Very , very cool Nick , I could use one of those for tourist control round here .
By the end of Aug. the Summer and the Shoobees get very annoying , can't wait for Labor Day .

O, first - Lost Angel, I like it. You would need to work some wings into the logo or something like wings cut off. LOL

I first was looking at the new truck and thinking it would be better all flat black. As I thought about it seems like that wouldn't work as good as it is now. I think it would look smaller all black and now it's like you can tell it had a military life before working for the police. I would like to see it showing more age because it was living on it's second life now.

YOU ROCK NICK.
Dave

Hi guys - well, back again - thanks to each of you for checking it out!

Jerry and Matt - I REALLY appreciate your critique! that's what I'm glad to hear!

Hi Patrick - could you imagine? getting paid to do this? for a movie no less? while it sounds fun, I'm guessing it's less so than it sounds...can you imagine the paperwork and hassles? Nonetheless, it sounds fun!

Hi Phil - It's pretty interesting how much The Doors has been discussed on this build - while now long gone, they sure did bring in the LA/Santa Monica sound....hot LA afternoons and nights....

HI Zon - glad it looks convincing! I think that's the hardest part of a scratch build - even a bad kit, generally looks "realistic"...I haven't found that to be as much the case with scratch work....sorry if that seems vague - there is though, something about a kit - maybe it's the way they can intentionally show faint seam lines, small bold head etc - yes, this can be done in scratch also, but can be hard (for me) to get the really subtle yet convincing details

Ha! Cheyenne - the tourist control unit - yes, we need them here too! funny, maybe worse than slow drivers: slow walkers who meander the sidewalks - when the rest of us are trying to get to pr from work....no fun....

Hi Dave - well, first, we are on the same page - I thought about all black, and declined for the reason you mentioned - same with urban camo - at first, i really wanted it...nah, not this time. Next - weathering - as you'll see below - I added more -this time not just dust - hope it tells a better story -

OK, here we go - first up, more weathering and evident abuse to the truck:













- and there you have it - new and improved!

For fun, i also began fooling around more with lighting - still a while to go and areas to be "tuned up" - it will be fine....











So - there you have it -

thanks for having a looK!

Cheers
Nick
'
'

Hi Nick,
I like the two-tone "tourist control unit" — looks really cool that way! And that lighting keeps on drawing me into the world you've created — very pleasing to look at! What a great concept and execution!

—mike

So many thoughts dancing in my head right now. Maybe it's the beer don't know but I feel good. Ok back on thoughts.

Patrick/ Nick - I think it would be great to do this for movies and yes Nick your skills are as good as they would ever expect from a modeler. The drawback from doing your art as a job or career it will burn you out. First it isn't the same when you are doing for someone else and not your love. Then you throw in a deadline and forgettabout. It's not the same. It is great doing what you love as a job but go in knowing it's not going to be the same. Guess I'm just stating obvious.

Now, all this Doors talk make me think I could see a whole campaign on a chosen song title and see what modelers come up with. Totally fantasy diorama. Would be coo.

Nick-
Love the light wear and weathering. Looks great. The new pictures of the lighting are awesome. You can really see the mood being set. I would love to see more trash in the streets and more "stuff" like wires between buildings. I know your thinking it. You have always been one step ahead the whole time. Just love your work. Keep it up and you never know. Being CA yourself you could be up in movies.

Dave

Nick

Absolutely stunning work on the MATV! The stance, gear, weaponry, and the wheels are perfect. Really like the subtle weathering all-around and went back to refresh my brain w/ what went where during the build, impressive stuff!

Best Wishes
Dave

I am kind of just stupified right now.looking at all this come together.
J

Hi Nick ,

absolutely fantastic work so far !

Kurt

Hey guys - - thanks for having a look -

Mike - who would have guessed - the lighting even needs to be designed....sort of fun and sort of not. I don't know enough about it to make it "controllable", so, like other things is a bit hit and miss. Again, it is sort of fun.....

Dave and Dave - thanks to both of you! glad the modified MATV is getting better - the weathering does give it a different look, who knows, maybe even tougher?....we'll see once it get placed in context, with still more figures....the good news here is that after my last few, and this build, I'm no longer going out of my way to build and paint them, and dare i say, i might be settling on a technique i like...

Hi Jerry and Kurt - well guys, thanks for checking in a checking the project out (haha - had to say it) yes, its getting there - but still a while to go...lots to do in fact.

OK - enough with the MATV fun and games....now, back to more buildings....

Please have a look:





Yes, another method for making buildings - I no longer feel compelled to use the slowest and most tedious methods!

And for distraction, more fooling around with lights:



and back to buildings, with primer now...





and with some paint and weather:





Yeah....even with fairly modest (cheap!) materials it seems to look OK -

Next up - a structure and a bridge:



Yeah, looking a bit weird eh???





Not to worry though...seems to look OK to me! this building will
go in next to the bar - and yes, the bridge across the street to the building with the red marquee -

OK - enough for today! I'm getting some lunch -

thanks for having a look

Nick

Better than "OK!" Nice steelwork!

—mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks very much!! I appreciate it. The lower web trusses still need some (any!) rust, grime and decrepitude - I just didn't get that far yet. It's all taped together in the pics so I can still tear the major pieces apart easily. As for my comments about being cheap....these buildings could easily go the way of the figures - that is, lots of them can be too expensive, but, I need them all to make this work. So I began thinking of ways to make less expensive but attractive and structurally sound facades.

