Hi Guys

Yes, it's me, with a thread without Clervaux in the title!

I present you my next work and I am very confident that it will not take 9 years to finish.

In the meantime you probably know that I am not really that passionate about armoured vehicles and uniform painting. In fact this project probably does not even belong any more on Armorama , but more on Kitmaker Historicus Forma subside, but then, I will probably not hear from my fellow diorama builders any more, so If you permit, I will stay here.
Then again, most of the build will be a diorama.

I am aware that most people now have high expectations on my new build. While I can't guarantee for the quality, I probably can for the subject I am going to tackle.

What do think of a boxed diorama with not only a night but also a rain environment? That's what I will do or at least try to do. Enough talk, let's start.

My idea is to make it a scene of a couple under an umbrella, just coming out of a public park and kissing goodbye while the Taxi is already waiting.
The lights of some lanterns and from the car will provide the contrast for the rain. Don't tackle my yet on my plans for the rain as a lot is just starting to develop during my nightly modelling related dreams.

Some basic calculations learned me that rain drops are so small in scale that I need at least a scale of 1/24 to have the slightest chance to achieve something realistic.

Do you know any good 1/24 figures in a kissing pose. I don't.

So to get this started I will start with my very first full scratch build of figures. I also think that I will simply stop here and post this long text separately.

Hope you like the project

To be continued in a few seconds...
Claude

The experiences garnered during the last years while cannibalizing and reconstructing figures to my liking, even making nearly full builds (using only head, hands and shoes, like the piano player)allowed me to not start really from the beginning.

I know about armatures and poses and so on.


I choose to make the figures by scribing in the details with the scalpel.


I worked a bit more on that one.

I did not work with Magic Sculpt as I wanted to have more time to get my figures right. So I am working for now alternatively with Super Sculpey and FIMO.
Giving some shape to the figures and more importantly , getting them in the right position


At some point I started working on the umbrella.
I had a little bell to use as a template. The umbrella ribs (hope It is the right word) are positioned on the bell and fixed in the plasticine.

The bell is covered with a coat of Vaseline to avoid the tissue to stick on it.
I covered it with a tissue soaked in Mod Podge. I ordered that one to try it out for my rain element of the dio.
I brushed more on it and tried to get it as straight as possible.

after drying

and after lifting off


I then cut it down to the good part, primed it black. My original ribs got submerged by the wet tissue and essentially just assured the umbrella look of the whole thing but I had to remodel the visible ribs on the inside with 0,25 mm lead wire.

The couple is now finished. The umbrella is of course not fixed and the handle is also still removable.

As it is going to be a boxed diorama, only one side is going to be seen and I am not yet sure which one I will choose. Your opinion is welcomed.



slightly turned


and the other side


I want to avoid the faces to be to much seen. They are no monsters, but no beauties neither. I also do not know the sight angle yet, straight or from slightly above or below.

The taxi driver got started also. I chose to use the London Taxi from Revell in 1/24. Perhaps I need to cut away half of it to get it in. The driver will not be seen a lot. Sitting in the car and in the dark, it is another excellent training object.
This is my first face sculpt. I used Super Sculpey firm grey. He is still in it's pyjamas :-)


That's it for now. I will start working on my layout this weekend.

Thanks for looking again

Comments welcome

Claude

Nice, Claude!

Wish I had your talents. Are you working from a photo? I'll be following this with much interest.

—mike

Thanks Mike

Let me complete my starting thread by some more explanations.

I do not work from a photo. The idea slowly evolved. The kissing couple quickly came into the game, mostly to get an umbrella in the scene and make the rain water running down from it.
First I wanted to make it a good bye scene in front of a restaurant, but frankly, I have build enough buildings for now and gladly switched to a nightly park scene. Autumn leaves on the ground, rain drops on the leaves and branches,a wet street and board walk, just a few ingredients I am working on.

If you like , after I got fixed on the kissing couple under the umbrella, one picture on Google served as further inspiration



(The copyright is well marked on the picture, so I think I am covered here).

The rest of the layout will slowly evolve during the next days. The good thing about my past ten years of experience building is that I am somewhat confident that I will find something nice.

Claude

Great sculpting. The work on the guys left hand is particularly good as are the ladies legs. Her left hand looks a little large but it might just be the angle.

Hi Claude ,

what a great idea it is !

Your self made umbrella is a great invention so a very big HURRAY for your Craftmanship !

Personally , i would give the kissing scene a bigger impact by lifting up the under leg of the lady in a more horizontal position. But okay the figures are finished and they are well done IMHO.

I am also very curious about the rain drops.....but take your time , it looks already very good.

Kurt

Hej Claude,
great job sculping these nice figures - they really look great!!!

Cheers,
Steffen

Please don't EVER stop posting here Claude! Your work is amazing and none of us should be deprived of it!

I have no problem with the subject being posted here. I am happy you decided to put up the build log here as it's always good to see how the maistro works.
The figs are turning out great. I see a few dimensional problems but overall convincing. I agree,the guys hand looks great. So does the falschirm.
Maybe the taxi guys head is tilted too far back? I know it is all just beginning so I am sure you have a handle on everything.
I will stay tuned for sure.
J

Claude, I like this one quite a bit and am looking forward to how you accomplish your rainfall. Your sculpting is more than adequate...it's really good.

