Further progress...
So here are a few pics of the next bits of the build.
First off we have the bonnet and doors, along with headlamps doorhandles and indicators.
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In the background you may notice some of the cargo that will be in the back later on...
So as I said in my previous message, this WILL be a diorama and so we begin landscaping...
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I started with a nice and cheap 7"x9" picture frame from Wilkinson (the people who have replace Woolies in many high streets) It cost about £3 and is ideal.
I bought the wonderful book in the Osprey range Terrain Modelling by Richard Windrow and so used the technique described in there to make the tree from a wire wound armature coated with Tetrion filler. While the Tetrion is still damp you score it to a sharp point to make the tree bark texture. The white stuff is called Air Dough which I bought on my shopping trip to 4D Modelling Supplies I was enthusing about a couple of weeks ago. Its got a foamy texture to it but you can sculpt and mould it, using water to soften it. Then when it dries it has a stiff foam texture that is a little bit flexible and will easily allow things to be inserted into to to support other structures as you will see later...
You can see the card I used to support the sides and this will later be removed to allow the construction of a section through the earth.
The next stage is the roadway...
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You can see I've added some paint over the air dough now. It took only a couple of hours for this to dry. The roadway is made us using Claycrete which is essentially ready made papier-mache, just add water! The dust is a bit of a pest so be careful when you mix it up.
You'll also notice I've built up the Claycrete around the back of the earth sections. This is because the texture of the claycrete is almost perfect to represent an earthy type of cut.
While waiting for the Claycrete to dry, I added some support for future landscape elements...
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The sticks used here are actually from a bristle scrubbing brush bought from a hardware shop. I cut off one bundle of bristles which give a nice selection of thickness of sticks.
You'll also have noticed that I put more effort into the tree. I did try adding foliage but it looked terrible! So in the end I cut of the ends of the branches and re-coated the bare metal tips with tetrion and the tree has become a dead tree. I've painted up the bark to look more realistic and I'm quite pleased with the effect...
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So now its just a matter of waiting for the Claycrete to dry...
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