For the buildings shown above, I've been using clear styrene which comes in big sheets with bass wood framing. I like this technique. If any of you want to try this, I'd suggest sanding both sides once you've cut them up - Cheyenne suggested this, as roughing up the surface a bit seems to allow for stronger adhesion of both wood and styrene with CA - I use the odorless type. This allows for a sound base structure that other bits and pieces can be added to.

Next up will be finishing the building shell pieces, and adding more lighting.

Once that is done, I'll move on to more figures, and I'll finally get to some signs! Mike (165) mentioned lots of good ways to try for this - who knows where it will take me -

Thanks for having a look

Cheers
Nick

A bridge to support a bridge. I love it!

CA usually likes a smooth surface, but the soaking ability of the wood,and the need for paint, makes the sanding make perfect sense.

As I continue to gather materials for my big project.... and still need to get the hot wire cutter working.

Holy catfish, Stick! And you did all that before lunch? My gosh, you are some kind of builder!

And all the comments here are so spot on that I can't add anything more than "ditto" to most comments! If you know a film maker that has an ideas about making a short video, yours is about as good as any I have seen. I can already see the swooping shot down the street.

Amazing work! I love watching the progress... meanwhile, over on the beach, we are relegated to rusting in silence while I try to find the chop saw to make a frame and base and ordering some other stuff.

Can't wait to see more!

I can't wait to see all kinds of wires and ductwork under that bridge. I'm sure you have all kinds of ideas and will blow our minds so I'll sit here quiet like and enjoy the work as you post it.
Dave

I love the "structure bridges" over the streets to help tie it altogether AND act as visual view-blocks as well.

(An old model railroad trick - place a mirror under the structure bridge to expand the space. Modelers sometimes even painted two faces on the same figure, one facing the viewer and one facing the mirror to expand the effect.)

One or two mirrors inside your club could double or triple the number of apparent figures inside not to mention expanding the space. (Wish I had thought to mention that earlier!)

They should make a rust/dirt paint wash called "accelerated decrepitude"; a.k.a. J.F. Sebastian.

Nick: Great looking architecture all around. I'm really liking how this is coming together. Might steal some of your construction techniques too
-zon

Wow Nick! Cool repurposing of the computer cable. I love finding real world stuff that, in a different context, becomes something unrecognizably recognizable. You are good!

Nick I know you have these items covered but you may have interest in the wall mount air conditioners and the garbage piles (yes, seriously) shown here.

http://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/251822

Nick

Thanks for posting your progress in the before/during/after sequence, really explains it for us w/o explanation
This keeps getting more interesting, and what you've been adding doesn't make it confusing or too cluttered.
Look frwd to the next installment

Cheers
Dave

Hi model builders, I really appreciate that you are still interested in the build!! I'm sorry about not posting in a while - I have been working on this, but only little projects here and there - the "real" world - both personal and professional has been taking away my model building time! Ha! The plight of model builders everywhere!

We had an office move at work - while all is fine now that it's done, getting to this point was 5x harder than building a Panda MATV suspension!! Haha! Oh, and we are in the Playoffs! Wow - some pretty exciting games! Go Giants!!

Hopefully I'll post some progress next week - and will address each of you who took the time to post; thanks for doing so! - I've already begun to incorporate some of your ideas - You guys have come in strong all the while on this project!

Alright - happy model building

Cheers
Nick

Nick,
Best thing you can do is enjoy the time away to keep from getting burned out. I do hate when life gets in the way but I'm just getting off years of no modeling. I have a 4 year old and that keeps me busy.
As far as the Giants well, sorry to hear that because The Nats are going to win this year. Lol.
How funny as I was just in SF and drove by candlestick park (yeah old 49ers fan and it's still CS park to me). I was thinking it would have been cool to have time to catch a game.
Had to talk trash from east coast since I was on west coast in your city I guess.

Later
Dave.
Now if I can find my doors cd for the trip to LA.

Thanks for the update. It's quite sad when we see dios develop over a period of time but then never reach completion. Take your time and enjoy it.

I love this forum! Talking baseball, model building, and the complexities of life!!...and the recurrent challenge of finishing a build - I do plan on finishing this one.

As mentioned above, between being busy with other things and my new found tedium and frustration with wiring...some slow going indeed.

All of that said, did someone mention accelerated decrepitude???



We all suffer from it! Roy, JF Sebastian, me, you, and this dio!

On to the dio we go:





Below, you'll see some bad guys - a motley bunch...better pictures later - the area is still getting lots of work, including more/different lighting, debris, and general detailing...





There will be more to come on the guys above - as for below, sorry about the grainy pictures. I shoot these in a room with a giant skylight - so, i decided to sit and wait for the sun to start going down and take pictures as it got darker - ha - pretty lame result. Ultimately, I will, as I prefer, take this outside, to the big benches in my neighborhood park, and take real, nighttime pictures...









The bad lighting experiment...mixed results..some pics ok, others just hard to read...sorry guys...the build itself though seems to be in pretty good shape.





Anyway, as the Giants are off today, the Niners already lost, and I've annoyed my "beloved special lady friend"...back the model bench I will go!

Thanks for checking it out...

Nick