SimonT - 1/72 MasterBox Mk1 Male

Jim R

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Hi Simon
Duckboards are looking excellent. Does that Celluclay just mix with water and does it shrink when drying?
Jim
 

JR

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Hi Simon
Duckboards are looking excellent. Does that Celluclay just mix with water and does it shrink when drying?
Jim
Dam, just going to ask that Jim and you beat me to it, :smiling: , Ive seen it advertised somewhere, thought you could only get in the States.
John.
 

SimonT

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Richard - thanks. Good idea as fast running out of time

Steve - I shall see what I can find

Ian - thanks, needs a lot of work still

Jim / John - Celluclay does just mix with water although I add Gorilla wood glue to the mix to help bind it together. Shrinkage seems to have varied - from what I have experienced it appears that the more water you add the more shrinkage occurs as it dries out. On this and the previous base I just gradually added water until I had a mixed but thick consistency, no slop - it really does look and mix like Ready Brek :smiling5:
Shep Paine used it for all his dio bases - I read about it years ago in his books but could never get hold of it due, as John says, it only being available in the US. These days it is imported to the UK - I got it from buysend.com 5lb bag
Not cheap but then it is a big bag and will do a lot of bases so worth it in the long run

mk1-044_2018-10-19.jpg
I also now have a 2.5kg tub of burnt umber paint pigment - that should tint things nicely. I guess black would also be a good colour to use to prevent any white spots
 

JR

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Thanks for that Simon, worth bearing in mind before I run out of filler.
John .
 

SimonT

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

mk1-047_2018-10-22.jpg
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

mk1-046_2018-10-22.jpg
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

mk1-045_2018-10-22.jpg
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
 
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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

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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

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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
 

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

SimonT

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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

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

SimonT

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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 nightmk1-048_2018-10-23.jpg
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:
 

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

SimonT

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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
 

SimonT

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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

mk1-049_2018-10-25.jpg
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

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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

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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:
 
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