Saturday 30 October 2010

PEGASUS DAK GERMAN TRUCKS.

Hello all,this is make bash at Pegasus's fast build German trucks.Pegasus German army trucks (A bloody good review from "On the way").
You get two trucks in the kit each of fifteen pieces and most of a driver,his feet are for some reason missing.I assume to fit in the cab more easily(because if not he wont reach the peddles).Being a bone idle git this type of model is great,quick and easy to put together.the only draw back tot his kit is no windscreen or decals.I bought some spare airfix Opels off ebay and came a cropper.The bane of my life is decal,especially airfix decals.
It is basic and more for war gaming then anything else but I am not to fussy and can live with it.I will source some DAK insignia(already found them,just have to pay) and finish them off.
The colour I first used to paint them was to brown/grey,more like the tarp on the covered truck.Then reading a piece on Benno's Piers guide to german yellow in the tutorial section on how to paint German yellow,I set about tracking down the right colour.Not as easy as it sounds,I have a lot of vallejo colours in two draws but the codes are on the lower half of the bottle,right out of bloody sight!!!.After twenty minutes searching for the colour "buff" I finally got about giving them a bloody good dry brushing.The weathering with Mig pigments went a bit wrong when the thinner I was using to fix it decided to thin the paint down(like its meant to),so I stopped!
The base is an old one(will be used for Greeks and Persians) the normal PVA glue,sand and some rocks I cast from woodland scenic's molds was used.A lot of weathering Pigment was used mainly Gulf war sand and mud.A few silfor tufts placed here and there and some dry brushing and I was finished.All in all not the best job but a learning curve,so I am happy...ish!!!!

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES FOR CLOSER LOOK,ANY COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME.
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Friday 29 October 2010

ESCI SOLDIER"FOR THE EMPEROR".

Hello all,
This is a figure from ESCI WW2 imperal Japanes guards set.I got him as a bonus in a trade with the great Peter on bennos(cheers mate).It is like getting an audience with the pope trying to get hold of this set,so I was very lucky.
The flag was printed off the internet from the Warflag site that Paul (off of Paul's bods)put me in touch with.Not the greatest quality but that could be my printer,and to be honest they were free so I cant complain.Printed a large sheet of flags off and cut one out.Using pritstick and a small piece of tin foil to give it shape I picked some holes in to give it that battle worn look.After wrapping around the pole and shaping it Hey presto one iffy looking flag bearer of the emperor.

The base was made from PVA glue,sand,small rocks and cocktail sticks.Silfor tufts and barbed wire from a shop that I cant remember were next and then a good dry brushing of the whole base was needed.I tried to rust the barbed wire using several ways but ended up using airfix rust paint(this was before I discovered Mig pigments).A quick scour of the net for a back ground and that was it.
PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW,COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME.
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Saturday 23 October 2010

BRITISH ROYAL MARINES AFGHANISTAN 1/72.

Hello all,
After a beery night in a curry house and being far to hung over to pick up a brush I decided to post some of my older work.I think this is one of my better pieces,though I am not happy with base and think one day I might try and improve it.


 I think the DPM turned out okay on this attempt,not to blobby and more splintery(I should have had more naan bread then beer!!!).
The bergans I am more than chuffed with,a quick wash of black on an olive colour finished off with a dusting of tamiya weathering powder and job done.They came with a choice of two which was damm descent of them I thought.(My head is thumping at this point).

 Its a shame the figures do not have the osprey body armour on but they could pass for the 2002 mission,but to be honest other than that they are the best figures I have come across in 1/72.(It was that sambuca I had at the end that has caused this world of pain).
The boulder are from the glorious Dorset coast line, shoved into...you guessed it,PVA glue and sand!!!It rather helpfully shrank when drying to give that dried cracked look.(all I can taste is lamb tikka masala).
 They was more figures in the set but being bone idle I only painted three of them,I think it was more a space issue on the base than anything.
 This is my favourite figure of the lot.That GMPG looks bloody heavy.Who ever sculpted that figure must have carried one.
 Some close ups of the bergans just to prove I liked them.
Anyway enough of my hungover ramblings I am off to die in front of the telly,and I think James bond is taking on the evil "Goldfinger".
PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A BETTER VIEW.COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME! 


