Advance to Arnhem 1/16 scale

[dazza]

Breathtaking 😎

[Steve Ski]

Thank you Joe, thanks Dazza!

[Steve Ski]

The Base

To break things up a bit and keep the motivation going between figures I jumped ahead and worked the base. Once again, I was so involved in the process, I forgot to take progress pics.

There isn’t anything special about how I worked the resin base. Using a few pieces of styrene tubing I added the sewer pipe and water line seen in the original photo. Steve said it was certainly a consideration to add those, but the casting process would have been a bugger, so they were installed before I got too far along. I used the Dremel tool to prep the locations for each pipe, installed them, then covered the areas with glue and cat litter for a more natural appearance.



I gave the entire base a primer coat of Krylon Gray and dried it completely with a hair dryer. Using slightly diluted Elmer’s wood glue I carefully placed crushed cat litter in areas that needed a dustier loose dirt affect. At first, I couldn’t find my jar of cat litter and was in a bit of a panic. We don’t have cats anymore, haven’t for years, and I wasn’t in the mood to make a trip just for cat litter. Then that jar caught my eye as I scavenged the material shelf. Shewwww, wiping the sweat from me brow, I carried on, HA!

After an initial coat of flat black, I used Vallejo’s Flat Earth and AK’s Tan and Light Sand to achieve the desired dirt tones. Then the process of weathering was pretty straight forward using oils washes for definition and dry brush with acrylics for some of the highlights. Mig’s Europe Dust P028 was used in all the appropriate areas. Once everything was dried overnight, I added the roots as seen in the original photo.



Now, I know someone is going to say, “Those roots near the pipes are a bit too large and there’s too many.” Oh contraire, observe the stump in the foreground of that original photo, there’s plenty of roots to be had everywhere. If you’ve ever dug up a sewer or water line, especially an older line near any old growth trees, you will normally find roots looking to tap into that water source somewhere along that line. I did temper my approach, not wanting to make the roots the main focus but a compliment to the scene.

Now it’s back to work on those trousers of the last figure and see if I can finish this scene. Thanks for watching.

Cheers, Ski.

[JCON]

Looks good Ski!!!

[ARMORGUY]

You know I'm a fan, now even more!

[dazza]

Looks like you have dug a bit of dirt out and are using that, amazing job 👍.

[JED]

Excellent job

[Steve Ski]

Thanks Guys. I have a beautiful chunk of black walnut for the base. Hopefully I can include the blond sap ribbon in the front. Still not sure how I'm going to cut this 4' thick chunk, but I'll get to it soon.

Thanks again, Gents!

[JCON]

A nice slow handsaw...

[dazza]

It would be great to hear what the families of these men would think to this masterpiece.

[Steve Ski]

Right you are Joe!

Dazza, many of the folks in Arnhem still celebrate this battle today in memorium, and from what I understand there are a few monuments in their honor. This is still a big deal overseas, but sadly, we have lost that here, hmmm,...........by design.

[Steve Ski]

Figure #3 on Final Approach; Gear Down, Flaps Down, Cleared to Land!

So, as we crank a bit of Outlaws, “Green Grass and High Tides”, and maybe a little bit a Tom Petty, “Here comes My girl”, or maybe some Joe Cocker, “Feeling Alright”, we Ruck On! And when was the last time any of you have listened to Jeff Beck “Live” with Jan Hammer, “Earth in Search of a Sun”? Sometimes it pays to relax when you’re “sniffin paint and gluin them fingers together.” Just a bit of nostalgia for my paint sniffin Amigos! So, let’s get this pig on the roll, right quick!

Been more than long enough, but there has been some decent progress. I must admit, there is a bit more work to be done on the hands, not there yet, but we are now ready to paint the trousers, mue pronto. So, just a pre-shading is set in preparation for closing out this last figure.




With the arm and head in place, it’s coming together nicely. Still, there’s plenty on the punch list to deal with later, but it’s coming together as expected when one deals with incredibly well sculpted figures. Kudos to Stevo, once again!




The sweet part about finishing this last figure is the punch list, then the placement within the base. I might add, we do have an incredibly beautiful chunk of Black Walnut left over from the fireplace mantel, so I will do my best to expose the sap ribbon, or as some say, “that beautiful blond strip before the meat of the trunk”. Either way, I’ll get a nice lookin piece after I mill this 4” thick chunky block of beautiful black walnut.

Thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.

[JCON]

More great work!!!

[dazza]

Feb 2, 2022 20:20:06 GMT -6 Steve Ski said:

Right you are Joe!

Dazza, many of the folks in Arnhem still celebrate this battle today in memorium, and from what I understand there are a few monuments in their honor. This is still a big deal overseas, but sadly, we have lost that here, hmmm,...........by design.

Yes they do, I've done a few battlefield tours and Arnhem was one of them. There are lots of memorials as you would expect, I've always liked Holland and Arnhem is no exception.

[fightnjoe]

Wow. Simply wow.



Joe

[Steve Ski]

Tanks, Joe Con!

[Steve Ski]

Dazza, that would be one heck of a tour. I am very impressed they still know their history, unlike here, sad to say.

Hey Joe M, good to see you back, Bro. Tanks!

[dazza]

Feb 3, 2022 17:26:25 GMT -6 Steve Ski said:

Dazza, that would be one heck of a tour. I am very impressed they still know their history, unlike here, sad to say.

Hey Joe M, good to see you back, Bro. Tanks!

Absolutely, the Dutch school children lay flowers at the graves of the fallen each year on remembrance Day May 4 and Liberation Day on May 5.

[JCON]

That is awesome Dazza!!!

[Steve Ski]

That is really awesome!