Your cabbie reminds me of Burt Lancaster in his role as Doc, in Field of Dreams.

Great start I'd say!

Dave.

This looks great!

Thanks a lot guys, of course for the interest in the subject but also for the first constructive comments.

This morning I worked already on the girls left hand, reduced the length of the fingers and sliced down a bit from the volume. I also added quiet a lot of folds on the guys right arm holding the umbrella.

Myself had some doubts about proportions, mainly the guys left side. Just for information , I worked with a nice little program (web based) called HPC
http://hpc.anatomy4sculptors.com/ to get all my measures.
My guys left side is exactly to norm, but nonetheless the arm (upper and lower part) looks not quiet right.
In the meantime I am more and more convinced to show the couple from the side where he holds the umbrella, so this issue is not a problem any more. The tilt of the umbrella will be such that the ribs will be seen (my second photo in fact).
I am also going to add a complete waist belt to the ladies coat, the end hanging on the side.

@Kurt I can always argue that the lady wants to keep her legs dry

Greets

Claude

I am now working on the drivers hand to hold loosely (in waiting mode) the steering wheel, before adding the rest of the upper clothes.

Moien Claude,

you told me (back then ) that you wanted to do a dio "in the rain", but the kissing couple was not mentioned!!

Your sculpting is very good!! It is quite different from just adding a quick arm to a 1/35 soldier o.s.

Especially women...we are so fixed on men's proportions that it can be hard to "switch" to smaller, finer limbs.

The overall proportions are not bad at all! You know yourself what is "less perfect", so I won't throw in my 2c worth.

The belt is a good idea IMHO! It can detract from other details.

Now.....I'm extremely curious about this rain!!!!!!!

Good luck with it!!

Cheers

Romain

Ow....no...no Claude, i was only talking about her right leg to put it a little bit higher .

Never mind , it looks like she's having style !

Kurt

Hi Claude,

I'll echo the words of others; first, it's the build and not necessarily the literal subject that's very interesting!; second, the steps and quality is great to follow!

Please keep posting!

Cheers
Nick

@Kurt
Ah, I understand now your option

LOL, yes she can put the upper leg higher and the whole thing will look indeed a bit more "sexy",(but I have problems to put the knees correctly between the guy's leg) but if she only lifts the lower leg a bit higher (back), the feet will be exposed to the rain.
So let's say she is a smart woman, not provocating the guy and keeping her feet dry.

FYI, while typing this I am kneading the FIMO with the other hand! That's dedication! LOL Have a good sunday

Claude

Here is one try for a Layout. Just to see a bit what I have in mind.


The Taxi may be to big after all, the London Taxi even being higher then normal cars. I counted on the lights of a car to illuminate the scene and serve as further background for the rain, so this is something I have to think about.

Claude

The scene is framed well I think. But if the taxi gets higher because of the wheels you may have to move it to the right a bit more so you don't ruin the "frame"?
Good basic elements here though. One of the things that stood out to me earlier is better shown here because of the shadows. The girls left leg has the calve muscle going around to her front too much? It should blend into the shin bone?
I can see the problem,but can't sculpt this thing as well as you've done so far from scratch brother.
J

I like what you have planned Claude. I am looking forward to your next update. I like the lady's leg where it is, a lady is a lady after all!

Dabe

If you put a model of the Eifle Tower in the background, you could call this "French Kiss".

Unfortunately the taxi is right hand driving, so the Eiffel tower is out of question.

I will not need a background if I do a perspectively deep parc. The end will simply be black, as in a nightly rainy scene visibility is limited.

Thanks for the input guys.

The shadowbox project will come to a limited halt during the next 2-3 weeks.
This morning (just 10 days before the event)I got invited to expose dio Clervaux during the 70th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of the Bulge held in the city of Clervaux on the weekend of 13/14 December. So next weekend I will bring it up there, from the south of Luxembourg where I live to the north where Clervaux is situated , a whooping 80 km distance :-) and set it up. The weekend after I am of course present and may have the honour of having one of the last veterans hopefully appreciating my dio.

Greets
Claude

Congrats on the expo. A big honor to be included I think.
Have a good time and savor the rewards for all of your hard work,
J

Hi Claude ,

i agree with Jerry , you've earned it !




To be honest , i was afraid that you would misunderstand my '' explanation ''. I'm working on my English though ! LOL

Have a great Expo !

Kurt

Perhaps raising the figures relative to the height of the taxi with a curb on the sidewalk? The gutter formed by the curb and road could allow for a small stream of rain water to flow past the scene to enhance the illusion of the rain falling.

Also, the boxed format of the diorama might allow you to slightly tilt the taxi towards the viewer as if the road has a small slope rising towards the figures. The slope could be carried up towards the figures and into the background as if there is a hill climbing into the distance.

At any rate, a first class build and very nice sculpting.

Thanks for sharing the in-progress work. It's both informative and inspirational.

Thanks guys

@Mike Interesting ideas you have there! Keeping a limit on the wide of the scene would be very challenging.

Well, it's 1 a.m. here and I can not sleep because of heavy thoughts about the expo and now you come with even more stuff to think about! It will be a short night then

Night
Claude