'FACE OFF' CONTINUED....

[Badder]

The latest attempt at a tow rope isn't up to the standard I would like, however, it may be appearing in the 'Finshed' Gallery, as I won't be able to order an 'off the shelf' tow rope by the closing date. i WILL continue trying to make my own and improve on the one here though:

 

 

 

The 'rope' was made with 4 plastic coated wires, twisted together, and the 'eyes' were made by folding the ends of the rope over and 'crimping' them with thin Tamiya masking tape (the yellow stuff) I'd tried making them with bits of paperclip, solder and copper leaf but it wasn't easy, and so on this latest attempt I switched to the easier option.

 

I'd have been quite happy with this latest version if the wires had been twisted uniformly, but there are lengths where there are more twists per cm than others. This despite me using a circular 'winding' mechanism which kept the four wires equidstant from eachother at the ends, and forming twists from the middle out. The problem was maintaining the 'twist', and I settled for dribbling thin CA along the cable to hold everything in place. Unfortunately, I hadn't checked for 'twists per cm' before doing this and so locked the irregularities in place. As I said, I will try again. I think I'll return to polyester thread as well, because that is better than the smooth finish of the plastic coated wire.

 

Meanwhile, the figures are coming along despite troubles with my airbrush (again!)

 

So, these were brush painted first with Tamiya Dark Yellow. I'd given the sprues a good soak in detergent to remove the releasing agent, so the finish was quite good.

The heads and hands were then painted with Tamiya white, again by brush.

 

And then I turned to acrylic inks, red earth for the pistol holsters and straps, and flesh tone for the heads. This stuff is great, and I will certainly be using it more often in future! The red earth went on a treat with a brush, but I know it is a bit too red. I will be toning it down with washes and dry brushing. The faces meanwile received several washes of skin tone, rather than the single 'heavy' coat used for the red earth. I had problems with the previous figures where the washes removed the skin tones from the tips of the figures noses, exposing not just the white undercoat, but the grey plastic beneath. The inks caused no such issues.

 

 

 

Now, I know that the face above is a bit contaminated with 'dust', but this is the beauty of 'macro' photos. It looks a lot smoother actual size. Anyway, I'm hoping varnish and more washes will smooth the appearance at least a little bit.

 

BTW, this time I'm constructing and painting the helmets in their entirety before fitting to the heads. There WILL be fit issues (due to poor design by Tamiya) so I will have to work the heads in order to get things fitting properly.

 

TFL

Badder

[Badder]

Once again, I'd like to sing the praises of the acrylic inks.

I first became aware of them last year, and purchased them not for use in this hobby, but for my artwork. I am a keen artist, specialising in Sci-fi and fantasy art, but heavily influenced by technical drawing. My work is mostly pen and ink therefore, using Isograph pens. However, the inks are water soluble and remain so even after drying. They, and the pens, are of very little use in this hobby then. The 'new' inks are more or less permanent though and so I can now use my them in this hobby. The finest-nibbed pens are now perfect for drawing eyeballs!

 

So, onto the faces:

After the washes with 'skin tone' acrylic ink I applied some targeted washes with 'red earth' ink and followed this up with some dry brushing with a lightened skin tone. I then applied a gloss varnish (I am not sure if this was necessary, but felt it better safe than sorry) Once the varnish was dry I applied targeted washes with MIG Earth (enamel wash) - around the neck area, eye sockets, nose and lips.

 

Then away with the brushes and onto the pen and the eye balls themselves.

 

The commander figure is positioned with his head slightly down, looking at a map, and as such his eyeballs are scarcely visiible, his heavy-set eyelids almost closed. I didn't bother with adding white but did hint at his iris/pupils with tiny black dots of acrylic ink applied with a 0.1mm Rotring isograph pen.

The other two figures' eye balls are more visible and so I applied white acrylic ink to them, again using the pen, and finished them off with irises/pupils.

The whites and irises are very subtle, the whites especially so, as I did not want that goggle-eyed effect one often sees.

 

Whilst I had the enamel earth wash out, I applied that to the jackets, allowed that to dry and then took some of that back with a clean stiff brush. Some dry brushing with a lightened Dark Yellow will take place after I've applied the decals.

 

Once again, the macro photos have shown up the little blemishes and bits of 'dirt' on the faces, but I can clean those off. The faces look a lot better unmagnified though and I am fairly happy with the results.

 

I hope to have the decals (insignia) in place and the helmets finished by the end of today.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited March 27, 2018 by Badder

[Foghorn Leghorn]

What a brilliant idea for doing the eyes. I think I've still got my rotring set from many moons ago. I'll have to dig it out...

