Ok, i checked a bit the planting distances of rice.
I found distances between 20 and 30 cm between the plants and between the rows.
This would be some 6 to 8.5 mm distance here.
I know you don't like such calculations

You are certainly not to far away from that but eventually the right look and not the absolut correct distance would have be the way to go here. More rice plants would have then be my choice probably.
Anyway, it is to late to add anything, so i should have raised my hand earlier.

A nice mess you made with the colors!

Cheers
Claude

Hi Nicolas

sorry havent checked in of late, i must say this is turning into something very very special, the fuselage is looking great as is your groundwork, cant wait to all the elements come together

great work mate

shane

Hi Nicolas,

Your work is always amazing!
I will look on it.

Seung-il

Arf Claude, alwaus really precise uh? ah well you are certainly right but i don't think the scene would have really fit if I had used more rice plants. Actually the question I ask myself is "IF I had known it before, would I have go the realistic way or the way that I fell was the best for my diorama", hmm, questions questions.. anyway, thanks for telling!

Thank you Shane, hopefully, next week at the same hour it should be completed

thank you too Seung-Il! Like I said it will soon be other -but I have some other ideas for Southern Asia based dioramas

So now time to fit the plane and the figure on the base -I forgot to tell yesterday that some of the cutting on the base was to allow the plane to fit near the path.
Thanks to some help I got on Aeroscale (Steffen and Tim), I was rightfully directed to some F-100 decals that would suit for a F-105, and indeed when I got those they really fitted with my own plane.


in truth it was some 25 years that last used some decals and gosh how the quality improved! Using only Future, I was able to twist those letters in all directions to fit the painfully twisted curves of my fuselage -of course i had to carefully cut those in the shape of the different broken panels.

But then i started being really afraid. As you can see on the diorama, the fuselage is way darker on the left side, and brighter with pure aluminium and gold colours on the right side (that's some lightning effect I want to get). But then those decals just were of some dark grey/blue flat colour from left to right, they really didn't fit at all! Suddenly they made my diorama look like some toy model kit.
So hey, no choice, optivisor, 003 brush and let's paint over the decals with some brownish hues where we need them and here comes my relief back again.
Actually, even if my picture is rather bad, I can tell you there is nothing left of the initial decal colour, but it was all worth it!

Stunning as usual! Waiting patiently for the H2O.
Decals (and your retro coloring)look great

C.

Yo Nicolas,

What a build up for you're color! Nice work.

Can't wait to see the water aspect.

Keep up!

Greetz Nico

Hi Nic

That looks stunning. I love the details of the electronics spewed out from there access panels. Great effect.

And the pose of the wreck just looks so right.

Nige

Hi Nicolas,

Wow! What a terrific build log of what promises to be another French masterpiece. "Gallic Edge" indeed, between you, Jean-Bernard and Alexandre (the 3 musketeers) will have it all wrapped up.

One particular comment regarding the pilot caught my attention, he looks "more Russian than American". I'm curious why you were of this opinion? In what respect does he look thus?

BTW, congrats on your MIG Forums award.

Rudi

thanks Charles, here is the water! btw you were right, no way to stop the water creeping up the plants, but you know me, I *will* overcome that (ahah i hope!!)

Thank you Nico -and thanks for the link

Thanks Nige too!

Rudi, well, the Gallic edge is a bit handicapped when you think about it -JBA is breeding kids more than dioramas these days, Alex is still at the "difficult second diorama" level (like they says for rock bands you know), as for my ownself I have exactly *1* completed diorama to show
ahha, more Russian than American. That's because he is sort of bony you know, that maybe stupid but everytime I met some Americans, they were usually not necessary taller but a lot *huger* than I am I first wanted to sculpt a huge and strong man like the pilot on my picture, but in the end I got a thin guy with cheekbones and some vaguely Asian eyes

Thanks for the congrats for the Mig award, maybe I should announce it at the right Tsushima II place

Thanks goodness the weather is excellent which means the resin will dry fast enough. I need to put at least 4 different coats of resin, and use probably 8 or 10 colours for that one.
indeed every summer since a few years I visit my parents who live near a big swamp on French west coast, and I always liked the look of the water in the summer, it really takes a lot of colours, mainly of the decaying leaf sort, like dark red, yellow orange, dark green brown. Very beautiful colours but with a slight perfume of malaria (even if you’re unlikely to get malaria in the west of France). Well, I don’t know South East Asia, but I thought that using those colours and would certainly fit –and they are also a far cry from me having a huge Apocalypse Now poster in my bedroom when I was a kid, because the poster also had those colours.
So well, all the tinting was done using oils, both opaque and transparent.
The first coat was some dark green brown transparent oil which I thought would be good on the dark areas of the diorama (near the walking path, below the crashed electronics). So I bent the diorama and proceeded to put that first coat of resin that way.



