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As shown in Photo 12, the bunker steps were very simple to make, just a series of thin plasticard sections glued together and staggered to produce the steps themselves. After the stack was completely set, I then sanded down the sides to level them off and then using the razor blade cutter sliced the stack in half producing a pair of steps as seen in Photo 13. The two sets were then slightly pared down to fit the gaps in the sea wall, butting up against the rear of the bunker as shown in Photo 14. Because the two resin bunkers were glued on top of the budgie grit foundations, they were slightly different heights above the beach – not by very much but enough that one of them had the full flight of four steps to match the door whilst the other shown here had its top step sliced off, needing only three! Now came the great experiment – my largest rubber mould yet! The main torso/head/upper arms mould for the Chindit bust last year probably used as much rubber its true, but this one covers a much larger flat area. The first task was a larger version of the buildings and bunker procedure, ie, filling in the dips and undercut sections with liquid rubber applied with a fairly stiff brush. You can just make out the initial applications in Photo 15. As well as the bunker slits and the boulder bases, I also brushed over the craters in the beach, the ones in the roads and gardens with their bricks scattered about and the hedgerow in the first garden. The Churchill Armoured Ramp decided that it wasn’t going to part company with the rubble pile it was sat on, so I decided to incorporate the tank into the base as well!(Although I later wished I hadn't!)  The remainder of the first mix of 80gm of rubber was then poured over the base, mainly over the tank and then down the main road where it then flowed out under gravity as seen in the photo. A close up of the Armoured Ramp and bunker is shown in Photo 16, I was adding the rubber in batches of approximately 80gm and it took at least half a dozen mixes to get to the stage seen in Photo 17 with just the very top of the bunkers left above the surface. Quite a lot of the rubber went to fill in the gaps around the actual beach and road up to the Lego wall of course. The batches were applied in pairs with the silicone rubber setting solid before the next lot went on. The beauty of the silicone is that it can be applied in stages like this, fresh rubber will bond perfectly to set rubber with no loss of strength (as I’ve proved when not applying enough Vaseline to two part moulds in the past!)  It then took another three mixes to finish off the full depth of the mould as I now had to cover the full area of the base and not just a smaller lower section. Photo 18 shows the finished rubber mould in all its floppy glory – I say floppy as it’s like trying to work with a half stunned flatfish when holding it!  The first job before resin casting was to cut a piece of melamine sheet to a quarter inch wider than the dimensions of the mould to provide a solid foundation,not to mention something to actually hold the rubber with. Eventually I’ll get some wooden quarter inch quadrant to glue around it forming a trough to hold it in place. (The rubber is actually virtually non slip anyway and doesn’t slide off the melamine’ no matter what the angle!) The very first trial casting is shown in Photo 19, this was composed entirely of the Roto-casting resin I used for the Chindit bust last year and is essentially a hollow casting here. What isn't evident in this shot is that after a few days the thinnest edge of the casting, the water's edge of the beach, has warped up at the corners, this shouldn't hopefully occur on the final casting as that will be much thicker overall. The trial was useful in exposing which areas of the mould required special attention to get a good casting (especially that flaming Armoured Ramp which loves air bubbles at the ends of the ramp sections!) In the next (overdue) installment, I’ll show the second attempt with a slightly different approach! Until then, Happy Modelling to you All and a Very Happy Christmas too! Robin. Plymouth57 attached the following image(s): First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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 Rank: Super-Elite        Groups: Registered
Joined: 31/05/2010 Posts: 5,679 Points: 17,011 Location: Wiltshire
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Happy christmas to you Robin. I cannot believe i missed your November update but last month or so has been in turmoil with our swindon office closing and people having to be relocated to Bristol to work. At the moment they are leaving me alone to carry on working from home which allows me to look after my mum. Anyhow enough of me :-). Good to see your latest updates and just how good it all looks, and in the scale very convincing. That pillbox you have made from sheets of plasticard really takes on the form of what its intended to be. You have put so much effort into all the little bits and pieces which is going to really give the final scene some amazing detail and depth. Hope it all continues well. Tony Happy Modelling
BUILDING: Hachette Spitfire Mk 1A, Constructo Mayflower
