Army_Air_Force

I fitted four tiny geared motors into a 1/144 scale B-17. The motors were bought from that auction site. /media/tinymce_upload/908b18ec6dd5f032ab610f844f6dc03a.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/0d256d4e16cd939b6b5f0b43f222dcd8.jpg

I've already modelled my first Jeep ( Follow Me ) and Dodge ( Flying Control ) in 1/35 scale, but my other Jeep is yet to be built. /media/tinymce_upload/11331673a27e8dc38178dde0bf64a6c9.jpg My 1/35 Dodge on the fender of the 1/1 scale Dodge /media/tinymce_upload/56236e5335442d62a00fc955fe0c5bff.jpg

Possibly a Tamiya 1/35 Willys MB Jeep, modelled on one of my own 1/1 scale Jeeps.

Ah, picture hanging wire. I wouldn't care, I have some in the workshop, just forgotten all about it!!

Shame the posts have been approved in the wrong order as the first set of final pictures and text should come after the post above. I expected them to appear in the thread in the order in which they were posted. Oh well, tis done now! Not sure what our next project will be.

We're pretty pleased with the overall result. Looking back, skin coloured tights may have worked better for the camo net rather than the black. The barbed wire would have been better with thinner copper wire, but that was all I had kicking around the workshop. /media/tinymce_upload/e034f83f37556ecff2121c8ff24cce85.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/955bae7c64cf0218c7bfabb837920648.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/f44eae50c7e48286244762e1e26b26f6.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/a269d93976a839cd2d08485f5659edc2.jpg We made the right call to leave the Tiger tank off and replace it with a Jeep. It would have been unrealistic and perhaps toy-like, to have both tanks, unless the Sherman had been a smoking wreck. Without the Jeep might have been a little too empty. Neither the Jeep or Sherman are glued down and moved around a little during the photoshoot. /media/tinymce_upload/89aff94432a3253f3a8a738c7f42e21d.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/e60b736cd56506fbe6639d9861b5461c.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/9889bcbfbdf6b6035b34119db6ea9478.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/eec6bbb8fde10f30965932ec113670c9.jpg The layout seems to work well when viewed from all sides and we tried to make use of figures who seemed less involved in combat but more at readiness. The rubbery plastic figures are of course horrible to work with and only minor work was done by myself to melt away flash etc. Airfix could really do with making a range of styrene figures for diorama builders. /media/tinymce_upload/75d9f99edb29d536ea1d59bb0e155cda.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/4afe08057a45c839f631d34b32c4ba85.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/2de63744ef296539fce21718788de0e4.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/bdb73a5928a73151302e92670b22e2b4.jpg My daughter was eight when she started this model and heading towards eleven now. It is virtually all her own work, but with lots of guidance and advice from me, a little holding of parts where extra hands were needed and I did some of the figure painting detail after she painted the main colours. I also made the camo net over the radio operator, helped with joining the tank tracks and sprayed gloss and matt coats when needed. /media/tinymce_upload/18d9607922e3b09ba9a705903c6a956c.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/fd2872b4ee84f3af913204a9ca559918.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/0df01e1525c1c0e04f3298002da790c1.jpg We hope you enjoyed the journey as much as we did. /media/tinymce_upload/cfbc267d0d566f7f97d7030dcbe2d5fe.jpg

We haven't had the weather yet for an outdoor photoshoot. The way the UK weather is going now, Summer may well be over! I'd still like to try and get out for a real backdrop, but for now, here's a multitude of pictures from an indoor shoot, taken at both eye level and from above. Some I've turned black and white, while some others have just been desaturated a bit and red increased to try and replicate wartime Kodachrome film. /media/tinymce_upload/17db60d41296afb55bdef4ef4734e4eb.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/dfbe1d7dcb67c6ab7188b5a75b3d8549.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/d9d4e572a5d4cf8a659ac94116ad986a.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/8e73f543f56bc2cf50fde326a3851dde.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/92c5124775036f66dac161facb89813f.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/b76b1ebdb0b9ac306d62e2a4956c64fb.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/0ec8ce683259270269163e9bd8159c01.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/7a92868c75c90da590715cbc6fabda5b.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/4a0fd5e54316f53eb826a55fd77908ba.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/68f93cf10262263918f172428accfea3.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/44e9e1bcd09ac5da19fea9e3cf7cb6ce.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/7149bc30103181cb05833ba2650893b6.jpg

