This is crazy good, fun to watch it grow. Have a good one! Warren

thanks everyone for the words of encouragement and the input on the shelves. i have a pic that shows a russian factory where there is custom made metal shelving that appears tailor made for whatever they were making there... hard to tell what it held as the factory is somewhat destroyed.

Mauro's questions is a good one and one that made me double check some timelines on this kind of shelf. seems there are plenty of examples from the 1920's and upward. some have wood planks in the metal frames but many show metal shelves also. all show the cross braces for strength.

i really appreciate the feedback as i am always looking to improve my dioramas. the shelves are kind of important for the scene and they're super fun little pieces.

PS: the one that is laying down will be crushed by the T34. cheers for now, bd.

Well Bruce, I imagined that you had photographic evidences, however I've done some inquiries and actually I've seen that metal shelves have looked more or less the same since the beginning of the last century
You've been doing one of the best dio which I've never seen. I reaaly can't wait to see it finished

thanks Mauro for double checking and confirming the shelves, i thought the electric grinder and compressor in the Verlinden Workshop set looked out of place for WW2 but they did have electric grinders back then. i understand pneumatic tools have been around for awhile as well.

see, model building helps me learn new things. onward and upwards, bd.

Mate,
The sratch built furniture (as is the building) is a credit to you. I can't wait to see more pics. I think the furniture will look great all beaten up.
Just one thing I would cahnge and that is too mount the lathe on the floor, looks a bit unsteady where it is.

Cheers
Robbo

Great looking factory ruins. I tried a factory dio using the old formulay moulds. This looks like what i wanted but was unable to achieve! I'll continue to follow closely and pick up (steal!) as many ideas as I can along the way!

Bruce,

Fantastic work. Really impressive. I would like to try the cork technique as well.
You may have already answered this question but can you advise what colour paint you used for the bricks? Also did you spray it on?

Cheers,
David.

thanks everyone and regarding the brick colour, i made a special custom colour after some extensive testing. the main brick colour is made from mixing Vallejo Burnt Cad Red 814 and Orange Red 910. variants were made by adding more orange red or cad red. i made the mixed paints in tiny jelly jars so they wouldn't dry out as i painted.

i sprayed the wall a mortar colour, off white made from foundation white and buff, and then brush painted the individual bricks. there's more details in earlier replies on this thread.

i had a laugh at the lathe comment, it doesn't look very stable on that Testors paint jar does it? that paint jar is over 30 years old by the way and i don't even know what colour was in it because it is sealed tight and covered by hundreds of coats of paint lol.

cheers and thanks for checking the progress, bd.

Bruce: your dio continues to come along nicely!! I'm loving it. the scratched furniture looks the part for sure. If you get the chance, what was your process for weathering the concrete? It looks really good.

Happy Modelling, -zon

thanks Zon for the words of encouragement. the concrete starts as raw umber lightened with buff, then washes are applied followed by highlights with oils of lightened raw umber mixed with titanium white finished with some more washes.

concrete is kind of an interesting material to paint in scale, lots of shifting tones. furniture is finished and hope to paint them this weekend. i have been working 7 days a week for awhile but plan to take a mini break to enjoy the summer weather and my hobbies.

cheers for now, bd.

Bruce: thanks for the info! Looking forward to more.

Happy Modelling, -zon

having a crazy fun time puttering with all the tiny little details that will ultimately make this diorama have that cluttered look of a factory. though it has been hard to find time lately i have continued on with adding some extra details to the items i have planned for the scene:


finished the furniture and made some extra drawers that will be laying on the ground. finished the workshop pieces and added a little touch of detail to the tools and gear.


some tools and junk for the scene. i had fun making the tiny screwdrivers... they look like they will add to the clutter well.


i still have more from the two sets above to prep for painting. they both have lots of goodies, which is great as the building has plenty of space to fill up.

cheers for now and happy modeling everyone, bd.

Hi Bruce

Ive just come across this build thread and all i can say is WOW. Not is the build work amazing, your explanation of your techniques are brilliant.

