king derelict

Thanks Jack I've made a note of this for the next diorama. Woodland Scenics look like a great resource for diorama building. I've been watching Youtubes from Luke Towan (railroader in Australia) and High Eye Workshop in the UK and they do amazing work and make it look extremely easy. I have borrowed / adapted some of their ideas although I find it tougher to get the results than I expected in some cases. Thanks again Alan

Many Thanks Craig. Its a bit trial and error but its a fun change from breath holding PE manipulation. I got the corner clamps from Amazon and they have been used quite a bit without any problems. They work well with material 3/16 inch or thicker, below that they tend to slip although I have packed the jaws out to compensation on 1/8 inch sheets. These are the chaps Angle Clamps, 4PCS Right Angle Fixing Clip, Multi-function woodworking right angle clamp Adjustable Swing Corner Clamp, Corner Clip Fixer for Welding, Wood-Working, Drilling, Making Cabinets (A) - - Amazon.com There are other similar brands too. I have been very happy with TAP; their cutting is accurate and their delivery is fast. They have a good range of other acrylic products like rods, cylinders and shapes. I've used them quite a lot in recent years. Hope this helps Alan

My home made case is made of 3/16" sheet 6" x 1 2" x 2 0" and worked out at about $ 60. It's probably cheaper if you buy the uncut sheets and cut them yourself. I'm not good enough at cutting accurately to go that route. You have to get a very clean square edge to the cuts so the acrylic cement gets drawn into the joint and welds it together. TAP prices are reasonable enough that I would rather leave the cutting to them. Alan

Don't panic Craig. I just put an order on EBay so I'm going to be behind OC but I'm in no danger of running out of kits before it arrives. I read on a site it was due to release on June 30th but then how quickly they ship I don't know. Alan

I continued refining the hillsides today. I dry brushed white highlights back into the snow and added snow back into the bare areas and stippled white into the edges to try to reflect melting snow. I'm still not happy with it but it is looking better and I think I'm going in the right direction. I'm toying with adding a small amount of gloss medium in places to look like ice or water. I'm working on ideas for the frozen waterfall too.

Thank you Popeye, The Flyhawk kit was a treat to make; I enjoyed it immensely. Learned quite a lot and I think I am improving; especially with weathering. Again, lots of good advice here Alan

Thanks Popeye. These little Renaults are interesting to make especially with the great help on detail from Patrick and Egilman. I'm looking forward to moving forward again but Penelope's fjord is hogging the table at present. Alan

I just got a package from Hong Kong this afternoon. Four little cases of the YX 1/700 chain. I was expecting some acupuncture needles for moving glue around and opened the bag to find four little plastic cases with apparently nothing in them. A closer look revealed the tiny detailed chain. It is amazing. I had almost written off the order because I had no emails confirming teh order or confirming shipment but here it is in less than two weeks. Looks great and they will be getting more business especially as shipping was entirely reasonable. If the chain is too big for the Penelope it might work for Prince of Wales - and I just got on the Hood bandwaggon and ordered the Flyhawk deluxe kit. Thanks Alan

Hi Mike Thank you for the very kind words. I learning a lot as I go along. I started 1/700 as a trial before investing in 1/350 scale but I really like the 1/700 kits and seem to generally be working down in the destroyer end into the bargain; Penelope is the biggest subject to date. I really like the Flyhawk kits especially the deluxe ones which just need a wooden deck and are then fully set up. I have a number of Flyhawk kits on the shelf and a resin kit from Niko which looks quite good. I agree about the diversity of subject matter. I really like that seaplane tender that Craig (CDQ) recently completed. I may try to copy that but then the shelf of future kits just keeps growing. The diorama is fun but is very much experimental. So far so good though. Your tool tips and their sources have been very helpful in improving my PE so thank you very much for that Alan

Thank You OC. I'm kind of finding my way here but overall I am quite pleased with it so far. More tweaking to come. Alan

