Saturday 15 June 2019
Battle of Britain Tribute
My Beautiful Daughters History project - She did most of the work on this piece with a little help from myself. Quite a fun piece to work on!
Monday 8 July 2013
"Life after death" Diorama Part II
Ok, the scary bit....
Casting the mold
so after carefully preparing my mold from plexiglass gs (4mm) glued together with marine sealant. Also left overlaps on the mold for easy removal ( yeah right!). I mixed 300 ml NCS Resin (polylite 32032-20) with catalyst (Butanox M-50) at a ratio of 100/1 and added 2 drops of Tamiya clear blue x23 for a natural water colour. Went a bit greeny when catalyst added but not too panic that's normal.
Planned to pour in three batches....um
1st batch went in and looked really good, just a few air bubbles to take care of and the colour looked just right. Left it for about an hour. In hindsight, left it a bit long as the surface was almost set and I should have poured 2nd batch when it gets to a sloppy jelly consistency. Resulted in below slight separation line:
Ok, this is where it got fun.... quickly mixed up a second batch and this time decided to go for 500ml as I needed to take the kids out for the afternoon....bad move! I had originally planned to do this in 3 batches. I was in two minds because I didn't want to make the same separation level again but the obvious concern was heat generation. I decided To chance it. In hind sight, not the wisest choice.
So this is how it ended....
So in summary, steps not to take in future:
1. Set the mold using PlexiGlass GS 4mm and glueing together with Bath sealent with overlaps for easy removal(ummmm).
2. Forget to wax the inside of the mould with Ramwax before pours.
3. First Pour 100/1 ratio Polyute 32032-20 / Butanox M50,m 2 drops of Tamiya XF24 clear blue for water colour.
4. Chase any bubbles and eliminate (did this by dragging them to the sides of the mold and bringing to the surface.
4.Wait for approx. an Hour
5. Mix and pour 2nd batch 100/1 ratio but this time 500ml plus 2 1/2 drops of colour, as this time you will also have to fill the model too.
6. Quickly run out with the kids and wife and forget to chase the bubbles :( (and hope for the best)
7.Return after 2hrs to find one smallish crack (to be later injected with same resin) and one damaged (melted area). It was still fairly hot to the touch but completely set.
8. Try to remove said mold, snap!.....the end tab off without budging the mold sides that needed to be removed. Tried everything under the sun and ended up with only alternative.....good old brute force with Hammer and chisel, in the process ruining the beautiful glossy transparent sides and removing small chunks of resin that were close to the base "voila" (for the international viewers), my recipe for disaster!
Love the drama, hope it's not putting off any prospective modelers!
and this what I end up with.....plexiglass embedded in the resin.
In addition, there were some imperfections that I was was somehow going to have to overcome, first was some heat damage ( i can live with that as it sort of fitted), just a little addition weather and sorted.
And a couple of cracks, not so cool....anyway, onto that later.
See below, did not do any other damage to any of the other materials and suprisingly enough, nothing to the submerged parts of the sherman either.
Ok, so forward march.....stiff upper lip old chap, and "we'll will fight them on the beaches" type of approach if you know what I mean cockney gezzas.
So after paying a visit to my local R&D product specialist (cheers Eric). He advised the following:
1. Band saw away the damaged areas and then good old elbow grease to reinstate the beautiful glossy, smooth edges, and here is what I was left with.. slightly smaller version of what I wanted but still enough depth to get the desired effect.
See never give in, you can always pull these things back :) ....silver linings stuff.
So after reviewing not how to do it, here's the correct steps:
1. Set the mold using PlexiGlass GS 4mm and glueing together with Bath sealent with overlaps for easy removal.
2. Donot Forget to wax the inside of the mould with Ramwax before pours.
3. First Pour 300ml 100/1 ratio Polyute 32032-20 / Butanox M50,m 2 drops of Tamiya XF24 clear blue for water colour.
4. Chase any bubbles and eliminate (did this by dragging them to the sides of the mold and bringing to the surface.
4.Wait until surface is sloppy jelly like and still a bit of movement (approx. 1/2hr)
5. Mix and pour 2nd batch 100/0.75 ratio but this time 300ml plus 2 drops of colour. (less catalyst as we suspect the combination of the heat from first pour will help the second pour to set and give enough time so as to not melt or cause heat cracks, leave for 1 hr.
6. Final pour of 150ml to fill the tank same as second mix ratio.
6. Do not quickly run out with the kids and wife and forget to chase the bubbles :( (and hope for the best). Take your time.
7.Remove said mold, in the process leaving beautiful glossy transparent sides and top "voila", my recipe for success!
Disclaimer:
All generic disclaimers apply.
All opinions are my wife's; I have none. (In my opinion.)
All opinions expressed are 99.44% true.
All rights reserved - but some wrongs are still available.
Any disclaimer issued by me is subject to change without notice.