Then I did some red colours –I used a mix between the aforementioned hue and opaque red (not too much so that the transparency would stay) and applied it further to the right of the diorama.

Now really consider what I am doing: I had some comments about the terrible colours and scruffy looking background I was using for the diorama, but really that was the point: the real colours of the water will be provided by the resin itself! This is why I left a bit of pink here and there, or some white or bright orange, because pink + transparent dark green resin does really something quite weird and really un-pinkish
That’s like chess guys, you have to think one or 2 or 3 steps in advance

Then another thing I should mention, is that the further you will be looking to the right of the diorama, the more the water will be opaque. Indeed the yellow orange part is the place where the sun reflects and tints the water. When the sun does that you can’t see beneath the water anyway. Hut then - did you guys ever tried to look at fishes in ponds? If the pond is in the shade, then you can see beneath the water quite better, and that’s the reason why the water is almost see through on the left.
To sum up that banter : no sun = transparency, sun=opaque
Well, now let’s dry all that, because I will have a lot of corrections to do afterwards –both concerning colours and the ratio of matt-gloss of that diorama

Pretty nice looking so far. Can you take some photos from the same angle that the sun would be shinning down on the scene?

Cheers,
Charles

Hi Nic

The way you built up the depth is stunning and I love the look of the small lumps to one side as if the wreck has shoved the mud up as it came to rest.

The lighting and shadows give it a somber realism.

Love it.

Nige

Yo Nicolas,

What a story on the water transparancy...what depth realism you created with that! How will you call that technic...watermodulation

very nice done!

Greetz Nico

Thanks Charles, below you will find one of the pics that is actually being taken from that angle you mention -only trouble, this is not the most interesting parts of the build as the cockpit is not detailed enough for my own tastes -even if I have been using some decal sheet for the small bit of panel that will be visible!

Thanks Nige -yep indeed I was wondering if I should have put more mud on the plane, but then it would have spoil the "shiny" effect, so I got the best of the mud but in the water filled field

arf thanks Nico, water modulation excellent! I keep it! Actually I have been tinting the water with oils -but when you don't stir enough, you have some small lumps of painting staying in the mix, and here those are used at a great effect as you have some sort of particles at mid depth. Both brown green *and* bright red, if you look at close up it really makes the oddest of effects in some places!

Well, something I didn't tell in time: the plastic box I used as framing for the resin had been filled with plaster on the underside to prevent leaking, so the first job I had to do was to remove the plastic and the plaster. despite the generous amount of oil I had been coating the borders, i still had some troubles to get this done


So well, time for self critic!
It's all on the picture below


So that kept me busty for a good 2 hours applying dark washes and more or less diluted Future.
The real trouble was indeed that all this resin creeping up the plants!! On some angles it really looked awful and I could not tolerate that.
So i basically removed the plants, cut the resin down, carved some holes with adrill and a cutter and inserted several other plants.
Then I used 2 or 3 coats of Humbrol Gloss Quote to level the water. my trick to get a realistic finish with this thick varnish is to first apply it and then to BLOW on the surface!


Next pictures, it's Rolling Thunder as completed and end of the blog

Nice Nice Nice Nice work. Genuine Master Job.
The 3rd muskeeter still have to learn one or two or twelve things before the Gallic edge book.
My only concern : a bit too Orange and redish but that's a matter of taste.
Alex.

Well I like it! Figured the creeping resin would give you headaches around the small plant life. I really like the reddish cast surrounding the a/c It could also be explained as the massive amount of hydraulic fluid and other liquid matter that would be present in such a battered/torn chunk of a/c

I agree that the pathway should look a little more damp/mucky

Looking forward to the finished product and find out whether it gets relegated to a shelve in the shed or if it sticks around on the workbench for a while.

