Trip-Titch - 2021 The Cob : the little people

[southern42]

Thanks, Marly51.

 

As mentioned above, somewhere, I made the walls from downloaded Scalescenes dry stone wall paper, with the paper in Landscape. To do the coping stones, I had to print out a second sheet because I needed the full width of the paper in Portrait, and I also had to expand the image to the edges of the paper to get the required length (800mm) + end fold  - so, to nit pic, it is a bit overscale as it happens, but I am not counting! 

 

After I cut my thumb, the second strip turned out narrower than the first.

How did that happen? 

Don't ask!  

I don't know! 

Not to worry, I can use it to emphasise foreshortening - it is on the far wall!  No damage done, then, except to my thumb. 

 

So, both walls topped out.

 

.

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by southern42

[southern42]

While I was tidying up non essentials, but before putting away the cutting board, I made a bay window for the front of the cakebox to protect the trees & Rod Mullet.

 

I do not reckon on my chances on having to do repair work on trees or fishing rod now everything is glued down.

 

The screen is only temporary while I work on the rest of it. It was the window in my Easter Egg box, hence the shape! The rest of the box is on standby. 
 

[southern42]

A break from the modelling. Time for ...er...hum...painting...er...hum...faces.

 

Man #1 Langley Models - brakeman: first coat Vallejo Dark Flesh.

Man #2 Dart Castings - passenger: as above with additional coats of colours from Daler-Rowney Georgian Water Colour Box (12 colours: 30 years old?! £8.99 at the time.)

 

 

Lady #1 Langley Models No.6 fan to go in the bus.  Not happy with the face but the obligatory boater is better than expected after some filing down of shape and flowers. Same method for face and hat: Dark Flesh then water colour.
 

The fur on her coat will have to go next and the coat painted to resemble  No.6’s blazer. The dress will get filed down to suggest trousers - not that they will be seen if I can get the figures to fit in the bus. Hopefully, no legs will need to be amputated. 

Not as easy as it looks in 4mm even with a magnifying glass which makes the brush look big as well! I am getting into a habit of look normal vision, look under magnifying glass, paint normal vision with aim and shoot technique. OK on the Man #2. Not quite right on Lady #1.

 

Hopefully, I will get better and also make the clothing more presentable when photos are blown up!

 

 

Edited April 24, 2021 by southern42

[ManofKent]

I struggle with painting figures in 4mm. A dark wash to hopefully bring out some face detail is the best I can manage and am in awe of those who can paint in eyes or lips.

[southern42]

What I find with 4mm figures is that when I have carefully painted them - primer, coat of paint, shadow and/or highlight - as soon as I photograph them it shows how bad they really are with ragged edges, splodges of paint in the wrong place, bits missed, and I thought I was being careful. My consolation is that most irregularities are not necessarily observed by the eye and sometimes, somehow, seem to make the figures look better than they really are! Strange!

 

The figures for the Cake Box Challenge deadline, their backs turned towards the viewer or half covered in a waggon, were done very crudely and very quickly - hence my desire to give them a bit more TLC and try out different ways of doing it. So far, I am delighting in the effect of using a dilute water colour wash on the faces which wipes off easier than my acrylics if I put on too much or make it too dark. The water colours also lighten if I add a touch more water and I can spread the colour further or clean off where it is not needed. So much to discover and a new magnifying glass to learn how to use to best advantage.

 

So, today's task: looking again at No.6 fan, Lady #1.

 

[southern42]

On 24/04/2021 at 20:14, southern42 said:

...

 

Lady #1... No.6 fan to go in the bus.
 

The fur on her coat will have to go next and the coat painted to resemble  No.6’s blazer. The dress will get filed down to suggest trousers - not that they will be seen if I can get the figures to fit in the bus. Hopefully, no legs will need to be amputated. 
 

 

 

Lady #1 decided to have a change of clothing based on an online photo of a young lady taken at the 2018 No.6 Convention at Portmeirion.

 

This required filing down the dress to become trousers and the coat to be filed back to become a jacket. The feathery fur stayed and more added to the bottom of her trousers. She kept the boater but changed the colours to suit the rest of her outfit.

Coat and dress partly filed away.

Checking that she will fit in the bus.

She is fixed in place raised on blutack. If glued directly onto the shallow seat , she may need her feet cut off. I will wait until I have the other event goers ready before making that decision.

And bus back together, again.

 

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by southern42

[southern42]

First of all, congratulations to Ben and his Steampunk winning entry, and well done to you all for some superb and exciting modelling. Roll on another Cakebox Challenge!

While we have been waiting the result, I have been tinkering with some more passengers for the bus.

