1/72 Takom Russian Tractors. Special Delivery

[Mickc1440]

After my time away I've just caught up with this project Andy. I can't really top what the others have said about your work. Its all really starting to come together very nicely now. Top job.

[Neil Merryweather]

Was going to try Sculptamold, think Jim has used it , that's a very light
, white, non-toxic compound that combines the best features of clay, plaster, and papier mache, does not shrink, and is durable for dioramas.

I used Sculptamold for my grandson's Tracy Island and it was excellent

[Guest]

Thanks Mick, appreciate that.

Cheers John and Neil. My son & I clubbed together for some DAS clay a few weeks back but haven't used it here. Sounds similar to sculptamold as even though it's called air drying clay, it has a fibrous texture and smells of wet newspaper.

My next quandary is what to use for the water. I've searched back and seen a few of Ron's great methods but need something that pours for this, as I'm going up to the edge and partially submerging one of the vehicles. Plenty of ready made products to choose from but I'm trying home brew before I shell out any more cash. I used to have loads of polyester resin hanging around for making GRP/fiberglass but it's all gone off. Silicon is too thick and gloss medium stays white. Currently testing my sons clear PVA with a drop of brown, poured in very thin layers.

Love that rock texture Neil!

[Guest]

Much fun to be had Andy when you start dio's. I've tried every but resin. Ron's the man with his painted base and varnish.
I just say one thing.............make sure the surface is really sealed where the " water " is going before you do anything ! I know from experience :smiling2:.

[Neil Merryweather]

Good luck with the DAS, Andy.......
I found it shrinks and cracks like crazy.
I look forward to your water experiments- I have a nasty feeling that if there was something cheaper than proprietary stuff we would all be using it already....
When I did mine for my Higgins Boat I tried so many cheap things I would probably have been better off just spending the money up front and saving the experimenting time. Unfortunately my solution won't work for what you want.
Good luck and keep us informed,please!
cheers
Neil

[Guest]

Thanks John. I've done a few moulds and casts with polyurethane resin so have had my fair share of leaks. Will keep an eye out, and probably use thin ply for the "dams" covered in well-waxed brown parcel tape, hot glued in place.

The packing tape will stop whatever product I use sticking. Worked well here when I did a mould of my spare wheel well

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Thanks for the heads up on the DAS Neil. We bought it mainly to make small items for my sons Warhammer bases where I'm hoping the small size shouldn't present as many shrinkage issues.

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
This is looking good. Nice steady progress. The way we work is different for every modeller I think. I tend to take it one aspect at a time whereas I know others like to work on lots of elements together.
Your very thoughtful approach is definitely paying off.
Jim

[Steve Jones]

In my limited and short excursion into the world of dios I used to mould my DAS clay using watered down PVA rather than water itself. This prevented crackin and shrinkage. A bit on the messy side but it worked for me.

[Guest]

Thanks Jim, it was getting on top of me a bit yesterday, more haphazard than thoughtful! Breaking it down into bite sized chunks has helped.

I'll remember that tip Steve, thanks.

[Guest]

Today's attempt at modelling were about as miserable as the weather, so if you don't want to hear me moaning, a lot, you may want to sit this one out :smiling5:

I'm still having no luck finding cheap seated figures so did some more surgery. This chap has proved quite adaptable. He's become a guy waving (repositioned arm) a kneeling figure (repositioned arms and legs bent with a heat gun) and now he's trying to keep warm in the cab. A spot of filler and the inevitable 75 coats of model air that are needed when brush painting and he'll be right as rain.

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Got some green stuff on the scenery. It was far too bright so toned it down with the airbrush. Used tea leaves for the soil at the waters edge, painted brown. Also did a bit of blending and shading on the road, it's edge, and the rocks while I had the hissy stick out. Looked ok until I stood back and realised the wheel tracks look totally unnatural. A vehicle wouldn't go off the edge of the road at that angle.

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I'd knocked off and lost one of the mirrors from the trailer rig so substituted one from the wreck. I had a go at making one, aiming for a bodged field repair look that the driver had done himself, already rusting since it was never painted. In the end it just looks like a rubbish attempt at scratch building a replacement though. Whilst making that abomination I also managed to break the mirror on the other side, then knock the door off, so all that side is now swimming with blobs of CA glue.

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Then made a hash of fitting the windows in the supposedly pristine truck. It then got worse as I tried to fit the PE wipers. I smashed all 4 to pieces just getting this one in, and ruined the screen in the process. So now two vehicles have one badly fitted wiper blade between them.

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Starting to feel like I can't wait to get this over and done with as it's becoming a chore. Good job I'm back at work tomorrow so have 4 days with a good excuse not to go near it.

[Guest]

Winners never quit and quitters never win :smiling5:

I've been doing some more work on these, and despite knocking parts off all four models and dropping one on the floor, I've made a bit of progress.

Added some of the junk in the trunk and started weathering. Gloss varnish on the running gear to simulate wet mud is still fresh so will hopefully tone down a bit. More "mud" will be added once they are in place anyway.

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And below is a link to the chaos I am currently working in. Plans were afoot to completely reorganise everything so I've been even less tidy than normal! However my wife has given me the go ahead knock down both small sheds and put up a larger, more substantial building to house both my tools & garden implements, and my modelling area. That won't happen until next year at least though so need to clear the decks a bit once this build is over.

Members of The Tidy Bench Club or those of a nervous disposition should avoid clicking this link

[Guest]

Not far off now. Some stuff is still drying and there are a few finishing touches to add, but all the main elements are in place now.

After lots of experimenting I've caved in and ordered some solvent free epoxy resin for the water. Everything I had just ate its way through and dissolved the foam underneath! That'll be pretty much the last step and probably the most likely to go wrong :smiling5:

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[scottie3158]

Andy,
That is a cracking result so far.

[Guest]

Cheers Paul.

Here are a few of my test pours using 2K clearcoat from work if anyone's interested. One side ate completely through, the other bubbled and cracked as we tried drying it with heat.

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This one came out better, slow pour, no heat, but you can still see how it's eaten through and totally wrecked the foam underneath.

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I think I'm better off playing it safe! :smiling5:

[scottie3158]

Andy,
I always try and seal the foam with a few coats of watered down PVA glue this should provide a barrier between the product and the foam.