Not so finished David and Goliath

[Steve Jones]

Hi Richard

I remember the Tigger but not the base. That is staggering work with the cobbles but well worth it.The finish is wonderful. Looking forward to seeing how this one develops

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Andy and Steve, thanks for the kind comments. The camo spray spread was a little broad and preferred it more compact and also it affected the dark yellow. I'm surprised with the mixed awareness of either the Tiger or the pea job. The weavil attack created automatic weathering so there is a marked difference after applying plaster in between the peas.

I forgot to add this last image of the Tiger on the base prior to priming and painting.



Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Here's the attempt to lessen the green and brown camo pattern using BluTac as a mask. I got the effect that I wanted and with washes and streaks it will just blend in nicely.



I have yet to achieve the same for the turret, you can see the difference in these two images.



Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

More on the diorama development,

The two buildings the Tiger knocks into, one of them is damaged earlier suffering from an earlier bombardent. The back of the top floor will not be solid and closed over so roof frames from balsa was fabricated.



I had to keep in mind the angle of the cut off with the base edge. The frame was attached with styrafoam glue. I'd like to say that the frame was butt joined but no that was achieved with Uhu glue.



Again carving the other building to fit the base edge was challenging as the two buildings were sitting at a curve of the pavement. I've always wanted a loft but what a time and spot to have one/two even.

Plastering wasn't going to be easy for these two buildings. You will see why I burnt out and stopped...

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Deleted member 6559]

It's all coming back to me Richard - those peas!

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Peter, ever since then I don't eat or drink pea soup, just thinking of the weavils popping out in my mouth.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Hi,

For the other building across the street I mad up the roof tiles with old cereal boxes the reverse side facing out. The corners and top were plastic balloon tubes cut into sections and halved.



There are more quick pix on the progression of this build until where I had stopped and hope to continue.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Hi,
I had a chance collection of discarded architectural walls and laser cut fences from a friend whose company wanted to clean up storage of finished apartment projects. This suited well for my dio so I took a portion, bent it, added the base with poly and plaster and round knobs for the top of each watchamacallit to hold the fences up using large roundhead pins.



The ends of the base were shored up with cereal box card. I inserted rod beneath for locking points to the base that was pre-drilled.



Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Here's looking at the composition again but this time post weavil attack with the plaster applied in between the peas/stones...



The placement of the paratroop figures as they had no time to escape will be peeping round the right corner, some huddled behind the fountain, others in the passage looking out at both ends. The bazooka man/David will be situated between the fountain and corner of the left building looking bewildered after knocking out the Tiger tracks. There is at least 5-10 seconds of stunned silence from both sides. I don't know what happens next.



Cheers,
Richard

 

[Allen Dewire]

So glad that you revived this one Richard as it was a favorite of mine. Super work all around and the town square is tops!!!

Yup!!! The weevils were definitely a surprise as I recall………………….

Bleib Gesund
Allen

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Allen, thanks for the comment and glad it was your favorite...hope to do justice and finish it once and for all.

Ya, weavils were a nightmare.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Roofing
I'm a cheapo so I source anything that is usable and if treated well can look like the actual stuff at a minimal cost. Anytime I finish a box of cereal at the right moment I will put it to good use. It's basically the same boxboard material which is thicker than manila or art card. I roughly cut strips and squares and stick them in overlapping rows in random fashion. Old roofings don't look the same as modern ones now which were produced individually by hand. Some were made of slate and some wood.



I didn't paste them directly but onto another sheet of cereal box card cut from the traced shape of the roof. I could easily cut the ends off. Then the whole assembly was attached.



This was tedious and nearly as bad as the peas...glad I got that out of the way.
Any Q&C welcomed but don't ask how I came up with using cereal card boxes because when it comes to dios, any material that can be glued or harden after cureing, shaped and not loose is fair game.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[BigGreg]

Wow Richard that us absolutely stunning..the tank, the road the buildings...wooow

 

[rtfoe]

Greg, thanks and glad you're wow'ed. Lots more to go, remember your plastering for the Chosin Resevoir you did, well there will be lots of plastering for the buildings

Anyway here's the back and more roofing...



I use mainly balsa for flooring, window ledge, steps and doors. They're easy to cut to the thickness that I want and can be scribed just like the floor panels with the end of a fine tipped water proof ink pen. I hope when I stain the wood the lines would still show through. Before that I plastered the walls. To get it smooth I waited for the thick layer to semi harden then using a wet spatula to do the final finish. The balsa roof frames were pre-painted before installing.



To remove the wood grains from the window ledge balsa I coated it with diluted plaster and stippled it with a brush to look like stone. The loft window sections were plastered and top front with louvered strips from card. Window doors is balsa with plastic strip hinges and sliced rod for bolts. I will have to fashion handles later.

Here the stairs is balsa...this corner will later look different with wall supports for the stairs.

More to come...

Cheers,
Richard

 

[scottie3158]

Richard,
Very nice work. I really like the roof tiles.

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks kindly Scottie, I like old roofs, they have so much character and it will be fun weathering them. Reference show them with moss and creeper vines.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Excellent. Great use of cereal card. Those buildings are superb.
Jim

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks Jim, I try to build all my buildings basically from carving polystyrene with bits and parts from the spare box or around the house.

Here's a set of pictures overlooking the composition of the dio from different angle. You can see the parts where balsa was used. All the angles show possibilities for vignettes.



Cheers,
Richard

 

[BigGreg]

.... it's like a comic book.... you are really waiting for what will happen...

 

[JR]

Beautiful building work Richard , loving the pea part ! Some great ideas for materials as well.

Can't remember this at all , must have been before my time.