Hello fellow modellers,
Fearing all you Pro's , and semi-Pro's I was kind of a challenge for me to post my work here, but Cheyenne said I should give it a try.so...
This is a Post about a dio I'm making , called "La Factoria".
It is a fantasie, but I'm having a story to tell about it
Its supposed to be a part of Beck's funnies as I call'm.
( hobbard's funnies ..get it? )
The commander Beck of the Werhmacht was given de task of converting old obsolete captured material,mainly from the defeated French Army.
one of these conversions where the Marder1 auf Lorraine, and a lot of Lorraine carriers (a small ammo/cargo carrier)H38/39's,Somua, R35's ect were converted, some into Marders aka tankhunters, this was done by putting the finest Panzer Abwehr Kanone (Pak) onto those chassis, hens making the anti-tank units more mobile (since the distances in the east where, to eurostandarts, HUGE! )
So back to the dio, I decided to make somkind of factory and some Marder versions, I hadn't decided which one to pick, first I was gonna put a couple of Trump Pak aus H38's on it (with Bronco chassis) and some fine detail Pe, but finaly I got a hold of 2 Marder 1's auf Lorraines by Rpm
Luckely I still have an Ironside Lorraine (witch I was also gonna be building) and as this has better detail, I use this as an enhancement tool/reference for the Rpm kits, witch aren't that bad, but lacking some bolds and rivets.
Enough said, some pics now, and I'll see what comments come up



plaster castings made by, euh me LOL


scribing till you get snowblind


adding some details, rails ect, the polish off is just a scalemeasure for myself,(everystone is scribed by him at night , but hé don't tell anyone)


putting some balsa slide doors on it



some windows and a door (note: door has been changed in later pics, because I forgot to have a "kaderement" for the door,( the wood where the door hangs into)
added some drainpipes (woodsticks , straw from juice, alufoli and some copperwire)



test colors, note underside not done, will be different color, and also easier to put it into the dio afterwards, glue, plaster and painted things don't go well together


being kind of a fruitcake, I decided to make all the stones on the courtyard one by one out of foamboard, they're 0.5 on 0.5 mm and there are a bl**dy lot of'm, I almost when mental after the first 10/10cm, as it's 18/60cm large

but I didi it



same kit, different decals, fairly well done Pak ,lot of work cleaning, but hey that's life, nothing for free.

well hope you guys (and girls) like my dio

enjoy
Tha Pit

Very, very good job
What kind of foamboard have you used?
Have you scribed all the bricks of the plaster walls?

Hello Pit !

brilliant work ! I love it !!

Regards

Flo

Good work. I saw this over on the Benelux site and was waiting for you to post it here. Lots of effort but a great result. I look forward to seeing the finished dio.

Well it's clear you need to post more often, this is a really good project.
Don't forget to dusty dirty up the roof, and extend the dust around the fence when its done.

My only critique is that it looks very square, I am a fan of putting the primary vision line on an angle with the base. I understand why you did it, size and shape consideration.

thanks a lot for the quick reply's already,
yes all bricks where scribed , one by one, when finnished you will be able to notice I didn't use the "regular" masonery, because sturdy building in my town (Ghent Belgium), are not made like modern homes ther is a row of bricks facing head first, and a row laying flat.
the foamboard I bought at a local arts/crafts store Schleipper,a store for art students and architect students ( there is a know academy around the corner, and we have a 'tradition' of wierd aka art students over here )
(( no offence , but DAMN those guys/girls sure know how to ...euh create , not to begin talking how some are dressed (fashion department )))
I'm drifting oeps...
About the dust and roof, The roof is just a "for a pictures sake" piece of sandingpaper

I found a grade that looks like roofing,or maybe asfalt like, P600 I think it was,
The dust, most certainly, all corners will get some, and some weeds here and there
it's a workplace, no gardener ,it's war, no time to cut the weeds
Arbeiten ...SNELL!SNELL! oeps getting carried away again

For the square part,I had been warned it would be a comment when posting, no offence taken,like you said, it's about where I'm gonna put it , and making an angle would result in a smaller "workable space,I'll try to remember that when building La Factoria "interiori" ( that will be part 2 )
and I can always put it slightly in an angle when on display

greetz all

Tha Pit

Hey Pit
A wonderful display!
All has been said already...
Any photos of the rear of the parapet wall? I'd like to see what you have done with the rainheads for the downpipes?
Sorry, Plumber )
Brad

Pit, good show.
I was hoping you were going to post the close in pics. of the sliding factory doors, the drain pipe work and the scratch speaker on the outside wall.
After seeing this again I've got a real liking for the color transition on the walls from red brick [ upper walls ] to the dusty lower areas.