 

Otherwise, looking cracking as per usual

[Badder]

6 hours ago, Foghorn Leghorn said:

What a brilliant idea for doing the eyes. I think I've still got my rotring set from many moons ago. I'll have to dig it out...

 

Otherwise, looking cracking as per usual

The Rotring pens are great for doing the webbing as well. I've just redone the holster straps. In fact I did the pistols as well, using black ink for the metal parts and red earth for the wood on the pistol grip. I have a range of sizes, and now that the inks are acrylic and come in a large range of colours I will be using them A LOT in future.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Badder]

I've revisited the faces, and have improved them a bit. I re-did the irises on two of the figures, just to equalize left and right eyes a bit better. The commander figure needs a bit of a touch-up on the tip of his nose but is otherwise done.

 

 

As referred to in the post above, I've re-done the holster straps using a Rotring pen loaded with red earth dye.  And after that I thought I may as well use the pen to paint the wood on the pistol grips, and a Rotring pen and black ink to 'paint' the pistols metal parts. Again, the macro photos detract from the finished articles, and the harsh lighting brings out the worst too. The holsters and pistols look rather good actual size I think.

 

I've discovered that these dyes go through a 'paint-like' stage on their way to drying totally, so I used white dye to dry brush the jackets. I then added the decals.

 

TFL

Badder

Edited March 27, 2018 by Badder

[Robert Stuart]

Those heads do look good Badder

[Badder]

4 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

Those heads do look good Badder

You'lll be pleased to know that I ruined two of them, then!

 

It's all the fault of macro photos! Despite the faces looking fine actual size, they do look messy when magnified by a factor of 10, and STUPIDLY, I took this to heart and tried to tidy the eyes up. Unfortunately, my hands weren't very steady at the time and I made the pupils too big and out of alignment. I did try to wash the ink off, but it spread and stained their cheeks, foreheads and noses.  And I just made things worse with further washing. So, I've stripped those two heads back to the plastic and have started again. I'm skipping the acrylic paint base coat this time, using white ink and airbrush.

 

I'm feeling a lot more confident now with the processes and I think I'll have the 3 figures finished by beddy time.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

Edited March 28, 2018 by Badder

[Robert Stuart]

Soryy to hear that there was extra work there, but good that you'll have three by 'beddy time'.

[Ozzy]

Unfortunate about the faces Badder, but your figures look fantastic. They look far better than mine.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Dude, the weathering and texture of your model is just exquisite.....I'm going to have to go back over these pages very thoroughly and see exactly how you did that. 

 

[Badder]

On 28/03/2018 at 5:59 PM, Robert Stuart said:

Soryy to hear that there was extra work there, but good that you'll have three by 'beddy time'.

 

On 28/03/2018 at 8:32 PM, Ozzy said:

Unfortunate about the faces Badder, but your figures look fantastic. They look far better than mine.

 

On 29/03/2018 at 11:35 AM, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Dude, the weathering and texture of your model is just exquisite.....I'm going to have to go back over these pages very thoroughly and see exactly how you did that. 

 

 

Hi chaps. The figures took longer than I thought because of the goggles. What a pain they were. Once again trying to fit them ruined the work already done. They aren't a good fit and so I had to use CA... with the predictable results. In the end I used the googles that came with the MiniArt tank crew kit because they fit better. I still have to add the paper straps and tidy them up, but as the deadline is tonight I am going to call them finished for now.

 In truth I will probably scrap these figures as well though. I  am not happy with them. Another kit will be purchased. Practice makes perfect!

 

Meanwhile I've finished off some odds and ends on the Sherman. The stowage has been tied down, the aerial refixed (I snapped it off accidentally a while back)

I would have liked to add some stowage to the rails on the turret, but again I don't have enought time, so again, I'm callling the Sherman finished for now and will add stuff in the future.

 

The gallery pics have been taken and what doesn't go into the gallery will be shown here. BTW. I made up a temporary 'diorama' for a couple of the shots using my scratch built ruined house and some fake snow.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

[Badder]

So, I'm calling this done, but in truth the Sherman will have more work done to it, and the figures will probably be discarded and replaced, YET AGAIN!

 

Here's some shots of the 'finished' Sherman, with crew, placed in front of my scratchbuilt building and sprinkled with fake snow, just for some 'atmosphere'.

There will be a permanent diorama made in the future.

 

Photos will be available to view in the Gallery shortly.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to all those who helped, especially @Sgt.Squarehead with the inspirational photos, and thanks to all  for the advice, criticism, support and kind comments.

 

See you in the Gallery.

Good luck all.

 

Rearguards

Badder

 

 

[Ozzy]

Nice going Badder, nice to see this one finished.

[PlaStix]

Great to see you get this one to one of it's finishing lines!  Fantastic weathering and finish Badder. Well done. 

Kind regards,

Stix

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Superb! 

