Major_Error Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 It is good to read that also a fake Christmas tree can have a life after death! I should have put aside the ones that fell off our tree. I will remember next year! 8-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 4 hours ago, Major_Error said: It is good to read that also a fake Christmas tree can have a life after death! I should have put aside the ones that fell off our tree. I will remember next year! 8-) You could always visit your attic? and 'find some more that fell off for some reason'. Rearguards, Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 (edited) Just received these: I doubt I will use all of these. I may modify them. TFL Badder Edited February 23, 2018 by Badder 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichO Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 We haven't heard from you in a while, Badder. ' hope you're feel well. Let us know "wazup". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Isn't the project continuing in the Sherman GB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 On 04/02/2018 at 8:15 PM, RichO said: We haven't heard from you in a while, Badder. ' hope you're feel well. Let us know "wazup". On 04/02/2018 at 11:51 PM, Ratch said: Isn't the project continuing in the Sherman GB? Hi chaps, I am fine Rich, thanks for asking. I am currently concentrating on my 'winter' Sherman for the M3/M4 STGB. I'm at the weathering stage so expect to have the tank itself finished within the next few days. Ratch, the Sherman will have its own diorama, a snow scene. I'll be using the first building I made in THIS WIP as part of the scenery for that. Waste not want not. Btw, I am also in the process of replacing all the photos in this WIP as the image sharing site HostingPics is closing down. This is a long an tedious process which, together with the work on the Sherman, has prevented me getting any more work done for this dio. I am up to page 27 of 47, so have replaced roughly 250 photos, and probably have a similar amount yet to replace! Rearguards, Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince1159 Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 6 hours ago, Badder said: I am currently concentrating on my 'winter' Sherman for the M3/M4 STGB. Good luck .... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 (edited) Bought these at the One Stop corner shop. £1 for 32 emery boards of varying grades. Bargain! Work will recommence on this diorama next week, in between building the diorama for my Sherman in the M3/M4 STGB. TFL Badder Edited February 23, 2018 by Badder 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major_Error Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 2 hours ago, Badder said: Bought these at the One Stop corner shop. £1 for 32 emery boards of varying grades. Bargain! Work will recommence on this diorama next week, in between building the diorama for my Sherman in the M3/M4 STGB. TFL Badder A Female Santa for the Fake Christmas tree? 8-D 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 Hi Major, The 'woman' is actually long-deceased English comedian called 'Dick Emery' in drag. It was he who invented the 'sandpaper' non-slip finish on surf boards an so they called them 'Emery Boards'. Rearguards, Badder 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhouse Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Ooh, Badder; you are awful... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 1 minute ago, bhouse said: Ooh, Badder; you are awful... But I like you! Showing our age now........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhouse Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 (smashes Badder around face with handbag) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpnuts Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Hi mate there's been a lot gone on since I last looked in. Stirling work as always. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 (edited) With the M3/M4 STGB over and open to BM members for voting, I will soon be returning to this diorama. However, I am also going to make a diorama for my winter camo Sherman 'Easy Eight' (Available to view in both the STGB Gallery, and the AFV RFI forum) The winter diorama will feature the first building which I made in THIS WIP. I had always intended to build (or should that be unbuild?) collapsed floors and roof for this building and that is still my intention. It will be a snowy scene, although on the verge of thaw, with mud and puddles as well as lying snow. So, there'll be two dioramas on the go, as well as a bit more work on the Sherman which isn't quite finished, needing some more stowage and better figures. TFL Badder PLEASE VISIT THE M3/M4 GROUP BUILD AND CAST YOUR VOTE FOR FAVOURITE MODEL. Edited April 6, 2018 by Badder 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted June 19, 2018 Author Share Posted June 19, 2018 What do you all think about me turning this into a winter diorama? I ask because I have this M4A3E8 'FACE OFF' Sherman completed and was going to make a diorama for it, but it would mean leaving this one on the back burner for a while. And actually I as yet have no completed AFVs to furnish this diorama. But I have the Sherman and a Willys Jeep that COULD go in it instead. It wouldnt be too hard to convert what I've done to fit a winter scene. The large tree could pass for an evergreen. The hedgerow, which I am no longer happy with, COULD be remade with leafless trees and bushes. The flowers would have to go, but the grass and ivy could remain. The stream could be iced over partly or fully or not at all.... Your thoughts on the subject? Rearguards, Badder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major_Error Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 I have never made a Winter-diorama. I have found it hard to make the snow and winter-looking hard to make. Well, in fact it is hard to make a summer, but winter is harder. As you write; you have made some essential parts for a summer-look. It will be a real challenge both to convert these essential parts, but also a challenge to make a general winter look. Any way; if someone could handle these challenges, and make a nice dio out of this, it must be you! 8-) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichO Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 I know how gorgeous that tank build turned out to be. and it sure would be a shame to lose all the work put into this build. How about starting a second dio build and keeping the summer dio. