It's looking fantastic Jens, plenty of hard work and lessons gone into it.
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G
Mostly lessons learned
The most important thing I've learned, or at least one of them, is to plan in advance so you know which products take the longest to dry/set/cure and use as little as possible of them.
I've had to wait several days for some steps to dry and that's killing the creative process.
The first batch of mud I made from dried soil from a flower pot I mixed with both PVA and water to make it easier to sculpt. It took forever to dry...
Next batch I mixed with mostly just PVA and a splash of isopropanol and that dried in 4 hours! Big difference.
Doing the design and layout on paper first was a good thing because I could work without having to stop and think but after starting the vignette I bought a book about making vignettes and there were so many things I didn't know like angles and stuff. I'd already designed the layout to have the tank a bit askew so that was lucky but I think my next one will be better with regards to angles and levels/height.
This takes modelling to a whole new level and I have big respect for you vignette/diorama builders because I now know how much work is involved to make them look not just good, but to scale - which isn't as easy as it looks.
I'm going to buy a couple of sieves with different mesh sizes so I can screen my materials according to size to better control scale in the future. This one was just winged and improvised and I'm glad it turned into something that doesn't just look like a big turd! :tongue-out:
Many thanks for all your kind comments!
G
More grass in the making.
They'll get painted as soon as the glue has dried.
The more you make the better since they're nice to have ready made in a box.
View attachment 294313
Only snag is that the static grass gets everywhere!!!
They'll get painted as soon as the glue has dried.
The more you make the better since they're nice to have ready made in a box.
View attachment 294313
Only snag is that the static grass gets everywhere!!!
Very nice, but shouldn't the guy with the rifle be running the other way?
Pete
Pete
G
Not if he wants to have a grenade in his head
There's a story there but it's not being told just yet. Still plenty work to be done on this vignette.
It's been a while since I checked in here, and well now, what a development. This is looking really nice.
G
I need some advice here because I'm stuck not knowing what's right or looking right?
View attachment 294666
This is about where I am at the moment, apart from a couple more grass tufts in a few places.
I'm not happy the way it looks and I see two ways to progress.
1. Paint the mud and dirt with a few different browns (lighter) and use pigments to make it more varied and drier, apart from the tracks.
2. Apply static grass directly onto the vignette, apart from the tracks and where it wouldn't grow.
What would you do? (or what do you suggest I should do?)
It looks too sterile and mono-toned as it is right now and I don't feel the creativity flow at all the way it is... Normally this just happens by itself but I think I lost all momentum waiting for the figures...
Many thanks in advance!
Jens
p.s. I've not yet weathered the figures but I want to fix the vignette first.
p.p.s Here's my original inspiration
View attachment 294667
View attachment 294666
This is about where I am at the moment, apart from a couple more grass tufts in a few places.
I'm not happy the way it looks and I see two ways to progress.
1. Paint the mud and dirt with a few different browns (lighter) and use pigments to make it more varied and drier, apart from the tracks.
2. Apply static grass directly onto the vignette, apart from the tracks and where it wouldn't grow.
What would you do? (or what do you suggest I should do?)
It looks too sterile and mono-toned as it is right now and I don't feel the creativity flow at all the way it is... Normally this just happens by itself but I think I lost all momentum waiting for the figures...
Many thanks in advance!
Jens
p.s. I've not yet weathered the figures but I want to fix the vignette first.
p.p.s Here's my original inspiration
View attachment 294667
I think it's looking great Jens, if your going to put grass on I wouldn't put too much and make it very dirty also, but other than that I don't think there's much else to do. You could tinker with the colours of the mud, but then I'm thinking your just wanting to make something that looks great, look great.
G
Cheers Ian but it's just not looking right the way it is at the moment and it's not "speaking" to me what to do?
The grass tufts I've made and added are painted brown in random strength and intensity to make it look half dead and dirty but the rest of the base is just to sterile and anonymous.
Not looking realistic - or at least not what I had in mind. Perhaps the many months waiting for the figures killed the inspiration or I forgot what I had started?
I think I will try to spray some different browns to create some dry patches on top of upturned mud and earth and keep it dark and wet looking where it's low and in shade, or it's been disturbed somehow...?
Perhaps I should just go for it with the big selection of weathering stuff and just see what happens? That sometimes works wonders
G
A little bit of random chocolate brown made a huge difference so I think this is a step in the right direction.
It'll have to be a brush exercise though since I'm not a huge fan of using Vallejo model color in the airbrush... Just tried and 30 seconds of spray - 5 minutes of cleaning...