SUBSCRIPTION COMPLETE (Awaiting building): USS Constitution, Sovereign of the Seas, 1:200 Bismarck (Hachette)
COMPLETED: Porsche 911, E-Type Jaguar, Lam Countach
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Lovely work Robin, love the detail you’re putting into this.   Mark
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Truly amazing Robin, the detail you're adding is a joy to see come together..... .. Look forward to your next update. Regards Alan
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 Rank: Master  Groups: Registered
Joined: 25/11/2018 Posts: 1,256 Points: 3,791 Location: Southeast UK
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Grateful thanks as always to Tony, Mark, Alan and Kev! Glad you can spend more time looking after your Mum Tony, I'm a full time carer for mine as well, she'll be 92 next month! Now that I'm doing all the cooking I can appreciate how much time women spend on that job - there's no time to do anything else in the mornings! I might well look into that Kev, I've only ever bought things on Ebay before, but it could be a way to 'recoup' some of the expenditure! The main base with some of the re-designed tanks might prove popular! As you can see from Photo 1, the second attempt followed a slightly different path! Instead of casting the whole thing in the Roto-resin, this one used both the Roto and the standard beige quick setting resin. I began as before by pouring the first mixing of the standard resin down the line of the sea wall and into the two bunkers. This was followed by filling the garden walls and hedges with the cast in Armoured Ramp (poking around with a cocktail stick to try and fill the deepest parts of the mould fully) and finally, another couple of mixes to fill in the rest of the road and pavements. After that had cured completely I then used multiple mixes of the Roto-resin to fill in the beach itself and to ‘fill in’ much of the space under the cured beige resin. This of course gives the ‘two tone’ coloured casting seen here! Photos 2 to 4 show close ups of the Armoured Ramp and the bunkers, the beige resin shows the detailing much clearer than the off white Roto resin although, as you’ll see later, a good coat of matt grey primer shows it even better! Nipping ahead to Photo 8 (which I forgot to include earlier), you can just make out the second improvement to the casting – a sheet of clear Perspex cut to size so that it snugly fits the rim of the base in the rubber. On this casting I wrapped a piece of clingfilm around it to prevent the resin gluing to the Perspex. This worked ok but the wrinkles made it difficult to see clearly through. On subsequent castings I’ll try a covering of clear self adhesive film once I’ve checked that the resin doesn’t stick to the film of course! After the road, walls and gardens had been cast in the beige I mixed a good quantity of the white Roto resin and poured it over the beige before dropping the Perspex into place and then sloshing the liquid resin around covering the beach and the other three sides. I may well make a duplicate Perspex panel, but this time with a large round hole in the middle so I can try out the micro-sphere filler I bought to add to the beige resin and completely fill in the underside of the casting. This one is solid under the beach and around the edges of the base which is enough to construct the model (but a solid base would be easier to glue down!) Going back to Photo 5 we have the garden with the hedge, which again shows the better definition of the beige. The only problem I encountered with the second casting was air bubbles in the gate posts in the garden walls. This is illustrated in Photo 6 and occurred despite my usual prodding about with a cocktail stick! For my own model I’ve come to a simple solution which is shown in Photo 7. I’ve replaced a couple of the posts with new ones made from the same styrene square rod used to make the originals and the others have been partly filled in with the Modelling Paste to form (yep) shell damaged posts! After they were done I suddenly came up with the perfect solution for avoiding the bubbles in the first place – simply make more styrene posts and push them into the post holes in the mould, leaving a few mm sticking out. The sticky out bits will be embedded in the resin casting giving perfect posts in the walls! Finally, in Photo 9, a preview of how the details stand out after a single coat of Poundshop Prodriver Auto Grey Primer, this was the ‘non cellulose paint’ version with the beautiful dead matt finish.(Which seems to have run out in the shops!  ) In the next installment, the painting of the base casting begins (it seems now that the roads around Sword Beach are actually a light sandstone colour, not the grey stone I was intending to paint! Bang goes the simple ink wash then!) Until then, Happy Modelling and New Year to you All! Robin. Plymouth57 attached the following image(s): First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 31/05/2010 Posts: 5,679 Points: 17,011 Location: Wiltshire
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Happy new year to you Robin. Pleased to see your wonderful build has been put into the build of the month category for January - very well deserved. Tony Happy Modelling
