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


Badder

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Another 24hrs with no internet! Openreach bunch of luddites.

The fireplace is progressing. I'm using casts of the stonework for this section rather than those of the brickwork. I will post pics of chimney later today IF the luddites don't mess their wire cables up again!

 

TFL

Badder

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Hope your lack of Internet doesn't passist, as your casting of the brickwork looks fantastic. I'm watching with intrest as I'm may have ago at poring, my own walls for a project with a panther next year.

 

happy new year

 

ozzy

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On ‎31‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 8:33 AM, Ozzy said:

Hope your lack of Internet doesn't passist, as your casting of the brickwork looks fantastic. I'm watching with intrest as I'm may have ago at poring, my own walls for a project with a panther next year.

 

happy new year

 

ozzy

Living in the wilds of Wiltshire has its disadvantages Ozzy. We're still on gas bottles for heating and copper cables for Telephone and internet out here.

Thanks for the likes.

 

Here's the fireplace so far. I just had to pop out to buy more latex and plaster of Paris.... you'll see why in a short while.

8e2ybZk.jpg

 

 

 

Have a great new year.

Rearguards,

Badder

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I managed to get  MiniArt 'Ardennes Building', a kit which I didn't know existed. Having already decided to set this dio in the Ardennes, that's quite handy. It's also VERY handy that the kit has a similar stonework pattern as the 'ruined village house' featuring in this WIP. In truth, many MiniArt buildings share the same features and details and some are just expanded versions of smaller kits. The window frames, door, guttering and lantern are duplicates of those in the ruined village house kit, but here I have a wicket gate/door, railings, a chimney and most important of all, a tiled roof. The tiled roof (and the wall sections) will provide lots of handy new casts for future projects.

 

NRYTO7k.jpg

 

 

And here's the second kit... a 'Polish City Building'. I won't be using this in this dio, but again, I will make casts of it. BTW it comes with a handy sheet of 'German Propaganda' posters.

 

RAiWLie.jpg

 

 

Oh, and although not pictured, I have also received Tamiya's Livestock kit, mainly for the pig.

 

TFL and Happy new year to all!

Rearguards,

Badder

 

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I will be intrested in seeing how the Ardennes building comes together, as it was one I've was looking at last night. Your fire place looks spot on, it's definitely a Wiltshire thing as we're on mains gas and up the road are on bottles.

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Just now, Ozzy said:

I will be intrested in seeing how the Ardennes building comes together, as it was one I've was looking at last night. Your fire place looks spot on, it's definitely a Wiltshire thing as we're on mains gas and up the road are on bottles.

I will make casts of the Ardennes kit and construct it from those. I doubt I'll construct the kit itself but I will use the detail parts wherever suitable.

The ruined house kit doesn't fit together perfectly and I have issues with the very thin plastic not providing enough contact area for gluing. I would have had to insert tabs along the joins to be happy with the strength of the bonds, and that's not something I could be bothered with at the outset. Anyway, the plaster casts are much easier to work with... for gluing and carving and I think they are more realistic in texture than the kit plastic.  And of course, by not constructing the kit I have 'masters' from which I can forever make more moulds.

Rearguards

Badder

It may be that the 'Ardennes Building' kit fits together better

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I've added the last section of plaster cast to the fire surround and have filled in the gaps here, and on the chimney stack, with more plaster. This should soon be dry. I can then carve the stonework patterns into those areas.  Some more stone and brickwork will complete the chimney breast. Then I will add the mantelpiece and ornamental surround.

 

TFL

Badder

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Here's the latest pics. 

XDc9iVQ.jpg

 

 

tS1cOPt.jpg

 

As you can see, the stone and brickwork has all been added and carved. Some bricks and stones will be chosen for more damage/treatment at a later date.

 

TFL

Badder

 

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And another bit of progress.....

Lj8rLhR.jpg

Mantle piece and uprights made from plasticard, and like everything else in this assembly, glued with medium CA.

 

TFL

 

Badder

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Steady progress has been made on the chimney/fireplace today. I still haven't been able to source any more Humbrol Dark Earth Weathering Powder; the localHobbycraft is awful at re-stocking.  I asked them over a month ago to get some more in, and they haven't.  And my LHS was out of it as well. So yet again I've had to mix enamels to get the right colour and use washes and other powders including powdered plaster of paris to achieve the same effect.

So, the fire surround has been closely colour-matched to the rest of the building's walls while the chimney stack has been treated with an enamel red brick colour, dark and light enamel washes and a dusting with MIG pigment 'brick dust'.

Pics to follow shortly.

