Hello Simon Great work the day I stop learning I'll stop modeling.Just one thing the medals on the figure are a little to shinny.I dry bruch them it gives them some depth. I look forward seeing more of you work

Hello Simon, I like where you are going with this. Don't ever worry about dumping a piece, I have plenty of them. I look back at them as stepping stones to improvement. You have been givin good advice by fellow modelers and I see you are trying to incorperate them as you go along. A great inprovement between the two. Aside from the advice you have been givin I will toss in another .o2 cents worth. The barbwire the one fellow is holding looks to be as thick as tow cable. A way to get around that is to twist together two strands of real thin wire like the stuff used in electronic equipment. Twist tight and paint. Also, if you have ever handled barbwire, you want gloves on, which you can simulate by painting the hands heavy with black/brown paint. I think the lichen is good for dessert scrub growth, so maybe add some leaves to it after you paint the thick parts a bark color. This will give you a more bushy looking type of growth and look better. Take a walk through a feild and check out the different types of vegitation that grows within a 3 foot area. A little more (variation) types of weeds here and there will make a big difference. Keep up the good work, this will turn out better than you think.

hey Simon, this dio is coming along really great. lots of effort on all the details shows us how much you are improving the scene with various techniques and items.

good point about gloves for handling barbed wire, though i have worked without gloves when i was out fixing fencing and just didn't have any so it does happen (but i wished i had them on).

another way to make barbed wire is from picture wire that you unwind the strands. the individual strands are very thin. old school barb wire was usually 2 pieces of wire twisted slightly together and one barb every 2 scale feet or so (wrap a piece of wire 2 times around and then trim the ends off to make the barbs). but almost anything goes as we have a museum here with a huge wall display of all types of barbed wire examples, just not too thick is better.

i like the firepit, cozy idea. i may suggest taking black soot (from a burnt wooden match maybe) and blackening the inside ring of the rocks to match the logs.

you did a fine job on the figures, not many people would tackle so many for one project but you have steady hands my friend.

cheers, bd