Back to reality....All ready for final 1200 grit wet sanding and then airbrush some Humbrol Gloss cote thinned down with enamel Thinners for the final clear finish.
Now it's time to kick back with a hot cup of java (it's all in the grind my friends)
Final bit of Sherman weathering and onto the surface water effects....
Product I used for this were
Eagans butt biting puppy!
and finally........the almost finished article
Last step is to put old fashioned sepia photo strip around base ala Sherman of saipan.
Good luck and hope it helps
Laters!
Casting the mold
so after carefully preparing my mold from plexiglass gs (4mm) glued together with marine sealant. Also left overlaps on the mold for easy removal ( yeah right!). I mixed 300 ml NCS Resin (polylite 32032-20) with catalyst (Butanox M-50) at a ratio of 100/1 and added 2 drops of Tamiya clear blue x23 for a natural water colour. Went a bit greeny when catalyst added but not too panic that's normal.
Planned to pour in three batches....um
1st batch went in and looked really good, just a few air bubbles to take care of and the colour looked just right. Left it for about an hour. In hindsight, left it a bit long as the surface was almost set and I should have poured 2nd batch when it gets to a sloppy jelly consistency. Resulted in below slight separation line:
So this is how it ended....
Just kidding, but it did get a bit nasty nothing like a bit of drama.....however, after rushing back with the kids in tow, hoping that it was not going to look like something out of the thing. . I had foolishly missed one very
important step, any guesses? Yip, I forgot to wax the mold for that apparently easy removal!
1. Set the mold using PlexiGlass GS 4mm and glueing together with Bath sealent with overlaps for easy removal(ummmm).
2. Forget to wax the inside of the mould with Ramwax before pours.
3. First Pour 100/1 ratio Polyute 32032-20 / Butanox M50,m 2 drops of Tamiya XF24 clear blue for water colour.
4. Chase any bubbles and eliminate (did this by dragging them to the sides of the mold and bringing to the surface.
4.Wait for approx. an Hour
5. Mix and pour 2nd batch 100/1 ratio but this time 500ml plus 2 1/2 drops of colour, as this time you will also have to fill the model too.
6. Quickly run out with the kids and wife and forget to chase the bubbles :( (and hope for the best)
7.Return after 2hrs to find one smallish crack (to be later injected with same resin) and one damaged (melted area). It was still fairly hot to the touch but completely set.
8. Try to remove said mold, snap!.....the end tab off without budging the mold sides that needed to be removed. Tried everything under the sun and ended up with only alternative.....good old brute force with Hammer and chisel, in the process ruining the beautiful glossy transparent sides and removing small chunks of resin that were close to the base "voila" (for the international viewers), my recipe for disaster!
Love the drama, hope it's not putting off any prospective modelers!
and this what I end up with.....plexiglass embedded in the resin.
In addition, there were some imperfections that I was was somehow going to have to overcome, first was some heat damage ( i can live with that as it sort of fitted), just a little addition weather and sorted.
And a couple of cracks, not so cool....anyway, onto that later.
See below, did not do any other damage to any of the other materials and suprisingly enough, nothing to the submerged parts of the sherman either.
Ok, so forward march.....stiff upper lip old chap, and "we'll will fight them on the beaches" type of approach if you know what I mean cockney gezzas.
So after paying a visit to my local R&D product specialist (cheers Eric). He advised the following:
1. Band saw away the damaged areas and then good old elbow grease to reinstate the beautiful glossy, smooth edges, and here is what I was left with.. slightly smaller version of what I wanted but still enough depth to get the desired effect.
See never give in, you can always pull these things back :) ....silver linings stuff.
So after reviewing not how to do it, here's the correct steps:
1. Set the mold using PlexiGlass GS 4mm and glueing together with Bath sealent with overlaps for easy removal.
2. Donot Forget to wax the inside of the mould with Ramwax before pours.
3. First Pour 300ml 100/1 ratio Polyute 32032-20 / Butanox M50,m 2 drops of Tamiya XF24 clear blue for water colour.
4. Chase any bubbles and eliminate (did this by dragging them to the sides of the mold and bringing to the surface.
4.Wait until surface is sloppy jelly like and still a bit of movement (approx. 1/2hr)
5. Mix and pour 2nd batch 100/0.75 ratio but this time 300ml plus 2 drops of colour. (less catalyst as we suspect the combination of the heat from first pour will help the second pour to set and give enough time so as to not melt or cause heat cracks, leave for 1 hr.
6. Final pour of 150ml to fill the tank same as second mix ratio.
6. Do not quickly run out with the kids and wife and forget to chase the bubbles :( (and hope for the best). Take your time.
7.Remove said mold, in the process leaving beautiful glossy transparent sides and top "voila", my recipe for success!
Disclaimer:
All generic disclaimers apply.
All opinions are my wife's; I have none. (In my opinion.)
