wefalck

Yep, oils are good for leather. Not sure whether I read this or whether I just tried, when I was into 1/35 military figures in the mid to late 1970s. I gather the Humbrol paints didn't give the right shine and I was look for something more leather-like.
 

The beast got teeth, literally I mean. After installing the bomb racks, I added the bomb load. Again, I used CA to glue the parts in place, which I prefer with painted parts. There is less risk of damaging the paint and applied with a tooth pick, it´s a very fine method. I will add some holding belts later, which I will make from fine Kabuki strips.

 
 
The tailskid fits into a massive part inside the fuselage, but lasts only on a tiny plastic peg on the rear end. As this was damaged while handling the AEG, I replaced it with a 1mm brass rod for some extra strength. The fuselage window was very dirty from the inside, possibly due to lacquer fumes, but I could reach the inside from above and clean the panes.
 

 
I removed the masks from the cockpit openings and painted the paddings with oil colors and matte medium thinner. I used a dark brown base color, which I darkened for crevices and shadows with dark blue and lightened with some vanilla yellow for highlighting. I really like oil colors for replicating leather, you get great coverage, easy modulation and about the right shine.
 

 

 
Cheers Rob

Today, I added some multi color sponge ´chipping´ onto the non lozenged areas. I considered brown Flory clay wash, but decided against, as there are not many panel lines or similar on the fuselage for the wash to lock in.

Then the bat got wheels - Does it make it a Batmobile? The undercarriage is very robust luckily and I added the first rigging through the beforehand glued in eyebolts. I used Infini flexible thread here, which was great to work with, elastic and therefore easy to tauten, but stiff enough to fiddle through the aluminum tubes, even for the second time.

On with the wheels, wich are luckily included in two versions, weighted and normal. I chose the weighted ones for the heavy bird. Hard to imagine landing this huge bat on an improved airfield with only four wheels the size of my mountainbike´s.


 

 

 
Cheers Rob

Thank the zealous law-makers, the custom-officials are only executors - today no one uses common sense and judgement anymore in case some greedy lawyer finds a way to sue them.
 
BTW in earlier post I erroneously wrote the German Ivory Museum is in Michelstadt, it is in Erbach, another town nearby: https://elfenbeinmuseum.de/.

Ah someone, who also read Heraclitus ... for me almost all that is almost all I remember from my A-level in Ancient Greek nearly 50 years ago 🥴

In Germany these nuts are sold as 'stone-nuts/Steinnüsse' and have been used since about 200 years to make buttons (apart from using antlers and horns) - before plastics (first celluloid and bakelite, then hydrocarbon-based plastics) took over. 
 
I have to make a mental note again, to get some samples, because I am still looking for a dense, homogenous but not brittle material to make really small blocks (say 1 mm long).

In principle it is easy to show whether a material is bone or ivory, but one has to take a sample and make a thin-section for microscopic inspection. Apart from the DNA-analysis, one can also take samples for a C14-analysis, which shows the age of the material (in the case of historic ivory).
 

In Germany these nuts are sold as 'stone-nuts/Steinnüsse' and have been used since about 200 years to make buttons (apart from using antlers and horns) - before plastics (first celluloid and bakelite, then hydrocarbon-based plastics) took over. 
 
I have to make a mental note again, to get some samples, because I am still looking for a dense, homogenous but not brittle material to make really small blocks (say 1 mm long).

In principle it is easy to show whether a material is bone or ivory, but one has to take a sample and make a thin-section for microscopic inspection. Apart from the DNA-analysis, one can also take samples for a C14-analysis, which shows the age of the material (in the case of historic ivory).
 

There are precedents for ivory antique containing shipmodels (and other artefacts indeed) sent to exhibitions abroad that were held up by customs and were only released after a long battle. It's not necessarily the fault of overzealeous customs officials, but that of imprecise and summary legislation. So I would rather not use any ivory, even if mamuth ivory is legal.
 
In Michelstadt/Odenwald (Germany) there is a traditional centre of ivory working and an ivory-carving school, which has been hit very hard by the ban on ivory. However, they today use man-made substitutes. These don't seem to be easy to obtain on the market, but I once bought some small pieces for a restauration project there from a workshop.
 

I am not a carver at all, but I can see, where the texture of the chosen wood would pose serious challenges at this small scale.
 