Cheers,
Charles

Nicolas, my friend, AWESOME,JUST AWESOME !!!!!!!! Looking forward to the finished vignette . Cheers !
Kenneth .

Merci Alex, the Gallic edge is all in the head, and I know a bit of what's in yours when it comes to dioramas, I am 17 years older than you are, you will be better than I am when you'll be my age

Well Charles I didn't think of the fluids at all to be honest -and really i should have because i could have make some surface effects like oil leaking and all. the red tints are just there to emphasize the "sundown on South east Asia" effect I wanted to create! Ah well too bad about that
aaaah well, the diorama will end up in a shed as I scare my wife when i wear the Jenseits mask
thanks for all the support I got from you during that build!

Thanks Kenneth friend! that's it! that's a finished diorama!
ah well, I think I am going to rest for a few months after that one, that's sorta draining to flirt with death like I am doing, I am afraid it will creep on me like the resin.


and here are the pics: [bigger pics on my website]

BRAVO, my friend, BRAVO !!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy your "rest", Nicolas, and I will look forward to your next "expose" on the subject of DEATH . Cheers !
Kenneth .

Compact yet with massive scope.

Stunning- simply a masterpiece.

Are you going to enter it into any competitions?

Another wonderful example of excellent detail and scratch work.
The colors are great.

Maybe a water buffalo licking the pilots cheek?

Well done.
Too many more projects in the shed and we'll have to turn the shed into a museum of fine art and charge admission!
Cheers,
Charles

Nic

Stunning and speachless

Nige

Thank you Kenneth my friend, I guess you already saw some rice fields while I never did, so coming from you I suppose I really did okay

Thanks so much Karl, nope, I don't think i will ever enter it in competition, i am not too fan of getting insulted . Seriously this kind of stuff is best left at home!

That's a fine idea you got Charles, maybe I should do that.
Water Buffaloes are really looking good but would have been a distraction, no doubt about that thank you again!

Appreciated Nige..

Ah, for you all to know, my membership request has been denied on Hyperscale , I guess I shouldn't have been sending the Administrator a link to this thread

Do you know a good planes forums where I could post it? I guess that everybody slightly interested at Aeroscale saw it already.

Hi Jenseits

viele Grüße von diesseits des Rheins

I can assure you that I am watching pretty much since you started this (though I am an a/c modeler and was a bit puzzled by new names) It is just amazing what you do!
I was discussing this with Jean-Luc during our trip through Czechia when he stated that Modelling is not an art and I answered, that I am surely no artist but that there are many modellers out ther who truely are - this includes you!! He is an art teacher in you can bet that we did not come to a conclusion, but we both like your stuff

I do not understand why you did not get access to the HS forums. Must be something with the Notwork 54 stuff I really cannot imagine why Brett Green should have something against you..

again: inspirational work! Thanks a lot for sharing!

all the best

Steffen

Hey Nicolas !
You are most welcome, my friend . You know, I think I know why you were denied membership on Hyperscale : your diorama is so good, all the modellers there will be inspired to build and display only wrecked aircraft !!!! But seriously, try posting your diorama on www.militarymodelling.com or wwww.tanksandthings.com I almost guarantee a better reception there . Hope that helps. Cheers !
Kenneth .

Hallo Steffen -ich kann ein bisschen Deustch sprechen und shreiben kennst du
Thanks for your comments, that's always the same arguments about art -I remember that Jean-Luc told about my colleague's JBA's work "that's not art but it has some artistic qualities".
Personally, i don't mind such compliments if he wants to say them again for that diorama

Well, I can see what brett green got against me: I got absolutely insulted in a french forum for that diorama yesterday so I guess this diorama is not of the taste of everybody and he doesn't want any mess on his forum, but he *really banned me because of this diorama*, his loss, poor bloke.
Anyway, I shall be sure to come again someday with yet another plane and thanks much for your support throughout all these weeks

Thanks as usual Kenneth friend!! Strictly modelling speaking I think this diorama would have benefit from the Aires cockpit set, so well
Thanks for your ideas too! I will do this providing I have the time, see you soon with another project (i hope to see a follow up to your "different goals" diorama soon enough!)



to everybody, time to rest for a few months