Hi Guys,

Here we go again 2nd time lucky!! Firstly I would like to say a big thanks to Max, because if I can now post pictures it is because of his help & paitence!!!The dioarama idea is a the bocage area of Normandy & someone i.e the foot sloggers getting a blasting!!

This is my first time trying to sculpt arms

Cheers Mike

Well donw on ya first pic Mike and ya good luck with the arms ,,I utterly suck at that ..its the reason i have so many spare figures so i dont have to

I can't wait to see this mate ..really can't .

Phill

Please feel free to be honest about any faults & likes & dislikes as it is the only way I will hopefully improve!!





The jerrycans are tasca & the "crate" has been made courtesy of the wooden stool in the tamiya tank crew set.

Hope the pictures are ok??

The pic of the tank commander is great man i very nice job on those arms ..I can't really comment on how good it is dew to the fact i aint got any skill in it but it looks sweet to me
The first Puma pic is a little blurry dude but the second is very nice but still the first is better than some i have seen on here lol

Kia Ora Phil,

Thanks for the very kind words mate as I have been stalking your blogs to learn all sorts of cool tricks!!


So as you can see the final fit of the "boss" in the Puma, I am quite happy with the result, the bent arm i am a little iffy on, but in honesty it will be half hidden behind the hatch.



The stowage is a combo of tamiya,& hobby boss, bits & bobs, covered in Apoxie Scuplt, just learning to use the stuff & loving it

Hi Mike
Looks like a really nice and clean build. It looks like the commander is wearing a Blue Max (pour le merite?). Not a very common sight, but something different insted of the usual Knightscross.
Regards
Jacob

Hey ya welcome matey ..now to that commander ,,his left hand ,,is it going to hold anything ? it looks like its grasping something and don't look very natural ,if you can drill out the centre and sling some binoculars thru his hand .have them hang over the side of the turret,,like ya said some ground pounders are being chewed out so it will give the impression he can see something they can't,will liven up that side abit too .
Part two lol the stowage ..try to get that tarp to hang a little bit, they never got them that tight and with the movement of the vehicle it will move and sag ,, you don't need to go nuts here just a little bit ,,will look much better mate and once you see it i think you;ll like it too but other than those wee things,,dude its gonna look good

Hi Jacob,

Thanks for looking & the comments, in all honesty I think / thought it was meant to be a knights cross with swords?? LOL least I hope it is as I am sure someone who had a blue max would be higher up the chain of command??





Sorry for the brightness of couple of the photos still trying to work out the best place to take them & my work bench isn't looking like it!! LOL

The foot sloggers are from the old dragon panzer lher set, the Mg gunner has had his left arm cut & repositioned at the elbow to get a better sit, at least IMH opinion

Thanks for looking

Hi Phil,

My idea had been to have both the tank commander & the other officer looking at the same maps, i.e the boss man asking the other if he can read?? Sound plausable???

I will see if I can add to the "tarp" as I have already well & truely glued it, , still got to add the ropes / wire to attach branches too. So am hoping will tie in a bit more down the track lol



Starting on the bocage now, again another first time me, like I said I have so much to still learn.

Thanks for the ideas & input

Cheers

I had tried to make the branches for the hedge out of wire but crashed & burned, so more practise in the future is needed!! I cheated & used woodland scenics Ho scale trees, as I hoped that would like about correct height in 1/35th.





The hedge is then bulked out with rubberised horse hair on the lower branches, woodland scenics poly fiber on the top & then given a couple of drenchings of spices, mint, basil,marjoram & oregano. Mmm smells good LOL




Hopefully the last two pictures are not so bright.

Cheers Mike

Hi Guys,

Next comes the bit were I sucked big time & tried to run with my double action airbrush before I could crawl,I was really happy with the panzer yellow, but the green was houston we have a problem!! I should have masked the camo pattern instead of trying to do free hand when I not skilled enough!!!

So now we arrive at the bit were you get to see it after a bath in Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner.




As you can see not a good look at all !!!!

So back to baby steps & hopefully I can at least fix some of it!!!

Cheers Mike

Hi Mike.
Wasting no time getting a heap of pictures up I see, congrats.

Airbrushing is something I need some practice with as well. My first camo will be soon so we could end up having matching Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner paint jobs.