August 28th, we got the last of the small details glued down, though there was still a little more work to do. A couple of pulled up road signs have been dumped at the roadside here. /media/tinymce_upload/c78f8ff4b19da2a896d2cbf4ce37bfa6.jpg The other two were abandoned a little further around the diorama. They were placed face down so we didn't need to worry about text on them. /media/tinymce_upload/aab298e26889e0800f90e97525ebb85f.jpg Near the field gun, a shovel and pick have been added, along with some broken house roof timbers. /media/tinymce_upload/1626f67c4df36a984cc684faa560b98d.jpg At the trailer, a pick was laid up against the corrugated iron. A shovel in the trailer, a bike against the rubble and another bike in the house. /media/tinymce_upload/d06ad309015a885e3711a3a8f3003cc4.jpg Roof tiles and timbers were scattered around the house. The tiles were painted the same colour as the roof, but haven't weathered as much, so are a bit bright. I decided it would be easier to weather them once glued down, rather than loose, so they'll be re-weathered once fully dry. /media/tinymce_upload/c1865f735c555b3ab3ccc5f23c86f6ae.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/2d872293fea585dd799fca8627cf6766.jpg Once the last of the weathering is done, it needs a sprayed matt coat to hide any of the glue spots still showing. /media/tinymce_upload/25da8a489f6f89272403052789ee88c4.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/26e2f96c8c871273c601035047621c90.jpg September 1st. The roof tiles were toned down now. Once the paint was fully hardened, it would be time for a matt coat and final photos. We've been thinking about trying to find a real background for some photos. /media/tinymce_upload/3dc8b6152cb1d188de77beb46ed12b50.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/2858ca4d6976d46e5d12cd834e74b835.jpg

More hole drilling followed..... /media/tinymce_upload/85f94136884ffc53ee19ec6ceb9a347c.jpg ....and more figure planting. This is Ralph the rope rigger. Formerly a grenade thrower, now making the final adjustments to the camo net guy ropes. /media/tinymce_upload/22b7bb85697c42b6f630c90f1b383176.jpg After Ralph's feet had stuck firmly, the rope was attached to his hands. The easiest was to do it was to soak the rope in cyano kicker, and add a drop of cyano to Ralph's hands. /media/tinymce_upload/1f742a1798b95286b4b2865b7cb38a93.jpg Rob seemed quite at home now under his camo net. /media/tinymce_upload/6fd933568cc49acd230556100a991898.jpg Slowly the diorama was filling up with figures and accessories. While it still looks quite empty here, we'd already added quite a lot of details. They should show up on closer inspection and when it's all done, I'll be taking a number of photos showing the various scenes from different view points. /media/tinymce_upload/4564f6d41cffacd1da2a186abd9a1f10.jpg Tom and Jerry can! The Jeep isn't attached yet, but Tom is topping up the fuel now while there's time. /media/tinymce_upload/017a89a8a722e6026e3c84714454ac49.jpg Barry was busy setting up another barbed wire barricade. /media/tinymce_upload/605d74c9ef9528201de830ef82d50ac2.jpg Ian was injured in earlier combat, but fortunately not too badly. He's waiting to be evacuated. The two other guys in the house are as yet un-named. /media/tinymce_upload/f6d14264dbaaf075c7f298e4c4ba7713.jpg The gun crew are talking about their field of fire and the need to lower the barbed wire a little, just in front of the gun. The Sherman is moving into position to provide more fire support. /media/tinymce_upload/3e74271e897712f157e621ea8d123e2b.jpg To finish this session of posts, here's a general view from house front. The layout of the figures and weapons is designed to give the diorama interesting viewing angles from all sides, with several small stories going on from where ever you view from. /media/tinymce_upload/a7a0f142c7b94a1cb5952a28e3069c15.jpg

Posted the first of the last updates yesterday and just waiting for it to be approved. We're now waiting for an opportunity to take the model to a location where we can have a real background for some photos in addition to taking some studio shots.