BUILDING: Hachette Spitfire Mk 1A, Constructo Mayflower
SUBSCRIPTION COMPLETE (Awaiting building): USS Constitution, Sovereign of the Seas, 1:200 Bismarck (Hachette)
COMPLETED: Porsche 911, E-Type Jaguar, Lam Countach
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Eh? You what? Hang on a mo'.......Strewth you're right! Grateful thanks to Admin and to all the wonderful comments from you all! Have started the painting on the base now - ruddy difficult when its all in one piece! Many thanks again! Robin. First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Really pleased to see your build being selected as the highlighted build for the month of January, a very well deserved accolade for the incredible work you have done.... Well done Robin..... Regards Alan
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Rank: Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 25/11/2018 Posts: 1,256 Points: 3,791 Location: Southeast UK
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Many thanks again to Tony, Alan, Kev and Mark for their kind words! Well, this is more fiddly than I thought! The last time I attempted to paint a ‘battlefield’ in situ was probably about 50 years ago when Airfix brought out those 1/72 scale diorama sets with a building kit set on a vacuum formed one piece terrain base with various ‘battlefield accessories’ to be glued around the place. (Anybody remember them?) I know there was a Far East bamboo hut set, which I never got, but I think mine was a ruined European house with a moulded in sandbagged dug out or something. Just had a quick look on the web and mine was the “Forward Command Post” the hut one was the “Jungle Outpost” and there was also a “North African Outpost” too (memories!)  There also seems to have been a “Battlefront” one with a crossroads and Sherman and Tiger tank kits but I can’t say I remember that one! A bit later Airfix brought out the house part of the Forward Command Post in the larger 1/32 scale calling it the “Strongpoint”Anyway, this time around instead of 1/72 its now 1/700! The first job (after priming the base with Poundshop Auto Grey Primer) was to go over the sea-wall on both sides with a thinned down wash of Citadel Skaven Brown Ink. This was to fill in the mortar joints between the blocks and once dry, I then dry-brushed over with Vallejo Sky Grey to pick out the blocks again. The result is shown in Photo 1. I then accentuated the sky grey with a further dry-brushing of Vallejo Ivory, concentrating at the top of the wall as seen in Photo 2. The next task was to try and simulate the algae growth at the base of the wall up to the ‘high tide’ mark. This took two tries – the first was to mix the Citadel Skaven Brown Ink with Citadel Waaargh! Green Ink (that’s what it says on the bottle! ) But despite using a clean wet brush to blend the green ‘stain’ into the grey, when it dried there was still a fairly sharp line between the two. So I had to re dry-brush the grey blocks and then add the tide mark with Vallejo Medium Olive dry-brushed in from the base up. The final effect is shown in Photo 3. Photo 4 illustrates the need to plan the painting ahead in stages. The arrow shows the ‘overspill’ of the grey dry-brushing onto the road surface. This was caused by highlighting the edges of the steps leading up to the bunker doors. I could have placed masking tape there of course, but by painting the road surface later than the wall, any spill over with be covered up anyway! I decided to paint the garden walls as red brick rather than the grey stone of the sea wall. This was mainly just to put a little extra colour into the scene, checking photos of the modern streets and buildings gives a fairly even mix of brick and stone walls so this should be pretty much in keeping with the area. The walls were first painted with Vallejo Red Leather, this being the closest thing I’ve got to ‘Brick Red’! I didn’t take a photo of the base coat unfortunately but Photos 5 and 6 show the next step which was to apply a thinned down wash of white, allowing the wash to flow into the grooves between the bricks to create the mortar joints. I was looking for a white ink wash in the local Antics but the only one there was a Humbrol Enamel Wash and I didn’t want a spirit based ink spreading over areas I would later be working on in acrylics so I ended up with Ammo Mig Washable White. I thought it sounded more like a Dulux bathroom paint to be honest but I think it’s actually meant to simulate the whitewash applied to camouflaged vehicles during the winter. It’s already fairly thin in consistency but I diluted it further in water and ran the paintbrush along the walls leaving the white to run into the mortar as shown here. Photo 7 shows the white film left on the top of the wall after doing both sides. I was tempted to give the tops a dry-brushing of white/light grey to simulate a cement topping but in the end decided to dry-brush the Red Leather instead, both along the top to dull down the white and over the walls themselves where the white was maybe too prominent. The final result is shown in Photo 8. The other advantage in making the walls red brick is that I’ve still got some of