PIomWZP.jpg

 

ER2nt7d.jpg

 

 

dTpY3Ko.jpg

 

 

 

 

FiT5rS7.jpg

Further work will be done on the final colour-matching of the fire surround/chimney breast, but for now I must venture to add the wall to the back of the fireplace and stack. This won't be an easy task as it has to be architecturally correct.... the chimney assembly must be an integral part of the inner wall at least. I had foreseen this though, so it's not like I've made a booboo. And of course, I don't have to make an entire wall, just the lower half. And for that I now have a nice expanse of solid stonework which I can copy from my 'Ardennes Building'.

So, now to make another mould. I am going to be particularly fastidious with this one as it will be an extremely handy mould to have, and I want it to be both accurate and easy to use, with a nice bit of 'box work' to contain the mould and hold the poured plaster of paris whilst drying.

 

TFL

Badder

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3 minutes ago, LotusArenco said:

Amazon. £3.99. Free delivery if you're a prime member.

 

Build is looking great, crack on.:)

 

Mart (who now owns jars of dill tops and chervil)

 

Hi Mart, Yeah, I know, and I have Amazon vouchers to spend, but they are reserved for some tracked/wheeled fighty things rather than materials. Otherwise I  only use Amazon as a last resort. I believe stores should keep their shelves full. If I moan when they are empty then someone might learn to do their job properly. I mean, who wants Amazon to take over the world of shopping? Not me.

 

Nice to hear you're all herbed up. I look forward to seeing what you do with them!

 

Rearguards and Happy new year,

Badder

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Small suggestion: If you’re using a lot of a certain weathering powder, it might be cheaper in the long run if you do a google for artist’s pigments.

As far as I know it’s the same stuff, without the ‘modellers premium tax’ added.

http://www.lawrence.co.uk/shop/Sennelier-pigments.html

https://www.jacksonsart.com/colour/pigments-powders/pigments/colour---group/earth/show/60

Mart (ex-Winsor & Newton employee, who’s seen a fair share of pigment in his time!)

Edited by LotusArenco
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16 minutes ago, LotusArenco said:

Small suggestion: If you’re using a lot of a certain weathering powder, it might be cheaper in the long run if you do a google for artist’s pigments.

As far as I know it’s the same stuff, without the ‘modellers premium tax’ added.

http://www.lawrence.co.uk/shop/Sennelier-pigments.html

https://www.jacksonsart.com/colour/pigments-powders/pigments/colour---group/earth/show/60

Mart (ex-Winsor & Newton employee, who’s seen a fair share of pigment in his time!)

 

Cool Mart, thanks for that! I will defo give it a go.

Badder (also a Martin)

 

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Change of plan.

Whilst the stonework pattern on the 'Ardennes Building' is very similar to that of the 'Ruined Village House' it turns out that it's not exactly the same, and unfortunately the individual stones are on average smaller as well. And my conscience won't let me use it as a master for this current project.

So, I will have to use the moulds I've already made and join a couple of casts together.

It's not a problem. It just means that it'll take longer than I had hoped.

Still, I will be making moulds of the Ardennes Building for future projects, but not just now.

 

And with that, I've returned for the time being to the chimney assembly.....

 

Since last, the whole thing has been given a coat of acrylic gloss varnish and was washed with very dilute black enamel. The I gave the stack a going over with 'rust' and 'brick dust' weathering powders. The fire surround/mantelpiece was given a going over with 'dirty' plaster of paris dust, that is to say, white plaster of paris dust scraped from a scrap piece of casting mixed on the model with small amounts of either rust or brick dust powders.  This dulled everything down and got into the crevices.

I then gave everything another coat of acrylic gloss and repeated the process described above, varying the amounts of dilute black enamel wash and the mix of powders.

The hearth was treated with a less dilute black enamel wash, was, allowed to dry and was then 'scrubbed' with a stiff brush coated in rust weathering powder. There needs to be more black added to the upper areas of the hearth, but I quite like the realism I've achieved so far.

T4FbgF7.jpg

 

 

YrNTwIO.jpg

 

 

 

 

TFL

Badder

 

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I have seen (a preliminary glimpse only), all what you have achieved so far, how much work, and what a good result you are getting.
The bricks of the chimney, they look so real already painted, and I especially like the vine in the trunk of the tree.
It will take me longer than I have to see everything you've done ... :fight: lol

A lot of useful info can be extracted from your progress.:popcorn:

Cheers Badder :cold:

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2 minutes ago, FrancisGL said:

I have seen (a preliminary glimpse only), all what you have achieved so far, how much work, and what a good result you are getting.
The bricks of the chimney, they look so real already painted, and I especially like the vine in the trunk of the tree.
It will take me longer than I have to see everything you've done ... :fight: lol

A lot of useful info can be extracted from your progress.:popcorn:

Cheers Badder :cold:

Thanks very much Francis.

Glad you like it!

I've just had an idea, or rather, I've just remembered an idea I had a year ago.... and that is to produce not one diorama, but two, as a 'before and after'.

