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Catching Pictures in the Air


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23 hours ago, TheBaron said:

 

26574818517_61597ecde7_b.jpg

From this you can see that whilst I've got both sets of throttle and mixture controls in place, I managed to miss the flap lever on the co-pilot's side of the pedestal....

 

...I can also see that you have scanned the image from the manual and cleaned the image up in paint.net!:D

If you pm your email address I can send you a copy of the flight manual.

 

40754075144_e63344e615_b.jpgC-119 throttles by James Thomas, on Flickr

40754075254_7ccce3af69_c.jpgC-119 throttles key by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

40754075494_b1ebc46fac_c.jpgC-119 fwd console by James Thomas, on Flickr

40754075584_141a244c75_b.jpgC-119 fwd console key by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

Again, superb work Tony, the cargo bay rendering is incredible, love all of it but the cable work really stands out.  Museum quality.

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On 14/04/2018 at 11:24 AM, CedB said:

Oooo look, it's all coming together now.

giphy.gif

There are now enough chemicals on my bench for an episode of the A-Team....

On 14/04/2018 at 12:05 PM, Tomoshenko said:

Tony I think a quote from Howard Carter is appropriate:

From the maker of that Quicksilver Fury, praise I will treasure Tomo. 

On 14/04/2018 at 12:05 PM, Tomoshenko said:

Yeh but the little 1/72 scale humans that you've cloned will be able to read em ok.

Po-ssibly not after what I've done to them...(see below). :o

On 14/04/2018 at 12:11 PM, Nigel Heath said:

I do like the selection and addition of the magazines

These things matter Nigel. Kind of you to overlook the fact that I haven't added similarly the ashtray to the navigator's position..(yes, there is one).:D

22 hours ago, hendie said:

I really must try and emulate your carefree abandon approach with paint techniques. 

You wouldn't want me to decorate your house however. Fauvism and plastering are not natural bedfellows...

20 hours ago, giemme said:

But I tend to use more and more tempera for washes these days

I'd forgotten that you'd mentioned tempera before Giorgio and it has piqued my interest enough to try and acquire some myself. I forgot to mention in the last post also that I'd experimented with rubbing a few smears of (olive green) oil pastel over the fuselage walls in a few places - nothing dramatic but just enough to draw out some variations in highlighting. The 'oiliness' of the pastel can be smeared with a fingertip to merge with the existing colours more smoothly than dry-brushing I've found.

20 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

This stage - when all the hard work on separate pieces starts to come together - is great.  Your satellite-catching Iron Chicken is looking superb.

Thank-you Crisp. That name is perfect.

This aircraft is henceforth the Satellite Catching Iron Chicken.:clap2:

2 hours ago, 71chally said:

..I can also see that you have scanned the image from the manual and cleaned the image up in paint.net

That's a bit freaky! Must be the 'classic' 3/4 view of the pedestal that one responds to naturally! :D

2 hours ago, 71chally said:

If you pm your email address I can send you a copy of the flight manual.

Pm predictably inbound James....:Tasty:

 

Brace yourselves:

27364704908_27a375c1b0_c.jpg

Experience tells me that this is the best way to cut up the bodies. I'm not a doctor - as indeed you may have surmised by now - but enthusiasm counts for a lot.

 

'Pourquoi?' e742b9080a4826fe80a262d6c3a77f9b.jpg you may be asking.

Well, the PJ Productions' stuff is of course very nicely produced indeed - lovely ice-creamy resin and sharply detailed, b-uuuuut, the provided poses need alteration as well as extra details like parachutes for some of the guys in the recovery team hanging out the back. To give some kind of coherence to the use of figures in the aircraft there should always be some kind of clear narrative to the moment, so I've picked the point at which those in the flight deck have first visually sighted the Corona capsule in the distance and those in the rear are making a last-minute visual-check of the recovery gear.

 

This is the pilot, Capt. Mitchell:

39428313170_ee636f4be4_c.jpg

 

Not a man likely to go to pieces under normal circumstances but I need his legs to reach the pedals, plus he was slouching a bit and there's nothing worse than bad posture on the part of those in command. Sends all the wrong messages.

