I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll knock your house down

Catch up time. To kickstart my return to the blogging circuit I'll start by posting up some things I've done recently.

First up D9 bulldozer from SandSmodels in 20mm scale. It's not in the store yet. But I saw it on their Facebook page here. So when I placed an order for another item, asked Shaun about it and he kindly sent me out a model.

I've added cables for the hydraulics, grab handles, fire extinguishers, amber warning beacon and the aircon/heater unit for the cab. Built up some areas with plastic card. Added some card to the base of the blade to bulk it out more and around the cab deck. Then it was a case of weathering it....heavily.

  

I've painted it to represent a vehicle used by US forces. I could not figure how to make the grill which sits over the blade or to add the headlamps which sit above the two blade arms. Fortunately I did find a photo on the net, of two US Army D9's parked side by side and one was missing the grill above the blade.

Overall I'm pleased with the result. Had a bit of a 'mare with the painting though. Decided to try out MIG Ammo Scratches fluid in place of my normal hairspray. I learnt to my cost that you can't leave the chipping fluid overnight to dry like hairspray. So I ended up having to reapply a base coat. This means if you look closely some of the detail is covered a little to heavy in paint. Live and learn! 

I didn't weather it heavy to hide these mistakes but to give it a real work horse look. Honest!:)

Anyway that's enough for now more to follow...

  

I'm back!!!!

In a moment of madness I decided to delete my blog. Gone forever. But due to popular demand* and following a national outcry I have returned.

I did save all the old posts so those should all be back to for you all to, ooohh and aaahh over or just snigger at.

I will have to rebuild the basics and the look of the old girl. So sometime will be spent over the next few days doing that.

That's it for now more to follow...

* Well two of my mates have nagged me to re-start it. So not quite a riot.

Pimp my ride!

A while back I posted about the first of several LAV-25's I intend to build. That post can be found here.

Now if you read yesterday's post (if not go and read it now :)), clearly visible in photo in the background is the very same LAV. For the past few days I've been 'enhancing' the model. I was just not entirely happy with it, and decided it needed further weathering.

So this is what it looked like originally...

Now this is the updated version...

I've added more dust and paint scratches primarily. This time I took more care by adding a layer of dust streaks for example, sealing with varnish and then adding another layer to build up the appearance.

I'm much happier with it's appearance now and I very much doubt I will tinker with it any more. Though I have made an error. Looking back at my source photo's the barrel of the Bushmaster cannon always seems to be black. I'll probably leave this one green and make sure I get it right next time.

Next I intend to 'pimp up' the T-72M1.

That's it for now more to follow soon.....

Workbench Wednesday

Planning to make Wednesday, workbench day. Kind of speaks for it's self in the post title. Figured it will be a good way for me to keep an eye on just how things are progressing. So had a bit of a clear of the paint table.

20mm Moderns will be my main staple for a while. Cleaned up and based the last USMC squad in MOPP lvl1. Once completed this will give me a platoon. Also decided to move up my Cold War 6mm moderns. Not lost interest in this project but it just got pushed back down the queue. Time to show some love to the little fellas!

That's it for now more to follow...

Eat yer heart out 'Grand Designs'!*

This has kept me occupied for for the last couple of weeks. Another building for my Modern games, but with a slight twist.

Been collecting the bits and pieces to make this scene for a while. The building accoutrement's and paraphernalia come from 1/72 wargaming and OO scale railway sources. The building itself is 2mm MDF for the floors. The ground floor mounted on 3mm cork tile. The walls are 3mm cork sandwiched between embossed plasticard. The concrete uprights are 8mm square pine dowel cut to 80mm lengths and are covered in base render. 0.5mm copper wire used to represent the steel reinforcing bars.

To make up for the lack of walls building materials have been 'strategically' placed to provide cover.

The first floor can be removed to allow access to the ground floor. The ladder being used in lieu of a proper staircase is glued in place to the first floor, but will require careful handling. The oil drums at the back are there to provide some cover but I wanted much of the building to be open to make an interesting feature on the gaming table.

Since my background is not in the building trade or architecture I can only apologise if anyone believes that the structure would fall down in the reality. I did some research to get an idea of materials used in building houses in the Middle East, and used reference photos as a basis for the model. But it's for wargaming so as long as it's practical for  gaming purposes then it's a success. 

I may add in a few more small features at a later date but for now it's complete.

That's it for now more to follow.....

*Grand Designs is a UK TV show about people who build generally large and unusual homes. I don't tend to watch it. Pretentious nonsense!

The News at 10

Reporting from the frontline....

Created a small vignette for my on the scene news crew.

It was the best way I could come up with to make the figures more interesting. Had originally planned to base them individually on 1p coins like everything else. This way they should stand out in the crowd.

They are on a 40mm MDF circular base (from Warbases of course), with another cut in half and glued on top. Used green stuff to cover the pavement area and then carved in the individual slabs. Sculpture is not my strong point (though I can do a mean sandbag!), so put other pieces of detritus on top to hide any mistakes and draw attention away from wonky lines and different widths and depths between the paving slabs.

Overall though I'm happy with the finished product. The figures are from Elhiem. The reporter appears to rocking back on his heels in the close up photos. I did not really notice it when pinning the figure to the base. I also meant to pin the cameraman so he was 'filming' slightly more to the right of the reporter to offset the difference in height and give an illusion he was filming events behind his colleague, I only realised my error after the glue had dried. Oh well nevermind, life goes on.

That's it for now more to follow.....

Back on the Road Again....

Mojo back....Check
Painting time back....Check
Plenty to paint....Check
Know where to start....Check
Stop faffing and get on with it.....Check

Back to the 20mm Moderns at the moment. Bursting with enthusiasm. Much to do. To begin with nothing to exciting. But completed a group of nine of Elhiem Figures excellent Shadow Army figures. These sat on the workbench for about 6 months. Started them full steam ahead but then lost interest. Finished them a couple of weeks ago. They are great figures.

 

These consist of two packs of TAL26 and one of TAL32. Since I'm concentrating on OIF not OEF, I intend to use them to primarily represent foreign/veteran fighters in games. Their distinctive attire should make them more noticeable on the tabletop. 

That's it for now more to follow.....soon!