Tropical Groundwork Scene

[rtfoe]

Hi Guys,
I had to stand in as Peace Keeping Force of the UN in catland and paid the price for it...

Since I was put out of action I decided to rumage in my spares and found I still had more of the paper banana trees...still can't make out the brand. I also found my Kamazukuri catalog list.


Also decided to stuff myself with a plate of comfort food of homemade roasted pork belly Chinese style crackle skin and equal amounts of fat and meat...yum


What's next to feature for groundwork? Let's sift through my images.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Mini Me]

Buddy.........that's a "Heart Attack" on a plate! I hope your system can handle that, my old "gut" would be in an uproar!!! LOL ! Lovely work on the banana tree.....looking forward to seeing some of my favorite fruit, even if it isn't ripe. Rick H.

 

[GerryW]

You need at least welding level gloves for the peacekeeping mission with cats .
Pork looking wonderful - hopefully the cats didn't get any after their infringement!
Those trees look quite neat, will have to be on the lookout for that sort of thing.

 

[adt70hk]

Well done with the banana tree Richard. Hope the hands recovers soon. Jay looking scratches!

Attn.

Andrew

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks Rick, Gerry and Andrew,
If I do the indulgance at a respectable period of time I should be safe I think. I do wear safety gloves when administering medicine but this was out of the blue lightning strike. Iodine works wonders but the initial cleaning the coagulating blood under a running tap wasn't pleasant. I'll mend. Glad you guys like the tree.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Tim Marlow]

Nasty kitty there Richard.....hope the hand heals quickly. It’s amazing how fast they can be isn’t it. We have just taken in a stray young lady, and after having older cats for the last few years, I’d forgotten fast they can strike.

 

[rtfoe]

Nasty kitty there Richard.....hope the hand heals quickly. It’s amazing how fast they can be isn’t it. We have just taken in a stray young lady, and after having older cats for the last few years, I’d forgotten fast they can strike.

It's healing very quickly Tim, thanks.
We're lucky so far that nearly all 15 cats get along but there's this animosity between the two Siamese...both are good predators...one is shit scared of the other and I mean shit scared, lots of cleaning up after the episode.

Nothing better than a young spritely lady to liven things up.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Tim Marlow]

15 is a lot! You must get cat kibbles by the pallet load LOL......
Our new lady is currently very timid. She was living rough for a while so has trust issues. She was taken to the vets where my daughter works as a stray in quite poor condition. They couldn’t find the owner because she wasn’t chipped, so kept her for a month or so to get her fed up and healthy before moving her to a re-homing centre. She is now in good condition, and as we lost one of ours at Xmas my daughter asked if we could take her in instead of going through more stress. She is still a little scared so currently lives in the wardrobe! We are taking it slow, and she is starting to come out in the evening. Just a matter of time and calm to allow her to trust again and she’ll be fine. Our other cat is just pretending she doesn’t exist, so there shouldn’t be too much stress between them.

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Sorry to see the wounds caused by one of the, Sly,untrustworthy,thankless,antisocial,some would say "Pets", from Hell......... I`m not a Cat fan by the way!!
Anyway,I digress..... I wanted to say,that not only is this SBS a real boon for Dio modellers in General ,but for me personally,it`s coincided perfectly with my 1st ever build of a Vietnam AFV,and despite not wanting to go over the top,i do want to put it on a small base,
Loving what i`m watching Richard....... it`s a cracking Dio you`ve put together there .
Andy

 

[Tim Marlow]

Parrots are the “pets from hell” Andy. They have no competition whatever!

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Parrots are the “pets from hell” Andy. They have no competition whatever!

Oh So True Tim!!
I used to keep,and breed,several types of Birds....... Not the Larger types,like African Greys or Macaws..... more Cockatiels,unusual Finches,(Cut throats,wax bill,red headed etc),and Love Birds. .....
BUT..... How the HELL "Love Birds" got their name i will NEVER understand..... They`re just EVIL!!...... They fight with......
Another male,their own female,AND,if they want to...... bit your own fingers if you try to,feed them,help them,or just basically look after them!!I`ve had many a Beak attack over the years..... and in some cases,these little "Cute" birds leave a lifetime scar!!..... I still love `em mind!!
Andy

 

[GerryW]

Oh So True Tim!!
I used to keep,and breed,several types of Birds....... Not the Larger types,like African Greys or Macaws..... more Cockatiels,unusual Finches,(Cut throats,wax bill,red headed etc),and Love Birds. .....
BUT..... How the HELL "Love Birds" got their name i will NEVER understand..... They`re just EVIL!!...... They fight with......
Another male,their own female,AND,if they want to...... bit your own fingers if you try to,feed them,help them,or just basically look after them!!I`ve had many a Beak attack over the years..... and in some cases,these little "Cute" birds leave a lifetime scar!!..... I still love `em mind!!
Andy

Had a budgie like that - take anything on, met his match with my grandparents cat though

 

[rtfoe]

Hi guys after the healing I got another set of scratches over the previous wounds so I'm definitely battle scarred.
Thinking of what next to show...fruit I guess.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[GerryW]

Hi guys after the healing I got another set of scratches over the previous wounds so I'm definitely battle scarred.
Thinking of what next to show...fruit I guess.

Cheers,
Richard

At least it'll 'offset' the calories in the pork!

 

[rtfoe]

Oh man...I need to get another portion of pork and fire up the oven.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Okay...the fruits have won over the telephone pole so it goes on first... you of course need something to hold them in so I weaved a basket from thin plastic card using a broomstick handle to form the shape.



I didn't complete the bottom as it would be covered with the Honey Dew melons made from rolled two part putty and painted pale yellow.



The bananas were made from cumin like seeds called Jintan Putih as they were larger and fit for curries than Jintan Manis(cumin), much smaller, sweeter and used in desserts. The stem or comb that holds the bananas were quarters of sliced plastic tubing. They're coated with white primer. Super glue was the adhesive used here.



The Bitter Gourds were just straighter Jintan Putih painted green. Later some cockroaches had them for dinner.



Pineapples...a late addition to the mix was made with papaya seeds, paper and copper wire. I was also getting some of the bananas ready to be hung with fuse wire mimicking pink raffia string.



The huge winter Chinese Pears were some form of spice seeds I found in the larder painted them orange.



Mangosteens were rolled two part putty which I discovered was less painful to make than scouring for things that looked miniature in scale for fruits. I stuck them to a length of fuse wire and looped at the end. The Uhu glue that oozed out of center was teased and painted green. Mangosteen don't grow in bunches like this but are tied up with raffia string and sold hung up in display.



Getting the color right for the mangosteens wasn't easy as it was a cross between dark purple and brown. The doggie is having a go at the flip flop. We leave our footwear outside the entrance when entering a home as a custom so always find a safe place to put them of the pets will have fun with them.



Lastly locally grown tomatoes in all forms of ripeness depending on how you want your dish prepared.



Next will be the king of fruit as the Asians will say but a real stink bomb as the Westerners will say.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Wonderful, realistic fruit. Very inventive ideas.
Sorry about your battle scars from the puss cat. I'm a dog person myself. Dogs are much slower and you get more warning - cats are just lightning fast with razor claws.
Jim

 

[GerryW]

Some great work in those, nice to know that there are natural/free items that work for things (I'm still at the 'moss and bark' stage!)

 

[Tim Marlow]

That is superb modelling. You have a great eye for repurposing as well...

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Outstanding stuff Richard, truly inspiring!