Rest in Peace My Beloved

Sadly, my wife passed away yesterday. During her illness, there as been no motivation to work on anything. I still have so much to do that it seems like it will be awhile before i get back to building.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of models I built for her. The Thunderbird was her dream car. She bought it for me to build along with the paint. Only thing not stock is the custom license plate.

The truck is the same truck her dad had when he ran one of his many businesses when she was a kid.  I had custom decals created for it to match what they had.

 

 

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Nothing in awhile

Haven't done anything since I completed the diorama. Between massive projects at work and my wife's failing health, I haven't found the mood to do anything. There's 3 figures on my bench that have a bit of paint, but have been sitting awhile.

I am hoping, life permitting, that I'll start again soon.

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First Diorama Complete

 Other than going back and doing a little clean up. I really was putting off buying things needed to make this. I guess it comes down to the budget and buying something completely wrong or something I couldn't use. You can check out the other posts for progress, (Starting A New, and We're Lost Sturmbannführe). 

I started by sealing the wood with a flat acrylic clear that is supposed to be good for wood, paper, etc. I knew it wouldn't completely seal the pores, but might be enough to let some paint sit on it. 

I used my flat Tamiya to go over the area to be covered with snow, so if there were any thin layers of snow, I wouldn't see the blonde of the wood. The sealer didn't do much at all, as the paint soaked up into the wood in seconds. I followed that by using Elmer's clear glue and blue tac to adhere the tree's and figures in place. 

Staring on the back side around the trees, I broke it into sections and laid down a good amount of clear glue. The snow I bought from HL is a very fine powder. I was hoping it would adhere to the glue without pressing down much, but I don't think it was.

Moving to the front, I did the same around the figures and est of the base. Adding more snow in each section. I bumped the table and some of the snow fell off. So I knew I needed some kind of spray glue that wouldn't discolor the snow. A quick google search and I found I could thin the Elmer's clear with water. So I did. One part glue and about 4 parts water.

The force of the spray was a bit much so I took it out to the garage so I could stand well enough back to prevent it from "blowing" the snow everywhere. All I can say is, my craft table may be a bit sticky even after clean up!

I did a few layers of spray glue, realizing it was lightly moving the snow. The figures and especially the dog got covered well. I am hoping that the shine of the clear glue isn't much of a distraction. Worse case, I go back over the figures with the Tamiya flat clear. 

It's currently drying. I figured a few hours should be good. I'll go back and clean up the figures a bit, leaving just enough traces of snow on them to make it a bit more realistic.

May I present my first diorama, titled: "We're Lost Sturmbannführe."

 

I also have to re-glue the ammo bag onto the kneeling soldier. I used too much pressure when gluing them down that my hand slipped. I used a cotton swab to make a puff of smoke from the stove. I used my fingers and a brush to move the snow around both before and after the spraying to make it look a bit more "used."

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Tamiya German 20mm FLAKVIERLING

 With the $30 gift card i got for Christmas, I purchased some things I needed and this Tamiya FLAKVIERLING kit.

I figured while I am still looking for diorama pieces why not build something that I could possibly use with the figures. But I also wanted something small that I could practice weathering on.

It went together pretty easy. There were some issues with warped pieces or slightly off pins, but i'm not going to complain. The instructions reminded me of early Dragon kits, mainly separating the towing v.s. firing set up. In the end, it look pretty good. And though i'm not going to use the tow trailer, I built it out anyway. Just more practice real-estate.

Side complaint: 

I have basically run out of the dark yellow AK Interactive paint that I've been using for my armor builds. I searched high and low and it seems AK has discontinued the paint and the set's it was in. I was very luck to find an online store here in the states that still had a limited quantity. So I ordered two bottles along with the other AK paints.

Needless to say, what little bit of dark yellow I had left was thinned so much, it was like 2% milk and took extra coverage on the Flak. In the end, I ran out and couldn't get the trailer painted.

After priming it with Mr. Surfacer 1500 black (which I am also out of now), I sprayed a few coats of the Ak Interactive Worn Effects. I then followed this up with the dark yellow.

I also got to use the paint booth Eric gave me. It made a massive difference with the extra light and keeping the fumes down. There were a few area where the yellow was so thin that the black was showing quite a bit. I did what I could to fix it then called it done.

One thing I noticed while working on chipping was the thicker the yellow paint, the more it "chipped" off compared to the area's where it was really thin. Not sure what caused it, but it's a reference for later.