 

Not my entry for the 'Coral Polyp' section at Telford this year, but la Mitchelle's limbs and pelvis all drilled-out in preparation for some fuse-wire armature:

27364704978_1c48c055bf_c.jpg

I've finally worked out that when modifying figures at this scale you really need to make the limbs adjustable in order to get them into the correct positions and aligments; fuse-wire lets you set this up in a more controllable manner that just gluing the bits together - bearing in mind the limited wiggle room that CA on resin would allow here:

39428313240_9bb0befd52_c.jpg

Using the co-pilot behind for a 'before' and 'after' comparison, you can see the required level of alteration needed to for the pilot figure to meet the cockpit structure convincingly:

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Any gaps created by re-posing the limbs don't matter as Milliput can be used here.

Pelican 9 reporting for duty:

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Armless but not 'opeless:

27364705128_285d6741a2_c.jpg

The notion here is Capt. Mitchell gazing with steely intent as he steers Pelican 9 in to intercept the payload: co-pilot leaning forward, left hand hovering over the throttles as he scans the IP:  navigator behind them staring fixedly at the CRT calling out final fixes for the radio beacon on the capsule.

Gosh. I felt a bit excited there myself for a moment.

 

The overall narrative:

27364705218_626667b622_c.jpg

Behind the pilots you can see the radio operator providing a second pair of 'eyes-on-target' for the pilot (to get rid of that 'Mexican wave' look to his pose therein the photo, his arms were later cut off and repositioned so that each hand rests on the seat backs in front to steady him against any sharp manoueveres. (This is of course fictionalized supposition):

40342143105_27608d001d_c.jpg

As to the posse in the back, two crewmen (later to receive parachutes and safety lines are leaning out the back checking the lines, one guy stands ready by the drum the capsule is placed into, whilst the crew chief/cargomaster stands supervising near the winch, talking to the flight crew over the intercom. Absent from this roll are two other rear crew members and the photographer that recorded the mission - they will have to be assumed to be keeping out of the way in the shadows discussing the Jack Kerouac article in last month's Playboy:

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The figure to the right in the above shot also received some surgery along with the radio operator:

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He no longer looks to be dancing the 'Mashed Potato' but is now leaning forwards to check the trailing lines:

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Now hum Kraftwerk's 'The Robots' whilst looking at the next photo:

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How to make 1/72 life-jackets:

26422092327_21d428223b_c.jpg

'We're functioning automatic
And we are dancing mechanic'

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Parachutes courtesy of The Milliput Co., Dolgellau:

40397597495_402555d7d0_c.jpg

The M-put is fresh and wet in that shot - final shaping/thinning was done with the Dremel the following day, after which, Halford's grey liberally descended upon the Pelican Posse.

Re-posed radio-op:

40397597625_50017331f9_c.jpg

Pole-handler:

26422092477_9aace4aff6_c.jpg

The re-posed Capt.Mitchell:

40580573484_79577c28b2_c.jpg

The Hickham AFB Jitterbug finalists:

40397597065_61d1dba6bb_c.jpg

Were people still Jitterbugging in 1960? I've no idea...

 

So. When it came to painting these chaps, I wanted to try a new method. Quite frankly any figure painting I've done in the past has left me dissatisfied with the sense of 'life' (or lack thereof in my case). I did some research around Hugetube and came across a gentleman by the name of Mr.Bob who quietly and patiently shows you how to do 1/72 figures in a most controllable and engaging fashion. What follows in this last bit then is taken directly from his excellent approach to the subject:

First stage then is to simply 'line-out' areas around straps, seams etc, with black acrylic ink and a (very) fine brush:

26422092247_3862483dd0_c.jpg

I found the result of that simple procedure so blasted attractive I nearly didn't want to paint over them any further!

Nevertheless, a few Mr.Bobsian colour washes later and the Grey Ones look a bit more USAF-ey:

40397597205_f72142dffd_c.jpg

The wire supports on the seated figures will obviously be cut off later, but for the standing figures I'll use these as locating mounts for extra strength:

40397597305_fb099bb65a_c.jpg

Another obvious point is that I'll have to add some harness-works to the pilots and navigator in order to strap them into their seats.

