Hi guys,
I had posted the start of my figures for this small scene over on Model Geek but i thought i'd show some of what i have done here for the dio guys.
After seeing the following pewter figures from Thunderbolt Mountain, i thought i'd try my hand at something different and try to create a pond scene.


Work on figures to date:















With the following items i started to start putting the base together:










Basic form of dio base after adding polystyrene corner, and mix of Woodland Scenics ballast and interior plaster:


Work done tonight, base still needing some extra detail but almost ready for the Vallejo Still Water to be added:


Any comments or tips to help me further with this dio would be appreciated!

BTW, the frog with fairy will be jumping off the grass verge stretching across to the right hand corner of the base.

Cheers,
Shay

that base looks great, nice work

never heard of Joefix studio from Belgium
Gone check their website right now
cheers mate

Base look brilliant

cheers
seb

Looks great. Very different.


I checked out the website. Could not understand one word.

Hi Shay,

looks really good and i see nothing worth improving at this point.

The only point i can't understand is the point to spend money on wood debris! Isn't there a little park anywhere near you. Under every bush you will find a handfull of wood debris.

Nice to have you back

Sheers
Claude

Great work on your base, like how you've tied everything together. Frog and rider are coming along nicely as well. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers -
Tim

Hello Shay, so here you are my friend !!!
I am most impressed, these Joefix stuff is just great as I see in your topic.
The figure will feel at home in this setting, no doubt.
Are you going to varnish your frog to give it a wet, glossy look ?
It'll work out in your hands ! Success, I follow this one for sure.
Greetz Guy.

Jeez Shay - I've always thought the angel on top of the Christmas tree had it hard. BUT your poor fairy will never sit straight again although with a smile like that on his face he may be enjoying it.

Everything looks as though it will come together very well. I take it that you are not putting any water in the bottom corner over which the frog will be jumping.

Brian

hi shay,

good to see you again,
the base looks very good. very original idea.
i'll try to follow this topic!

good luck and much fun

Koen

looks different but good. i like the idea

Military Miniatures Warehouse sells Joefix here in the States.

Ahaa, that must have been probably Dutch my friend, a language almost once spoken by the whole of the USA... (if the Brits didn't screw it up)



Jelger

Hi guys,
Well it has certainly been an experience with the Still Water from Vallejo..i think that this product would be ok for a small flowing stream or in the recesses left by tanks, but certainly not for achieving any form of depth.
To date i have waited at least 30 hours in between each pour (adding a few millimetres each time), and have encountered a significant amount of shrinkage.
I think it will need at least two more layers until i can get the desired depth, next time i tackle water i will be using an alternative product!!You win some, you lose some

@Patrick,Seb,Bret,Tim,Koen,Willow, glad you guys think something of my project so far..the end is in sight

@Claude, you are darned right about scouting out for something in nature, but as the set was only a couple of €'s at a show i thought what the heck!

@Guy, i intend to give the frog a good dose of gloss to achieve a more realistic look to him, the elf will be given a dull coat to seperate the two finishes.The products from Joefix are very realistic, i will be using various products of theirs in the future

@Brian, i know he looks a little dodgy mate, i almost spilt my cuppa with the remark about the Xmas tree .
There could be a slight change to his appearance..somewhere along the lines of adding a chain around the frog and giving the elf a bow with a bag of arrows on his back?!

Anyways, here is a small update of the dio base with the water added to it.The water looks a little too darkly tinted, but it dries a little clearer once dry, revealing most of the pond bottom.







Cheers,
Shay

Hi Shay,

the base, the figures, it is all absolutely beautiful. How does the size of the figures compares to your base? As your base already looks quite covered.



Jelger

Hello Shay, very nice work, the base looks terrific. It is good to see something out of the ordinary. I like to build many different subjects, armor, aircraft, figures, sci-fi, I even build the occasional ship. Way back when I even built cars. That was before I learned what a pain the real ones are to own(lol). I remember bringing a tank to a club meeting and getting some incredulous looks from people who thought I only built figures. I knew a fellow who only built BF-109's( I couldn't spell Messsers-). This was his thing and more power to him for building what he liked. But I think it is good to expand your horizons once in a while. Great work and I can't wait to see it finished. Al

Thanks for putting Joe Fix and Thunderbolt Mountain into my modeling vocabulary. I can't wait to check out their websites

Nice job thus far.

Respectfully

EasyOff

Shay, this is so very well done ! It's the real thing. I like the water, nice color ! What product(s) did you use for as I'm planning to do something with water in a near future ? Thanks for sharing. G.

Hi Shay -i must say your drybrushed frog really put me down with your dio the first time I saw it BUT, such a nice groundwork! the very vivid colours + the cleverly rendered water are a joy to see, it's really refreshing and in complete harmony with the fantasy atmosphere you want to create, I really like it
but now a bit more work on that poor frog..

Hi Shay your base looks very realistic it gives me the impression that if i touch the grass i would feel the dew on my fingers.Can wait to see it completed.

Shay, the groundwork looks fantastic.

Nice groundwork mate. The grass really appears wet.

A little plant grows nearby my house and when the fronds die they look exactly like those reeds.

Chas

Hi all,

@Jelger, the frog and elf are actually in 54mm scale.When the feet of the frog are placed at the back left hand side, he stretches out just over the submerged log.

@Al, i know what you mean about shifting horizons..i was getting stuck in a rut with military figures so i switched over to painting 54mm which i feel very comfortable with.Why stick to one genre when we have so much to choose from now?

@EasyOff, Joefix have fantastic diorama/vignette items and i can't praise them highly enough!
As for the Thunderbolt Mountain range, I think these figures are not really designed for modelling but more for display purposes.Having said that, once the casting lines have been removed the detail of the figures are quite crisp.

@Guy,i used Vallejo Still Water that comes in a 200ml bottle.I wouldn't recommend using this product at all mate ..you can only pour two mm at a time and must wait at least 24hrs. between layers.
So far i have used almost 3/4 of the bottle and each layer has shrunk considerably..in future projects i will be using a two part resin such as Faust used for his vignette.

@Chas,Grumpy and Chris.Thank you all for the comments over the groundwork.
I used Heki Wild Grass and it is a great product, nice tints of green and brown and as Chris mentioned the grass almost seems to have dew on it.There are very minute clear fibres in the grass that play with the lighting giving this effect.

@JBA.After following various water projects of yours (and also from Faust as of late), i wanted to try my hand at such a scene myself, albeit in a smaller scale.
I wanted to achieve a very peaceful scene that is suddenly interrupted by these two travellers.
One unfortunately won't be making it to the scene straight away, the frog will be stripped and restarted.
I had several attempts painting him which didn't work out as i expected and resorted to dry brushing.
It means a tremendous amount to me to hear feedback from yourself and rest assured the frog will be painted better the next time around.

Cheers,
Shay

Thank you, Shay, for your quick response ! G.

very nice work shay,
very vivid colours and a pleasure to look at!!

i have the same experience with vallejo still water... so i wont be using that neither.
Anyway, the result is pretty good at your groundwork!!

greetings

koen

great job different as well ive always modelled military subjects so its nice to see someting else