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Badder

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Everything posted by Badder

  1. Badder
    I've been using this word a lot lately, but that is SUPERB! Would love to see it in a vignette or diorama. Rearguards, Badder
  2. Badder
    Inspired by Stix, you're choosing a good mark to aspire to! Nice Crusader you've produced there. Looks good on that simple base. I am going to have to get me one of those... the Crusader, not the base. I dunno if the Italeri kit has been re-tooled, but I built an Italeri Crusader in about 1980. Nowhere near as good as yours! I think you'll find 1/35th an even better scale to work in. Rearguards, Badder
  3. Badder
    Superb in every respect... can't wait to see more close-up detail shots! Rearguards, Badder
  4. Badder
    Need a lot more photos of this please... and ones that you don't have to 'chase' to get to see. It would be nice to see the whole diorama from every angle. What I CAN see looks good. That building is by MiniArt though. I have that exact same kit in the stash. Rearguards, Badder
  5. Badder
    I sped things up a bit by first gluing snowflakes end to end with thin CA. Once I'd formed a chain I could fold down the 2 uppermost 'lobes' on each snowflake, creating a nice evenly spaced row of leaves, pretty much like the real thing. Then I could CA one end in amongst those leaves already fixed in place, extend the 'chain' out into 'un-leaved' territory and CA the other end to one of the roots. I then repeated the process, only this time using the first chain as a 'support'. Occasionally I would add a single folded snowflake in there as well, to add some more depth, to make a sticky-out bit, or to bulk out a sparse area. I'd also make chains for vertical 'branches' where each snowflake is folded in half on the horizontal plane, but are then 'stacked vertically, each slipping slightly inside the fold of the one above. Below.... a horizontal 'chain' used for extending leaves out sideways and diagonally upwards. Here the top two 'lobes' of each snowflake have not been folded down yet. Also, three snowflakes folded on the horizontal, but about to be slid one just inside the other to form a vertical 'branch'. The plant as it stands at the moment.... I will be adding some more to this.... yeah I know I said I wouldn't post any more pics until it's ready for the varnish, but hey ho. ps, I am dead chuffed with how this 'ivy' is turning out. TFL Badder
  6. Badder
    Shermans aren't my favourite tanks 'looks wise', but they are certainly fun and easy to build with much fewer wheels/wheel parts to clean up, glue together and paint than those of their opponents! Have fun! Rearguards Badder
  7. Badder
    Hi Hewy, Nice of you to say so, and welcome. You'll have quite a few pages to trawl through! This was always intended to be a 'if you're going to make one diorama in your life, go all out to make it as good as you possibly can,' type diorama. So there was always going to be some evolution. I still can't absolutely-for-certain say that the Churchill and Universal Carrier/s are going to be the subject matter, (and even they weren't the original intention!) And I'm considering 'dropping' the first building as I may not have enough room for it. I have a rough idea of where I'm going, but I will know better when the current building is finished. And I do hope you find something useful in this thread. That's the whole point of my posting this thread, and why I'm going into lengthy detail with lots of pics. Rearguards Badder Hi Rich... the whitewash was an experiment, and I'm glad I did it. I got very bored with brown! I'm pleased with the leaves too.... a paper punch costing a couple of quid and i'm producing leaves that compare well with the PE ones you can buy. And I'm glad you like my bush. I'm going to leave it untrimmed and let it grow wild! Rearguards, Badder
  8. Badder
    A great little 'vignette'. Lovely figures there, well posed, with a nice job on the camo jackets and equipment. The groundwork is absolutely superb, very realistic. The use of a backdrop really helps to place the scene and makes for some excellent photos. My only criticism would be the eyes. It's always the eyes. I never even attempt them. If they are even 2 percent wrong, they look wrong. Having said that 80 percent of the time it's down to bad 'sculpting' by the designer, and 15 percent of the time down to bad wear on the moulds at the manufacturers Rearguards, Badder
  9. Badder