 

And that's you really up-to-date with the state of play now - I've got the seated figures glued into their seating this morning and want to spend any time over the rest of the week getting the remainder of the internals glued together, crew installed and so forth. Once that is done - unless I'm missing something obvious - it will be time to start thinking about closing up the fuselage and getting to work on the external parts of the aircraft.

 

More SCIC* action during the week.

:bye:

Tony

 

*Satellite Catching Iron Chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tony, your crew look excellent sir.

Not so much the "Village People " more the "Funky Chicken Catchers"

 

I do hope that no vast amounts of wine were drunk before the painting the figures?

 

Looking forward to the next installment.

 

Simon.

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16 minutes ago, TheBaron said:

giphy.gif

 

41238936141_baacd80c06_c.jpg

You just know that the Peppard scene was very likely filmed that close to a genuine TNT/ACME explosion!

Up there with this,

 

 

The second image of the crew kind of reminds me of an imagined Kraftwerk video!

 

 

 

The final crew renditions are brilliant, I can imagine that any surviving Pelican teams would thoroughly enjoy this build. 

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Typical Tony The Baron tour-de-force, hell of a good crew job

 

The/your narrative is superb and for me it works well

 

Its almost going to be a 'wrench' when you close 'er up and start making an airplane again 

 

Only almost...

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The crew are looking superb, almost like 1/72 scale cloned humans...

 

but erm...

6 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Experience tells me that this is the best way to cut up the bodies.

remind me never to upset you gulp...tip toeing carefully out the room hoping I won't be seen...

 

 

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Magnificent work on the crew, Tony :clap::clap:

 

Black outlining is one of the key things in figure painting, great job with that :clap:

 

Be careful, though: figure painting is highly addictive :wink::coolio:

 

Ciao

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23 hours ago, Nigel Heath said:

Great work on reworking the crew.

Thanks Nigel: I think the trick was to do them all in one long session in order to keep a uniformity of finish across the lot.

23 hours ago, perdu said:

The/your narrative is superb and for me it works well

Glad to hear it Bill.:D It's something I've ummed and ahhed about for a while, though as you say:

23 hours ago, perdu said:

going to be a 'wrench' when you close 'er up and start making an airplane again 

We'll know they're there though won't we? ;)

23 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

The crew figures are coming along nicely!

Merci beaucoup mon grande tentacliste!

22 hours ago, keefr22 said:

some proper crew co-ordination going on in that aeroplane!

If only parental authority worked that way...<sigh>. My youngest crew members are now both almost taller than me....

21 hours ago, hendie said:

I don't think I want to play any more.   If I had a ball, I'd take it home.

Tsk tsk: You know the thread rules hendie:

stock-photo-sign-no-alcohol-no-ball-game

Is Pished Skateball a problem in the US as well?

18 hours ago, Tomoshenko said:

almost like 1/72 scale cloned humans

Welcome to The Very Tiny Island of Dr. Moreau....

18 hours ago, Tomoshenko said:

remind me never to upset you gulp...tip toeing carefully out the room hoping I won't be seen...

You stick by me if things get iffy up the rough end of the hall at Telford this year Tomo. :viking:

17 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Just got back from being away

Thanks for those kind words on both counts Adrian.

14 hours ago, giemme said:

 

Be careful, though: figure painting is highly addictive

Spoken like a true Italian Giorgio. :lol:

sistine-chapel.jpg?w=720&e=69922c19e1752

4 hours ago, CedB said:

Excellent work on the crew Tony, must get some of that ink stuff

Make sure it's a permanent acrylic ink Ced (and not the semi-permanent fountain pen stuff which dissolves in subsequent the wash coats).

Otherwise your figures will end up with that 'surprised by a squid' finish...

109267.jpg

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, perdu said:

I hesitate to ask

 

 

 

So I won't...

Don't be bashful Bill; I don't believe in the repression of emotion.

Ink.

It's ink...

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3 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Spoken like a true Italian Giorgio. :lol:

sistine-chapel.jpg?w=720&e=69922c19e1752

Well, maybe not that addictive ... :D Biggest things I painted are a couple of busts in 1/9 scale :wink:

 

Ciao

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4 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Is Pished Skateball a problem in the US as well?