It's also nice to see you're a Giger fan. Many people don't realise that he is the birth seed for anything Alien [ the movie ].
I have alot of his art books from way back when. He actually did artwork and sculpting that inspired the movie.
The Alien movie was ground breaking in that there was a long dead space of really good Sci - Fi movies. The Alien movie and John Carpenter's remake of The Thing really goosed Sci - Fi back into the blockbuster movie money market.
Also in the original 1950's The Thing, James Arness [ Gunsmoke fame ] played the thing. A great movie for the early 50's.

Ok no more coffee - see ya'all later - Glenn

well the plimbing on the other side of the wall, damn didn't think anyone would notice or even bother thinking off
but I'll take a look at that problem once I finnish the roof
(first mating the walls with the floor, then adding glass in the windows, then I can start on the roof part)
@cheyenne, I still have to paint the lowerparts, and then weather en dust it some, as I explained before, I'm holding the painting untill I mated the whole thing , so to prevent color discrepancies/differences, in the walls
That's one thing you always should keep in mind when working with plaster, first scribe, then maybe a gentle stoke of the airbrush in an of white/grey (or if it's gonna be dark, black)
check everything, fit different pieces together, then repaint the whole thin, so it gets uniformly the same color, then seal it, and from there on you can do whatever the .. you want with it,
AS LONG AS you dont scribe other things after you've sealed it, because in my case I spray on a solution for Plasterwalls, it's a sort of Primer , like thin milk, that lays a tiny layer of 'plastic', verry handy if you don't want the building to absorb pigments in your paint (you get dark spots where ever you start ) an if you don't want to have an White spirit/Terpentine smelling house (Been there, done that, it smelled so bad I had to put it in the gardenshed, the house I had build I mean )
So I hope that ...euh clears things out

and on demand, the "speaker" Cheyenne mentioned, is a bel , remotely activated bij the "box" next to it (holds a magnet and spool), this is a Bell for when the phone goes ringing in the office, (ven dzie fuhrer vants informatzion about zsie progress )

( gonna upload them laterz, imageshack doesn't wanne play at thsi time:( bummer )


greetz Pit

et voila, imageshack did wanne play now
Pit

Very nice so far. I'm waiting for the marder 1's to make an appearance. I would like your opinion of the marder 1 kits. I would like to build one myself but need some advice on the kits.
Joe

note, parts are only assembled to take pics, and still need some mr surfacer and putty to make'm paint ready

Have you ever done a RPM kit?
lots of seams to clean up, some flash here and there, but concidering it's about the only non resin version around, with some TLC, you'll be able to make it into a nice Marder, if you wanne go all the way, a alu barrel, fruils, and some Pe will be expensive, but hé I've seen guys on the net that spend 100,200 euro's on a kit worth 15/20euro's, so the sky is the limit
I'm content when it looks like a... to me, and appart from the "wrong way around tracks, or some piece put on wrong, I haven't had bad comments on my (usually )otb cheap kits
Tha only exception to that was a fellow modeler named G-Force, Aka Ginno Poppe, well know figure painter, talented, but one A**hole of a person,when arguments failed he went for the "you are a cheap B" assault, just because I don't like spending to much money on my hobby, oeps getting caried away again, where's my relatine, valium, antidepressants



Greetz Tha Pit

Hello The Pit,
Thanks for posting here.
Well done until now. I feel your pain regarding the stones. Hopefully the were not 0,5 mm but 5 mm long :-)

You will have another tough time painting the bricks, my thoughts are already with you

Cheers
Claude

Fantastic work Pit!!!!!

First of all, this is great work - very inspirational!

This Foamboard you're using? What is it exactly? Is it a king of semi-rigid plastic foam? Any pointers would be useful, thanks...

Foamboard - also known as Foam Board.

Typically a foam core sandwiched between two pieces of card, sometimes know as Foamcore. Kapa is a commonly known brand.

Used by graphics companies to mount images, large pictures to. Screenprinters for point of sale displays. Also by Architects to create building models.

Extremely lightweight but can be damaged very easily, either by the card face getting depressed, scored etc or any corner crushed or damaged.

This "disadvantages" used to the modellers advantage, by scribing lines etc. on the surface to simulate brickwork etc. although some of the expensive board uses very hard card surfaces which makes it difficult to achieve the right visual depth.

