Cheers Ozzy,

It's the WIPs that are going to be the most difficult... so many pages and photos! I just can't leave them photo-less though. It would be a crime!

 

As for outsourcing my leaves..... I laughed out loud when I first read that. But I can see now that it was a serious suggestion. I wouldn't blame anyone for doing just that, but no, I wouldn't.

If I were a professional 'leaf cutter and gluer'  I'd want 10 quid an hour! I wouldn't want to pay anyone less than that, so I reckon I'd have to be paying them well over 100 quid!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Ozzy]

4 minutes ago, Badder said:

Cheers Ozzy,

It's the WIPs that are going to be the most difficult... so many pages and photos! I just can't leave them photo-less though. It would be a crime!

 

As for outsourcing my leaves..... I laughed out loud when I first read that. But I can see now that it was a serious suggestion. I wouldn't blame anyone for doing just that, but no, I wouldn't.

If I were a professional 'leaf cutter and gluer'  I'd want 10 quid an hour! I wouldn't want to pay anyone less than that, so I reckon I'd have to be paying them well over 100 quid!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

I was looking for a suitable sweat shop imogi, but couldn't find one, your leaf cutting sounds like my roof tiling.

[Major_Error]

This is becoming perfect!

Boring work? But the result is wonderful!

 

8-) 

[Badder]

Just now, Major_Error said:

This is becoming perfect!

Boring work? But the result is wonderful!

 

8-) 

Not sure about perfect, but thank you very much!

 

Here's why it's boring.

 

I've had to fold, position and glue around 1,200 'snowflakes'. That includes around 100 which I removed and replaced. The folding is by far the easiest part! Every folded snowflake has to be slid half way inside another, or be tucked underneath before thin CA is dribbled from above to fix them. I rely on capillary action to fix the second snowflake to the first, and/or adjacent ones. Obviously there have been lots of accidents where fingers and snowflakes have been glued together and ruined. Cleaning up and repairing/replacing the casualties is a common. It actually takes an awful long time to cover even a small area.... 64 'snowflakes' will maybe cover an area 5cm x 4cm, but there are areas where I've used maybe twice that amount to build up a greater thickness of leaves.

 

But I've nearly finished. I have an area 6cm x 4cm to do and that's it.

 

 

Thanks for your comments and your support during this very stressful and BORING part of the project!

 

Badder

 

Edited July 4, 2017 by Badder

[Badder]

The application of ivy has been completed. Hoorah!

 

I've given the ivy a spray of gloss varnish and here and there a touch of dark green wash. I might apply some more washes, I might not. I will be picking out some of the details though.

 

 

 

 

TFL

Badder 

Edited February 4, 2018 by Badder