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Thanks so much for all the kind comments. I really do appreciate them.
Most of the time I am flying by the seat of my proverbial pants and I really don't know how a lot of this stuff is going to turn out. The acrylic paste was a good example - I thought I had ruined everything at first, but in the end it worked out.
Since the pictures above were taken I have added some washes, etc, but it's still work in progress until I get the groundwork down and see how the colour balance works overall.
Anyway, here is the next leap into the unknown...
Adding colour (and other stuff) to the roof
After spending so much time painting the stone and brickwork, I was a little wary of tackling the roof, but it was actually pretty quick, easy and a lot of fun.
I had already added some very basic pre-shading with an airbrush when I was giving the walls their first coat, but what the roof really needed was some variation to the individual tiles.
So I started with a grey black (these are all Vallejo paints) and mixed in various browns and blues to give me a palette of around five basic colours. These were then applied with a brush using the wet-blending technique to give some graduation within each tile with the darkest shade generally at the top (where the one above hangs over the one below).
This was done in a random manner and I didn’t even bother to paint every tile - so some remained in the original (pre-shaded) tone. Incidentally, the thick black card stock I had used to make the roof takes the paint very well and there was no sign of any warping (which was a relief).
Next I lightened these colours a little and went back over the tiles adding random spots, focussing generally on the lower edge of the tiles (but not all). None of this was scientific - I was just going for the right ‘look’.
To complete the illusion I then applied slightly lightened and diluted versions of the colours at the top of the roof planes and used a broad brush to drag them down vertically to give to look of rain stains.
The next step was to add speckling. I have always been slightly nervous of this technique because it seems a bit crazy and uncontrolled - and usually looks awful when first applied - but having tried it with rust colours on mufflers it really does add depth to most surfaces.
So, in essence, what you are doing is wetting a brush in paint, holding it a few centimetres from the surface and using something like a cocktail stick to bend the bristles back and spatter the paint. The trick is to keep the paint fairly diluted and use colours that are close to what to what you have already used to paint the surface on which you are speckling.
The great thing with Vallejo paints is that they dry pretty fast, so even if the effect looks to strong at first, they soon start to fade into the background and leave you with a subtle variation of the base colours. Anyway, it worked!
The final part of the painting process was to add speckles of Japanese Yellow to represent the typical blotches that you see on roof tiles (at least here in Europe). I believe this is lichen.
You can also see that I painted the ridge tiles a sort of concrete shade. These were originally terracota, but whilst that worked for my Italian diorama a few years ago, it would not have been appropriate for a farm building in NW Europe.
And then the final touch: moss! This is the green, fuzzy stuff that you also tend to see on rooves in rural areas and especially in damp climates.
Some years ago I bought this lovely tower of mossy stuff from Landscapes in Detail at IPMS Scale Model World in Telford.
I’m not sure if they are still going (I hope so!), but they are a great Spanish father and son team who have also published some superb diorama books. Anyway, I had never used it - until now.
Of course, this could not be simpler: simply apply some PVA glue with a fine brush (slightly diluted with a drop of washing up liquid added to break the surface tension), sprinkle the stuff over and then tip off the excess. And voila!
You can also see a few more additions in some of these shots, such as one of the downpipes, a creeper and the beginning of groundwork around the base of the building. I will cover these in future posts, but I’m pretty happy with the way this has turned out so far…Comment
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Very impressive Tim!Strength isn't about what you can do, rather it's about overcoming what you thought you couldn't do.Comment
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Very impressive work Tim…wonderfully executed…so realistic lookingComment
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Building a farm or field gate
Like most people, I’m sure, I like to take the easy route most of the time… but every now and then I am pleasantly surprised to find that there’s something I want for my diorama which I cannot find in pre-made or kit form.
Now I will be glad for someone to prove me wrong, but after extensive searching I could not find anyone who makes a 1/35 scale version what must be one of the most common sights in any rural setting: a farm or field gate.
Maybe I wasn’t using the right search terms (although I can tell you now that there’s no point looking up ‘Belgian gate’ because you come across something used to block roads from advancing forces…)
Anyway, after a bit of research, it seemed to me that farm gates in North West Europe (and probably many places elsewhere) tend to fall into two main types: wooden five-bar and galvenised metal.
I decided to go with the wooden version. Here are a few images:
As you can see, the five-bar gate derives its strength from a simply construction using diagonal cross-braces. I worked out the rough dimensions, but I wasn’t too scientific about it. I used a figure to judge the height, based on the simple fact that an adult should be able to lean on any gate and the width (which can obviously vary quite a bit) was determined by the position on my diorama.
I then got to work. I decided to use various types of wood rather than plastic because I was worried that the latter would warp. The slats were mostly cut from the sort of stirring sticks you get in coffee shops and the uprights cut down from rectangular wooden rod that I had bought somewhere. The posts at either end are from bamboo chopsticks.
Details were then added. The hinges are simply bent from copper strip and hung on lengths of bent brass wire. This means they actually pivot and can be easily removed for painting. I then added larger rivets from a Meng set (the ones you just shave off a plastic sheet) and smaller ones were punched out from pewter sheet. Finally I added a length of fine chain to the other pillar. Everything was then attacked with a craft knife to give it a well-used appearance.
Here you can see how it fits into the diorama.
This is a view you won’t see when everything is finished, because the gate will actually be swung open. This all helps to tell the story, because it clearly shows the route that the jeep took into the farmyard. It also adds much-needed visual interest to the top right of the scene. In these pictures, the gate looks a little over-scale, but that’s because a) it’s far to light in colour and b) the jeep doesn’t have any wheels…
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Keep it coming Tim!Comment
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Superb Tim, very convincing work.Comment
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Lovely gate Tim, building a diorama of your own composition will always make finding suitable items a challenge like monkeys for instance...ask me why. :smiling6:
Cheers,
WabbleComment
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Shaping up beautifully.Comment
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WOW! Superb stuff!Arnold Judas Rimmer BSc SSc
''Happiness is a Triple Fried Egg Sandwich with Chilli Sauce and Chutney''Comment
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Gee whiz, Tim, not a detail spared. Now that I can comment on this build, just the structure weathering and finish is nuts real, which means the rest is a given. Impressive work, Amigo, Ruck On!Comment
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Thanks Richard. I'm almost afraid to ask about the monkeys... Did you try to make some?!
Ok, Steve has finally arrived! You are very welcome here my friend. And thanks for your kind words.
This blog is almost the same as my other one on Kitmaker / Armorama so you should not have missed anything...
Thanks Arnold. More to come...
Thanks Paul.
Thanks Neil. Only a few more months to go...Comment
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