Do you have a link?

The dune on the starboard side is mostly done... eventually it will come up over the deck.

The first photo is the test bed. Orb on the left is drywall compound with a slurry of desert sand and "size glue" (that is a theater term for 50/50 white glue and water). The middle orb is aquarium sand, which is very wet but takes Tamiya spray color very well when dried. The right orb is drywall LiquiTex matte gel with regular sand applied.


Taking all that into account, here is the dune process... 1/4 spheres of styrofoam were placed with a "size water" soaked paper towel over the top. Drywall compound was applied, then the slurry of sand and size water which was smoothed. Over the top of that was the aquarium sand, which is very workable with water. The more you apply, the more you can smooth it out. After that, more size water was spritzed over the sand and dried aquarium sand, which is very fine, was piled up. Amazingly, a spritz of the size water held it in place. Tamiya spray color was applied and when I turned the thing over... NOTHING MOVED or fell off. I was pretty stunned.

Here is the result. As I said after I am done working it, the hull will be permanently placed, the gap filled and sand piled over the deck...

As always, your comments and criticism is welcome!





Thanks for looking!

Really shaping up. I like the addition of the lifting rig. You might want to consider placing some boards under the feet of the rig as they are not very large and would sink into the soft sand, especially if they were under load. The boards would help distribute the weight over a larger area reducing the ground pressure to weight ratio in the same manner that wider tracks on a tank distribute the weight of the vehicle over a larger area giving it a greater cross country capability.

Great suggestion! I would have missed that completely! I am also going to add a splash of color with yellow lifting straps....

Keep those great ideas coming! I love them!

Just caught up with your progress on this , and it's really coming along great! The crusty look on the tank is convincing. I agree about putting boards under the rig, and maybe a couple more lying around the area for the same reason. I get the notion about adding color with the blue barrel, but it looks odd right now. You might get the same effect by using a couple coolers & some other boxes/crates of supplies/tools that a recovery team might has brought along. Just a thought.

Lookin' really good, been a lurker watcher. An idea to break up the blue on the barrel, maybe some stenciling and possibly a hazmat sticker. Maybe a dent or two, they are rarely perfect after some handling. Whatever I'm sure it's going to be a winner. Wayne

Jack- there will be splashes of color elsewhere... otherwise, it looks pretty dark and drab. Thanks for the comments on the texture. More boards? Absolutely!

Wayne- the water barrel is for drinking and washing specimens. No need for a HAZMAT label! It will get stenciled and a spigot along with a bucket underneath.

thanks for the looks and the comments!

Not mean't to critises, just water would more commonly be kept in a plastic bladder than a drum. Wayne

Yeah but a bladder wouldn't be as obvious. Remember this is just a work in progress and nothing is set in sand... get it? Oh sometimes I just kill myself. I may not even keep the lifting rig as the one leg makes no sense inserted into the dune. I am just trying to add some height to counter balance the trees...

Thanks for the suggestions, though! I appreciate all comments and criticisms.

Sorry, just thought I would tr
y to help.Worked construction all my life and saw a lot of historical digs on our jobs. They were very picky.

Patrick, Wayne,
It wouldn't be unheard of to have a 55 gal. drum of water on some remote site in the Pacific, especially if it was a few years ago. Water in the Solomon Islands (specifically on Mbanika island in the Russell chain) where I was working for a couple of weeks back in 1989 was of two forms-- treated which meant it came in some sort of container, or untreated, which meant it was from a cistern. The non-potable water in a drum is likely what you'd find in a site for everything but drinking. Of course, it would be marked "NON-POTABLE" in big letters. We brought our potable water all the way from Hawaii, but we used it only for drinking, and it was in 5 gal. cans pallet loaded. Everything else we used came from the local cisterns, usually in 55 gallon drums, but they would likely show a little more wear. The reason for us bringing water was because of tropical diseases that were prevalent in the South Pacific at that time, including Malaria, Beri-Beri, Dysentery, Leptosporosis, and multiple parasites to mention a few. We had a Special Forces Tropical Disease expert (a full Colonel Doc no less), and a butt full of shots, (pun intended). Then we had to take Malaria prophylaxis for two months after returning. As to the lifting rig-- I'd leave it-- but do a little "excavation" work around that one leg with some timbers holding the dune back- a simple three sided box around the leg with some planking on the ground would do- it'll add visual interest to the scene. You could rust up the rig a little too-- make it look like it was borrowed for the dig. You could do the timbers with Popsicle sticks or wooden coffee stirrers.
Remember the water I mentioned we brought along from Hawaii? We ended up not using half of it, because we took to drinking Australian beer (I don't drink alcohol, so I drank Australian soda) It was the one time in my Army career that the Doc actually prescribed alcohol to keep us from drinking the water! Our Australian host on Mbanika Island was a little offended-- he told us "our people" built the cisterns during WWII, and although he had frequent malaria bouts, the water was just fine, and the malaria bouts were usually "cured" in a few days with liberal doses of Gin and Tonic!
VR, Russ

Russ- Great info and great story.