    Thanks Glynn, Much appreciated. I always like to place my models in a diorama because I think the scenery draws the eye away from some of the weaknesses in my vehicles! I'm wondering which is the worst/most ugly figure of all time? Perhaps we should start a competition? Rearguards, Badder Thanks, er....1001, I really enjoyed making the dio, although I had originally planned on making the obstacles more challenging! I chickened out of having the carrier ramming through a dry-stone wall. But maybe they didn't actually have enough 'grunt' to do that! Rearguards, Badde
  10. Badder
    I built and painted another version of this vehicle with the large machine gun and MG34 arrangement.. I forget the vehicle designation... a 234/3 or something like that. It was also an Italeri kit, but reboxed by Tamiya and came with PE and a motorcycle/dispatch rider. It was a superb kit, and you got a lot for your money. I bought it through Amazon, but haven't been able to find another since. I wanted another because unfortunately I dropped mine at the final matt varnishing stage and smashed it, CA bonds shattering everywhere! Grrrrrrr! Yours is a lovely job (and upon seeing it I'm really itching to find that kit I once had!) I like the weathering, the 'as new' spare wheel, the rusty exhaust box, and particularly the satin finish. Satin is the way to go, I think. It makes AFV's look 'metal', which is something matt doesn't. It would be nice to see this in a small vignette, or a diorama. Reaguards, Badder
  11. Badder
    Hi Hewy, I saw your comment on the Universal Carrier currently showing in the Armour RFI forum and traced you here. I built one of these for my Carry on Regardless dio and have another in my stash for my current dio (to go with my Churchill VII) I may even get a 2nd and 3rd Carrier as Churchills and Carriers were often inseparable. I know what you mean about the tracks, mine snapped, but I got around the problem by not joining them and hiding the gap behind the front side skirts. As for the front armour plate, yeah, it doesn't fit well to the glacis.... a problem I was first aware of back in the late 70's. It actually doesn't sit 'square' across the entire width of the vehicle either. A bit of thinning, a bit of bending and a bit of filling and things can be made better, but still, it's a bit of a pain. Oh and one more thing: the 'forced reconnaissance' kit figures. The gunner is a mutant... huge when compared to the driver, but with a very thin and skinny bum/hip/thigh arrangement and a huge indent in his buttocks so as to get him to sit low in his seat. I made the mistake of fitting him after the front plate was fixed in place. Talk about difficult! In the end I had to disassemble him at the waist and put his legs in first, but even then it required manoeuvring him through a fifth dimension! I'd loved to have joined in with the GB, but my 'The ever evolving diorama' diorama is going to be taking up all of my time for the next year or so! Good luck with your build! I will be popping in to see how you're getting on. Rearguards, Badder
  12. Badder
    Grinding up chincillas to make a sand for a diorama?????????? How utterly realistic the little bleeders look in smaller pieces. Good job so far. It looks realistic to me. I've not used that clay stuff before, and to be honest I think I'll steer clear of all such products. I really don't see the point of them when polyfilla has never let me down. I prefer the quicker drying time and any modelling of tank tracks etc is easily done with a final skim and a length of old duplicate track while it's still wet. And personally, I never fork out money on 'fake' rocks/boulders/grit etc. There's plenty of free ones laying around out there. Building sites are an obvious source, and fly tips! Having said all that, I'm sure you want the 'very best[ materials and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm sure your diorama is going to be a fitting tribute to your father and all those brave men. Rearguards, Badder
  13. Badder
    I guess it had to happen. One of the fine 'twigs' at the tip has snapped off, taking a few leaves with it. Not to worry, I'm pretty sure the bulk of the leaves will hold the rest of the roots together... AND... I'm going to replace the finer 'twigs' with copper wire and ensure their permanence! I've carried on adding extra layers of leaves to those already fixed in place, and have moved over towards the centre of the plant, fixing leaves there. I won't bother posting more pics of the plant until it's due a coat of varnish and some washes. TFL Badder
  14. Badder
    So excited with the results of simply painting the leaves lime green, I couldn't wait for the paint to dry before taking photos. In truth though, the leaves will be painted gloss anyway, so apart from some washes to create some slight variation, this is what they'll look like. TFL Badder. PS. I've only glued my fingers together 7 times.