It is the turn of Couple #1 to get dressed up for their trip to Portmeirion. Sir, wants to be kitted out in white shirt and black tie, coat and trousers; swap his trilby for a top hat; and is looking out for some dark glasses.

 

Madam wants to wear the white trimmed black blazer and a boater.

 

Photos of progress shortly...

[southern42]

Not the prettiest of pictures.

Something I have had success with before has turned out a bit disappointing.  To add a brim, I wrapped some thread round the brimless hat. It looked fine - acceptable, anyway.

 

When I came to paint and photograph it, I could see tiny fibres around the brim and hanging over the figure's face.  So, after:

• filing;
• repainting the hat;
• repainting the couple's coat and blazer to cover paint, file damage and very fine dust particles;
• rephotographing;
• touching up; etc;

here is just one bigger-than-life photo of the lucky couple! 

 

 

Lots more work to do with a fine brush to improve paintwork, including collar and tie - they were lovely until they got covered with black paint when I was painting the lady!

 

The biggest challenge is having the two figures together. For instance, working on a hat gets more difficult when the inner side is obstructed by the other one. The time taken on the two is more than I would normally take doing two single figures. Fun and games!

 

And the funny side of it all is that they will be mostly hidden inside the bus! But, if I let it go, any wrong-looking bits are bound to be the bits that will show - speaking from experience!

 

[southern42]

 

Couple #1 have been getting themselves kitted out but they have been taking their time about it, presumably, because they are being "shaped to fit"!

 

Sir has a new collar and tie and has smartened up his trousers and shoes. All he needs now is those dark glasses.

 

Madam found a black and white striped blouse in her wardrobe. It is a bit on the baggy side so the stripes are a bit wonky but she says it will do! Who am I to argue?  She got the dressmaker in town, in the school uniform shop, to put the white trim on the blazer and a black ribbon* on the hat.  She is absolutely delighted!

 

 

 

They are still waiting for their badges to arrive from the online shop.

Then a bit of touching up with the paint brush and they should be ready to go on the bus.

 

* A strip cut from a bin liner.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by southern42
The top photo disappeared!

[southern42]

Couple #1 almost ready for the bus. Badges arrived from the online shop but still no sign of Sir’s dark glasses.

 

However, Lady #2, looking more like a Christmas fairy at the moment, has been for a cloak fitting.  She has decided to  knock her 1920s cloche hat into something a bit more PortmeriCon-ish.  A red fedora, perhaps.

 

The test cape is tissue paper from a box of RTR stock.

On another test piece, CD markers colour the vertical stripes well but I only have red, green and black. Blue would be nice. Other felt markers are in short supply - only a rather old box of large ones. There might be some blue I could use on the edges, if it has not dried up!

 

A railbus driver is queueing up to drive the bus. How he hopes to drive it without a steering wheel, I do not know. Perhaps this might help...

 

 

...half a press stud (popper).

 

In the photo, the left hand has been turned through 90 degrees - broken off and superglued back on.  The other hand was turned a little, later, but not enough to break it off. So the hands are now in a more realistic position for a steering wheel.

 

Now, whether I can add a steering wheel inside the bus is another thing! Rather, I am thinking the other way round - glue the steering wheel between the hands then add a post of the right length so the bus body will fit over the top.   

 

The driver will be dressed as No.6 himself so a little more work to do - white blazer edging, Vote No.6 rosette, hat into boater, and tan coloured trousers; and, hopefully, the left hand will not come off while all that is going on around it. 

 

I may be some time. 

[southern42]

Disappointment.

Yesterday, I seated the contenders for the No.6 outing on the bus seats and realised that the Dart Castings BR driver was significantly larger than the Edwardian figures from Langley Models so he is being sent back to his former depot in the Spares Box. In his place is another Edwardian seated fella who has his sleeves rolled up so his lower arms needed covering. Unfortunately, he will not be able to put his hands on the steering wheel although, the steering wheel will fit on top of his hands - something to think about. Not that it matters, because I doubt it will be seen once the body of the bus is on.

  

 

Lady #2, now, looking more like Paddington, really needs to get her act together. She must have something other than the colour of that coat to wear! Marmalade, perhaps? 

 

Don't worry, folks!  It will all be covered up with the big stripy cape.

 

Edit

Something useful.

In making some No.6 badges, I found out that I could cut blutack with a pair of scissors without it stretching out of shape, as happens when trying to pull it apart with the fingers or even knife. Thus I cut the driver's sleeves to shape and size.

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by southern42

[southern42]

The badges.

These were fairly easy to make - the usual trick of making a round ball and flattening it into a circle.

