"Hutwarming" it is!
I couldn´t come up with a better name for my dio project with two guys and a tent sauna. I feel I should have given it a Finnish name, but what the heck, this carries enough double meanings and I don´t have to translate the joke...

Welcome to my MSN Armorama gallery Envar Dioramas!

I will update the gallery as the project goes on and notify about updates!
Comments here as usual...



Toni

You do some darn good sketching Envar !

Original dio idea !! I like it ! Please keep us posted on the progress !

The sketch is work of art in itself!
Good luck in your project, and have fun with it

I like your style of approaching your projects Toni.
Lookin good! Be sure to keep us updated!

Great job on the sketching. Is this what you do for a living their Toni?

Heh. In real life I act as an Art Director for a mobile media company. I do company graphics and stuff. That´s one of the reasons I try to keep up the drawing touch, I don´t really have much daily illustrative work...
And when I pick up the pencil and it has been a long time (a week can be enough!) without a single drawing it feels like I have to learn the whole darn thing again!
But if anyone is interested in paying me a fat salary for drawing war sketches, I´m open to suggestions! #:-)

Toni

It actually works...
I had a few doubts about stripping a figure, but it seems to be possible.
At first I tried it out with the figure only half visible in the tent doorway. I used the x-acto knife to carve off most of the jacket details, thinning arms and trying to figure out the muscles of the upper body. It´s a good training piece since you are not able to see much of this figure in the finished dio.
I then sanded the upper torso to remove any sharp knife marks and added a layer of correction fluid. That stuff is great to smooth minor gaps! I CA glued the Hornet resin head in place and left it to dry til tonight. The real challenge will be the neck and shoulder area, because the figure is seen on his knees with his right arm over the head and the body twists to the right...I think I´ll have to ask my wife to take a picture of me in that position and use that as anatomical reference!
Anyway, looking good so far!

:-)
Toni

Hola Envar,
Try using a rounded file for making musculature and other soft "folds" and wrinkles.
Dont forget that big belly of the Finnish soldier out of shape

Well...sorry but if I use myself as reference it´ll be more like a Brad Pitt sixpack. Can´t help it if I want some historical accuracy!!!

#:-)

Toni

LoL Envar,
I like your humor! :-)
You better come over to Stockholm around the 16th-17th of July so I can buy you a beer.

G´Day!
There´s a few pics more in the Envar Dioramas gallery showing the base groundwork layer 1.
Many layers of vegetation will follow, and I´ll try to keep the painting in the minimum. I think I´m gonna build the tent and figures before deciding what kind of finishing the nature needs in the end.
I´ll let the white glue dry overnight and continue working tomorrow with the second layer. Still waiting for some ref pics from a friend before proceeding with the tent...

With building I´m a true sprinter. All the time I tell myself "patience, keep it calm, patience..." and end up completing the thing in a second. This start for the groundwork took me less than 10 minutes to execute. It was in my thoughts the whole day, though....



Toni

Looking good, Toni. Can't wait to see the figures.

Nic

Nice job, Toni. Have you already figured out what type of tent it'll be nad how you will make it ?
Jan

Great work Toni, man you guys keep busy, don't you people have lawns to mow? I have so little time in the summer months, I won't get much completed before the leaves change colors.

Well, it´s gonna be a small tent for 6 guys. We used to raise it from the ground to get more space inside using extra long poles. I still don´t know about the inside detailing of the tent, but maybe it comes clearer as I get to it...
I thought about trying the white glue-face cleaning tissue -recipe and cover it with kitchen plastic once in shape and dry. I´ll keep on posting!


Toni

Toni - I enjoy looking at your dioramas! This one looks like it's going to turn out really nice.

Gunnie

Hoohaa!
The first figure is waiting for sanding and the tree body is in its place!
With the figure I first gave it some correction fluid treatment, then Milliput.
As the cool Hornet resin head was bald, I went for a rough sauna wet look hairstyle with it.
Pics updated: Envar Dioramas!


Toni

Updates again! I finally got my hands to the base. I mixed garden soil with static grass and moss debris with white glue+water.
I´m only in the beginning of painting and the base is too dark. All vegetation will come from the nature, so I´m working out the ground pretty quickly.
With tent construction I went for the "real thing", toothpicks as poles with some iron wire to make the frame. I haven´t decided what to use for the canvas...I tried the paper napkin with white glue inside the tent for ground cover, but it wouldn´t quite work with the frame...I thought about trying out a freezer plastic bag as tent canvas. Let´s see how it goes!







Toni be asleep (Should I really go to bed? It´s only 3 am!)

Looks good so far, Toni

Hello again,
It´s been a weekend w/o Armorama, but I actually had some modeling done!
Welcome (once again) to Envar Dioramas! (sorry about the bad quality!)
I had the tent finished! I ended up in humbrol enamel base over kitchen plastic, and it proved to work like...well, the real thing! I have a few pics of the building process in the gallery, here´s the final product:

It´s my first tree with foliage and it works incredibly well. I mean that I got EXACTLY the look I was after!

Tomorrow: proceeding to Hutwarming Phase 2-The Figures!


God I love this hobby...
Toni