My Little Harry Tate completed build blog

[rtfoe]

Thanks Joe, here's more of it...
Having finally stitched up the old stringbag, displaying it on its own would have been miserable looking so I decided on a large vignette...starting with a home made base of plywood and timber bidding sprayed in black.

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Positioned the old bird and marked the area for the groundwork...

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Masked out the edge of the base and slapped on cement mixed with fine sand...

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When hardened sprayed a coat of earth brown...

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On top of that sprinkled flocking and randomly stuck bits of spagnum moss...sprayed various tones of green.

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Got the old gal to settle in...

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At this point I hadn't added the rigging on the fuselage to the tail.

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Then onto the figures next...

Cheers,
Richard

[colin m]

What a fantastic build. Then you realise it's 1:72 - amazing.

[flyjoe180]

Superb work, it looks stunning Richard

[Guest]

Richard.
Utterly jaw dropping.!
The holes for the rigging, do you have a drawing of exactly where they go ? And how do you remove the spare CA. Smooth sanding paper ?
That use of the pegs to give the correct tension answers my next question !
To read that this is in1/72 as well ! :flushed:
John .

[Steve Jones]

Truly amazing work Richard. It is indeed draw dropping stuff. Also figures as well! You spoil us sir. Permission to carry on:thumb2::smiling2:

[rtfoe]

Thanks Colin, Joe, John and Steve,

You'll be surprised at how much can be hidden in 1/72 without super detailing. For the holes I referenced from images off the internet and from Wingnut instruction sheet borrowed from a friend. CA was removed with a sharp blade, first cutting around the strut and then chipping with a chisel motion. The CA will lift off because of the paint. Then I repaint any base paint that has been chipped off and blasting matt varnish over the affected area with the airbrush. Actually a swipe with a paint brush loaded with matt varnish will do the trick too.

Kindly close your mouths for the next set of images as flies are prevalent in these parts.:smiling6:

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I warned you...some decapitation of Preiser figures were made to achieve the pose and look of WW1 British pilots and a civillian photographer from a Preiser Luftwaffe set.

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Initial putty application. This had to be worked in sections or as the amount of putty I had mixed.

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Slowly it's teased and blended onto the plastic figure creating folds and cuts.

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Stippling was done for the sheeps wool collar of the flight suite. Goggles are from plastic rod...

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Suitable arms were found for the officer and his cap remodelled to represent the stiffer higher British version.

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I gave them pipes made from rod and plastic strip.

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Putty for the long coat was teased and wrapped over the figure. The collars were added separately. Sleeves as well.

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My high tech tool I used for this purpose. :tongue-out3:

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With a little blob of putty for a cap badge applied it was time for priming.

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Cheers,
Richard

[Steve Jones]

Stunning work on 1 72 figures. They are real gems. Looking forward to seeing these painted up.

[rtfoe]

Thanks Steve, they were my second venture into Preiser figures after the Helldiver dio. Really nice plastic to work with and lots of optional limbs to work with.

Cheers,
Richard

[Fernando N]

Very nice rigging and base work Richard.:thumb2:
Great looking mods on the figures, like Steve interested to see them painted-up.

[papa 695]

Fantastic work on the figures Richard, not to mention the build itself. Looking forward to more updates now I've caught up.

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Always been just so impressed with each and every step of this build. You are one very skilled modeller.
Jim

[Guest]

Richard.
I agree with Jim, some thing we can all hope to be.
John.

[rtfoe]

Thanks guys, Fernando, Ian, Jim and John and without further ado the painting begins...

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They had to be blackened first with primer and some highlights.

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First base layer of paints on. Working this way helps in defining areas to concentrate on as I progress.

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My first foray with Vallejo gave me a shock as some of the colours dried gloss...later on I tackled that problem.

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Bit by bit I worked on the highlights and tones of the individual parts starting with the flesh tones... then working the leather jacket and boots and finally the uniform.

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A blast of matt varnish took care of the shine as well as some of the colour shades under the lighting but later you will see that it turns out ok.

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Next will be the observer/gunner...

Cheers,
Richard

[papa 695]

Very nice indeed.

[rtfoe]

Thank Ian,

Now here's the rest of the figures painted...

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Cheers,
Richard