Most studios, sign company's have replaced its use with rigid foam pvc. This confusingly is also refered to at times as foamboard. But this is a plastic material with a cellular structure when viewed close up.

I've seen some people remove the outer layer of card from foamboard and scribe detail into the now exposed inner foam core.

You can buy it in large sheets but must store it flat and carefully or it will curl and distort. Available in 3mm upwards thickness.

Alan

Alan - thanks for that. Yep, I thought it was that - just needed confirmation. Personally, it's good to see someone can use it, personally, I find it warps far too easily to be particularly practical. The rigid foam sounds much more useful though...

Hi

The rigid foam material is used extensively with the sign, graphics and display industry.

If you've ever visited an exhibition you see what are called shell schemes, these are the individual stands set up by the show organisers that exhibitors book and then fill with their product or services and you visit. Usually they use an aluminium frame work system with a white wall panel held within it. This panel is usually that material.

Signs and graphics that are screenprinted, photo mounts are also done using this material. Its fire rated so that's why it has widespread use, can be cut ,drilled, screwed and sanded with normal woodworking tools.

I've seen skip loads of the stuff chucked away from companies because the graphics are no longer required, out of date etc. Also off cuts, lots of those in sizes modellers could use.

So if you are keen to try it (and help the environment) see if you have a sign makers, screenprinters or exhibition build company near you and ask if you can relieve them of some of their waste.

It's tough to cut. You'll need a Stanley knife and to glue it you'll need rigid plastic glue (plastic pipe glue) or Superglue.

It has a slight coating to it, part of the manufacturing process to ensure it releases from the rollers as it extrudes out the machine so it may need some work to get paint to adhere to its surface.

Screenprinting ink is mainly solvent based so that doesn't suffer from the problem although I've had issues in the past.

It's called rigid foam pvc but some people call it foamboard, others I've known call it Amari panels but that's actually a supplier of the product, like vacuum cleaners get called "Hoovers"

It's quite cheap to buy these days, around £15 for a 2440 x 1220mm sheet but because its a "trade" product it's usually got a minimum quantity and subject to highish delivery charge.

Honestly, if you can use it, one trip to one of these companies getting rid of the stuff on the right day will get you enough to last a modelling lifetime.

I've also seen it used glued to a wooden base before the top layers of the diorama go on to stop water ingress into the base thus warping it.

Alan

Pfffff, thanks for writing your essais on foamboard, again I'm smarter now
and usefull for the other modelers (saves some time hé)

thanks

Pit

Hi

As for foamboard and it warping.

I don't profess to have all the answers but one reason it does warp is unequal tension.

If you paint/coat one side when this dries it tightens and pulls on the surface, thus you will get it curl.

The answer is the same as when laminating surfaces in worktops, woodworking, furniture making etc. you introduce a "balancer" on the other side. On worktops they use the cheapest laminate they can find to even out the tension. In modelling just paint/coat the other side.

Alan

This is exactly the kind of detail I find very useful. More of these detail shots please!

Jim, I'm honnour that my work pleases you,posting my work here has been a big stimulance in making my project .

Of course I'm not putting one person before the other, but a visit from the moderator himself,
BIG on my face



Pit is humbled by all that attention

Greetz

Tha Pit

well in the weekend we spend time with the family, ect, ect,



and in those few spare moments.....


I continued with my Lorraines,Aka Marder 1
The 3th one is a "Dragon Porté" versie, and I still have the Ironside one to build

and because of the cristal clear build instructions, I had the spondons on to narrow, luckely I was able to "separate" them.

with some Tlc,Milliput, Mr surfacer,and a lot more
it will turn out as crappy as my other work,
(I hope )

Greetz Tha Pit

wat 2 go that is an awesome dio

update

well, not only the kits are somewhat flued, the instructions got me on the wrong track ..
I followed instructions, but I figgered out afterwards that you better do 4/5/ first then 6and3 in combination after
, rest of the build, after some suspension clips I got so fustrated with the ones offered in the kit ( and if the biggest peices are sometimes moulded ...well flued, guess how those tine clips looked like!! )
so I got me some copperwire, smashed it some with a hammer till it got somewhat flattened, then heated it to make it softer, en proceded to make all them clips myself, still got a lot more to do , figures 6 for every boggey,6 boggeys on each lorraine,and 3 lorraines to build,



but somehow I managed to keep somewhat sain so here's to score so far



and test on the "factory grounds"
still need some motorcycle riders, got a Horch,and some figs , like some guard soldiers , any suggestions , ?



greetz Tha Pit