Andwil Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 5 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said: And of course you see three steel helmets. I wonder whether that will generate any comments... Biting my tongue! 😝 Coming along very nicely. 👍 AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 6 hours ago, Andwil said: Biting my tongue! 😝 I have my reasons. 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Coming along nicely and the red looks good. Shame about those pin marks on the rad, but i'm sure you'll get it sorted. Am also curious about them 3 tin lids! 🤔 Regards, Steve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 1 hour ago, fatfingers said: Coming along nicely and the red looks good. Shame about those pin marks on the rad, but i'm sure you'll get it sorted. Am also curious about them 3 tin lids! 🤔 Regards, Steve I am teasing you rather. It’s an artistic conceit. The incongruous item has special meaning in a history painting. That meaning is for the viewer to interpret for themselves. well done for spotting the incongruity btw. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 23, 2021 Author Share Posted September 23, 2021 I filled the ejection marks with good old thick Humbrol enamel. I'm trying for a wood effect there. And on the back. It looks awful doesn't it? The reason I didn't use oils, which would have blended properly, was, er, 'ang on a minute lads, er... In other news, I loaded the cab. No chance of the soldiers riding inside now. This is a view soon to disappear when the roof goes on. I may delay that until I've finished turning the thing upside down, just in case I get a 'rattler'. With the driver's seat and backrest installed, and note the shiny patches, I'm beginning to see the lights at the end of the Pont d'Lena. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 Beautiful work Bertie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 24, 2021 Author Share Posted September 24, 2021 2 hours ago, CliffB said: Beautiful work Bertie Cheers Cliff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 Beautiful! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 24, 2021 Author Share Posted September 24, 2021 3 hours ago, John Masters said: Beautiful! Thanks John. I hope it still looks that way when I've been busy with the glue... (Which I can't do today because I'm temporarily partially blinded in one eye after a routine procedure at the opticians. Please call back tomorrow!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 5 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said: (Which I can't do today because I'm temporarily partially blinded in one eye after a routine procedure at the opticians. Does this mean you actually look like your avatar? Taxi is looking splendid. AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 7 hours ago, Andwil said: Does this mean you actually look like your avatar? Taxi is looking splendid. AW Thank you and 🤪 yes! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 26, 2021 Author Share Posted September 26, 2021 Well, I finally stuck the roof on, but not without pushing my thumb through one of the windows. Eeek! Emergency re-glazing and re-roofing carried out - satis. At this point it would have been logical to paint the roof. However... ...my eye fell upon this and, hating masking and doing anything to put it off... ...I thought this would be a good thing to do. I am "what the French call les incompetents"*, because I had just made the masking infinitely harder to do! So far so good. The problem is that it's all so fragile. I was worried about masking tape removal, removing the fenders. But I couldn't risk overspray on the front end so what to do? Forgive me if you know this dodge already. Cling film is gentle and wide and perfect for a job like this. I still nearly screwed up though. I'd sprayed one side when I noticed the back window, just in time. My choice of colours. I rarely use black alone and this time thought that a blue-black would simulate waterproofed canvas ok. I used satin black because I had a cunning plan; if I could vary the sheen while spraying, I could suggest rubberised canvas that's stretched over a frame. It would be shinier in the places under most tension, I figured. (I didn't want full gloss, because there are some other parts to add which will be glossy and I will need the contrast.) And it blooming well worked! Worth two photos, I think. Spraying slowly and deliberately keeping the surface too dry made the sheen more matt, and wetting the surface at the edges and over the 'frame' increased the shine. Bingo! This is something I learned from many failed attempts to apply a consistent gloss finish for decals. Failure is a teacher! We could use that technique on fabric covered surfaces on aircraft, perhaps? * Anybody get that cinematic reference? 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 28, 2021 Author Share Posted September 28, 2021 I think I improved my woodwork a little bit with three brushed on layers of Tamiya Clear Orange. It looks pretty rough in that photo where I was trying to show you the satin sheen but, trust me, the woodgrain effect does look better. Brushed on Tamiya? Yessir, I can boogie. I know the secret to brushing Tamiya acrylic paints, though it's not something I do often. You need a drop of this in the mix, and to use Tamiya X-20A thinners. It then acts a bit like Humbrol enamels, drying slowly but going on fairly smooth. I still wouldn't brush it onto an area larger than a stamp, and I would always spray Tamiya if possible. I've done some little details today. As well as some work on the chassis. That turned out to be fairly easy, if I was careful. Everything has lined up beautifully so far. Except the wheels which were slightly loose on the axles. I used my 'gloop', sprue melted in cement to make a solid and strong joint here but it will now have to be left severely alone overnight to harden all the way through. So I went back to the little details. Which are more or less ready for fitting when the cab is the right way up again. Being fairly sure that I actually can build the taxi, I've started on the figures. This is from ICM and came with the vehicle. As injected figures for armour modellers go, this driver is not bad. Compared to the figures from Games Workshop I've worked with recently, he's utter rubbish. Softly moulded, tons of cleaning up required, scant detail. On the other hand, GW figures are very much more expensive. Where do the boots end and the trousers begin? Where exactly does the coat become the trousers? You have to cut and scrape and engrave your own detail I'm afraid. I'll do what I can but I'll be hoping he get lost in the shadow of the canopy. Thankfully, the face is reasonable, no the face is good. I wouldn't be able to do anything with a bad face so I'm glad that the ICM guys spent what time they had on the important bit. When the desk looks like that, I'm writing my update and severely thinking about some lunch! 