I only know Wengé as wood for furniture (and don't like it's colour and texture, but it seems to be fashionable these days) and would have doubts, that it would be suitable for small-scale carving.
 
And, of course, I like the result of your carving efforts both, the execution of the carving itself and the colour of the wood.

So the paint has settled further and it actually looks pretty good! Especially the red and Turquoise are really nice. Some photos bellow in natural light. The hull of course is rough despite so many cycles of filling and sanding. Never use Beech!




But look what the postman dropped, all the way from the colonies across the pond!

Till next time
Vaddoc

In Germany these nuts are sold as 'stone-nuts/Steinnüsse' and have been used since about 200 years to make buttons (apart from using antlers and horns) - before plastics (first celluloid and bakelite, then hydrocarbon-based plastics) took over. 
 
I have to make a mental note again, to get some samples, because I am still looking for a dense, homogenous but not brittle material to make really small blocks (say 1 mm long).

In principle it is easy to show whether a material is bone or ivory, but one has to take a sample and make a thin-section for microscopic inspection. Apart from the DNA-analysis, one can also take samples for a C14-analysis, which shows the age of the material (in the case of historic ivory).
 

There are precedents for ivory antique containing shipmodels (and other artefacts indeed) sent to exhibitions abroad that were held up by customs and were only released after a long battle. It's not necessarily the fault of overzealeous customs officials, but that of imprecise and summary legislation. So I would rather not use any ivory, even if mamuth ivory is legal.
 
In Michelstadt/Odenwald (Germany) there is a traditional centre of ivory working and an ivory-carving school, which has been hit very hard by the ban on ivory. However, they today use man-made substitutes. These don't seem to be easy to obtain on the market, but I once bought some small pieces for a restauration project there from a workshop.
 

In principle it is easy to show whether a material is bone or ivory, but one has to take a sample and make a thin-section for microscopic inspection. Apart from the DNA-analysis, one can also take samples for a C14-analysis, which shows the age of the material (in the case of historic ivory).
 

In principle it is easy to show whether a material is bone or ivory, but one has to take a sample and make a thin-section for microscopic inspection. Apart from the DNA-analysis, one can also take samples for a C14-analysis, which shows the age of the material (in the case of historic ivory).
 

There are precedents for ivory antique containing shipmodels (and other artefacts indeed) sent to exhibitions abroad that were held up by customs and were only released after a long battle. It's not necessarily the fault of overzealeous customs officials, but that of imprecise and summary legislation. So I would rather not use any ivory, even if mamuth ivory is legal.
 
In Michelstadt/Odenwald (Germany) there is a traditional centre of ivory working and an ivory-carving school, which has been hit very hard by the ban on ivory. However, they today use man-made substitutes. These don't seem to be easy to obtain on the market, but I once bought some small pieces for a restauration project there from a workshop.
 

There are precedents for ivory antique containing shipmodels (and other artefacts indeed) sent to exhibitions abroad that were held up by customs and were only released after a long battle. It's not necessarily the fault of overzealeous customs officials, but that of imprecise and summary legislation. So I would rather not use any ivory, even if mamuth ivory is legal.
 
In Michelstadt/Odenwald (Germany) there is a traditional centre of ivory working and an ivory-carving school, which has been hit very hard by the ban on ivory. However, they today use man-made substitutes. These don't seem to be easy to obtain on the market, but I once bought some small pieces for a restauration project there from a workshop.
 

I am not a carver at all, but I can see, where the texture of the chosen wood would pose serious challenges at this small scale.
 
I only know Wengé as wood for furniture (and don't like it's colour and texture, but it seems to be fashionable these days) and would have doubts, that it would be suitable for small-scale carving.
 
And, of course, I like the result of your carving efforts both, the execution of the carving itself and the colour of the wood.

I am not a carver at all, but I can see, where the texture of the chosen wood would pose serious challenges at this small scale.
 
I only know Wengé as wood for furniture (and don't like it's colour and texture, but it seems to be fashionable these days) and would have doubts, that it would be suitable for small-scale carving.
 
And, of course, I like the result of your carving efforts both, the execution of the carving itself and the colour of the wood.