On August 12th, after a break of four months, we finally got back to the diorama. Since late March, life has mainly been focused on home-schooling, so we've had little time for modelling. I had a big workshop clean up the day before, so we spent the whole day modelmaking. Most of the painting and detailing had been done on the various components, so it was time to start the final assembly. Work began on cutting some small brass pins to length which would be used to attach the figures. The pins were filed with a diamond file to rough up the surface to aid the glue joint. /media/tinymce_upload/555c05f899578832e72240247d517481.jpg All the figures then had the pins glued in with cyano and their boots touched up where needed, following the melting of the holes for the pins. They were left in the curing cabinet for a while to dry while we moved on to other jobs. /media/tinymce_upload/f7b405dc7a09ed6c8bb2c46c028354b2.jpg A few small details still needed painting, so those were done next. /media/tinymce_upload/356f631cf988787f12e0d75db37cf7aa.jpg While the paint was drying, we started the final assembly by gluing down the field gun. That gave us a position for the two crew and enabled us to drill the mounting holes. After a test fit, they were both glued in place. /media/tinymce_upload/6312e2919f08a4fc15aaf7d07b04a055.jpg The coil of barbed wire was next. It was quite springy, so were started at one end, attaching it with cyano. It was held down against its natural spring, and glued every inch or so. /media/tinymce_upload/f8a708d95e00554ff9c79b467c0b6cad.jpg Rob the radio operator was next. He and his radio were glued to the bench and the bench glued under the position of the camo net. The barrels and crates were trial fitted, but we didn't know if their positions would interfere with the netting, so they were left loose for the time being. A few options for cargo was also tried in the trailer. /media/tinymce_upload/7b52aa627afdc5422e55fcf1d55bad22.jpg With Rob in place, the camo net was next. Some cotton thread was glued to each corner first to act as guy ropes. Corner by corner, the netting was glued to the top of each pole. When the end was pulled down, it gave us an indication of the space for the supplies. /media/tinymce_upload/d2791a91e512a815d3691dba154977e0.jpg A few positions were tried before they were glued down. They are seen here prior to gluing. /media/tinymce_upload/2a4f0a9c5cd5e31ae71f06dfac25e9fa.jpg I'll add the next few pictures once this is approved.

Still can't upload. I'm getting close to giving up trying to post pictures in the Airfix forum. If you want to see the latest pics of the almost complete diorama, search on Britmodeller.

I'll try again in December! 😉

I haven't posted here since early April and now find I can't upload pictures to a post. I keep getting a "403 Forbidden" error. I tried a single test Jpeg image, 700x525 pixels, 60kb in size and still get an error. A text only post works ok. Any thoughts?

I keep getting an error when trying to post with uploaded pictures, so this is just a text only test.

We had another short session the other day and I did some experimenting on the figures. We didn't want them all standing on their plastic paving slabs, so one was sliced off for a test. /media/tinymce_upload/9b8edcb32a6333c6a60aa41e46914f47.jpg I wanted to pin the figures in place as well as gluing them. In order to do this, they needed a hole up through their foot, leg or other suitable moulding. The plastic is quite strong, but bendy, making drilling with a small drill a bit tricky. Instead, I wrapped some copper wire around a soldering iron tip and told the soldier to brace himself! /media/tinymce_upload/4ad9b1abaf909fc5e1ab16b854e2ed68.jpg The soldier was prepared for a bit of a sting, so bit down hard on his rifle butt! /media/tinymce_upload/4a22e05911d4c10e0ad9e0d59677158c.jpg Carefully lining up the copper wire, a short hole was melted into his foot and lower leg. Only around 2mm deep, but enough to strengthen the attachment to the base. After the melted waste had cooled and was cut free, he was pushed onto the end of the barbed wire coil to check the fit and depth. /media/tinymce_upload/3f473fa79045efb9aa7ea523b77c8eb9.jpg The rest of the figures were then cut from their bases, for those who were moulded with bases. They also had holes melted up one leg. They were hopping mad! /media/tinymce_upload/47752833cfb85139f8c2110feed052a2.jpg The barbed wire coils were painted...... /media/tinymce_upload/9ba5bde08884411a8d94e0c93890aff6.jpg ....along with a metallic dusting over the three sheets of corrugated iron. /media/tinymce_upload/9cf3e5f84645197a77d2bf38ed8b96ba.jpg

I guess it depends on whether you want to build the whole diorama, house, both tanks and all the figures? Otherwise, you could just get the two tank kits separately or just one and make your own small base.