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 56 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said: So I went back to the little details. Nice 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 29, 2021 Author Share Posted September 29, 2021 18 hours ago, RidgeRunner said: Nice Thanks, I forgot to say that I used Lifecolor paints from the Diorama Series - Rust and Dust. That's just two of their four rust tones on such a small object, stippled on with a brush. It also wet blends easily. The paint is slightly gritty and gives an interesting surface texture, which you can increase by dipping deeper into the pot. The set was an expensive impulse buy but I do enjoy using it. I suspect the same effects could be done with any paint plus a little talc or fine grit particles of some kind? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 29, 2021 Author Share Posted September 29, 2021 I have only a short and rather weird update tonight. I've been working hard on the figures without actually working on the figures. I want to use oils on them because I'm always awestruck when I see oil painted figures in magazines and at shows but I realise that my skills are lacking in this area. So tonight I've been painting a punk battle-goblin bust and learning a lot!. It's been an interesting process and the result is far short of my ambitions but small steps in the right direction are better than none. That's all for tonight. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 The Taxi ilooks great, especially the effect on the canopy. Having never met a 'Punk battle Goblin' I can't comment on the accuracy of your latest creation but it looks very good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 13 minutes ago, Colin W said: The Taxi looks great, especially the effect on the canopy. Having never met a 'Punk battle Goblin' I can't comment on the accuracy of your latest creation but it looks very good. Thank you. Re the goblin, everyone in my family agrees that she looks very like my ex-mother-in-law so I think the model is fairly accurate representation of the 'Punk Battle Goblin' as we know and 'love' it. 😁 p.s. I've been out for a heavy heavy lunch today so its quite likely that ... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 This morning I started the final assembly of the taxi. This is the gearbox which is hiddin under the drivers floor and further shrouded by a protective plate which goes under the engine too. As the bonnet will be closed, I'm really wondering why I bothered with the mechanicals at all. The tiny engine in place. My decision to build the taxi from the top down is now causing some fitting difficulties but I still think it made life easier at the beginning so I'd probably go that way again. I just wouldn't bother with the internals. The engine is buried! Lol. It was fun doing it, I suppose. That bonnet is supposed to have some brass pinstriping, according to the instructions but that's a long way beyond my capacity. I will be adding some dust and muck to the taxi which will make the paintwork a little more interesting. First though, the glue on the bonnet has to dry. I used PVA for fear of spoiling the paint. Well that was a surprise! I don't need to spend a lot of time painting the driver's face! Another surprise! It turns out that this is installed from underneath, phew. The driver sits on the right side of the cab. Was this just a taxi thing so he could open the doors for passengers or did the French drive on the left in 1914? And back to the figures. This is one of the turned back flaps of a greatcoat. You can see that it needs a little help. It's fairly easy, but a long job, to undercut the flap so that it looks more like fabric and will be easier to paint. I'll be doing this kind of thing for a long time. I'll return when the figures are assembled. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 On 30/09/2021 at 17:02, Bertie Psmith said: she looks very like my ex-mother-in-law And mine, too..... Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 21 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said: That bonnet is supposed to have some brass pinstriping, according to the instructions but that's a long way beyond my capacity. How about spraying some brass/gold paint onto clear decal film and cutting very narrow slices to make your pinstripes? Lovely progress all round, Bertie, and the engine and transmission may be buried but we all know they're there and they look spiffing! Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 1 hour ago, 2996 Victor said: How about spraying some brass/gold paint onto clear decal film and cutting very narrow slices to make your pinstripes? Lovely progress all round, Bertie, and the engine and transmission may be buried but we all know they're there and they look spiffing! Cheers, Mark Thanks for the nice comments Mark. I thought about using decals and I think I even have some gold coloured ones in stock but they would need to go onto a compound curved surface and follow embossed ribs. The slightest wobble or wrinkle would look awful and to be in scale, they would be 0.1mm wide! All for an inch and a half of detail? Nah, I can't be bothered to even try. In 'Bertie's Dictionary' (1927 edn) 'model' is defined as 'a simplified' version of real life, not just a smaller one. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 3 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said: Thanks for the nice comments Mark. I thought about using decals and I think I even have some gold coloured ones in stock but they would need to go onto a compound curved surface and follow embossed ribs. The slightest wobble or wrinkle would look awful and to be in scale, they would be 0.1mm wide! All for an inch and a half of detail? Nah, I can't be bothered to even try. In 'Bertie's Dictionary' (1927 edn) 'model' is defined as 'a simplified' version of real life, not just a smaller one. That makes perfect sense to me - better to omit a minor detail rather than overdo it. As you say, a model is a miniature representation of an object - it isn't and can't be a miniaturised version of the real thing. Good call! Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 2 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: better to omit a minor detail rather than overdo it Yes. That's very true. Something else occurs to me. When I look at my finished models, I mentally edit out the parts where I know I didn't quite hit the mark. I look at them with an educated squint and forgive myself my trespasses. Same for the boring bits - I simply won't see them after a week or two. I'm less interested here in the taxi than the figures, even though in this case the cab is an important and irreplaceable part of the story I'm attempting to tell. The vehicle can be of 5/10 standard without ruining the whole thing so long as the figures reach 8/10. This means that days saved on pinstriping will be far better spent on les soldats de France! "Vive La Republique!" 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 Looks like Madame Guillotine has been busy..... Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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