the 1/72 scale ceramic red bricks I used to make the despatch hut in the Scramble diorama. I can crush a few up and use them for debris on those shattered gate posts! Finally, in Photo 9 the main road surface and the pavement around the houses has been given a base coat of Ammo Mig Sandgrau (Sand-Grey), this is a good foundation colour for the light sandstone making up the cobbles and slabs. (I've just had to send off for a second plywood paint rack for the Vallejo/Mig bottles now!) In the next installment, the road and pavements get the wash and brush up treatment and the gardens get their grass. Until then, Happy Modelling to you All! Robin. Plymouth57 attached the following image(s): First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 31/05/2010 Posts: 5,679 Points: 17,011 Location: Wiltshire
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Robin I remember those airfix kits very well. I used to spend hours as a young one playing with them. The guns used to be spring loaded if you recall and you could fire mini plastic shells at your troops :-) Not sure if you have ever come across the following company but they still produce the airfix vac forms as well as a wider range of products http://www.amera.co.uk/product.php?range=a
Good to see the paint going onto your build - been looking forward to that part as its really going to add some great depth to the whole build. Hope it all continues well. Tony Happy Modelling
BUILDING: Hachette Spitfire Mk 1A, Constructo Mayflower
SUBSCRIPTION COMPLETE (Awaiting building): USS Constitution, Sovereign of the Seas, 1:200 Bismarck (Hachette)
COMPLETED: Porsche 911, E-Type Jaguar, Lam Countach
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I remember them well Tony, I had that Coastal Battery set with the twin firing guns! I can remember some (was it Dinky) die cast guns and tanks which fired matchsticks too. I think I had a 25lbr gun but they had some huge WW1 monsters which I could never afford! (I bet they're worth a bit now too!) Anyway, back to the serious stuff! Carrying on with the road surface, Photo 10 shows the first stage with the application of the good old Citadel Skaven Brown Ink wash. It was quite difficult to get the dilution rate just right, too rich and the road just turned a ‘messy’ brown, too thin and the ink vanished into the grooves. I ended up putting on a thin layer and then just adding a touch of neat ink and spreading it out with the brush until it looked about right. The wash was then allowed to dry until it was just touch dry but not hardened off completely. This allowed me to then rub the road surface and the pavements with a series of cotton buds, removing some of the wash from the raised surfaces whilst leaving the colour in the depressions as seen in Photo 11. The ink wash was then allowed to dry completely before a final application of Mig Sandgrau and Vallejo Ivory, mixed about 1:1 and carefully dry-brushed along the lengths of the roads and paths. There will be some further ‘weathering’ added later but this will be with earth coloured powders to represent the tracks of the vehicles coming off the beach and the ejecta from the shell holes. The dry-brushed effect is shown in Photo 12. Photo 13 illustrates the first layer of paint for the grassed in areas, this was Vallejo Medium Olive, painted up to the walls and paths and allowed to dry completely before the next stage. Note that the paths around the buildings haven’t been painted yet, with the dry-brushing coming on the grass areas, they’ll be left till later to avoid over-spill. Photos 14 and 15 show the garden area of the first house to better illustrate the technique for adding depth to the plain base colour, (it’s the only one with a hedge!). The first task is to add thinned down Citadel Skaven Brown Ink wash to the basic Medium Olive, making sure it gets down into the recesses in the grass and hedge. The effect this has can be seen in Photo 16 with the left hand side with the shell hole having been washed and the right hand side still in the base coat. Once the wash was completely dry I could then add the raised detail back into the hedge and lawn by dry-brushing with a mix of the Medium Olive and Vallejo Tan Yellow. After the first application I lightened the mix further with a little Vallejo Ivory and re-brushed just the most prominent parts. The final appearance of the greenery is shown in Photo 17. In the next installment, finishing off the basic ground work with the shell holes whilst building up the courage to tackle that beach! Until then, Happy Modelling to you All! Robin. Plymouth57 attached the following image(s): First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 31/05/2010 Posts: 5,679 Points: 17,011 Location: Wiltshire
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Robin Love all the greenery areas. At first glance i thought you had used static grass but i am guessing at the scale you are working even the smallest of that product would be too tall. Its very neat use of paint and effects to get the effect you have. Really looking forward to your next update on this one. Tony Happy Modelling
BUILDING: Hachette Spitfire Mk 1A, Constructo Mayflower