The easy bit - paint them white.

The tricky bit came when I wanted to put it on Madam's left lapel but Sir's right arm was in the way. Half circle, but how without pulling it out of shape?  Yes, I tried the scissors. A clean cut way beyond expectation. Wonderful! But, in the end, because I lost! the half badge, Madam now has a whole one.

Now the really, really tricky bit - put a number on one, a pennyfarthing logo on the other! Font size 4pt, perhaps? Number #1? #7? Might get away with one of those!

 

 

Lady #2 has finally identified herself as Number 8, Nadia Rolovsky who was played by Nadia Gray in the episode 'The Chimes of Big Ben' (1967). She is noted for her black top, red trousers and red fedora, with cape of black and gold.  There she is, sitting at the back of the bus.

 

The bus looks full but the interesting thing is the figures are 1:76 but the bus is 1:64  - it says so underneath! - and I had trouble fitting in a larger 1:76 figure.  As long as it looks OK, eh?.

  

 

 

Still a few things to do: sunglasses for Top Hat; a Vote for No.6 placard for the back seat; and varnish the figures.

 

I decided not to try and put numbers or pennyfarthing on the badges.  They do not show up on photos that small, not many, anyway. If I find some small enough numbered transfers, I may think again.  The ones readily to hand are too big.

 

Now, to think about doing a re-livery of the bus. I have some ideas. Just need the confidence and mojo to do it. The simplest (and quickest!) is to put the pennyfarthing logo over the 'VW' and leave the rest as is or, at least, repaint the 60s bling into plain yellow.

 

What I fancy doing is... paint the lower half white, and the top half with yellow and white stripes, with matching stripes on the seats, in keeping with the Mini Moke.  Any thoughts on that?

 

 

Polly

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by southern42
typo

[ManofKent]

I like the idea of the mini-moke style makeover of the VW.

 

Be Seeing You...

[southern42]

14 hours ago, ManofKent said:

I like the idea of the mini-moke style makeover of the VW.

 

Be Seeing You...

 

"Right on!" as they said back in the 60s-70s, or should I say, "Ride on!"? 

 

First thing, then, make the Pennyfarthing roundel to fit over the VW, which is a decent size, and a pair of "tax1" numberplates. There were no numberplates attached to the bus when I bought it.

Since the colour scheme suits the placement of the Pennyfarthing, I will leave the white and yellow in their original places and just get rid of the scribbles on the sides and see how it goes.

I see a day spent on the computer coming up getting these things to a printable image of the right size and printed off!

 

  

[southern42]

There is some good news and some bad news.

The bad news is that the black ink bled into the white 'tax1' lettering on the numberplate. I will have to see if it will print better on some photo paper.

 

The good news...

Ta-dah...

 

Stuck on with blutack at the moment.

[southern42]

I have decided to have a go at removing the 60s motifs off the sides of the bus and doing a repaint job. I need to order some paint so it may take awhile to finish.

 

In the meantime, have a good Bank Holiday.

[southern42]

Yesterday's test. Some very light sanding and polishing up on the rear end - time consuming but relaxing and, so far, it is looking good.

 

 

That is my Bank Holiday sorted. 

[southern42]

The sides of the bus are now decluttered.

 

 

I, now, need to touch up the paintwork before giving it an overall new coat of paint in the same colour, and sort out some No.6 motifs.  It turns out we have some transfer paper so that will save a few pennies!  

 

Out of interest, the metallic backdrop for the bus photos is the top of my laptop and white mounting board behind. It saves me having to clear a space on the workbench dining table every time I want to take a photo!

 

 

[southern42]

Paint job done. Quite a few thin layers of paint brushed on, modifying the colour as I went along to get best match. A few extra layers of paint added after the photo was taken. Am I ever satisfied?

 

Base colour: Windsor & Newton Cadmium yellow medium hue acrylic

Toned down with Vallejo Model Colour Dark flesh acrylic

Lightened with W&N Titanium white acrylic

 

Pleased with that - for a change. 

 

 

Next job - give the paintwork a coat of gloss varnish.

[southern42]

While I was waiting for the gloss to arrive, I did a test piece for the other modules - a fir forest on the distant mountains using some dried out moss.  I also have a different moss which I have pressed between model railway books specifically for the job, so I hope I may get a more life like appearance. We will see when it comes to it.  For now, I am happy enough that the idea should work.

 

Clump of tangled up moss

 

First couple of strands cut and stuck on mountains made from a 4"x1"x1/4" cereal card frame  and some Polyfilla.

Some previously used diluted PVA glue on the base. Super glue on the moss.