Well, here are the final shots of Chewbacca. This is the end of all planned works.
This project was an unusual one. A lot of things were done for the first time. It was the first time I made a Russian lion. It was the first time I got acquainted with paduk. Very unconventional wood. It showed a lot of surprises and was not easy to work with. But I am glad that I did not stop and did not abandon this idea and brought it to the end. For smaller jobs this wood is probably not suitable. Unless there are some special designs where the fibrousness and frequent pores in the wood will be justified. In its classic form it is not the best material for ship models. But in my case it is the case when the disadvantages of wood did not affect the final result. Even on the contrary, it emphasized the desired effects. The final sculpture at the same time looks like a rustic, rough work. And at the same time, the color of the wood gives a completely opposite effect - something expensive and regal. And at the same time, even a fresh figure looks very old, as if it were found in the basement of some old castle. And I am sure that with time paduk will become darker, which will further enhance this effect.
I'm happy that I was able to work with plastic for the first time. And as a stand it looks both neutral and at the same time the smooth polished edges, the cold shine of the glass "dialogues" with the uneven tool marks on the sculpture itself. When I was still working with plastic, I heard doubts from some modelers. Why did you use plastic? 
Better get a tree, they told me. Like wenge. It'll look very organic. But in the end I was happy with the way the plastic looked. First of all, it immediately reminds me of some kind of museum piece. In the future, there will be other lions in this Pride parade. Perhaps some of them will be made of dark wood, wenge or hornbeam. I haven't made up my mind yet. But I am already sure that whatever the future lions will be in terms of color and tone, the plastic will not "argue" with any of them. It is the most neutral to any color of wood. And having seen how the Russian lion looks on a plastic pedestal I was only convinced of this.
And of course, this project was a premiere for me in the style of presentation. The variant with admiralty division into sectors, the nails shown were an unexpected solution for me. For someone this look may look controversial, but I'm glad I decided to do this experiment and I like the way this lion looks exactly. I hope that when the whole collection comes together it will be interesting to look at. And each of the lions will tell its own story.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boiler and water tanks. 
The  vertical  condensate return pump under construction. First the plans.

The construction in process.



And the finished product

My 0.5 mm tolerances were challenged in this project. After this I will tackle the boiler feed pump which is a horizontal
design. 

And finally  the results of my experiments for boiler stack conical top. I used the bottom of a cone water drinking cup that was stiffened with several layers of lacker following Wefalk experience. 
 

Going to try again by developing the cone in thicker card a perhaps even brass plate. We will see what happens. 
 
Having fun, and thanking y'all for the likes and comments.
 

Dear Friends
 
Another quick update to share some photos!
Mark, it is Valejo matt acrylic paint, it is just that the photo was taken immediately after the coat went on so still wet.
 
@64Pacific Thanks Scott, welcome!
 
@KeithAug Keith, I do not think Humbrol enamels will be arround for long so if you use enamels, stock up. I bought some of the enamel varnish.
 
So I carried on with painting. The white paint has exceptionally poor coverage. I must have put on 15 coats, not with the greatest of care I must admit. But it came out alright - modern paints are so forgiving. I am not sure what the shiny areas are but it does not matter, these should disappear after varnishing.
 
I then masked again and added the red waterline. The red color has much better coverage


I could have sanded the paint but I decided not to bother. Also, I should have first painted the red zone, mask and then paint over. I did not really pay much attention but in the end it came out fine, I just had to mask and remask again and again.
 
Then, I added the turquoise - very nice color, excellent coverage. I was more careful this time and came out much better.

 



There is a masking line that shows, I masked without thinking. I could have sanded it off but did not bother, it actually looks ok.
I will now give it a couple more days for the paint to cure and then I will protect the paint with enamel Humbrol varnish. I am dissapointed with the water based ones - Poor adhesion and not as hard.
 
So next I started work on the rudder. In the plans it is only 1.5 inch thick - that is 4 mm in the model. So I made a card template and cut three pieces to laminate

Waiting for epoxy to cure - then the rudder will be painted in same colors.
 
Take care all
Vaddoc

Penzo and Marzari are the greatest experts on Adriatic boats, each of their books is a treasure !! the 2 models that I have reproduced are part of the maritime museum of Cesenatico, In my opinion the trabaccolo is among all the Adriatic boats the most fascinating (Marzari has made a beautiful monograph)