Im really looking forward to more.

Regards
Wes

Yo Bruce,

The "goodies" will sure give the right detail to your work.

...like I sayed before, damn good scratchwork!!

Keep up.

Greetz Nico

Great work, Bruce. This is really nice inspiration and a level of detail to strive for.

Looking forward to see more

hi everyone,
first i'd like to thank all the recent posts on this project with the kind words of encouragement, it does help to keep this rather large build moving onward.

okay, i thought i would try something new as i have never really painted furniture before. i didn't prime the desks/tables and went straight into streaking Vallejo Old Wood and New Wood onto the surfaces. with no primer it smeared rather easily.




with oil washes and then oil drybrushing i slowly built up various layers of wood grain and wear on the desks/table.





this is now ready for a matte varnish and then some pigments for dust. this will help blend them into the scene as i will use rubble dust from Mig for most of the debris weathering.

here's a sneak peek at the lathe which is slowly coming together paint-wise:


this Plus Models kit is leaps and bounds better than the Verlinden or CMK kits with its details, crispness and decals to boot. still more to do on the lathe but its come a long way so i'd thought i'd post a pic in its current state.

sometimes i sit back and think how nice it was when i was younger when i was happy just brushing on a flat colour, maybe a wash too, and calling the model "done." now i find myself painting everything with 26 steps... even little cans of oil. while sitting back and wondering i ponder whether the next decades will find me painting tiny things in 148 steps or maybe there will be a magic spray can that does everything in one go... hmmmmmm.

cheers for now, bd.

Love all the detail Meaty, very well done.

Cheers, Ski.

wow! bruce thay look fantastic, especially the lathe.
stan

hi everyone, time for an update on the project.

lots of little pieces are getting the paint treatment before being assembled into the scene. i laid masking tape face up and then taped this down to make sticky strips that would hold the tiny pieces in place for painting:










i'm going to wait until the small accessories are glued into place before doing any further weathering with pigments to avoid excessive handling. the pigments will help with some of my heavy-handed weathering and bring unity to the overall colour scheme.

PS: i got a message asking for more detail on the painting of the building. i used a mix of buff and foundation white for the mortar colouring keeping this light as the washes were going to deepen the hues. i used london grey for the grey portions which i then added black oil washes and titanium white oil drybrushing to add the various tones. hope this helps.

every step gets me that much closer to the finish line. cheers for now, bd.

the painting on such small objects is fanatstic! and the wood grain is so realistic!
thumbs up!

An easy way to add realism to the workbench is to:
Get one of the tins in your set and paint drips/runs of paint down the side (preferably in a light colour). Paint the bottom of the tin around the edge to create a circle. Before the paint dries press it on to the bench and then remove it,hopefully leaving a nice paint ring, repeat if desired. Idid this before and found it brought the bench to life and helped tie in the tins lying around. You could even have the paint tin spilled on the floor amongst your debris.

Cheers
Robbo

HI,

I like what you doing with the building, though the opper left window, in the second photo,
It has a little piece sticking out.
This makes the breaking line go trou the window, what is quite unlikly.
I think in a explossion that the little piece also breaks off.
I'm not sure, but that's what i see ;-)

The figures are looking really great, The face and the uniformes looks almost real.

Keep up the good work, Eli

more madness...



i sat down finally to brush paint a few bricks for the debris field and went a bit crazy with the piece count. though subtle, there are three different hues in this set. i found the cork once painted had a nice texture resembling scale bricks... kudos to the chap who thought of using this material for scale work.

cheers for now, bd.

Bruce: nice work on the furnishings, tools and all the rest. Very well done.

I am concerned however that you don't have enough bricks for the rubble

You are a mad man, but we all appreciate it.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Hey Bruce,

It's looking awesome! We've PM'ed a while ago about this project but I do still have a question about the paint job you did on the bricks. With what basic mix did you start for the brick color?

Cheers Remi