BTW, the lights in the paint booth help taking better detailed pictures. So I guess it's going to double now as a paint booth and a photo booth!

I wanted a well work, beat up looking gun that was abandoned. I think I came close. After taking a break, I came back with the oils and a #2 pencil. I really need a master class in pin washes. Seems I get too much on there then clean up just smears it around. 

Before adding the pin wash, i went around the kit with the pencil on hard edges and areas where I thought paint would have rubbed off leaving bits of exposed metal. Though I spent about 10 minutes on this, it's subtle enough I think to not stand out like a sore thumb. I used the Vallejo black for the barrels and clips, then sealed this with Tamiya flat clear.

After adding the yellow and burnt umber oils, I started on an oil wash. Started dotting all the blots, rivets and hinges. Started adding some to the creaks and crevices. Slowly, it looked like it was coming along.

Only place I forgot to add the wash was the back side of the armor plates. I'll do that a bit later. 

I think it turned out pretty good for a weekend build. I know I need more practice and that's what this was for. It looks pretty beat up. The gunner chair is bent out of position because that section was a bit warped. the front front sliding door is a bit out of whack because it's warped. But I feel I was able to use that to make it look old and beat up.

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We're Lost Sturmbannführer

 I was finally able to finish off the new figures, paint wise. I still have a few pieces of equipment to apply. Overall, I am happy with these. Though they don't really have the glazing look, I think they turned out okay.

The faces on the other hand, I still need practice. Would love if there was a local paint club!

I stopped by Joann's and picked up a piece of wood for a base. The plan is to make my first diorama before I start the diorama for the Panther. I've looked around and am still trying to determine whether I want to go with 4 tree's, 2 trees and shrub, 2 trees and a fence, etc.

I've ordered some special effects from Vallejo over at Squadron Hobbies. They don't have anything for foliage, so I am still looking.

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First to Third, A Look At a Year Building Armor

 I wanted to reflect for a moment on something new, to me at least. I have been building models since i was a young boy. Various muscle cars then into a whole collection of NASCAR kits in the late 80's, early 90's with my brother.  Never thought I would build military kits or figures.

Last year, a friend talked me into going to the local model show. I know none of my builds were show worthy, but to my surprise, I walked away with two bronze finishes out of four kits i took. My fried Eric kept at me the entire show, "You can't come to your first show and not walk away with anything." At the end of the show, after looking at everything, I walked away with my first armor kit. 

Panzer IV J Late Model by Dragon.

I had a blast building this. I learned a lot of new tricks, some I would take to building the cars and trucks I normally did. This build also got me back into learning some history, that I haven't done in many, many years.

 

After this kit was done, Eric gave me one of his StuG's. Based off the Panzer IV, it was a very similar build. This would be my next armor build and my first real attempt at weathering, scratch effects, etc. This would also be my first attempt at using a lot of extra PE parts, which I found very difficult to do. Mainly due to very shaky hands and failing eye sight. But I was able to use enough to give it a little extra.

StuG IV Late Model by Dragon

Extra PE that Eric had for the kit.

While I was building and researching how to build the Panzer IV, I came across the story of Oscha. Walter Ropeter and his "ghost tank." It was then decided that I wanted to build that along with my first diorama. Seems the armor was getting me to be a bit more creative and wanting to try new things.

So I went out and bought the kit I needed for it after doing research.

Panther G Late Model by Dragon

I also wanted to depict Ropeter in someway so I searched for some figures and came across a set on eBay and thought they would be a good fit.

Though the StuG still isn't finished, I need to add the tracks, I moved on to the Panther. With every build, something new was learned. Patience grew and as well as becoming short fused. Broken equipment, lost parts to the model gods seemed to be a norm for each build.

However, as I look back over the year, almost to date, I've done something I've never done before in 40 plus years of on and off again building. I learned more about the processes of building rather than just assembling. I also learned that thinking steps through first is almost a must. Much more so than with auto builds.

I've also started learning new steps in painting, both with the airbrush as well as with paint brush.

So here are images of my first three builds. I can see a steady progression from the first to the current. Whether it's trying something new, modifying something from the before and overall, just getting the hang of it.

Panzer IV Ausf. J Late

StuG IV Late

Panther G Late

While I finish my Recreating History build with the diorama, I have a King Tiger in the wings waiting. Again, going to try something new with it in a winter camo most likely.  But regardless, I look forward to the build. There's also a few airplanes to build that I've never done before, so that will be yet another challenge.

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