Tropical Groundwork Scene

[rtfoe]

Thank you for the great replies fellas.

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

Imagine if you're confronted with a tiger...oh boy. They say they're just as fast.

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!)

Nature can be quite helpful if you think differently and bring it down to scale.

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

Better than having an eye for women...so far SWMBO hasn't slapped me in the back of my head and asked that I put my eyes back into their sockets.

Outstanding stuff Richard, truly inspiring!

I hope it has done its trick and is useful.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Okay here is the Asian king of fruits. There is a variety called Musang King which can fetch between 50 to 100 ringgit a kilo for the whole fruit. If you're lucky it will have a few compartments with a number of fruit. You also have the Siamese and Malaysian variant and the Malaysian one is the most sought after for its flavour. Below are some images of the real thing.



This one is taken in Hong Kong...



These are are taken at roadside stalls along the trunk roads during its fruiting season.


I had trouble at first to find a suitable natural source to replicate the fruit. Casuarina seeds were too big but I stumbled upon papaya seeds when their membrane was peeled had spiky hair that dried hard and kept its shape. The size would be about the local wild durians which suited the time frame as cultivated durians weren't developed yet and were much bigger.



Stuck with a copper wire for the stalk painted green with some highlights solved my durian problem. I got some balsa and made up the wooden stand.


Some paint and dry brushed highlights and washes finished the weathered wood effect.


These images show the copper wire inserted prior to cutting them to the right length.



Placed in front in pride of place as it is a crowd puller. Incidentally I made plums with the use of some round spice seeds...can't remember if they were oregano seeds. The large melon is just two part putty shaped with a dimple at two ends and a copper wire and painted green.



That ends the fruit fair.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

No comment on the fruit I see...has anyone tried it? Some ex-servicemen to Malaya may have come across it. ...and probably regretted or loved it.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[GerryW]

No comment on the fruit I see...has anyone tried it? Some ex-servicemen to Malaya may have come across it. ...and probably regretted or loved it.

Cheers,
Richard

I don't think that I've heard of it - but somewhere in the back of my mind, there's something about a 'vomit fruit'?

 

[GerryW]

Not 'vomit fruit' - that's 'morinda'

 

[rtfoe]

It's the smelly fruit and is one of the fruit banned in Hotel premises. The other is mangosteen for its hard to remove sap that stains fabric.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Not 'vomit fruit' - that's 'morinda'

My neighbour has a Morinda tree...always wondered if the fruit was edible. Haven't had the chance to smell the ones that have ripened and fallen to the road... vomit you say??

Cheers,
Richard

 

[GerryW]

My neighbour has a Morinda tree...always wondered if the fruit was edible. Haven't had the chance to smell the ones that have ripened and fallen to the road... vomit you say??

Cheers,
Richard

Apparently - never seen any.

 

[rtfoe]

Okay...let's give the telephone pole some attention.
Not every phone pole is alike through the different time periods and in 1975 the poles were cylindrical rather than the modern hexagonal ones we have now. I was lucky that I remembered the poles near my old Primary school were still using the old poles so I took some snapshots for reference.



Man I wouldn't want to service that tangle of wires...



With those set of pictures I set about slicing and cutting plastic rods and angle beams plus some Italeri rails and conductors.



I used a transparent tubing from Tamiya to add the telescoped bottom length of the pole.



I made the resistor panel box with two pieces of thick plastic beams and made the top and bottom lip with thin sheet styrene.



Foot ladders strips were thin styrene sheets wrapped round the pole and pinched at the ends and glued. Sliced styrene rod was used for bolt heads.



Painted the assembly with black and silver paint and the conductors in off white.



More to come on the wiring...

Cheers,
Richard

 

[GerryW]

Another masterclass going!

 

[Lee Drennen]

Richard. I like the storm drain and the fruit stand don’t cut your self short on the fruit they look good.

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks Gerry and Lee,
I haven't been classed as that at all but appreciate the compliment. With the kind of rainfall we get here storm drains are almost everywhere. After all that searching and scratching MiniArt comes up with a fruit stall kit 14 years later with some neat fruit but no Durian.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[GerryW]

It's the incredible details that are created out of nothing that sets builds like this in the 'master' group in my mind.

 

[JR]

Richard great work, along with the way you have tackled the fruit the electric poles are superb.

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks for the acknowledgement Gerry, and thanks John, your bunker busting work is just as good, I just want to dive into the snow.

Now let me see...the groundwork is done, the doggies have their own post so is the Honda, the banana tree is done, the fruits and telephone pole is done so what next...? Hmmmm...accessories, figgies, landrover?

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

This time it's accessories starting with a weighing scale scratched with a carved block of plastic, some plastic strip, cut plastic disc and toothpaste foil.



I placed the foil over a circular template and rubbed it down with a ball tipped tool.



Blurred shot of it with bananas being weighed.



Then there are the slippers and wooden cloggs all made from carved plastic and strips.



Locked them down on double sided tape for easy painting.



All placed outside the door...one of course will be in pieces after being chewed.



A small prayer alter with incense sticks, a hot water flask and stool all from plastic scratch. Notice the honey dew melons...huge aren't they.



These are late additions to the dio to fill the alley way which usually is piled with stuff including a bit of gardening...
The bricks are painted cork, pots hand made from putty. The bottle and crate is from MiniArt.



I printed out Cola stickers for the crate sides and plants are preserved weeds and fern is a laser cut piece from a friend.



Cheers,
Richard

 

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Very impressive scratching on a tiny scale.
Jim

 

[Mark1]

Superb attention to detail wish I had your patience (and skills)

 

[GerryW]

Great skills - I promise to keep practicing, so that I can get somewhere near your levels (probably about half way!)

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks Jim, Mark and Gerry for the kind words.
These days my eyes aren't so good so the details are getting scruffier. Patience is a little short too and anything is possible with practice.

The details are more fun if they bring back nostalgia.

Cheers,
Richard