 

Further layers added.

 

As I have yet to start either of the other two modules, I have used The Cob to see if it is going to work. The mountain forest is simply placed on top of a box behind the Cob's backdrop so actually outside the 8"x8" limit.  Naturally(!), it will fit inside the 8"x8" ruling on either of the other two cakebox modules.

The scale of the mountains and forest will need to be adapted when I scenic the other modules. I have some photos to guide me.  This test was purely freestyle.

 

Test on site with the 'trees' painted with colour washes to reflect a dull wet misty autumn day.

 

Back to the bus to Portmeirion, next.

 

Thanks for popping in and your ratings. Much appreciated.

Polly

[southern42]

And back to the magic bus.

After a few hours messing around on the computer I have come up with an image for the decals I could put on the bus.

 

Two designs - "I am not a number":  1) on the slope; 2) on the straight. I have yet to make up my mind.

"I am not a number" is sold on official merchandise mainly in the same font style as "The Prisoner." In other uses, many are hand painted letters, so I went for a more graffiti looking style.

 

Dark yellow background indicates the base colour of the bus. Pale yellow indicates the space below the wheel arches.

The No.6 is over the front wheel arch, as seen on some racing VW vehicles. (I was tempted to put "I am a free bus" but thought better of it!) The Pennyfarthing is over the rear wheel arch. Overall size 40mm x 12mm.

 

Ideally, I would like to make the lettering smaller but I think I will have trouble enough printing it out as it is and it still being readable.  A test I have yet to do.

 

 

 

[southern42]

Today was spent with ruler tweaking the size and shape of the motifs for the decal sheet.

The test printed out to size, so worth the effort.  I will cut out the motifs, tomorrow, and lay them on the bus to make sure they do fit!

 

I have two versions of the number plate. One is taken from the mini moke taxi in the Prisoner font type but did not print very well.  The other one I best matched with a different font. If the mini moke version is no better on the transfer sheet I will have to substitute my own.

 

There was an expected problem re the rear number plate. I will have to make it larger if it does not print better on the transfer sheet, or forget about it, or just accept it for the size it is.

 

The issue is that the number plate is part of the chassis and slides through the "letterbox" opening in the body to hold the rear end of the bus together. It measures a mere 5mmx1mm. If I make the number plate larger, it will have to be blutacked on so as to be removable should I need to dismantle the body if, for instance, any of the figures keel over and need reseating. (It has happened before on a layout, a figure toppled over inside a building - fortunately out of sight!)

 

 

A number of years ago, I was part of a group on an art course which, among other groups, was tasked with creating a design for a local organisation's bus.  Ours went miserably wrong! I just hope this one turns out better!

 

[southern42]

Day two tinkering with the measurements for the magic bus decals.  It sure will be magic if I get this sorted!

 

A few things I messed up:

• The distance between the wheel arches was a couple of millimetres too long.
• I did not allow enough space above the moulding along the bottom edge.
• I did not take into account the petrol cap and two door handles on the right hand side.

 

All in all, a slight revamping of the components:

• The "The Prisoner" logo and the Pennyfarthing have been reduced in size.
• The right hand side has different slogans: "Vote for number" next to the no. (6) and "free for all" (the title of that episode and part of No.6's dialogue).

And not so bad as I had anticipated - the original number plate font for the front of the bus. The number plate is just a paper cut out blutacked on.

 

 

More to come, then...

Edited June 12, 2021 by southern42

[southern42]

Phew!

Well, that is how I feel after many adjustments to size and position of decal details, a last minute test print and more adjustments, a print out on a clear transfer sheet after a 'printing options' error(!),* and a final printout on the other end of the sheet.

 

 

 

* The red lettering around 'The Prisoner' came out black - I had 'print page backgrounds' OFF!  It simply came about because I had several 'grouped' items, so the red lettered 'groups' were deemed as 'page backgrounds' it seems. The 6s were images rather than type, which would explain why they stayed red.

 

Tomorrow's job is to spray varnish the sheet ready for Monday, when I hope to start putting the decals on the bus. 

 

Feeling happier, again,  but no more confident in what is still to come.  

Deep breath...

 

 

 

[southern42]

Disaster!

The ink ran on contact with the water!

 

It seems a well known railway modeller's brand of varnish was not suitable!

 

Enter "Clear Glaze" acrylic spray and there you go! It is a bit potent, but I survived!

No runs and decal transferred to a piece of a well known cereal packet and cut to test it fits on the bus.

 

Next step, do a reprint of the decals, spray, and transfer them onto the bus.   Sounds simple, doesn't it? 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by southern42
Not "its fit"!