SimonT - 1/72 MasterBox Mk1 Male

[SimonT]

Morning all,
not an awful lot to show - been making some bits for the base

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made a tool to make some corrugated sheeting then made some sandbags from Duro and created some bits of collapsed/destroyed trenching
Also made some barbed wire - tried many methods but this was the only one that worked. Not brilliant but it will do
It is definitely spikey!
At the moment it is just thrown on - it will be placed later when the soil goes on

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a couple of ammo boxes (which I shall probably cast copies from) more sheeting and some wooden planks/stakes to chuck in the collapsed trench

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more barbed wire and the duckboards

just about ready to start on the soil top layer - the Celluclay is drying and has cracked in a few places but hopefully the soil will disguise that

[Guest]

Hi Simon what,s your opinion on Celluclay aginst Das, or plaster, I've never used Celluclay and was just curious.
Starting to take shape slowly, keep at your get there in the end :thumb2:
O.P.Pete.

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
I reckon the Celluclay with the powder paint could prove a winner. I imagine that it makes for a very light weight base - compared to plaster for example.
Odds and ends of details look good and will add to the overall chaos of the front. How did you make the barbed wire in the end?
Jim

[JR]

Yet again my dear friend Jim has beaten me to it ! :smiling3:
Yes Simon the barbed wire , it looks better than the ones I seen premade ..
Just finished my sheets as well , vast improvement in thickness scale wise.That base is looking good, if you left it like that it would pass :thumb2:
John

[Steven000]

Looks great already Simon, I'm also interested in the barbed wire method, looks very nice for sure
Keep it coming, cheers

[scottie3158]

Simon, looking great as always. How did you make the barbed wire?

[SimonT]

Evening folks,
In answer to the questions above:

Personally I much prefer the Celluclay
Light and easy to work - I pushed some of it around with a stiff paintbrush on this base when making the holes.
Can shrink considerably if mixed too wet and does crack slightly when drying out on thick areas - not too much of a problem though if applying a top layer of sand, soil etc.
Can be a bit messy when mixing as it is powder - I ended up grey when my Gorilla glue got an airlock and suddenly shot a burst of air into the mixing pot and showered me with the contents!

I have tried Das Pronto (grey) once - it went in the bin
Plaster can be ok but heavy, chips easily and sets rapidly

For small areas I like Wilko brown wood filler - premixed stuff in a tub. Works better than ready mixed stone type fillers

Barbed wire - I made it from aluminium diamond mesh sheet like you buy to fix holes in car bodywork
It is a little large for 1/72 really (should be really tiny) but it should still look the part once painted. Probably better suited to 35th but the sheets tend to be about 250-300mm so the continuous length that you can make is limited
Basically you slice down each side of one of the 'bars' of the mesh leaving little pointy stumps - easy as that
Make sure you cut the right way though or you end up with a collection of aluminium X's - guess how I found that out :hugging-face: A bit of trial and lots of error

[Jim R]

Thanks Simon
I would never have guessed that you made the wire like that. Works well though.
Jim

[SimonT]

Hi Jim - I'd spent a good few hours with some really thin wires trying to tie evenly spaced knots in it without success when I saw the mesh and it just hit me that it might work


Morning all,
had a go at scratch building a Lee Enfield .303 last night[ATTACH]317144[/ATTACH]
needs a bit of tidying up and some bits adding but generally just about passable - this is version three. One was too thin, two snapped in half

At one time I would have had a working bolt and removable magazine - it is rubbish getting old :disappointed2:

[Steve Jones]

The base is coming on a real treat. The Enfield will be fine once painted up. Any straps for it?

[SimonT]

First off there will be casting of copies, then straps

Boxed up the 303, a tin hat and the two ammo boxes last night so should be ready to pour rubber tonight when I get home

[scottie3158]

Simon,
The magic continues love the rifle.

[SimonT]

Thanks Scottie - it isn't perfect but I got to the point where I think messing about any more will end up ruining it so it can stay as it is. At least it looks rifle shaped

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made some curly pickets to hold the previously made barbed wire - left the ends straight on most of them so I can more easily plant them in the solid base.

One of them has the screw part added so it can be left unplanted

The bits'n'bobs are now encased in rubber which should be fully set by tomorrow night - may get a test casting done

[JR]

Ah Simon, the magic continues. That barbed wire tip is great, thanks.
Now as to the air lock in the glue, do youhave photos of this occurance, I'm sure the rabble would love to see the aftermath !
Looking fwd to seeing the results of the casting.
John.

[SimonT]

Hi John - sadly, no photos sorry :smiling: My hair was rather greyer than normal as was my black shirt

Have released the mould from the masters and it looks ok - didn't get to try it out though as fell asleep again :sleeping: