Fill 'er up!

[Guest]

Thanks for all the comments everyone, although I can barely feel my toes Rick after sat motionless for most of the day. With the heater on it did warm up to a balmy 55°F, but still not particularly pleasant :smiling5:

A bit of matt varnish has taken your eye off the worst of the glue mess. Hopefully by the time I've finished weathering it'll be hardly noticeable to most, but obviously it'll always be the first thing I see lol

I've slapped all of figures together and they aren't looking too bad (remembering we're in 1/48 here). They've had a coat of primer, then a quick blast with some colour I had lying around as a base. It might just be me but I've found brush paint behaves much better over an acrylic base, rather than the lacquer primer I use, so I've started with a light airbrushed coat of something along the right lines of the final colours.

You might also see in the background the basic colours I've mixed up from AK acrylics. Since I only have a small range I've mixed up some "starter" shades as close as I can to the Tamiya references and the box art, which I can then load onto my palette and mix highlights and shades from, while still keeping the basic colour. It almost sounds like I know what I'm doing, but as the saying goes: "fake it 'til you make it"

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I have a kind of idea how they'll be placed, but nothing is set in stone just yet.

The two guys on the left are from the refuelling set so will be posed alongside the truck. The Jeep driver will be chatting to the guy front & centre, and the chap 3rd from left will be sat having a crafty smoke, in front of some fuel barrels, and be receiving a stern dressing down from the General and the one with the rifle for doing so.

[scottie3158]

Andy,
They are nice looking figures.

[Guest]

Cheers Paul. There are a few more in the kit so might even end up using those as well.

They didn't half need some clean up though! One even had a huge seam line right through the centre of his face

[Guest]

Figures are coming along.

I've had to wimp out and rely on blocking in the main colours and using washes as I didn't realise how much it would aggravate my finger by having the brush resting on it for so many hours. While it has mostly healed the top part still hasn't, and after today's work is quite tender and swollen (picture if you aren't squeamish)

But I'll get back to them tomorrow with a bit of detail painting and maybe some drybrushing to try and liven them up a bit more. My wife thinks a couple of them are looking rather camp, which isn't really what I was going for :smiling5:

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Then it's on to the scary part of trying to make a decent looking base. I'd really rather not but I've committed myself by posting in this section, so can't turn back now.

Fingers crossed :smiling3:

[Tim Marlow]

Figures are looking good Andy.

[Guest]

Thanks Tim. I'm happy with anything above "adequate" :smiling3:

(family joke)

[Guest]

This is pretty much done now.

As I said at the outset I don't have the creative juices (or the patience! :smiling5: ) to do much more than a basic scene, but this is how it has turned out.

Sorry for the horrific snaps, I'll try and get some better ones if the orangy thing in the sky ever shows up.

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I think I'll stick to a single model & base for now, and hopefully work my way back to this section in the future :smiling3:

Thanks as always for looking in, and for the encouraging comments.

[Steven000]

I like it very much Andy! :thumb2:

[minitnkr]

IMHO your finishes are always way above adequate. PaulE

[Tim Marlow]

Nice job. Tells a story like all good dios.....the interaction between the figures is well observed.

[scottie3158]

Andy,
There is nothing wrong with that. It's a great scene.

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
That should make you very pleased with your efforts. OK there are things you don't like or would do differently but that is true for all of us. We are our own worst critics. I reckon that is a great dio.

As for gluing ready painted parts to a model this is my way - for what it is worth. I tack the item in place using Gator's Grip Acrylic Hobby Glue. It is a water soluble white glue. It allows time for positioning and any excess glue cleans up with a damp brush. Sometimes that is enough but for added security I wick thin CA into the join. Ideally I'm with Tim - Paint in situ if at all possible.

Be happy - that dio works well :thumb2:

Jim

[spanner570]

Andy, excellent aircraft and vehicle. Nicely positioned figures too.

Good, all round build!

Ron

[rtfoe]

Great job Andy, I think that's as much that can be done in composing a fill up maintenance dio.

Basically if you want to do more is to blend the ground work up onto the components for instance some subtle tracks made by the heavy Jug, tanker and jeep. For the tanker perhaps the tracks can look like he made a few passes at reversing. Some stains around the oil drums and the Jug. Wheel chucks and ladders or short stools can add clutter.

I know you're done but these suggestions can be applied to your next dio when you're ready again. :smiling3:

Cheers.
Richard

[Guest]

Thanks for the wonderful comments everyone.

As with everything I've built I always know they are missing "something", little details here & there to lift them a bit that others instinctively seem to know about but I just can't envisage. One of the curses of Asperger's I suppose - lack of imagination.

I'm very happy with the basics though, and really glad you are too!