This is going to be a winter scene set in the winter of 1944-45, with the StuG laid up in a ruined building... and now I think I'd like to follow it up with the same scene set in the summer of 1944 either with a different vehicle, or the same one in summer camo? I should be able to reproduce the building quite accurately, what with the moulds I now have. What do you think?

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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Before anyone asks, yes, I know that the chimney stack should have signs of it having once been part of the first floor interior, and ot it sticking up through the roof space and roof tiles.

Let me assure you that there will be visible evidence of those facts. There will be a mortar line, lead flashing and a variation in the colour of the bricks at the point where the chimney stack protruded through the roof tiles, remains of plaster on the first and ground floor sections, and demarcation lines where the chimney stack was 'between the floorboards' roughly half way up.

All these details will be added once I've worked out where they should be.

I cannot work out their positions precisely until I have an idea as to how deeply the assembly will be fixed into the 'ground' and how it then relates to the rest of the building.

 

Badder

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54 minutes ago, Badder said:

Thanks very much Francis.

Glad you like it!

I've just had an idea, or rather, I've just remembered an idea I had a year ago.... and that is to produce not one diorama, but two, as a 'before and after'.

This is going to be a winter scene set in the winter of 1944-45, with the StuG laid up in a ruined building... and now I think I'd like to follow it up with the same scene set in the summer of 1944 either with a different vehicle, or the same one in summer camo? I should be able to reproduce the building quite accurately, what with the moulds I now have. What do you think?

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

Well, it's an idea that is less original and interesting. On the one hand, the same vehicle with different camo, makes me think, that the tank destroyer and his crew have been sufficiently talented (and lucky ... lol), to continue fighting that winter, and with a new vehicle, ), I would think that the casualties are replaced with the material more at hand, or that that model passed into a more efficient machine ...
Maybe, doing the same mode (Stug) twice is monotonous, and you could try another tanker (we have a multitude of different models within our reach ..), which would get the role of ambush also in a credible way.

Cheers Badder :cold:

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25 minutes ago, FrancisGL said:

 

Well, it's an idea that is less original and interesting. On the one hand, the same vehicle with different camo, makes me think, that the tank destroyer and his crew have been sufficiently talented (and lucky ... lol), to continue fighting that winter, and with a new vehicle, ), I would think that the casualties are replaced with the material more at hand, or that that model passed into a more efficient machine ...
Maybe, doing the same mode (Stug) twice is monotonous, and you could try another tanker (we have a multitude of different models within our reach ..), which would get the role of ambush also in a credible way.

Cheers Badder :cold:

Indeed Francis.

The possibilities are broad. It could be an allied AFV that fought its way to that position since D-Day, and then in the Winter during the battle of the bulge the Germans pushed back and the place was occupied by the StuG......

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Now that I have moulds of the Tamiya brick wall set, and having seen how nice the casts are in situ on the chimney stack, I'm wondering about the bricked up windows I made earlier.

The bricks were hand made by me so they are slightly irregular in size and shape and they are a bit wonky.

 

SO.... WHO THINKS I SHOULD REPLACE THEM WITH THE BRICKWORK CASTS?

 

 

Aside from that, a progress report:

Things have been slow due to work commitments, but I've added a bit of plaster to the stack and defined the area of brickwork below it that would have been hidden between the ground floor ceiling and the first floor floorboards. The area of plaster is simply white paper, cut to shape, folded around the corner of the stack and fixed in place with a lot of thin CA. This soaked into the paper and set it hard. I dabbed dirty thinners over the paper to make it look more like plaster. I will add a bit more plaster higher up, once I've worked out where the sloping ceiling would intersect the chimney.

In addition, I've done some more work on the fireplace,  adding a slab floor to the hearth.

I've also worked on the colours at the back of the hearth, increasing the 'burnt' look.

 

And further more, I've had a bit of a brainwave.

It's to do with my favourite subject..... Trees.

Now, I've had a go at trees with full foliage, using sea foam,(see my dio/vignette 'Enemy at the gate') and I've had a go at trees in full foliage using my invented nylon monofilament fishing line method, which uses fishing line for branches and twigs, and herbs for leaves. (see  my dio 'Carry on regardless' ) Both methods were satisfactory. However,, my trees without foliage are perhaps a bit lacking in the twig department. They just don't have enough small twigs to look realistic. This problem does not arise with trees in full foliage, as the leaves screen the structure of the trees.

So, whilst at work today, I was thinking how to make winter trees look more twiggy.... and an idea popped into my head. I THINK it will work..... stay tuned. I just have to dig around in a huge pile of boxes, tubs and other containers, looking for a stash of a particular material which I know I had loads of, but haven't seen for over a year!

 

Pics later.

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

 

 

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