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Saving a Churchill MkVII from the bin.


Badder

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Sorry I didn't post pics as promised. Stupid laptop ran out of coal. All fueled up again now. Progress on the figures has been mixed. The tank commander is definitely finished to a standard I am happy with. He's not as good as some I have seen on here, but he's the best I'VE ever done. Shame I did the tank riders first, because they are nowhere near as good in the face department. I will attempt to improve them at some point, but if I've learned anything of late, its that trying to improve something often has the opposite effect!

Anyway, he's done. The motorcycle is done and the motorcyclist is nearly finished and just missing a head.

I've rearranged the stowage and the seating positions for the tank riders, added a kit bag hanging from a paper strap, and done a bit more weathering on the tank's hull sides and wheels.

I spent a painful half-hour yesterday clambering around in hedgerows and now have a carrier bag full of suitably 'tree-like' twigs to work with.

I also went to Poundland, looking to buy an Electronic Bug Zapper, which I see can be cannibalized and turned into a nifty static grass applicator, but no luck. Our Poundland is a poxy little one and doesn't stock them. grrrrr.

Anyway.... here's yet another batch of pics much like the last lot, only a bit better!12182530_10208110393183585_6909844884680

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12188249_10208110393223586_476254190399312186618_10208110394223611_2485419460863Case in point.. I DID add paper straps to the rifles, using Cyano glue, but when I applied a wash the straps snapped... So I had to remove the straps, the glue residue, and then damaged the underlying paintwork.. So I have to start all over again!

Edited by Badder
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Hang on, I've got a plan. What about having the tank as is, sat in a pond or river bed? With just the top half of the turret exposed? And a seriously hacked off looking figure looking on? Accurate armour do some good British NCO types that could work, clearish pond water would explain the odd finish and you get to keep the tank. It could be a small scene, just a bit bigger than the model. Or, a small part of a larger scene to show off a growing armour collection. Just a thought. Good luck.

Or maybe, on a similar vein, try depicting your diorama just after a rain shower?

Getting the vehicle to appear wet could add a touch more reality to the diorama.

Hope you get things sorted- seems a shame to bin your hard work.

Regards Adrian

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Or maybe, on a similar vein, try depicting your diorama just after a rain shower?

Getting the vehicle to appear wet could add a touch more reality to the diorama.

Hope you get things sorted- seems a shame to bin your hard work.

Regards Adrian

I solved the issue with the satin/gloss patches by overspraying with a different brand of acrylic matt varnish. As it turns out, I now realise that a satin varnish is actually preferable as it improves the flow of the washes to follow... and after all the weathering, it is dulled down to NEARLY matt, the transparency of the washes giving the finished model a 'metallic' look. In future I will use a satin varnish.

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I have had a mixed day today. I have made good progress with some of the figures, and took a temporary step backwards with the farmer figure and the tank commander.

With the farmer, I attempted to add some brass paint to his buttons, messed them up, tried to clean them off and spread metallic glitter over his waistcoat...which meant having to clean and repaint that... and then paint ran onto his shirt collar. A little re-painting was required to sort it all out but I got there eventually and managed to paint his waistcoat buttons to my satisfaction.

I was completely happy with the tank commander, until I added his cap badge. That took three attempts before I was satisfied. He's now DEFINITELY finished and I will resist all temptations to 'improve' him, or the farmer.

The bike rider now has a head, and has a sten gun strapped over his back. I just need to do a bit of touching up on his tunic as the contact area with the gun was so small and fiddly that I had to use Cyano glue and there was a bit of over-spill which I had to scrape back. A simple wash of red/brown should be all that is required to finish him.

The gunner and driver are essentially finished, and now just require a coat of matt varnish each. Although I may omit the driver (and the farmer) from the diorama.

While these figures' faces are by no means brilliant, they are the best I've ever done, or to put it another way, 'average'. But as they say: 'practice makes perfect'. And I am learning from my mistakes.

Oh, and I accidentally snapped off the longest aerial, for the 2nd time. Yes, I know, I shouldn't put them on until the very last!

On that note, I had made mine from stretched sprue, but I've just raided my angling seat box and found a pole float with just the right length and diameter of carbon fibre stem! In future I shall make all my aerials from pole floats! They will be pretty much 'snap-proof'.

Photos will follow shortly... assuming the missus makes it home in the fog and lets me use her camera!

Edited by Badder
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So, once again the lighting is bad and the colours do not show well. Things look a lot darker than they are in real life too.