Great story, Russ! Do you know the story of how "gin and tonic" came to be a favored drink of British troops?

Quinine is the prescribed treatment of choice for the prevention of malaria. It is very unpalatable as a powder and so the British started mixing it with "sparkling" or carbonated water. It still had a very bitter taste and so gin was used as a way to mask the taste of the quinine. We refer to it as "tonic water" but look on the bottle and it will say "quinine water" underneath... so gin and tonic with a bit of lime was invented to get British soldiers to take their daily dose of quinine to prevent malaria. I doubt I was exposed to much malaria in Idaho during my 20s and 30s but I made sure during the summer to get my daily dose of medicine! LOL!

As to your suggestions, I appreciate the input. I had intended to put "non-potable" markings on the barrel. It is by no means finished.

I like the idea of the boards and the shoring for the pit around the leg. I will also do the boards under the lift feet and probably have a pile of boards (maybe three or so) somewhere. I keep thinking "am I getting too complex?" but once thing I have noticed in all the excellent work on the forum is that there is never too much or too many details. Things are not neat and orderly in real life. I look around my table and am amazed at how much clutter there is from just accumulating new stuff for this build. I think this will be "WIP" for quite a while. There is a table I haven't even begun to place and decorate.

I can devote a couple of hours a day to thinking and plotting. I can see why people A) get it done and move on or 2) enjoy the process so much, they just keep going and going and going. If any of you know Ken Hamilton, he just cranks it out and is amazing. Kind of like Stickframe here...

Thanks to all for all the suggestions and comments. Keep them coming.

Do you have a link for said feather fronds? Also, I saw on another thread something about no sandbags by the Wehrmacht in WW2. Did the Japanese use sandbags? Just wondering...

Hi Patrick ,

If someone says that the Germans didn't use sandbags in WW2 than that person is wrong !!! Especially the Wehrmacht used sandbags in improvised foxholes or dugouts alongside the coast of Normandy. There were gaps in the Atlantic wall where there were no bunkers so an improvised defence position including sandbags was not a rare sight! The Japanese army used also improvised bunkers made out of trunks and leaves from palmtrees , wood and even sandbags.

Kurt

Don't know if I would disagree with the rutman as I really don't know much but it was his comment...

Not trying to start any arguments over Germany... just wondering if my scene is accurate.

Patrick,
Maybe you've already seen this. Anyhow, here's a little inspiration for you ... "Low Level Hell"

Cheers!
—mike

I did not see it, Mike and thanks for the link! That is a great dio and posted just yesterday! No wonder it had escaped my notice...

I am still having one hell of a time finding a ficus tree. I am working on putting in grass right now. Figures will come next and since I found my pin vise, I will be able to buy wire, putty and a little better sanding disc for the Dremel.

HOWEVER, any dio work will be done on the clock as the rest of them time is going to be spent moving from now until July 15th... and then all the outdoor work I can take! The house is ours!

Thanks for dropping by.

Kurt,I was the one that made a comment sandbags. I know the Germans used them on the Atlantik wall and elsewhere but their use was rare in the field. The Atlantik wall makes sense because they had years to prepare that and the logistics to bring the sandbags up to the coast,maybe using captured French stocks of them. But out in the field,no,I hardly see any pics anywhere of sandbags. No time to use them and transport was too scarce to waste on sandbags.
J

Good luck on the move and the "honey-does" Patrick,
J

I shall return soon...

Moving after work and on weekends has taken all the desire to sit at a table from my bones... maybe later this week I will plant grass. If I'm not moving stuff, I am on the phone coordinating all the electricians, plumbers, handy men, installers... but I might be inclined to replicate our D-log house at some point for a diorama project...

Great work in Nam, poolside, Elbe river, Bladerunner like... I could just look at photos all day.

Patrick , good luck on the house and move , keep safe, settle in then get back to work modelin !!!
See ya soon .

Hey Patrick, love the old weathered rusty look that you accomplished on the wreck so far, great job bro! The details are looking awesome. Keep up the good work and best of luck on the move. Hope you get settled soon and back to work on your hobby.

JGphins