Very busy at the bench as well as sorting out my stuff for the On Track show this weekend. The forklift first and here I've added quite a bit of chipping to the fork assembly and the small forks using various vallejo colours and a combination of sponge & fine brush. A little of this has also been added to the rest of the body but not much as in service these vehicles look very tidy.
In fact most of the grime looks like grease build up in my reference pictures so I'll have a go at replicating that. Not much more to do before some light washes are added and staining.
The Isandlwana base has now dried and had two coats of varnish so I can now move onto painting the rocks & stones.
And lastly the guinea fowl ornament has been finished. I said it would be easy and it was! Just a matter of shaping and carving the new leg, filling some gaps around the tail then painting it up to match the rest of the ornament. I now wait with bated breath for the next victim to arrive from the mother in laws!
Detail painting continues on the forklift and I'm now ready to start adding wear to the model. The cab window rubbers were picked out with a dark rubber colour and a very fine brush which over a gloss coat is easy.
The Isandlwana base has had a primer coat followed by a coat of dark yellow. I then used burnt sienna and raw umber oils to coat the base. This was then removed using a large flat brush which gives the base a wood effect finish. once dry I'll gloss coat it then continue with the vegetation and rocks.
And finally I've received yet another broken ornament from my mother in law to repair. This time it's a guinea fowl with a missing leg and broken tail! A simple job this one and I've already added some magic sculpt to make a new leg which I'll shape once cured.
As promised I've been working on the groundwork for the base today. I've used various rocks and stones including the stone Mick brought back from the area suitably smashed up with a hammer! Once the plaster is cured and the stones are fixed in place I will work on the final figure positions and start adding some grass tufts.
I think the base gives a good representation of the area after studying a fair few pictures of Isandlwana, both modern & old images have helped me understand the topography of the battlefield.
I've been working on some of the detail painting for the forklift and have just sprayed a gloss varnish before doing the rest. It's much easier to paint the window rubbers and other details over a gloss coat as cleaning up any mistakes only needs a moist brush to remove them.
I've also almost sorted the Isandlwana base rock positions so should be starting the groundwork tomorrow.
The Zulu is now finished apart from adding some dust and the metal part of the spear. Very pleased with how he turned out, he looks suitably aggressive! I've also built up the base structure using an old metal picture frame, thanks Brian, and foam board with a dense foam core.
I'm now playing about with rocks and stones to get the right look and to decide where each figure will be on the base. The beauty of the foam board is that if the angle is too steep it's a simple job to cut an angle for the slope which will work better. However I did mock it up before I started painting the figures so it should be ok.
Today for a change I popped down to the tank museum for their model show as a punter and without Brian who was busy at the bench in a vain attempt to actually finish a model before the On Track show! Anyway I did meet up with my mate Soapy and we spent a pleasant couple of hours having a good look around.
It was brilliant to finally see the Elefant which has come all the way from the US and is currently displayed with all the Tiger variants the tank museum has. A very impressive display indeed and the Elefant is absolutely massive!
To be honest there were not that many clubs in attendance but the venue and atmosphere made up for that with all the displays to look at. It was also nice to catch up with a few old friends that I bumped into and great to have a chat to Spud Murphy who I have not seen for ages. I came away from the show with absolutely nothing, very unusual for me but then with On Track coming up probably a good thing!