The carbon fibre aerial has been fitted to the tank, replacing the stretched sprue one which I broke while messing about with the gunner's seating position. I've added some ropes to tie down some of the stowage, and may add more as I've finally settled on the seating positions of the tank riders. They are all facing in the same direction, all looking at the same thing. What that thing is I have yet to decide (maybe the farmer, maybe not)

I will hang a couple of helmets on the turret for the tank crew.

I did add pupils to all the figures' eyes with a 0.15 mil rotring technical drawing pen and was pleased with the outcome, until I applied a wash over their faces and discovered that the ink was soluble! grrrr. I do have waterproof ink somewhere, buried at the bottom of a cupboard I expect, but is it thinner proof? It'll take ages to find it, so maybe I won't bother.

Still to do.... Rifles (with straps) for the tank riders. Jerry can (marked with a white cross to signify water) Helmets (with straps) to hang on turret. More stowage/ropes. Five infantry figures (on patrol)

And I am now starting to think seriously about the diorama. I have gathered all the materials necessary to build it, including a pot of 'realistic water'. The diorama though, will appear in the relevant forum.

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I've decided to do the 5 infantry men before starting the diorama. Having said that, I will also going to spend my spare time on the static grass. I can't get hold of one of those bug zappers to make the applicator, so I am going to do the grass by hand. And rather than applying it with PVA directly to the base, I am going to make the strips of grass first and apply them later. I watched a video where some guy uses strips of sellotape to hold the grass, making a kind of long sandwich, then he cut the grass to various lengths. He then cut the sellotape lengthways and applied the thin strips the diorama with PVA. The effect was quite good, and certainly quicker and easier than the blade by blade method. I am going to try something similar, but rather than applying the strips in lines, I am going to roll each strip up, forming clumps, then fix the clumps together.

Edited.... Er... I gave up on the sellotape idea. Sure, you can get strips of short grass, but by the time you've rolled it up you'll end up with a big wad of sellotape which DOESN'T glue together with CA and unrolls. It does the same when 'planted' in PVA as well. Anyway, I've found a method for creating grass, which is more to MY suiting (Until I get a bug-zapper, that is)

Edited by Badder
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Okay, this IS NOT a photo of the finished Churchill in a diorama. This is a NEAR finished model replacing the Tiger tank in my 'Somewhere near Villers Bocage' diorama. Rather than photograph the nearly finished Churchill on a table top, I thought it would look nice like this. The tank riders are finished. The farmer is finished. I've added some more stowage to the tank and snapped off the 2nd aerial in the process! lol. Yes, I will be replacing THAT ONE with a carbon fibre rod as well!

I haven't yet added the tank crews' helmets to the stowage, because time has run out for today.

If you're wondering why the tank is NOT finished, it's because I won't be completing the final weathering until I am in the process of making the ACTUAL diorama. Obviously the mud/dust/dirt on the tank must conform to the earth in the setting and I haven't decided on that yet. It might be wet and muddy or dry and dusty. And It might be dry and dusty, but the tank has just passed through a ford, or marsh.

Anyhooooooo... the infantrymen are out of the box and the removing of mold lines has begun. I also have the 'altered' tank rider to consider, and the infantryman that came with the Churchill kit. Enjoy the pics.

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And yes, I've checked all the stowage and the turret WILL do a complete 360 with the gun at the lowest elevation. The tank riders will just have to like it or lump it.

Edited by Badder
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The 5 tamiya infantry on patrol figures are lovely. Their arms fit perfectly, without having to be filed or filled. Their rucksacks have little protrusions on them which match up with protrusions on their webbing, so that they actually look like they are hanging on straps and are not magnetically attached! Their poses are natural, their hands are ten times better than the MiniArt tank riders', and their faces look pretty good pre-painting. I say pre-painting because they probably won't look so good after I've finished them.

Having said that, I am trying a new approach. I have constructed the figures, equipment and all, PRIOR to painting. All I've left off is their heads and their rifles/sten gun. The heads will be painted separately of course, and I am starting off with a WHITE base coat. This means that the skin tones will have some brightness to them, something I've always had problems with. Also, it means that I don't have to paint their eyeballs and teeth! I suffer from an auto-immune disease, which affects the nerves in my hands and feet arms and legs, so my hands aren't as steady as they used to be. I find painting fine detail very difficult. With this in mind, I will be experimenting with masking fluid and will try air-brushing the figures rather than struggling to paint the webbing and other fine details.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay guys, sorry no WIPs for the infantrymen, but here they are. As a newbie to modern-day painting methods, I was impressed by how much easier it was to paint the figures by using satin acrylic varnish, before finishing off with a coat of matt varnish. I still haven't quite the hang of painting faces, but the infantrymen have was much better faces than do the tank riders. These Tamiya figures are really quite good, with good fits and nice details. I constructed each figure in its entirety, equipment, guns and all and painted them after.. a bit fiddly in places, but maskol proved useful. In future I will employ the same methods. I used to find it such a chore having to 'touch-up' figures when attaching painted equipment to already-painted bodies. Leaving the painting until last is so much easier.