Since the schools have all closed now, this project may well become part of my daughter's craft/art lessons while I'm home schooling her!

My daughter and I had a six hour modelling session today. We began with giving the Jeep, trailer, field gun, crates and bench a dirty wash to pick out detail. /media/tinymce_upload/20f51245b844dfc6e16b443aea5370e7.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/16e30b0b27e39b51b607fe323a3d5a89.jpg Painting the road signs came next. They had already had their posts painted, so just needed the signs painting white. They'll all be piled up somewhere on the diorama. /media/tinymce_upload/bfad62dd2c8237547c785f7150ea4e1b.jpg After a time for the wash to harden, the Jeep had its windscreen, mirror, axe, shovel and steering wheel fitted. It was also dirtied up a bit with some mud around the tyres, fenders and rear wheel arches. We used a chrome pen to paint in the mirror. The diorama base also had a bit more work with washes and dirt/mud along the moulded in track marks. /media/tinymce_upload/ba092720b24409b5c6ec789cd588c585.jpg We had a few other craft projects to work on during the day which were done while paint on the diorama was drying in my curing cabinet. Later in the day, I told my daughter to cut one of each figure off the sprues and to look at what they were doing and try to work out where they could go. This was a bit of a challenge as most of the figures are in fighting poses, while we wanted to portray a forward position being held, but not under fire. /media/tinymce_upload/e13cab5c819fb4497fd6c5d956dd74e3.jpg Four of the items that needed a location were coiled up rolls of barbed wire. That got us thinking and out came some mono-strand, electrical copper wire which had its insulation stripped off. It was then coiled around a carbon fibre tube to make a long coil. The wire is a bit thick, but it was fairly easy to work with, not too fragile and held its shape. /media/tinymce_upload/3f56860faf809a08344b1cb1f0da0e70.jpg Here's one of the stretched out barbed wire coils, awaiting painting and becoming a road block. When we come to attach the figures, those with bases need the base cutting off, and I'll possibly use a fine wire up one foot to help secure them. /media/tinymce_upload/907db1f074c5ed656618b0363ec6a1a5.jpg As can be seen here, guns, webbing, packs etc., still need detail painting to be done. The figures may not be in the final layout, but we photographed each scene as a reminder of their location should we wish to replicate those positions in the final glue down. /media/tinymce_upload/0cf6d4e7e816cc03f9e56a6ab4fe4e5c.jpg Three moulded coils of wire are likely to be piled up in preparation for another road block, while one of the running soldiers is to be used, carrying the last coil into place. In the background, three of the four poles can be seen which will support the camo-net over the radio operator. One of the figures who was throwing a granade, will be used to be pulling on of the rigging ropes that hold up the poles and camo-net. /media/tinymce_upload/e18f972843ffa7e575b98f9ea19c3bbf.jpg Some figures in the house will be on watch. There's still lots of roof tiles and timbers that we made, that need attaching around the remains of the house. /media/tinymce_upload/7461d3169736c3d459951d20bcaddbc3.jpg Last two pictures. A close up of the Jeep, now with its spare wheel fitted. Just behind the hood is the solder who was throwing the granade, but will now be juggling the camo-net guy rope. We haven't painted the seated radio operator yet, so he needs to be finished and seated at his bench before the camo-net can be fitted. The radio has had a base coat of black, but needs some highlights adding. /media/tinymce_upload/c48db4e08a80d85dcfd516d38cfb1f74.jpg Finally for this update, an overview of the diorama so far. We're very pleased with our work in what turned out to be our longest building session ever. /media/tinymce_upload/cda9d310b3a84c382eaaf167c83e52f7.jpg

Before you do any weathering ( if you are ) don't forget that the four slots behind each engine are vents, not exhausts, and so don't have dirt trails extending from them. What you do get is dirt and oil streaking back from the cowl gills and then passes between the vents. Where the air is exiting the wing from the vents, it stays clean. The staining also follows the airflow differently on each wing, due to the spiral prop wash and its interaction with the fuselage. On the port wing, the staining tends to run straight back. On the starboard wing, it curves in towards the fuselage. Here's a good picture - https://www.worldwarphotos.info/wp-content/gallery/usa/aircrafts/b-17-flying-fortress/385th_Bomb_Group_B-17F_Flying_Fortress_bomber_in_flight_1943.jpg

I just use Future.

