Hi, I just got that Magic Sculpt for the first time, because I needed it for the Airborne Campaign in November. I bought it now because I wanted to practice doing a smaller dio first.

Here is the base w/ the gate wall and the figs being used. The idea is to have them waiting for yet another Russian attack. The figs are from Dragon and Verlinden. I am working on it today so I will post more progress later.

Please post if you have any improvement ideas or any other comments.



thxs,
John

whats the guy with his hand up doing?

overall good so far:)

like the man with the "ouchie"
what type of floor are you having?

keep it up

James.

Fantastic camo from a distance! Close-up pics please.

Lars

Jim- The guy on the far left is going to be holding a Kar-98. The floor will be concrete.

Lars- Glad you like the camo. I will get some closeups for you.
You have been doing really well on your Iraqi Dio. Good to see other young teenagers modelling.

I will keep you guys posted!

thxs,
John

ok

young teenage modellers, hehe
im only 18


kep us updated

Oh, I thought you were an oldy!!!! I am only 14!!

i love the camo, its great!!! btw where can i find wood bases that are varnished for vignettes and dios???

Here is the concrete walkway. It is whits so you cant see the details very well. I textured it and indented it where the figs go.

Here is a close up on figs.


BTW Calvin, I dont know where you can get Varnished wood, I just always do my own. Sorry
Also check your PM Box.


thxs,
John

Calvin,

A good "vignette" base can be easily made from a small piece of pine or any other wood for that matter. Cut the piece to the size you like, and if you have access to a router, rout the edges. Once the edges are routed, (you being here in the states) go to Lowes or (ugh) Home Despot, and get a small can of stain and a can of satin spray (rattle can). Stain the wood, let it dry, and then spray it with the clear satin. As a base, this is easist......then add, depending on what you are doing, ground cover and other details.

Bases are really easy......what ever you put on the base tho, may not be.

Mike

Hi everyone,
Here is another update- got the wall face done. Using a dental tool for the indentions, and a toothbrush for the texture. Any suggestions or comments are welcome!




I will keep you guys posted!

thxs,
John

looking good john! keep it up!

Thanks Jon, Glad you like it!!

John, I like the idea and what you've done so far, but i do have one suggestion that could make the scene more effective. I think that the base and wall are too long. You could take off some of the right hand side, move the figures in a bit closer and increase the overall effectiveness of the scene you are trying to make. It just looks to me as if there is too much open space between the figures. you want the viewers eye to be drawn in to the story you are telling. Too often i see vignettes or dioramas that are well done, but leave too much empty or dead space that can detract from the overall effectiveness of the scene displayed.

John

They aren't varniushed, but you can get nice raw wood plaques in all kinds of shpaes and sizes at Michael's or AC Moore arts & craft stores. They're pretty cheap and there's always a 40% coupon in the Sunday paper. Buy some Minwax stain and you're set to go.
I see you're in New York. If you're near Freeport, Long Island, there's a big figure show there the third Saturday on November and there are finished bases there.

I like th eshape of the base, something different. You should consider some veneer strips to cover the edges. The unfinished look really detracts from the overall presentation.

Hi everyone,
Thank you for all the comments and advice. Here is a update-

I cut the wall basically in half, but still got to cut the wood. I am getting some "pretty" wood for the sides . This is my first try at it so BWM. I used pastels in Earth Tones for the wall.

I was asked to do a Feature so we could get some young modellers work published on the site, so I will show how I did the colors and stuff in big detail then.





Any questions or advice or comments are welcome!!


thxs,
John

Nice work, John!
But there's something about the walls upper part that looks a bit strange to me...Maybe the bricks are too big?

Nice to see another teen modeller here on big-A, I'm 15 myself.

Marek

Good work so far. Is the wall to be brick or stone? I'd advice stone as the scale is too large for brick. A quick dry brushing will tone the wall down and make it more stone like. Add some ivy and a few plants growing at the base and it will help blend the whole thing together. (this can be done really easily with PVA and dried herbs)
ps. Don't forget to cover the other side of the wall with plaster etc. so it can be painted. Bare polystyrene would spoil your work.

Nice progress John,

You may wish to try an oil wash to blend the pigments on the wall together also. Perhaps use some lighter colours to simulate 'grout' also in some areas.

looks verry nice

Nice work

Thank You very much everyone for your comments and advice!!

Marek- The wall is stone so I wanted big stones showing on the top layer. I saw that on someone elses wall they did when I was looking for advice. It is always cool to see other teen modellers too!

Hobbes- My plan was to have stone, I also drybrushed it, but maybe it was not enough. I was thinking of adding some foliage, so I will see what I can do. And I just did the front side, so I was going to cover the sides. And I still have to cover the top also.

Paul- I did a good wash, but I will see if I can get more of a blend.

Nick and Robby- Thank You for your comments!

I am glad that everyone has been helpful and giving me their advice, Thank You!!

thxs,
John

I got the side and top walls sculpted. I have to let it dry for 24 hrs. so I will paint it tomorrow. I also got more fig painting done, but I dont have pics yet. I found a way to do some ivy, by using sawdust. I also have started to paint the sidewalk w/ my own mixture of grey. I will post pics later of that.




thxs,
John

Got alot done today!!
First pic: Is the wounded fig, which is done now.


Second pic: Wall is completely done w/ painting. Still have to get some ivy growing up it though. Can someone give me some information on how to do that? It would be very helpful.


Third pic: Shows floor got painted it color too. still got some touching up to do though.


thats it for now!

thxs,
John

Is the sidewalk to dark? The more I look the more worried I am. Is it just me?

thxs,
John