[Hewy]

Superb finish badder, an a cracking backdrop to boot, 

[Badder]

Just now, Hewy said:

Superb finish badder, an a cracking backdrop to boot, 

Thanks Glynn,

I'm contemplating making the diorama for it before returning to my Ever Evolving Diorama. I have to find some more suitable figures for it though. Ones wearing gloves would be a good start! I couldn't take the gloved hands from the MiniArt kit as there is a marked difference between them and the hands of the Tamiya crew. Even the arms and legs are markedly longer in the MinArt crew.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[wimbledon99]

Looks awesome Badder - Loving the result

[Badder]

23 hours ago, wimbledon99 said:

Looks awesome Badder - Loving the result

Thanks Womble,

 

I'm just making a Tamiya bucket or 2.  Of course, ONE bucket is obligatory, but I have an idea for a pair of them.... It will definitely add a bit of humour!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Badder]

As there are still active WIPs going on, I suppose I best join in, as I am still working on my Sherman, adding bits and pieces, and replacing others. I have shown the additional work in the Armour RFI forum, but on second thoughts it would be better to show it in the M3-M4 WIP section.

 

So I will transfer the photos there, and continue.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Badder]

So, I entered my Sherman into the gallery for voting, in the condition it was in the photos above, but it wasn't truly finished. The figures weren't up to the standard I aspire to, and there was a fair bit of stowage that I wanted to add, especially to the turret rails.

 

I continued with the build then, but as I had posted the photos in the Armour RFI section, I carried on showing the latest work there. I have now realised that this wasn't the best choice. There are others who continue working on their builds in THIS GB, and this is what I should do. I will therefore be re-starting this WIP.

 

 

Here was the state of affairs with the stowage on the rear deck. I wasn't entirely happy with it as there was a lack of variation in the items, so I decided to add some more.

 

 

 

 

 

But more on that later....

 

First, , I wanted to add some buckets. Tamiya's Fuel Drum and Jerry Can set has four.... they'd do nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't use the Tamiya bucket handles, preferring instead to make them from fuse wire. Once they were made up I used PURELY acrylic inks applied by brush. Both buckets were coloured on the outsides with 'antelope brown', applied in several coats, but not worrying too much about any thin or thick patches. I then dropped a blob of white ink into one bucket and then 'mopped it out' with a clean brush, letting some run down the sides. Water was used to spread this about a bit in places. A bit of antelope brown dirtied the inside. The inside of the other bucket, being bare yellow plastic, was given just washes of watered-down antelope, allowing the plastic to show through and antelope to gather in the bottom. A bit of dirt was mixed in and dabbed around the sides.

 

Next, helmets for the turret rails.

Here's a helmet with a copper-leaf chin strap. I only had the one available for use, but have since found four more. Despite all being Tamiya, the other four are slightly smaller. Did they actually make helmets in different sizes?

 

 

That's it for now. Beddy times.

 

There are more pics to come though as I made some bed rolls for the other side of the turret, a tow cable (Hurray, I finally made one that was okay!) and I've re-arranged and added to the stowage on the engine deck.

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2018 by Badder

[Ozzy]

Nice amendments Badder, she keeps getting better.

[PlaStix]

Very impressive extra detailing Badder. Really coming on a treat!

Kind regards,

Stix

[Badder]

Bed rolls made from Hobbycraft Super Lightweight Clay. Not so much clay as squidgy stuff that dries like a rubbery foam. Like the buckets, these were just painted with Antelope Brown Acrylic Ink.

 

 

I rubbed the ink back in places, using a damp brush. The glossy texture looks good for a waterproofed coat, while the rubbed back areas are more matt and look worn.

 

And tied to the turret rails:

 

 

TFL

Badder

Edited April 16, 2018 by Badder

[Badder]

Now to that pesky tow cable, which I finally made using bicycle brake cable. The 'threads' are too thin really, and there's too many of them, making the cable look too tight knit and smooth, but it's the best I've managed.

 

The eyelets were made with fuse wire. I ground the inner edges of the 'legs' of the eyelets so that they could be pinched closer together and slide inside of the copper sleeves. The copper sleeves were just crimped in place at first, but once the eyelets were inserted I fixed everything with thin CA.

 

 

 

And after a tidy up with a grindstone:

 

 

TOP TIP:

Cutting brake cable to length.....

The threads of brake cable will unwind and splay apart if cut with a saw or pliers. Instead, apply thin CA to the area you wish to 'cut' then use a Dremel type tool fitted with a grindstone and grind the cable to length instead.

 

The tow cable has to be whitewashed and weathered but will fit as per the archive photograph, tucked through the lifting ring front centre of the added armour plate.

 

Next, that stowage at the rear....

 

TFL

Badder