 

Not really , just general confusion with sports in general

 

FootGolfers.jpg

 

btw..... this is not a ground hog's throw from my house (still trying to get rid of the ground hog) - seriously! (on both counts!)

 

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Holy moley!!! What an update. Sorry it took me a while to process everything that was going on. I really wanted to let all the nuances soak in. The etch masking is inspired, the rope looks sublime and the harryhausen esque character creation is mind boggling. Hats off to you sir. I haven’t read anything else on BM as I was catching up in little bits hear and there when I caught a few minutes away from everything else. Really great work Tony. I’m impressed. You know I love the painting bit and I’m happy to see that you’re nailing it. 100%

 

Johnny :thumbsup:

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14 hours ago, hendie said:

 

Not really , just general confusion with sports in general

 

FootGolfers.jpg

 

btw..... this is not a ground hog's throw from my house (still trying to get rid of the ground hog) - seriously! (on both counts!)

 

Blimey!  How big are their clubs? [F’narr]

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16 hours ago, giemme said:

Well, maybe not that addictive ... :D Biggest things I painted are a couple of busts in 1/9 scale :wink:

Followed the link in your signature and can confirm that you have superb bust Giorgio.:lol:

I can go home now and tell my children that I saw a Roman General in the Forum today....

15 hours ago, hendie said:

(still trying to get rid of the ground hog) - seriously! (on both counts!)

Why do I see this hendie:

caddyshack_bill_murray.jpg

2 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

You know I love the painting bit and I’m happy to see that you’re nailing it. 100%

From the Prince of Pigment, praise indeed. Glad you're enjoying it Johnny.:thumbsup2:

1 hour ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Blimey!

It's their balls they want to worry about....

oddjob-crushing.jpg

 

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3 hours ago, TheBaron said:

I can go home now and tell my children that I saw a Roman General in the Forum today....

That sentence can cause a lot of confusion / perplexity without further explanation .... :rofl::rofl:  Not sure I would tell your kids ... :D 

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On 17/04/2018 at 12:48 PM, giemme said:

Not sure I would tell your kids

In hindsight, I'm not sure that they would listen either...:lol:

Like much of their generation they are busily watching two screen at once.

 

Well I'm furious,

quite furious,

at Pastimage not allowing me to see the current visuals for hendie's Pullman. Only being able to to catch up with the conclusion of Crisp's awe-inspiring drawings of Fearless permitted me to settle down to some methodical work on fixing the crew of Pelican 9 into place over the last couple of evenings.

 

First, it was necessary to re-drill and align the various recovery-pole supports, as a couple of the original holes I'd made were lost when re-building parts of the interior:

41521787422_950def901f_c.jpg

As previously, using a bit of 0.8mm tube as a template.

 

 

Next up was afinal dry-fit of the rear crew:

41562692751_f9fb16a209_c.jpg

You might notice that I switched the positions of the two rearmost figures from when I'd layed these out previously. Seeing them in painted form made me realize that repositioning like this gives a better expression of them looking out of the rear of the aircraft to do a visual check on the run in.

 

With mounting holes drilled out for the locating pins in their feet, the guys were then epoxied into place and steadied for drying overnight with some white tak:

41521787542_65af3610a2_c.jpg

The flight deck crew received similar treatment:

41562692901_aec2d5dc1c_c.jpg

Hopefully in these last shots you can see that I did remember that I needed to build the seatbelts and harnesses. The harness buckles were just knocked out of a 7Up can with an 0.8mm punch:

41562692831_c6ce3c1247_c.jpg

I left it at that for tonight to avoid knocking any of those bits out of place as it was starting to get a bit crowded in there. Still to add are two more seats to the flight deck and one in the rear for the winch operator. I'll do that tomorrow along with adding the supports for the recovery poles, some splayed bracing for the winch, plus I need to knock up a small electrical patch bay to go beside the winch into which a remote control for it appeared to be tethered.

 

Slowly we are creeping closer to the point of fuselage closure.....

 

:bye:

Tony

 

 

 

 

 

 

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31 minutes ago, TheBaron said:

Slowly we are creeping closer to the point of fuselage closure..

Exciting! :Tasty:

Really coming to life, with the crew in :clap:

 

Ciao

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