Cheers.

Hi Max,

Yes thanks to you & all your help I have finally managed to put some up now!! Trust me I work that slow mite be a little while before their are anymore lol.

Good luck with your camo job & hopefully you don't need the oven cleaner like I did lol

Cheers

Allo Mikey ,, dude this is gonna look real good when ya get done .
OK yep theres every possibility the commander would consult with his crew .they would trust crews they have served with for a long time so yep thats a go a for sure .
Now your bocage ,, its a little low mate ,,good thickness ,its really solid ,remember a sherman couldn't punch thru the stuff its that hard but the height seems a little low . some i have seen are like 10 feet thick and 20 feet high but this could be a low area so its all good.
Oh one thing you will have to add to the commander anyway is those bloody bino's they always had a pair close at hand,the allies were no different here ,its the little things which can make for break a dio .
Those figures look pretty damn good already so i would say stick with those and just paint them

Phill

G'day Phil,

Point taken about the bocage, I scaled it at my height of 5ft 2" so looked huge!!! LOL No in all seriousness I wasn't to sure about it and went with the less is more theory, ohhh how I wish I had done that before deciding to try & spray green camo on the puma!!! What annoys me the most was told myself to mask it before I did & then still did it!!! So I got what I deserved lol. I am thinking of giving him the really long type of bino's & doing them light tan/ sandy for bit on contrast. Thanks for the kind words & support keeps me chugging along.

Mike

Ok matey boy its time for some air brush 101 .. first thing is dose your compressor have pressure control valve on it ,,if it dose then turn that down to like 20psi ,less is more here.
I will take longer to spray dew to the lack of pressure but the results speck for themselves .
On the back of your brush you can remove the back tube,thats where the needle lives, if thats to open you will get a large amount of paint,close it till the tip sticks out of the head but do it genitally as the metal is pretty soft ,also there is a screw in front of the trigger ,you can adjust that to get the exact amount of spray you want .
Takes some farting around but once your sorted its heaven mate .
Spraying free hand ,there's nothing wrong with it ..many AFV crews resprayed their vehicles in the field so no two were alike but once you have your brush adjusted you will get the fine lines your wanting , an old Iwata i used to have could spray lines nearly as thin as a pencil lead until 35kgs of high grade steel flattened it ,,bugga!!
oh well

Phill

G'day mate, sorry I should have been more clear lol, I was spraying at about 10-15psi, what happened was I didn't get the camo as tight as I wanted it, thought I had masked to fix it with the dark brown only to discover I hadn't. Then I had a temper tantrum at myself lol

Ta mike

You ever use smurf poop mate ? ie blue tac ,, that stuff is brilliant for getting those tight line you want .
Right now i have just used an entire packet of the stuff on The Beast and thats just the lower hull ,damn glad i brought two

Lol just learning to smurf poo now, I used it on the brown & whished I had on the green as well. I did find that but covering in between bounderies of the Blu tack with tamiya or 3m painters tape tacked of save on amount of Blu tac & having a in your beasts case a model weighing in at 50kg lol

Hahahaha ..yeah mate its bloody near that weight ,,if i used nothing but blue tac on the Beast it would cost damn near as much as that thing was to build ,, so nope ..fill in the gaps with masking tape .
The hull is done and now painted ,,next the turret ,,dude i really aint looking forward to this part , but do now and won't have to do it later cause i would have shot myself after doing the drum for the frail

Mate I am sure it will be another master piece!! I will have to pop back into the beast blog for a Bo peep, and you would want to do something else after playing with the frail

There's going to be new pics off the Beast tonight which is still gonna be pretty early for you so plenty of time lol
Turret is done ,,its drying now with its first layer of colour and no i aint telling ya poop on what colour that is lol
Wait till tonight ,,your in for a shock

Will have a nosey & see the kinda surprise lol

Hi Guys,

Finally been able to get into my modeling space, just updated some photos of my take / understanding of colour modulation & what it means?? My belief is that it is a light source from a certain area, ie direct overhead, off to side front on etc etc.
So my idea is from a 2-3 o'clock position.





Please feel free to pass comments good or bad as the only way I will hopefully improve

Cheers Mike

Just another couple of pictures




Please feel free to advise or crtique

Cheers Mike