SUBSCRIPTION COMPLETE (Awaiting building): USS Constitution, Sovereign of the Seas, 1:200 Bismarck (Hachette)
COMPLETED: Porsche 911, E-Type Jaguar, Lam Countach
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Many thanks for that Tony! Looking back on the photos I can see just what you mean about the static grass - the pics of the base coat green have exactly the same colour and texture as the static products would have in a larger scale. In 1/700 though it might look more like a jungle than a lawn! To finish off the ‘greenery’, Photos 18 and 19 show the other side of the hedged garden and the larger hotel lawn after the dry-brushed highlights. Photo 20 is a close up of the two shell craters seen on the right in the photo above. These have been base coated with Vallejo English Uniform, which is about the closest I’ve got to a ‘natural mud’ colour! After all of the shell holes had been primed in this way and allowed to dry I then switched from paint to powder – namely Carr’s Shades of Mud weathering pigments, the same pack which I originally bought to weather the terrain on the Messines WW1 diorama. Strangely enough, when I double-checked for the correct title on the web, the set that I have, although printed ‘ Shades of Mud Weathering’ does not match the current ‘Shades of Mud’ set! Mine contains four shades of brown from a brick red through orangey to a very dark brown and a sort of ‘ dog poo’ shade, Hey’ you don’t think….no, they couldn’t (could they?)  Anyhow, the current set has a light grey ‘dried mud’ shade instead and the original colours are now called ‘ Dust and Coal’! I used the orangey shade to first rub over the brown paint with a cotton bud tip and then using a quarter inch stiff bristled paintbrush worked some of the powder away from the direction of the shell strike to simulate blasted out earth and finally added depth to the crater bottom with a spot of the darkest powder ‘ground’ into the surface with the same brush. Photo 21 shows those same two craters with the third one in front of the hotel gate after the powder treatment, and Photo 22 shows the three craters beside the shops. The pigment powders really blend in well considering all the debris on the paved roads is simply moulded solid resin! Finally the large Photo 23 is a close up of the garden again showing the shell crater spreading across the grass with the torn up road surface from the other side. When the buildings themselves are painted up and ready to go on I can add some of the same weathering powders to the walls nearest the craters to add some vertical ‘splatter’. In the next installment, with two new bottles of Mig paint bought this weekend, it’s time at last to ‘hit the beach’! Until then, Happy Modelling to you All! Robin. Plymouth57 attached the following image(s): First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 31/05/2010 Posts: 5,679 Points: 17,011 Location: Wiltshire
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Hi Robin Looks like you have been busy on thisone. Interesting to read you are still using Carrs weathering powders. Not sure how they pack them now but i remember having a set years ago and at that time they came in tiny plastic bags stapled to a card backing. Looking forward to seeinf ehat you do with the beach area of your build. Have a good week. Tony Happy Modelling
BUILDING: Hachette Spitfire Mk 1A, Constructo Mayflower
SUBSCRIPTION COMPLETE (Awaiting building): USS Constitution, Sovereign of the Seas, 1:200 Bismarck (Hachette)
COMPLETED: Porsche 911, E-Type Jaguar, Lam Countach
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Hi Tony! "Interesting to read you are still using Carrs weathering powders." To be honest, until I made the Messines diorama for the Great War Centenary I'd never used any weathering powders in my life! It was only because the terrain I needed was just bare earth that I started looking for alternatives to a basic paint finish. I'd seen some Tamiya sets in the local Antics but never knew what they were for (and also the price put me off) and I came across the Carr's products on ebay. They were much cheaper and the Shades of Mud set was just what I needed for the er, mud! I've since learned that nearly everybody makes the things now - Tamiya, Humbrol, Vallejo and Mig among many others! However! For this diorama I've been looking at some very interesting videos on Youtube about making your own DIY weathering powders and that's what I'm going to try out. Just waiting for a set of Artist's Soft Pastels to arrive in the next few days (and a second hand coffee grinder if I can find one, although somewhere in the kitchen should be a little cheapo food blender we got as a free gift with something or other, I wonder if that'll do!) More coming soon! Robin. Oh, I forgot to say, yes, my set came in the little poly bags too, and by the look of the sets on the web, they still do! First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Just to show them up close, in Photo 27 we have those four packets of weathering pigments by Carr’s “Shades of Mud”. They are still in the little poly bags they came in back in 2014 when I was building the Messines diorama but in Photo 28 they have found a new home! As mentioned, I’m going to have a go at making my own weathering powders after watching