You shortened his neck, right! Much better that way!!!

Cheers

Romain

Hello Alan ,

i have a suggestion ; If you look at the position or elevation of the barrel of the gun it seems like there is fired on close enemy targets . What i mean is that not only the gun but also the canteen , railroad and supplies are in danger because the enemy is approaching very close towards the lines

So lifting the barrel up in a less acute angle( less sharper angle?) , would give the impression that the targets are miles away from the gun.

But that's up to you Alan because it's your diorama



Cheers

Kurt

Hi Romain,

I just added a Hornet head with the neck cut so that he's looking down, not sure what you mean?

Hi Kurt,

To load the 6 inch the barrel had to be dropped back to the horizontal each time. I'm not sure if I'll have them loading or just cleaning the gun yet, but thanks for the thoughts, I know what you mean.

Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

Whilst watching the election results I thought I'd have a bit of a dry run with the old fashioned method of camo nets. Darren Baker had sent me some bandage a few years back so I thought I'd see how that might work. The support posts all still need painted in and I could probably make the colours stronger on the net itself.

Anyway let me know what you think, camo nets are a new area for me.









Cheers

Al

The material looks suitable to me. I assume you will be using diluted white glue for the final "drape"?
J

Hi Jerry,

Thanks, Yes, but I'll need to finish the crew and kit for the gun position first. I wasn't sure what to think of this as you don't see many top views of camo nets, usually from the side or underneath but it's growing on me.

An over view of how the base looks at the moment.













Cheers

Al

Hi Al,

tricky bit these camo nets!

Basically you would have to drape it over a hard object..and pull the corners tight..and fix them with white glue, and then take the top and provide it with a sag..and then build a support structure underneath matching the measurements.

That makes it look realistic! A lot of work!!

Cheers

Romain

Thanks Romain, I'll soak the whole thing in diluted PVA when I'm ready to fix it and all the other work has been done.

Cheers

Al

What I usually do Al is use one of those plastic tubs you get from the Chinese takeaway, put about an inch of warm water in then mix in the PVA. I then stick the gauze in and give it a good mix around so the glue gets into the fibres and leave it for a few minutes so it absorbs well. Cover up the artillery piece you're camouflaging with a bit of clingfilm over the top so no glue drops onto it then drape the gauze over the top of the frame. As it's thoroughly soaked it will sag naturally so just pull it to the taughtness you require and let gravity do the rest. Dries reasonably quickly and becomes really stiff. so if you need to add any more paint you can just lift it up if need be . By the way it's looking excellent mate!

Hi Karl,

thanks for the advice and for looking in.

Cheers

Al

A thought occurred to me last night as I was looking at the frame, and that is to have a couple of chaps pulling the camo net over the frame. That way the gun could be exposed more for easy viewing but the concept would still be there. Not sure if I could pull this off realistically but it might be work a go.

Cheers

Al

Al,

Sounds like a reasonable idea to me. Can't wait to see it.

Paul

Thanks Paul, seemed a shame to over up that area totally.

Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

Thought I'd take stock of the runners and riders so far. At the moment, 22 figures are done or almost done as are the bulk of the kits.

To finish the figures I'll need about another 10/12 (2 more line men, gun crew, medics, signaler and troops on the road).

Of the troops so far possibly 3 will not be used on this one and I may or may not use the Ford T in this scene (depends on the final road activity).

I'll need to do some personal kit to hang around the place, medical boxes and some more stacked shells, picks and shovels etc, so a long way to go yet, but I can see a small glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.









Cheers

Al

Blue movie

Cheers,

RJ

Hi RJ,



A bit more work on one of the line men and the start of another figure.



Cheers

Al

Looking good Al!!!! Great idea with the camo net!!!!

Cheers

Romain

Hi Romain,

Thanks. I'm hoping to combine these two carrying an ammo box or some medical supplies, have to see what works best.





Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

These are the metal L shaped arms for the MiniArt telegraph poles. They are quite tricky to clean up and I've lost a few of the porcelain insulators along the way. I don't know if the metal type arms were around in 1916, more likely to be wood so I will probably swap them out for wooden ones unless I can find data to the contrary.



Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

With the half way house look.

Al

Dear Alan,

An addict, that is what you made out of me!
Just back from a Scandinavian business trip, the first blog on Armorama to see was yours. Getting better all the time.

But if you have your role call tonight for the gunners, do kick a... to the one who dropped the cleaning rod on the ground!

Now it must be full of sand and dirt, which has a destructive effect on the gun's tube.
I am sure in case you would have seen it, you would have act as a real battery commander and it would not have happened.

Looking forward to see more!

P.

By the way: since this one seems to be near to completion, can we expect some new naval subjects coming from your desk?

Hi Paul,

Hope you had a successful trip and thanks for looking in and the comments. Things are moving along, about 8 more figures to do and I was thinking of adding another ammo dump to the right of the gun position in the dip of open ground. Some small personal kit items to build and the linemen and telegraph poles to complete but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

On the naval side, I got a hull for an LCP L which I'd like to do this year and also make a start on the Vospers although I haven't yet invested in the PE set yet. Sadly the Italeri X Craft seems to have dropped off the scene for now.

Thanks again.

Al

Hi folks,

Some base paint on the two figures and some work on the cable reel.

Al





Cheers

Al

You Sir, are a modeling machine.
I admire your dedication to the workbench. I can't seem to haul my large butt down to mine much lately. Too nice outside.
J

Hi Jerry,

I try to do a little each day other wise I'd never get anything finished.

A bit more work on the figs and I've drilled carry holes in the ammo case and made some wire rope. I was thinking the best way to mount these would be to make a simple base of wooden planks and then set the figures carrying the boxes on that. The base could then be set into the main base, if that makes sense.

A bit of trial and error required no doubt.



Cheers

Al