Excellent work!

Oda.

Excellent detailing work Ski, love the extra touches you are adding to the bike
Cheers
Steve

Thx Oda and Stevo. I did try the KIWI's technique of stippling the saddle bags, slightly. Wow, the pics don't show it just yet, but I may go back and add a bit more, the leather is looking better than any leather work I've ever produced. Thx for watchin Gents.

Cheers, Ski.

Top shelf bike Steve, I particularly like the leather bags, they add a lot of interest to this beauty !

Thx Guy. If I can ever get back in the bunker I can get more done, hopefully this weekend. thx for watchin.


Cheers, Ski.

It's been a bit Gents and Ladies, but I did get some basic layout and wall construction done:







Been getting a little work done on the wall section for the cemetery using Laszlo Adoba's "Building Dioramas 1,2 &3". These are great book and well worth the investment. They are not expensive by any means. Kuddos to Laszlo!
Here's a quick pictorial of how I got to where I am now with the stucco wall. I am using 1" thick construction foam board commonly used to insulate the exterior of your average basement wall. It's an easy process and the example took me less than an hour, so here goes......

All the materials needed which can be acquired from your local hardware store.

Using thinned drywall patching compound and a basic brush I applied a semi-thick layer directly onto the foam.

Next I used Spackle in a common kitchen sifter and coated the entire work area making sure to cover all the "blue" that might show through.

Here's a photo of the sample section after I used a hair dryer to speed up the drying process. Some of the Spackle will fall off, but not much. After the Spackle had been dried I misted the work area with a water bottle mister to cement the top layer (sifted) to the work piece. Then use the hair dryer once again to dry completely.

Priming the surface is a tricky process so you need to take a few precautions to avoid "burning or melting" the foam sheet. Lacquer based primers will melt or burn the foam really quick, so a light coat is recommended, then build up a second layer if you feel it's necessary. If you rush this process the primer will leach through the Spackle and come in contact with the foam and destroy all you have done up to this point. I taped off any areas that were not treated to avoid a major mess.

And finally we have a finished section ready for painting. I would suggest using an air brush for your first coat and then brush on subsequent coats. The Spackle will suck up most of the first coat, so be prepared to make a few passes before the color is satisfactory.

As you can see from this example it's not a difficult process, so why spend money buying kits of plastic buildings when you can make you own. The possibilities are endless and only depending on your imagination, and of course, realism is a factor, too.

I know I've been pushing the edge of the envelope by posting non-figure pics, so I'll hold off till this big beast is finalized. This is a figure forum, btw, and many apologies to anyone who may now appreciate the process.

Thx for watchin and the finale to follow soon, I hope. Cheers, Ski.

Nice work Ski Been a long road on this but you have done well
Steve

Excellent progress Ski, I like the lay out of the bikes and figures and the work on the wall looks good, going to be a impressive scene when completed.

Cheers
Steve

Thx mucho Steve and Stevo, and Nap.

It's been a long haul already, but it doesn't seem like 4yrs since I started it, lol. Seems like it's never gonna get done, but the labor intensive part is done, the figures. Now I'm in the really fun part, construction.

Thx again Gents. Cheers, Ski.

Great work and a pleasure to see your progress!

Thx Honster, slow going, but making progress.........

I think this project lacks ambition Steve

Seriously mate, it's very impressive and will look amazing once your finished. Keep pushing forward mate

Thx Tony. What I'm really lacking in motivation for is getting all that outside summer work done.....................

It looks like a great stage scene. It looks very good so far ... Just keep going

Cheers Borek

Thx Borek, I will work it as I can

Sorry Gents

This thread will cease to be active until I can find another pic host, cheaper. Photobucket wants to rape it's users. I don't mind paying for the service, but I refuse to get raped in the process. I will revert back to Fotki, they are way less expensive and I've already paid a yrs sub. I may have to start a new thread. This is flat out Bravo Sierra, IMHO.

I refuse to pay $400/yr to post pics thru Photobucket, they can go to hell, hell, hell......................,as Billy the Kid said in the movie "Young Guns", HA! This is, in my opinion, holding my pics hostage. All the pics over the years of posting will now be mute. Oh well, life is full of challenges.

Then again, I can post directly onto this site, thankfully, and PB can just kiss off.

Cheers, Ski.

Ok, Fotki works! We carry on.

I'm not alone in this frustration.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/4/15919224/photobucket-broken-images-amazon-ebay-etsy-paid-update

The problem with a lot of these internet companies is they offer their wares for free but they all tend to have a financial gain motif hidden until they get the numbers they require, then hit them with a big bill, problem is they get you dependent on their use and then hit you with a ransom.
Glad you found an alternative mate and you can still share your work
Steve