All opinions expressed are 99.44% true.
All rights reserved - but some wrongs are still available.
Any disclaimer issued by me is subject to change without notice.
Back to reality....All ready for final 1200 grit wet sanding and then airbrush some Humbrol Gloss cote thinned down with enamel Thinners for the final clear finish.
Now it's time to kick back with a hot cup of java (it's all in the grind my friends)
Final bit of Sherman weathering and onto the surface water effects....
Last step is to put old fashioned sepia photo strip around base ala Sherman of saipan.
Good luck and hope it helps
Laters!
Thursday 4 July 2013
"Life after Death" Diorama
Two weeks off work, mainly to spend with kids 
so thought I would try my hand at a twist on the epic "Saipan Beach M4A2 Sherman Tank "
This Diorama is in 1/35 scale and is done by Mike & Pepe for Cobra Modelling Club. http://cobramodell.blogspot.com/ even better is the YouTube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYFv75x4tAc
So here goes.....
The easy part:
Built (lots of spares), even retro fitted an engine (don't ask from what...
primed , Base coat -Tamiya Red Brown XF-64. sponged? Tamiya flat brown, red Hull. used Soft pastel (rusty colours, smoke and red and yellow flecks with a bit of Humbrol deckle fix and matt cote. More weathering work to come later....
also Humbrol pigments with deckle fix and matt cote for good fixing
Now onto the ground work...
Durban beach sand for the base, glued down by a liberal smattering of pva.
I love sunny South Africa!
Onto the newly formed reef 69 years on.... hence the title "Life after death" ... I know, how could a reef form in a lagoon? Nothing wrong with a bit of fantasy is there?
Washed up corals from South coast beach ( fav caravaning spot). They were all white (which is what normally happens after a while when something is dead) so airbrushed very loooow pressure different colours.
- Couple of different shells for the reefs.
These little suckers were a nightmare to make...took longer than the shermy.
Fish and aquatic animals from a bit of old soft plastic had lying around. Don't know what made me think to do this but I lightly toasted them after shaping to as close to a fish as possible with a lighter and it seemed to round off edges and gave a nice blackened edge to high light the fins etc. Must admit , I over cooked a few too...
As you can see, same time started to build up the Sherman weathering for the submerged look...
- Hull silt and seaweed growth - Mixture of Skale & woodlands scenics turfs and bushes for the larger clumps. then light airbrushing of matt cote to dull it down a bit
Boom!.. sorry couldn't resist it.
Think that's about it for now.....
now to prepare myself for the scary bit, this could really put all the hard work to date to pot and a shout out to Eric from NCS polymer R&D dept. for the right product to use and tips to hopefully make this go smoothly... as he said, no guarantees
here's most of the materials used in a test run...Help!
no melting!...
Laters
so thought I would try my hand at a twist on the epic "Saipan Beach M4A2 Sherman Tank "This Diorama is in 1/35 scale and is done by Mike & Pepe for Cobra Modelling Club. http://cobramodell.blogspot.com/ even better is the YouTube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYFv75x4tAc
So here goes.....
The easy part:
Built (lots of spares), even retro fitted an engine (don't ask from what...
primed , Base coat -Tamiya Red Brown XF-64. sponged? Tamiya flat brown, red Hull. used Soft pastel (rusty colours, smoke and red and yellow flecks with a bit of Humbrol deckle fix and matt cote. More weathering work to come later....
also Humbrol pigments with deckle fix and matt cote for good fixing
Now onto the ground work...
Durban beach sand for the base, glued down by a liberal smattering of pva.
I love sunny South Africa!
Onto the newly formed reef 69 years on.... hence the title "Life after death" ... I know, how could a reef form in a lagoon? Nothing wrong with a bit of fantasy is there?
Washed up corals from South coast beach ( fav caravaning spot). They were all white (which is what normally happens after a while when something is dead) so airbrushed very loooow pressure different colours.
- Couple of different shells for the reefs.
These little suckers were a nightmare to make...took longer than the shermy.
Fish and aquatic animals from a bit of old soft plastic had lying around. Don't know what made me think to do this but I lightly toasted them after shaping to as close to a fish as possible with a lighter and it seemed to round off edges and gave a nice blackened edge to high light the fins etc. Must admit , I over cooked a few too...
As you can see, same time started to build up the Sherman weathering for the submerged look...
- Hull silt and seaweed growth - Mixture of Skale & woodlands scenics turfs and bushes for the larger clumps. then light airbrushing of matt cote to dull it down a bit
Boom!.. sorry couldn't resist it.
Hey Presto....
Think that's about it for now.....
now to prepare myself for the scary bit, this could really put all the hard work to date to pot and a shout out to Eric from NCS polymer R&D dept. for the right product to use and tips to hopefully make this go smoothly... as he said, no guarantees
here's most of the materials used in a test run...Help!
no melting!...
Laters
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