Bluestone 42 - Gallery

This was a very long project that was running in the background for a way too long, so I was happy to finally see it finished. Completely scratch built using Magic Sculp (two part epoxy putty), inspired by the British comedy series Bluestone 42. Overall - very much an exercise in sculplting and painting MTP camouflage.

The diorama is a liberal interpertation of a scene from Episode 5 of the 3rd season where two privates settle a bet of which gladiator weapon is the most effective (after all it was the SA 80 assault rifle with a bayonet attached proved to be better than the trident). In the background there are remains of the bomb disposal robot 'Arthur' - a nod to the pilot episode of the series.

Bluestone 42 - part 3

Piece of MDF was used as a base. For the ground I used virtually everything within my reach. Started off with multi-purpose filler, then added sieved earth with PVA glue, and a bit of baking soda on top to make the fine sand appearance.

Airbrushed with Tamiya's XF-59 Desert yellow. Brown very diluted oil wash and some drybrushing with oil buff colour. 

Close-up on the remains of 'Arthur' - the EOD robot from early episodes of the series.

Figures painting started off with Surfacer 1200, then airbrushed rough shadows and highlights. Nothing too detailed. Sort of pre-shading. Actual painting started off with fleshy parts - faces and hands. Multiple very, very, very diluted acrylics.

For brush applications I tend to sticks with Citadel paints. They have fantastic covering qualities, and when diluted with acrylic fluid retarder easy to blend.

Successive layers upon layers of paint.

MTP camoufage painted with various mixes of Citadel's: 'Abaddon Black', 'Pallid Wych Flesh', 'Zandri Dust', 'Dryad Bark' and 'Bleached Bone'. Quite a different range than Tamiya's greys, drabs and tans.

Tiny bit of oil wash around sleeves, and deep crevices.

Figures fixed om the base. Overall coat of very diluted oil 'buff' colour to act as a filter. Just to visually blend everything together.

Bit of dust made out of sanded down dry pastels. Cheap alternative to ready made pigments when specific mix of colour is required.

Bluestone 42 - part 2

In the meantime I cut the jersey barrier from the polyurethane foam (leftover piece of insulation from somewhere).

With the scalpel I cut all the indentations and some chippings. Surface was brush-painted with Surfacer 500.

One of the lads was supposed to carry the shield. Bin lid would be a perfect for the purpose, but where to get 1/20 scale bin lid? I created a master for moulding out of the PET bottle cap and two rings of styrene...

...Then heated a sheet of ring binder cover over a candle and pulled it over the master. Worked OK at the 3rd try.

Quick spray with the primer to see if all is good.

I thought that it would be nice to have the zinc galvanized surface. I used variety of mixes of AK True Metal Silver, Aluminium and Gun Metal to recreate specs of zinc coating.

Just a little of buffing to get the slight sheen of the surface. It turned out nicely with different shines depending on the viewing anlge. Matte primer woked well as well allowing for not too deep of a shine.

Jersey barrier was sprayed with few shades of grey and then weathered with selection of diluted oils to get the different stains and weathering streaks.

Thin stips of aluminium foil (I sacrificed myself for this project with a generous serving of garlic chips) glued together with CA were used to create the net. Metal foils is nice and stiff, but allows for easy forming to required shape.

Bluestone 42 - part 1

This was a diorama that was sitting on my bench for over a year. The idea was born after watching British sitcom 'Bluestone 42', which was about a bomb disposal squad based in Afghanistan. 

My favourite characters are two Scottish gits Mac & Rocket. Always up to no good, and the most diorama worthy were their gladiator fights in episode 5 of the 3rd season.

I started with printing the skeletons scaled to the approximate heights in 1/20 scale, and rigged a simple copper wire frames for the figures.

Main non-movable parts (long bones, pelvis, skull and chest were sculpted from Magic Sculp. 

Once the initial frame was set, I could realistically pose my figures, as the body joints were in the right places. Then I added knees, elbows and other joints to set the poses.

 Next to sculpt were headsm hands and feet. Tools of trade are visible on the photo. I use dental tools to work the Magic Sculpt while it's still workable. Then, once set I use file, pointy scalpel and steel wool to sculp the details.

 The figures are almost 'engineered' rather than sculpted, with layers of clothing being added on top of the basic body shape..

To make the figures less boring - one is wearing a T-shirt and the other UBACS shirt. Shoe laces were made from the elastic rigging thread fixed with superglue.

Another Falklands diorama

Recently I came up with an idea for a Falklands War themed diorama. No figures, just a lot of hardware. For this I would need a heap of FN rifles.
Initial thought was to make the master from bits of plasticard, but then someone mentioned 3D printing service Shapeways. This would be a perfect excuse to try to use contemporary technology with potential use for future project.
I settled with 1:20 scale (I like metric scales...) which will allow for a bit more detail than typical 1:35th.

The rifle was modelled in CAD together with sprues, so it will be ready for casting straight out of the box:

Model was exported to STL format, and uploaded directly to Shapeways. This service allows for immediate feedback, depending on the material chosen. One or two minor tweaks were required, and the order was sent for processing.

About a week later a bix cardboard box landed at my doorstep. Inside - a very carefully packed my miniature FN FAL. I'm really impressed with the print quality.

Now I need to get some silicone, and resin.

Aerospatialle SA365N Dauphin 2 – Gallery

Probably the quickest build in my modelling career. Just over a month.

This is strict 'out of the box' build. Even the stand is made of the actual model's box. Since there was no scope for any detailing - I focused completely on the paint job. Red and white are a nightmare to work with. To make things worse - I tried to use the colour modulation technique to emphasize the natural shadows by varying brightness and hue of the paint. This, in theory, cheats the vision making the reception of the scaled object more realistic. It's barely visible on the finished model, but when turned upside down becomes very prominent.

This is the model of Icelandic Coast Guard Aerospatialle SA365N Dauphin 2 during its operational time, before the engine failure in 2007 resulting in ditching in the water during exercise flight.

Model itself is of reasonably good quality, but some sanding and filling is required. Canopy fit wasn't great, and I've worked on more detailed 1/72nd scale Trumpeter's models in the past than this 1/48th scale.

Here's the result of my recent work:

Aerospatialle SA365N Dauphin 2 – Part 8: last touches

Float covers got last bruch touch-ups to emphasize the fabric's minor ripples, and then sprayed with satin varnish to diffrenciate their surface from fuselage's metal gloss.

 Last pieces of masking! black areas around the exhausts, air inlets and anti-glare nose surface. Plain Tamiya XF-69 Nato Black without any modulation. For a change.

Anti-glare surface is just a coat of matte transparent varnish on the already painted nose section.

I didn't go mad on the weathering side. Just a tiny bit of exhaust stain that's visible on almost every photo of TF-SIF (except for the ones taken in the museum). I like airbrushing Tamiya's X-19 Smoke for the dark stains. It allows for good control over the intensity and area covered. X-19 is glossy by nature, so final matting around the area was done with transparent matte varnish.

One piece that's not strictly 'out of the box' is the antenna, but it's required by the model's assembly manual, so ticks the box. Another new purchase from Uschi van der Rosten - rigging line. No more damaging wife's tights. It's very thin stretchable thread that doesn't fray, and can be fixed with super glue. Isolators near the ends of the antenna were jsut small blobs of Surfacer, paintedd gloss black.