I realise that, but after the Christmas departures, didn't know whether anybody had the responsibility to moderate new pictures. Good to know things are back on the move again.

We got back to the diorama today. I set my daughter away cutting out the wheels from the sprues, followed by cleaning up flash and cutting out several more accessories. /media/tinymce_upload/b6c554fc9301cbd1e35baaefd37438c0.jpg While she did that, I cut some metal rod for poles to support the camo net. I didn't want to rip the netting on the top of the poles while trying to assemble it, so turned some small plastic pads for the top of the poles. These would provide a small pad to glue the net to or at least to support it while the netting was pulled down at its edges. I painted each pole after this piture. /media/tinymce_upload/0e7aae11247348d3d6fc1e3781c64a5a.jpg The tyres had their black paint touched up where they were cut from the sprue and left in the drying cabinet for a while to bake. Once dry, we test fitted the wheels, only to find the axles were a bit big and the holes in the wheels partially filled whith paint. The combination meant the wheels didn't fit well. I had a go at cleaning out the paint with a scalpel tip and tapering the axle stubs, but the fit didn't really improve much. Instead I just used a small drill and opened up the square holes which then gave the required fit. /media/tinymce_upload/0f723797f42f9a12b79cf4dca4e99576.jpg My daughter had been busy cutting out barbed wire, road signs and barrel halves which were then glued together. They would need the ends sanding once the glue hardened up - a job for another day. /media/tinymce_upload/4d7c7a4c6d8268475d59100f4c92d8ab.jpg I'd given the Jeep another coat of clear the day before to seal in the decals already applied after one of the side stars came off while painting the seat cushions. Fortunately the star only made it as far as my finger and was re-attached to the Jeep. Sealing the decals in should help to hold them in place, but I wanted to minimise holding the vehicle, so I set up the Jeep lightly gripped in a mini vice while my daughter glued on the wheels. We opted to angle the front wheels, an option that was possible since I'd opened up the hole in the centre of the wheel. The left two wheels were left to harden a while before turning the Jeep around. /media/tinymce_upload/8c257fe262ede0d4050661c75d356e9e.jpg While the first wheels were drying, my daughter began painting the barbed wire and road signs. /media/tinymce_upload/c56579f805150250662a7108080d173c.jpg I'd been breaking up wood for damaged floor joists and roof beams to be scattered in and around the partially collapsed cottage. /media/tinymce_upload/335e0c40829ea053eef901d01570926e.jpg I also chopped up some plasticard that had been previously painted to match the cottage roof tiles. These would also be scattered amongst the wreckage. /media/tinymce_upload/dbf30d1bac0fbc42c4b51bf1d4ce3ad4.jpg Almost the end of the session, the other two wheels were glued onto the Jeep and we then left it upside down for the glue joints to fully harden. The spare wheel would be attached later. /media/tinymce_upload/71e6c733e160723b536a1e096c80604a.jpg To finish the afternoon, Dave the driver parked up the Sherman near the cottage while Kevin the commander kept watch. I grabbed a quick photo before they moved on. /media/tinymce_upload/b9455b183003bfadaeb0d7d1e98b4e33.jpg

We first started modelling just before her 4th birthday. She'd always liked making things with Sellotape, card and glue, so I decided to try something more focused. Our first sessions were only 20 minutes long, occasionally up to 30 minutes. I wanted to teach her that not everything in life comes at the push of a button, and sometimes the more effort you put in to something, the more you get out of it and also the more you value it. It was also to try and teach patience, logical thinking, following instructions etc., all important life skills.I've got another update to post, but with it having pictures and the site having an admin problem at present, I don't know who is on hand to approve them or how often that is happening.

It would appear that Airfix haven't gone back to work yet!! 😆