Reminiscing on time spent at south station

[silver911]

Hope you haven't abandoned this in favour of pastures greener mate?

[Stickframe]

Hi Ron @silver911, I appreciate you checking in. No, I have no plans to abandon this project!  I've spent the last few weeks doing what seem to be numerous inconsequential steps with painting and pigments on the base - and still have more to do.  And, I have a a small pile of what will become debris, but, unlike real world debris, model debris needs to be organized, primed, painted, weathered, and installed.  All of this is important to get right, but dull compared to the rest of the project.   And, I don't want to force myself to race through all of this and in turn, screw up the overall project - I've had plenty of more deserving opportunities to do that! 😄   

 

This will be back, and the return won't be dependent on other projects - just when I feel like spending a few days dealing with the details.  I'm guessing I'll get to primer in the next few weeks - so as they say, "stay tuned!"

 

thanks again for asking! 😀

 

Cheers

Nick 

[Badder]

On 12/13/2021 at 12:42 AM, Stickframe said:

unlike real world debris, model debris needs to be organized, primed, painted, weathered, and installed.

As far as I'm concerned, this wins the 2021 Britmodeller 'statement of fact' trophy', knocking all others into a cocked hat with a baseball bat.

 

 

[Badder]

On 12/1/2021 at 11:30 PM, Stickframe said:

prefer the medium CA because it is easier for me to control than the fine type, and with a tip you can get the amount of CA you want on the place you want it and it doesn't set immediately (maybe you use this anyway?).  I never did figure out how to use the fine type - can't seem to control it - just a glue mess!

I use thin, medium, thick and gel CA when needs demand it. I use thin CA mostly to douse paper. 'CA'd paper' is what I call it. I've made all kinds of things using it, from gutters, roof tiles, rifle and helmet straps and the kit bag hanging from the gun trave lock  on my Sherman. I either make the things with paper first, and then douse them with thin CA to impregnate them and turn them into a rigid, platsic-like substance, like the kit bag, or I douse layers of paper together and cut them up, to make roof tiles for example, or, if rolled around a rod first, guttering. I'll also use it to dribble into joints in MiniArt buildings, or my plaster of paris walls and for fixing scatter around clumps of vegetation. It's ASLO good for making frothy, water trails in resin water. Drip some it into freshly poured resin and the glue turns into 'bogeys' (boogers) Then you can use a toothpick to stretch, pull, prod and mess around with the glue to make some interesting effects in the resin, often bubbly/frothy. I've even lifted strings of glue up above the surface of the resin to create 'wakes' in the water.  So, basically I do just dribble the thin CA on through the nozzle, but if it's a really awkward place that needs gluing more precisely I'll fit   a thin metal tube nozzle attachment on the bottle. If that gets clogged up with dried glue I heat it up over a candle....... and hold my breath and close my eyes whilst doing so! Best wear goggles and facemask you children out there! Failing that, I'll sometime dip a metal pin/scriber/wire into thin CA, lift a single tiny drop out and apply it precisely.

 

Hope that helps, you, someone, or their aunt.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Stickframe]

Hello dio builders, 

 

Looks like I will finish this, or at least put some effort into doing so.

 

It's now been over nine months since this post was active and even longer since I actually worked on it.  Pretty odd for me, in that I haven't touched any models until this, this year!  I didn't have any desire to get back into it.  But, for now, I'm happy enough doing it again.  I guess building a model is a bit like riding a bike, once you know how to, it comes back to you pretty quickly.  I can't find a few tools, and am in serious doubt about the condition of what is now old paint - meh - that's fine.

 

Recent work focused on some tedious small tasks (painting debris and odds and ends), and one new, actual construction effort, with that we'll start with:

 

 

First up, I realized that as this "craft" is oddly shaped, and that I have a launch area and recovery truck, well, I needed a cradle too.  I looked up cradles for small sailboats, and adapted that concept to meet this need.  In the upper right, you can see pre-weather and use, and the other two, with a bit of a mess - the idea here is that when these need to be worked on, they get placed in this - I buy it.....

 

And in some context:

 

 

As you can see, the cradle in front of the outdoor work space.  Remember, this build is largely about an impromptu place created in some haste - so, you make whatever you might have work!

 

 

A few more - as you can see, we are getting more of the ground plane resolved.   In this case a combination of sheet steel and basic scrap you might see see around.  Tediously, still more to go....I might fully cheat on this though, and simply prime and paint old sprues with remnant parts, weather them, and use them to fill the dark corners!  Versus, carefully selecting or making debris, adding all sorts of remnant wires and thin scrap metal, priming, painting and weathering - the process I usually use - most of this stuff will go into barely visible places that "need" more than the base alone - like the space between the back fence and more interesting areas - just things to disrupt the ground plane.

 

This effort, albeit tedious, is important because when this is done, I'll take outdoor photos - the  real sun makes colors, textures, and surfaces pop - but, also clearly brings out project short comings and flaws - be it a bad paint job, or lazy dio background scenery! 

 

 

 

 

So now bits are getting attached to the base.  The two solar panels, fencing, a few figures, and main tower are glued in place.  I didn't attached the trailer/command center yet, as I need to add figures - but, we're getting there.  I might not attach the vehicles, as I'd like to be able to move them around for pictures - but, that also increases the likelihood that bits will get snapped off - yes, I have a long track record of knocking things off - oh well, I can live with that!   And Ron, if you're having a look, our sentry figure was your idea!  Looks like she's holding a Remington .308 with a scope - she's on the tallest deck on the tower

 

Happy model building gents, 

 

Nick 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stickframe]

Hello model builders, 

 

As "real" work is a bit slow right now, I'm sticking with some model building.  Only a brief update today.  It's funny how much time and what modest results can come from making debris:

 

 

I did just what I said on the previous post, and found three old sprues with interesting and relatively big parts, primed, painted and weathered - and her you see the results.  Pieces to "fill the cracks", which make up the background.  And while I was at it, glued in a few more figures:

 

 

I painted up all of the figures some time ago, and they have been waiting to be installed in a pile.  The people shown above - two mechanics in the service bay, and a sentry and some deck hands on the flight deck.  I like all the color the figures add to the flight deck - looking forward to seeing this outdoors - but that might not come as soon as I might like, as the sun is obscured by fog - and it might rain this weekend  - 

 

Next up, I think I'll attach the trailer to the base - when this is done, can begin populating the foreground with figures and other odds and ends.

 

thanks for having a look - 

 

Nick 

 

 

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

Nick! Great to see you back, and to see that you are okay. I was only wondering how you were a couple of weeks ago.

The junk and the figures look great. Keep them coming please. Regards, Pete

[Norman]

Just amazing work !