It'll have to be a brush exercise though since I'm not a huge fan of using Vallejo model color in the airbrush... Just tried and 30 seconds of spray - 5 minutes of cleaning...
G
Looks a bit more varied now. Working on the tracks at the moment but I have to wait for it to dry until I can continue tomorrow.
View attachment 294684
View attachment 294685
View attachment 294686
The final step is to paint the track marks, match the mud on the tank with the base, add pigments to make some areas appear dryer and add the tank and do final weathering session.
I'm still not happy with the duck boards despite remaking them. They're simply not scale accurate... I used the thinnest piece of balsa wood I had but it's too thick for 1/35 scale. I won't rip it up a second time so I'll live with it knowing what to do next time!
I won't start another vignette without having all the parts though because I forgot what I'd planned whilst waiting for over two months until the figures arrived... Lesson learned.
View attachment 294684
View attachment 294685
View attachment 294686
The final step is to paint the track marks, match the mud on the tank with the base, add pigments to make some areas appear dryer and add the tank and do final weathering session.
I'm still not happy with the duck boards despite remaking them. They're simply not scale accurate... I used the thinnest piece of balsa wood I had but it's too thick for 1/35 scale. I won't rip it up a second time so I'll live with it knowing what to do next time!
I won't start another vignette without having all the parts though because I forgot what I'd planned whilst waiting for over two months until the figures arrived... Lesson learned.
G
It's now dry and I can start painting the last mud and soil I added last night.
I mostly like the way the soil and mud looks after painting it with no less than 6 different shades of brown, but nature is never in a single colour and this is tricky to make look plausible if you ask me.
View attachment 294692
I also need to decide how to frame it and I've got a couple of ideas but nothing concrete. Probably just a black border or something anonymous.
I mostly like the way the soil and mud looks after painting it with no less than 6 different shades of brown, but nature is never in a single colour and this is tricky to make look plausible if you ask me.
View attachment 294692
I also need to decide how to frame it and I've got a couple of ideas but nothing concrete. Probably just a black border or something anonymous.
G
Some progress.
What's left to do is to make the mud that the tracks pushed up less dark and a bit more brown, add mud on the tracks, final weathering of the figures and add the new fascine to the tank. (which I might not use in the end because it makes the vignette a bit too high?)
I've also started to make some "clutter", i.e. a few wooden ammo crates, a bucket, a spade and a few other things that would make the scene a bit more alive, but this scene is meant to be on the very edge of a trench so it's not as much used as the rest.
I've just used my mobile camera and the one light source in the room, and a cardboard box behind it but it's enough to give you an idea at least...
It was fun to make and I've made many mistakes so I've learned a lot. Miniature scale is hard because materials like wood doesn't scale. My duck boards are still way too thick and bulky and that's something I'm going to have to sort out on my next build. Barbed wire is painstakingly slow to make but it looks great when done correctly. I've found someone in Ukraine who sells 1/35 scale barbed wire and I will buy from him next time
When I've sorted out the final details I will try to take some real photos with proper lighting and a clean background.
What's left to do is to make the mud that the tracks pushed up less dark and a bit more brown, add mud on the tracks, final weathering of the figures and add the new fascine to the tank. (which I might not use in the end because it makes the vignette a bit too high?)
I've also started to make some "clutter", i.e. a few wooden ammo crates, a bucket, a spade and a few other things that would make the scene a bit more alive, but this scene is meant to be on the very edge of a trench so it's not as much used as the rest.
I've just used my mobile camera and the one light source in the room, and a cardboard box behind it but it's enough to give you an idea at least...
It was fun to make and I've made many mistakes so I've learned a lot. Miniature scale is hard because materials like wood doesn't scale. My duck boards are still way too thick and bulky and that's something I'm going to have to sort out on my next build. Barbed wire is painstakingly slow to make but it looks great when done correctly. I've found someone in Ukraine who sells 1/35 scale barbed wire and I will buy from him next time
When I've sorted out the final details I will try to take some real photos with proper lighting and a clean background.
That looks great Jens, top job. :thumb2:
G
Cheers Bob!
I can see the end of it now but it's always the final details that take the longest to do...
Gluing one strand of grass at the time was the last bit I did, and that's when I decided to call it quits.
One or two more sessions and then it's really done and I can move on to something else that's cluttering the desk
Fantastic work Jens, I know your not quite happy with it all, but sat at this side, I can't find anything wrong with it.
G
Don't get me wrong - I am happy with it, especially being my first ever vignette but there are details that haven't come out the way I hoped they would but that's learning I guess...
I now know things I didn't before that'll help me with the next project and eventually things will come together the way I hope.
Until then I just have to try the best I can and figure out what works and what doesn't!
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