some of the DIY videos on Youtube. The first thing I’d need would be something to keep the completed powders in so I bought a neat little circular container with eight individual sealed compartments as shown here. The next thing I’ll have to do is get a few more of them! They’re only a pound from the local The Works shop so it won’t break the bank! The set of Artists Soft Pastels has arrived but I’m just waiting on a cheapie coffee grinder from ebay now (couldn't find that blender!) . You can hand grind them but I like the ‘stick it in and press the button’ aspect of going motorised! Before I could start on the beach I needed to change the way the base was stored during the various processes. I’ve found the thin resin casting has a tendency to warp at the edges so up to now I’ve been clamping the base to a piece of melamine board with ratchet clamps as shown in Photo 29. This has been fine up to now but the clamps along the waters’ edge have been slowly making marks on the primer coat, which they will obviously be doing to the painted beach as well. The solution was a length of thin wood screwed to the board as shown in Photo 30. This has had the underside chamfered off, which is just enough to hold down the very edge of the beach, without damaging the paintwork. The landward side is still held down with the ratchet clamps. The first coat of paint for the beach is shown in Photo 31. This was Mig Sand Yellow (appropriately) and was brushed on using fine detail brushes for painting up to the sea wall and around the ramps, bunkers and armoured ramp, and larger brushes for the wide expanses. The paint was thinner than I’d expected, despite plenty of shaking with the ball bearing inside the bottle. Altogether it took three coats to get an opaque finish, the second coat is pictured in Photo 32. After the final coat it became apparent I had a slight problem! As you can make out in Photo 33 (which is actually supposed to be showing the dry-brushed highlighting on the bunker’s rock foundation), even after the third coat, the sandy beach is still semi-gloss! This was my own fault unfortunately, I used the matt grey aerosol primer over the whole base to provide the base for the grey stone walls (which it did really well). When I then painted the roads ‘sandstone’ and the lawns and hedges green, both with Vallejo acrylics, they came out fairly matt which was further flattened by the dry-brushing. The thinner Mig paint however was having none of it! I was able to fix most of the beach by going over it with Daler-Rowney Soluble Matt Varnish for Acrylic Colour. I originally bought this to airbrush the spitfires and hurricane on the Battle of Britain diorama, not realising until after I’d tried to dilute it with water and spray it that the ruddy stuff is SPIRIT based and intended to paint over acrylic paintings! (Being spirit based it can be removed without damaging the artwork – well it said acrylic on the label! ). It took me ages to clean that airbrush! That unfortunate incident aside, this is a perfectly matt varnish and managed to turn most of the beach back to a matt finish as shown in Photo 34 (which is also there to illustrate the green algae around those same bunker rocks). The only parts it wouldn’t work on, was the very edge of the beach and a few patchy bits along the bottom. I then tried painting over the edge with Vallejo Grey Surface Primer and thankfully, it seemed to dull the finish down quite a bit. At this point I used the first ‘all in Roto resin’ casting as a test bed, painting a strip of the beach in Vallejo primer and then the sand. The result was far better and in hindsight I realised that I should have first painted the beach in ‘proper’ primer first! I had always intended to airbrush the lower section of the beach to simulate the wetter ‘tide mark’ area though, and so I was able to airbrush that section with the Vallejo primer as shown in Photo 37. Going back briefly to Photos 35 and 36, these show the sea wall breach after first highlighting the debris and then painting the armoured ramp (except for the tracks which I still have to get to) and adding some muddy colour to the destruction. Finally in Photo 38 the tide mark has been airbrushed in with Mig Ochre Brown. I now have to wait for my coffee grinder to arrive before creating a set of light sand weathering powder to add to the upper beach before getting to work on the sand craters and tracks. According to the expected delivery date that could be a week or more away, so in the next installment, I’d better get back to some more of Percy Hobart’s ‘Funnies’! Until then, Happy Modelling to you All. Robin. Plymouth57 attached the following image(s): First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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 Rank: Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 13/02/2011 Posts: 2,227 Points: 6,801 Location: UK
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Hi Robin, Just catching up with your build, and wow you are really pushing on, and well done with the fine details fantastic work. Regards Trev Work in progress: Tombstone (Scratch) - San Francisco 2. -The Mayflower ( scratch by plan).
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