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted June 23, 2018 Author Share Posted June 23, 2018 (edited) On 6/20/2018 at 8:35 PM, Major_Error said: I have never made a Winter-diorama. I have found it hard to make the snow and winter-looking hard to make. Well, in fact it is hard to make a summer, but winter is harder. As you write; you have made some essential parts for a summer-look. It will be a real challenge both to convert these essential parts, but also a challenge to make a general winter look. Any way; if someone could handle these challenges, and make a nice dio out of this, it must be you! 8-) Hi Major, I would have agreed with about the diffiulties of making realistic snow, until I watched the vids of 'Precision Ice and snow' and searched some of the dioramas on the net. That stuff is fantastic. Expensive, but well worth the money if you really want perfection. Rearguards, Badder On 6/21/2018 at 1:49 PM, RichO said: I know how gorgeous that tank build turned out to be. and it sure would be a shame to lose all the work put into this build. How about starting a second dio build and keeping the summer dio. Hi Rich, The diorama has been sat on a cabinet in my bedroom for the past 6 months and I've looked at it every single night and morning. The herb foliage on the hedgerow has faded, losing its green and turning more yellowy-tan, and, although I could colour it I'm thinking that actually I'd rather rebuild a lot of it using other techniques. As it is, it's just not 'wild' enough. I need some more realistic trees/bushes and a lot more undergrowth. Converting it to a snow scene would have hidden a lot of sins and saved me all that work, so actually a conversion wouldn't have been too hard, but I HAVE decided against it. I have actually stared a winter diorama for the Sherman and I will get back to this diorama once that one is finished. Rearguards, Badder Edited June 23, 2018 by Badder 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhouse Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 12 minutes ago, Badder said: I need some more realistic trees/bushes I think the only way you could improve on your trees and shrubs is to move to Kyoto and start a bonsai apprenticeship. It'll take some time though... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 On 6/23/2018 at 10:08 AM, bhouse said: I think the only way you could improve on your trees and shrubs is to move to Kyoto and start a bonsai apprenticeship. It'll take some time though... Hi Brian, My bro lives near Tokyo. I don't think he's allowed to send live plants through the post though. Rearguards, Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted July 8, 2018 Author Share Posted July 8, 2018 Whilst work on this diorama continues in its lack of continuation, I am always looking out for new materials and tools which might come in handy once it does continue. Today I popped into Hobbycraft to get some more plaster of Paris and found this little gem of a paper punch! As you can see, it's small but produces 3 leaves of a lovely size. This cost £!.50, a bargain when compared to the £9 quoted for some leaf punches. The (Christmas) packaging says these are Holly leaves, but I will be using them for all kinds of plants/leaves. Creasing each leaf down the middle is always a good idea. I can obviously use individual leaves or snip off the central leaf to leave pairs of leaves for spacing out along twigs, creepers, etc, or I can group the bunches of three together to make undergrowth. TFL Badder 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted August 30, 2018 Author Share Posted August 30, 2018 Not so much an update as a far-in-advance warning! At the beginning of this thread I built a MiniArt 'ruined village house' and then extended it by making latex moulds and casting new walls in plaster. Ultimately I decided not to use this building in this diorama. Instead, I purchased MiniArt's 'Ardennes Building' and extended that instead. For those who don't know, I am in the process of making another diorama featuring the first building from THIS thread. I have chopped it up and have extended it even further. During its construction I 'chanced' upon a 'new' effect: wet brushing the stonework with dilute plaster of Paris. This gets into the joints in the stonework and mimics mortar, but also gives a dry chalky texture to the stones themselves. Washes over both can really enhance the realism of the stonework. It will come as no surprise then that I look at the stonework at the front of my Ardennes building and am not at all happy with it. When I return to this project, rest assured that this building will get the aforementioned treatment! Rearguards to all, Badder 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted September 1, 2018 Author Share Posted September 1, 2018 Having decided to give the building my plaster of paris treatment, I cannot now get that 'improvement' out of my head. So, I'm not going to wait 'who knows how long?' before I do it. I'm going to go for it tomorrow. The building will definitely need a blow-clean with an airbrush first, and possibly a light rinse, as it is covered in dust! TFL Badder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted September 2, 2018 Author Share Posted September 2, 2018 As promised, a brief return to work on the building...... Mission: To transform the walls from a rather boring and monotone 'brown' to one with more colour variation, mainly through 'lichen' effects, and meanwhile highlighting the texture of the stonework. Equipment and materials: An old large soft brush. A small soft brush. Plaster of Paris. Water. Airbrush. FIRST, a reminder of how the building looked: Cobwebs and dust were blown away with an airbrush. Stubborn dust was given a blast with water and/or a going over with a water-loaded brush. My new H&S Evolution CRplus 2 in 1 airbrush fitted with the 0.2mm needle and larger cup. This will be used to 'chase' the washes around and also to dry the plaster of paris washes quickly. Water tinted with Daler Rowney Antelope Brown. A pile of Plaster of Paris. Way more than required by a factor of 20! Water added to the plaster and a drop of Antelope Brown added and mixed in. The large brush was dipped in water then used to pick up the 'dyed' plaster. This was applied to the walls quite liberally. At first it looks as if only water has been applied to the walls but a quick blast with air rapidly dries the plaster and exposes it as below: The greeness of the plaster isn't showing up so well in the photos. Here, I added a dab of black ink and chased that around with blasts of water. Similar was done elsewhere. Below: the walls after this preliminary treatment. At this stage it is still possible to wet the plaster and re-activate it in order to move it or remove it completely. Again, the greeness isn't showing up too well in places. I will continue with these processes on the other walls before moving onto the next stages. First will be a coat of gloss varnish. This will fix the plaster and stop it moving about when new washes with plaster and inks are applied. TFL Badder. ps I hope to have this all done by later today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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