Hi Collin

Thanks for your comments. Yes it is a big project and takes a lot of patience from me and the good lady, but we do not have any kids and although my job is demanding, my evenings and weekends are pretty much our own. I am soon to have the roof done and then it's on to the major parts of the show!

It's difficult balancing job, family, wife, pets etc but it's a life time hobby so if it's concentrated in to 6 months of the year then hey ho, as long as you keep enjoying every step. We are thinking of boarding the loft, getting some heating and good lighting up there so I can move away from our dining room lol.

Enjoying every minute mate and thanks for your support.

Just catching up again Dave... holy xxxx ! that church looks real ! love the attention to detail with the stuff growing on the walls and the windows look cool ! this is gonna be a treat when complete !

Keep it coming !

That means a lot coming from someone who produces excellent work over and over again, so thanks very much Carl. I have finished the secondary coat and variable shades to the roof tiles and added the highlights, just need to add some weathering now with moss etc. I'm staying in London tomorrow night and then out for a meal Friday but will finish the roof and the rest of the building by Monday.

Cheers
Dave

Hi

I have now got the roof and wooden structure about 95% complete.

You can see how I have made subtle changes to individual tiles before adding some weathering using pastels and fine washes. The colour was a pig to match the slate I wanted but it's turned out about spot on as the crumbling, splintered slate is actually real pieces broken up. I decided on an Oak finish for the wood and some of this needs a bit of weathering which will be done with a black/burnt umber wash in various places, but most of it around the exposed area's.

I have got to put rubble on the broken area's of the wall and will also add some large bits of broken slate/wood to tie it all in. I will be adding a hymn board to bring the oak into the wall and i'll do some research to see oif I can add anything else that would look authentic in a church.

Just a bit of touching up and obviously add the guttering, but I feel I am ready to get on with the Tiger!

As a wood butcher myself (oak cabinets, etc.) I'd say you really brought the inside to life with the oak stain and after you finish the weathering it'll be right on the money. I always got the impression a lot of the wood inside a cathedral had a fine semi gloss finish to it, but not up there, kinda like the monks polished it for penance, . The podium and furnature, etc. Maybe someone can confirm otherwise. That oak stain has added the contrast you need to bring the roof line into the scene without leaving it in obscurity above, very well done Bro. I like the slates too, they look authentic. Just lovin watchin the process Bro, pretty dang cool if ya ask me!


Cheers, Ski.

P.S. Are you going to add any furnature, like a podium or alter railing crushed or something along those line?

Hi Steve

Thanks for your comments mate. I had to be careful with the colour to get the balance right as too orange or red makes it look like different types of wood, where as my research has pointed to oak for older timber roofing. The stain also brings out the grain and detail which has obviously helped bring it together, but a bit of wash to depict age will add a bit more reality.

You are correct in respect of some of the finish as it was often a satin, but not always on the roof and often in the architecture where it could be reached. I will add some crushed furniture but not sure exactly what yet but will continue to research thoroughly. My intention is to try and get the viewer interested in everything not just the figures so it means giving the more boring stuff as much attention as the main stage.

Thanks
Dave

Hi David , I thought Id share this with you , The other day my girl friend saw me looking at your pictures of the church roof , she said I've seen you looking at strange thing on that computers but churches !!!! after 10 mins of explaining it was a model she was very impressed and in 3 years of us being together I've never seen her impressed SO WELL DONE MATE

Well it must be heading in the right direction if the good lady pays compliments. My Nicola rarely comments but she has started to take more of an interest which shows she is kind of impressed and it maybe something to do with her father loving it lol.

Thanks for your support mate and it's on with the Tiger and figures!

I've been away from the bench due to massive work commitments, but I have now managed to prep all the figures for priming. I decided to add a 7th and final figure sitting on the tank smoking a ciggy. This is modded from a radio man with a new head, hands and repositioning of the arms. I thought it would help with the overall composition and feeling of a bit more relaxed state:-

Wow this keeps getting better.
However the Panzerfaust looks a bit odd.
............maybe he should be holding a pack of cigarettes or canteen? bottle of wine or even map or newspaper?
After all he is relaxed. Why hold a panzerfaust while relaxing?
Just a thought. Keep up the awesome work.

Thanks fella's

Brent I like that idea of a packet of fags, I'll try that, the panzerfaust was in my spares so thought I would try and make use of it but will mess about with the pose etc and feedback in due course.

Dave

It is gonna better then i can imagine.

Marc

Hi Dave, looking FANTASTIC haven't got around to posting lately but have been following with lots of gasps and wows.
Did you scratch the head with magic sculp if so kudos mate, he has a more aged appearance which I like don't know if that was the intension.
I have recently began my first sculpt will hope to post soon got a little lost on it towards the end but will pick it up again soon.

Thanks Lew J.

Thanks Marc and Lewis .

Lewis, I wish I could sculpt that well! It's a variable head from an old kit but I have thickened the neck slightly and also added a bit to the hair. I have now taken away the PF and replaced with a pack of ciggys and an mp40 sat on his lap, looks far more relaxed and is almost asking the other guys below if they woul also like a cigarette!

I now have all my paints for the Tiger so it's out with the airbrush this weekend!

Hi Dave , good to catch up with this and see that you are still raising the bar mate. My respect for your work continues to grow. Superb as always.

Regards

Ron

Hi Ron, great to hear from you mate and thanks for your continued encouragement.

I can see the finish line fella as I'm ready to paint the main stage, just researching uniforms at the moment!

Cheers
Dave

Hi All

Right I am now getting to the nitty grity as they say!!

I have changed the pose of the guy sat on the Tiger to be holding a packet of fags as suggested earlier. It was quite simple to sculpt and makes it look far more natural than the Panzerfaust.

All the figures are filled and primed (God there is alot to paint!!) but there is some cleaning to do now the grey has highlighted some defects. I have got the metal tracks to look great without priming and painting. I use stuff called Birchwood Casey Aluminium Black which is used by gunsmiths to give barrels a new lease of life. You simply brush on, leave for a couple of minutes, rinse in cold water and hang to dry. BE CAREFUL THOUGH ITS A TOXIC COROSIVE, WHERE EYE PROTECTION, DO NOT INHALE AND DO IT OUTSIDE!!

All I need to do now is add some further weathering and they are done! I had the airbrush in full flow today, I started with some flat earth mixed with a tiny amount of black to conduct the preshading. Once this was dry I added XF60 with XF59 (Tamiya) to get that desert coat as a base. I will hit the AB tomorrow to add the brown and green camo lines, before getting stuck in to all the stuff like scratches, washes, dust and general weathering etc etc

Man that is a lot of work...!!
I like how you just keep going David. It's the only way to travel those 1000 miles: one step at a time.... (or something like that, I'm not too good with Chinese sayings!).

Cheers,
Adrian