The gesso was dry this morning so I started adding the base colours for the mountain sides and the sea. Im using craft acrylics and they are going onto the gesso well. After painting on the bare earth and the rock faces I felt the white snow didn't look like snow; it looked like an unfinished diorama. So I mixed a very pale blue and a dilute wash and started working it into the white. While the paint was drying I made up the display case. I haven't found a cost effective case source so I have been buying the acrylic sheets from TAP Plastics who custom cut the sheets at a reasonable cost and have a very fast cutting and delivery time. Mine was shipped the day after I ordered it. They have a great range of thicknesses and colours too. The acrylic cement has the viscosity of water and they recommend using a syringe to run it down the joints and it will wick into the joint by capillary action. I find there is a risk of drops marring the panels so I use a brush. It takes longer but I have more control. The corner vices are indispensable. The finished product is basic but they work well for me. The dimensions allow them to be stacked and they fit in the deep shelves of my bookcases. I gave it a trial fit over the diorama and it fits nicely So back to the dry diorama. I thought the snow wash was too blue so I added a very dilute black wash which gave a result I liked. I dry brushed black into the channel of the waterfall and the cliff faces. I darkened the base colour of the barren snow free areas and then dry brushed a lighter colour over them. I'm still not happy with those area and will try some more washes. At 1/700 scale I am a bit nervous of adding textures than would rapidly get out of scale. I plan to dry brush some white back over the snow and in patches on the bare areas and the cliff face. I think a few iterations may be necessary before it looks good. Its fun but its a lot harder than I expected. I have a lot to learn from the masters. Thanks for looking in Alan

This fascinates me. 3D printing and Flower class corvettes. It combines two areas in interested in. I've been contemplating going down the 3D print rabbit hole and this may be the push I need. I've wanted to build a corvette too so I'll be following closely. Alan

Great Stuff OC, well deserved praise too.

Today I thought the Sculptamold felt completely dry so I brushed on a layer of white gesso to seal the Sculptamold and improve the surface finish. The web is varied in opinion for the drying time of gesso so I'll review in twenty-four hours. In the meantime the acrylic sheets for the display case have arrived so that will be started. Thanks Alan

Its been a paint-and-wait day on all fronts. I sprayed the 507A dark grey paint onto the decks and now will wait twenty-four hours for the paint to harden before starting the masking marathon Thanks Alan

I finished adding the last elements of the PE to the hull. One of the drivers hatch handles disappeared while I was cutting it from the fret and I can't find it so a scratch one was made from 0.2 mm brass wire. I have sprayed grey primer onto the assemblies and will now wait twenty-four hours before starting the paint scheme. Thanks Alan

Thanks Patrick I only planned to make start building a few hull pieces but one thing led to another. Alan

Thanks Andy The 20 no guns look very fiddly. I'm trying with using a couple of spare Flyhawk plastic ones and adding the brass shields from the IBG PE . But that's ducking the challenge Alan

I just dropped one of the PE grab handles on the Renault. Did the whole retrieval routine with flashlight and dustbuster. Nothing so I've made one up from 0.2 mm brass wire. The utility room / work space is the cleanest room in the house Alan

Thanks Patrick, I had seen it referred to as a skid plate and was theorizing that it was to reduce the risk of the tank rolling over backwards on a steep climb. Alan

Great news. I don't like those things at all Alan

Your PE work is so neat and sharp. Very impressive. Tampa looks like getting a close brush from Elsa. I hope the power stays on and you escape damage. Alan

Individual links and rollers sounds daunting but I bet it helps understand the mechanics better. I've got to think bigger and try a 1/350 ship and a 1/35 AFV but I do like the tiny world and it delays the display issue creeping up on me Alan

With the Penelope diorama on hold while the Sculptamold dries and the Kujawiak waiting for primer to dry I thought I would investigate the contents of the Flyhawk Renault FT17 box a little more closely. Somehow a few hours passed and progress is being made. The hull was straightforward to build up with everything fitting well. The detail is very crisp and impressive. Some nice PR parts complete the details. The track and drive wheel assembly had me reading the instructions and playing with the parts several times to ensure the assembly was correct. Its not obvious in the photo but the little chain drive in the top left is a folded PE part and is going to be invisible in the final assembly. The sprocket wheel and the front wheel are specific to the variant being built. The hull needs some more PE adding which will make it quite delicate. I may wait until painting of the major assemblies is complete and the tracks are added. The turret and tracks are completed as far as being ready for priming Thanks for looking Alan

That is a great image. Many Thanks Patrick. The Spanish Moroccan paint scheme is going to be my first type to build. Do you know what that structure at the back is (where the chains are)? Thanks again Alan