Wednesday 20 October 2010

GENERAL GORDON.

Hello all,just a quick one from Waterloo1815 Anglo-Egyptian army set.I got bored of doing modern and for some reason WWI stuff(I do not why I am doing so much WWI).This was a while back I did this figure and turned out better than the normal bobbins I come up so I though I would put him in the blog.
I love the film "Karthoum" with Charlton Heston and buying this set was a natural thing to do.I am terrible at watching a film or documentary and then rushing down to the local model shop or the internet and parting with my pocket money(or wages as my boss calls it).
The infantry and officers need a night in the bag with some mister muscle oven cleaner to take of the thick white paint off them.When I first started back in this hobby I was using humbrol enamels and had never known about vallejo paints.A big thanks to big Dan Ewing for pointing me in this direction,I would never have got this far with out it.
It is a great set except for the lack of British infantry and an over stock of officers.Some cavalry would make a great addition to this series,the HaT sets are okay but they are all camels for some reason.I will endeavour to paint some more of these troops once they are clean.......Promise!

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW.

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Saturday 16 October 2010

WWI EMHAR FEMALE TANK.

Hello everyone,This is one of my first attempts at tank building when I got back into the hobby a year or two ago. This dio has become a bit of a nightmare.I was trying to save this tank (like the whippet)from going on Ebay.I thought a load of mud would hide all my mistakes.The tracks were a bit of a hash and that looks like I might have got away it.The colour is not right (AGAIN,when will I ever learn)far to "green" not brown enough.
I scratch built the unditching beam with evergreen plastic bead and chain from Weefriends.I scribed the beam to get a grain effect,with a black wash, but that has not shown up on the pictures but you will just have to take my word for it.The decals were a bit to shinny for me so some more Mig pigment to the rescue.I used four weathing pigments on the tank,dry mud,brown mud,Iraqi sand and standard rust.
For the base I used a photo frame,Thanks to Susofrick from Benno's for that idea.With polystyrene foam,cut away for the shell hole and a good coat of vallejo mud effect.
I pushed in the tank before it dried to give that sunk it feel,and then the stakes for the barbed wire.
The barbed wire was a pain in the arse to do,well not do but paint.I should have done it before I unravelled it rather than in place.The water in the shell hole was from vallejo water effects still.It needed preparing with a thin coat and applying over several days in layers,it was on layer three that I remembered that I needed to paint he bottom of the hole to give it depth(DOOOOHHHH).Rather than rip it out and start again a mate a work suggested that I try and paint it again a give it another layer.So I mixed some umber and black wash in the next layer and then gave it another layer.Still not happy with it but it is better than what it looked like before.The ripples did not come out how I hope either but you live and learn.
Then came the weathering,first a little,then a lot and them even more!!!I think and do others that it has "dried out" the dio.I thought I would like to see what the dio would like after I had removed the masking tape,that's when disaster struck!!!!!!!!!!The cheap frame I had bought was not real wood and the paper effect was ripped off.After trying every swear word I could think of,I dried my eyes,stopped sniveling,cracked open another beer and decided to do what "the rolling stones" would have done and "paint it black".
All in all this was pain in the arse, but I am glad I did it.I have learn a few thing,tried some new techniques out and saved myself the expense of a new tank.
PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW,AND COMMENTS WELCOME!

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Sunday 10 October 2010

REVELL 8TH ARMY(BREAKFAST).

Hello all,
This is a Revell 8th army having an "alfresco" breakfast.When I first thought of painting him after seeing him on PSR(amazing site all,hail PSR) I thought he was shaving!Was not till I got him out of the box I saw he was holding a spoon.I know those desert rats were hard,but shaving with a spoon might even be beyond them.I think it wouldn't take much to turn that spoon into a razor,quick go with the scalpel and a bit of white paint on half the face and Roberts your fathers brother!I should have put a sling on the rifle with a bit of masking tape but lots of what ifs get boring.I think this is a great figure in an unusual pose and I take my hat off to Revell for putting in quirky poses.Sometimes you do not want all the wanton destruction and killing that goes with war,just soldiers doing the normal daily chores for a change.It is a shame they are not producing new kits at the moment,but we can live in hope.
The base was a mix of rocks and sand on pva glue,painted and heavily dry brushed,the barrel comes molded to the figure so all that needed was some rusting.
PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW.



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Tuesday 5 October 2010

TQD WWII WINTER GERMAN"FEELIING THE COLD"

Hello again!!!This is a TQD casting figure,which are brilliant,I cant say anything bad about them.I swore I would never buy metal figures because they are too bulky, disproportionate,and unrealistic.But these are fantastic figures.I own several sets and have plans for all of them.I entered this figure in a competition on Benno,sforum and surprisingly won!!!I t must have been a sympathy vote or something because everyone else's work was a damm site better than mine.I found that painting figures white with black straps is a nightmare,no HELLLLL!!!!!!!It was the first time I had used magnification glasses that my dear lovely wonderfully beautiful wife(shes reading this as I post it)had bought me for Christmas.It had shown up every mistake and imperfection possible.On and off it took me about six hours to paint this bloody figure,but suffering the sin of pride I am chuffed to pieces with this figure(still think the others were better though).
The base was a simple affair,glue sand,log (from walking)some grass and fake snow.The tree is from woodland scenic with a quick dry brush of vallejo grey green and some glue brushed in the crooks of the tree and fake snow sprinkled over it.Same with the base,I used glue,sand,small clumps of grass(home made not silflor for a change) let it dry,painted,dry and then more glue sprinkled with snow.After taking many,many pictures someone pointed out that it would look a hell of a lot better with a back ground.Many hours of scouring the net I found a picture printed it off and tried again.my biggest fear was not taking as good as good picture as before.I had a pretty crap camera at the time but now have a better one(Thanks to the wife).Taking pictures of models and figures is an art,it came make the difference between making a good dioramas,figures models look rubbish.Many good dios have been ruined by bad lighting,being out of focus,wrong angle the list goes on.If some knows how to take good pictures please post it on forums let the world know and drop me a email,PLEASE!!!


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Sunday 3 October 2010

WATERLOO 1815 WWII US MARINE.


Hello again!This is a Waterloo 1815 WWII US marine.I got him in a set I swapped with Luchs on Benno's forum.I think this is the best pose in the set,one reason is his shirt is out not many sets depict marines in this state of dress.Not sure why most pictures that I have seen on the net show them this way.One thing that strikes me about this set is how much they look like Caesars sculptor has been doing a bit of moonlighting,not that I am complaining.I t could be the reason that I like Waterloo 1815 sets,now they have steered away from the Atlantic style of sculpting.I knocked up this little scene in a night (you can tell because I missed a mould line on his head,DOOOH).I say one night,I originally posted this pic on Benno's and people pointed out the lack of mud.So unusually I did a bit of re-work(I always "promise" too and never do.)gave it a background and thought that it was worth doing,still didn't remove the mould line mind you.
Getting a good USMC uniform colour is the same has trying to get a good German uniform colour...bloody impossible!!So I oddly enough I used vallejo's German army uniform colour as a base.I messed up with the Thompson colour trying a new way using oily steel first then washing with black,I will not use that idea again in a hurry!The base was the usual,nearly usual way.I used woodland scenic rock debris and ballast on pva glue some small rocks I picked up while out walking,covered in vallejo brown sand paint dry brushed and silfor grass clumps.I only had the 4mm clumps and wanted to use the 6mm that I didn't have.2mm I hear you say is not a lot but in his scale IT IS!!!!I had been watching "The thin red line" not so long back so that is where I got the idea for it.
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