I've also added a couple of shots of the tank as I've finally fixed down the stowage, and added a helmet.

Essentially then, I am now ready to start the diorama. I will obviously apply a bit more mud and dirt etc to the tank and the soldiers' boots once they are set in the diorama and the earth colours have been decided. I suppose then that they will be 'Ready for Inspection' and I will post the last pics of them here before switching to the relevant forums.

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BTW, I've found a great source of material for the rifle and machine-gun straps. Astroturf. I found some at a fly-tipping site and thought it would come in handy as 'vegetation' in the diorama (with a bit of work done to it obviously) But, by pulling on a length of 'grass' you actually get a double-length strand of tough yet flexible plastic material, just the right thickness and width for straps. So no more paper or tin-foil straps for me!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Nice save.....Reckon it needs festooning with track links though, Churchills always look a bit naked without them to me. :coolio:

Well, stupid of me, I know, but here's my excuse! I fitted the tracks AFTER I had fitted the skirts! I was hoping to be able to join the ends by pushing the whole lot around the drive wheels, along behind the skirts and then over and around the idler wheels where I could then fix the ends together before pulling the tracks back a bit. However, the drive wheels, which were SUPPOSED to rotate freely, had glued fast! So I had not choice but to glue the tracks TO the top of the drive wheels and idler wheels, leaving the 'hidden' sections of track flapping loose behind the skirts - exactly the parts I COULD have cut off to use as extra armour for the turret. Put simply: in my flusterance and haste and embarrassment at such a silly mistake, I FORGOT.

Having said that, I'd like to know how those bits of track WERE attached to the turret. Were they just strapped on, welded in place or did they hang on...er... hangers?

Edited by Badder
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I seldom dip into the "Dark Side" but for some reason the title of this thread caught my eye. What you have here are the makings of one very special diorama that even this dye in the wool aircraft modeller can admire.

If you are looking for a reliable matt varnish, you might consider Dahler Rowney's acrylic artist's matt varnish. I use this cut with some white spirit and have never had a problem in the years I have been using it.

Martin

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I can't believe so few people have commented on this! Inadvertently you've created a very realistic finish for this tank. Like Martin I don't dip into armour much, but this is a heck of a build. Nice one.

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I seldom dip into the "Dark Side" but for some reason the title of this thread caught my eye. What you have here are the makings of one very special diorama that even this dye in the wool aircraft modeller can admire.

If you are looking for a reliable matt varnish, you might consider Dahler Rowney's acrylic artist's matt varnish. I use this cut with some white spirit and have never had a problem in the years I have been using it.

Martin

Thanks for the compliment Martin. I do sometimes have a gander at the 'airy fairy side' and I appreciate a good winged or rotary thing, but THEY DON'T MAKE THEM IN 1/35th so I steer clear!

BTW, I'm okay for matt varnish now. During my first ever visit to this website, I saw a WIP where someone used 'Winsor and Newton's Galeria matt varnish. I just happened to see some on the shelves of a store I was visiting the following day, so I bought some and it's wonderful: relatively cheap, no thinning/mixing required and it flows through the airbrush like...er... air.

ps. When I read your comment, I thought this was in the 'dioramas WIP' section, but I just realised that it isn't! If you're interested, this Churchill appears in there, under the heading 'Lost in France.'

Edited by Badder
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I can't believe so few people have commented on this! Inadvertently you've created a very realistic finish for this tank. Like Martin I don't dip into armour much, but this is a heck of a build. Nice one.

Thanks Parabat. I am a new member, so I suppose it'll take a while to get noticed? Not that I think I'm any good yet. I'm just starting out again! Having said that, I've really caught the bug and while I am still working on this, my 2nd model and diorama since returning to modelling, I now have 3 OTHERS waiting. A Sherman, another Tiger and the Quad tractor and 25 pounder!

Ah, just seen that I am now an 'established member'! :wow:

There's just a tiny bit of work left to do on the Churchill. Meanwhile, there are some more pics of it placed in its diorama, viewable in the dioramas WIP under the heading 'Lost in France.'

Edited by Badder
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Make that FOUR straining in their boxes! Today I purchased Tamiya's Universal Carrier MkII. Shame I never had it when I started the diorama for this Churchill, I would have included it. No room for it now... unless.... Thinks about tipping it in the ditch.... lol.

Edited by Badder
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