  15. Badder
    Silly me. Silly, silly, me. Of course I don't need to cut up leaves and stick them together in clumps. They are already in small clumps called 'snowflakes'. All I had to do was bend them in half then stick lots together, but nowhere near as many as I would have to do with individual leaves. I've continued with the roots then, adding dozens of bent snowflakes with CA. I'm not sure if the roots are really necessary now. Perhaps they only need be visible towards the extremities and at the 'trunk'. I'm going to paint this up to see how realistic it looks. TFL Badder
  16. Badder
    Hmmmmm..... The idea of laying a bunch of leaves out first and dabbing CA-soaked roots in kind of works, but the amount of time spent orientating the leaves first negates any advantages over gluing the leaves individually. Plus of course, the leaves aren't placed 'perfectly'. So, scrap that idea. I'm now thinking that it might be better to glue large numbers of leaves to each other before gluing them to the roots. If I can somehow build 'modules' of leaves in 3-D structures, even better. So that's my next experiment. TFL Badder
  17. Badder
    Great stuff. I love the expressions on their faces. I don't know much about bombs, but I assume they are only armed after falling a certain height? I'd be interested to know. Your groundwork is spot on btw. Rearguards, Badder
  18. Badder
    Okay.... so here are the roots with around 35 leaves attached. (Rivet Counters are welcome to provide an accurate count!) I was thinking I'd attach each leaf separately rather than use a 'sprinkle' method. I wanted the leaves to hang and 'grow' realistically. So each leaf was picked up using the dampened point of a toothpick, then transferred to a spot of medium CA which I'd previously applied to a part of the roots. This method isn't perfect. Despite care, CA does sometimes 'capillariate' (why is there no adverb for 'capillary action' ?) and glues the leaf to the toothpick. I've tried using metal implements instead of toothpicks, but the problem still persists. Progress is therefore slow and tiresome. I am wondering if I can speed things up by laying out a whole bunch of leaves out on a board, all laying in the same orientation, and then lowering the CA 'dampened' roots onto them. I think it's worth a try. TFL Badder
  19. Badder
    Thanks Major, A 'Wow!' is something I've not had before, so one with double exclamation marks is even more special! I'm glad you like it and hope you are enjoying the journey as much as I am. Now, to cut another batch of leaves.... sigh. Rearguards, Badder
  20. Badder
    Before I investigate my 'fishing line method', I first have to look at a more 'natural' material, that being plant roots. Here's some roots I pulled up from a hedgerow a month or so ago. I have a few bunches of this stuff, but not enough to cover all of the walls. If it proves a good material I will get some more. I've stored these bunches indoors, letting them dry out. Last week I soaked them in a 50/50 water to PVA solution and hung them out on the washing line to dry in the sun. When the glue was just starting to turn sticky, I fanned out the root strands and pressed them down flat. Once properly dry, I again stored them indoors. The roots are now 'sealed' and hopefully preserved. They remain pliable and are not brittle. This 'fan' of roots is the largest I have and I plan to fix it to the wall shown in the photo above this post. I'm going to use paper leaves. They resemble those of ivy, though are a little too large to be truly accurate, but they are okay to represent the leaves of some kind of creeper. Again, I'm going to make the leaves using a 'snowflake' paper,punch purchased from Hobbycraft. One of the 'snowflakes' can be seen bottom right of the photo. Again, I will be snipping the ends off each of the five 'arms' of the snowflake, to obtain '3-lobed' leaves. Now I will see if I can stick them to the roots. TFL Badder
  21. Badder
    I've continued with the application of washes to the moss covering the walls, using green pigment/thinner washes. . I am happy to call this part of the project finished as much of the moss on the walls will act as the 'undergrowth' for creepers and ivy. The fixing of ivy to the building will be a long and tedious process, the creation of the ivy itself being a project all of its own. Here's some pics of where things stand at the moment. Photo below: the porch is looking wonky here because it's sat on some grit. Photo below: The right hand corner of the main building isn't finished here. I have plans for it. Photo below: Again, I have plans for the left rear corner of the building so I have not finished it off. I'm going to give everything a spray with matt varnish and then I'm going to set this aside and investigate various ways of making the ivy/creepers. I will first look at my 'fishing line method', which I used for making trees in my diorama 'Carry on Regardless'. I'm thinking it can be adapted to create ivy/creepers. The big challenge though will be how to replicate the leaves themselves. I have some ideas which I will explore 'live' in this thread. TFL Badder
  22. Badder
    A superb looking KV-1 you've got there, very subtly weathered. A newcomer yet to score first blood on the battlefield. I love the satin finish. (Something I've always preferred to see compared to the usual matt.) It looks very 'metal'. Well done. Rearguards, Badder
  23. Badder
    That's better! We can see them now. It was worth the wait. A grand job. You've got some interesting weathering effects going on there, though I wonder why the bottom of the side skirts seem to have been 'overlooked' in the matter of the same treatment as the rest of the tank. They seem far too clean and 'new' to me. And we can't see the running gear! Rearguards, Badder
  24. Badder
    Not bad at all. I also returned to model-making after 35yr gap, so I know what it's like with all these new-fangled paints/pigments/washes etc. Your Panzer is great. The rusty exhaust is realistic, but I especially like the mud on the running gear. Though I have to say the mud on the fenders is way too clumpy and wouldn't really get there unless someone shovelled it on. (Mud would be on the undersides) And on the subject of mud, you're much better off using paint mixed with fine grits/powders etc rather than real mud which has organic materials in it including plastic-eating-glue-dissolving microbes. (okay, I might be exaggerating) Rearguards, Badder
  25. Badder
    no pics.... grrrr
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