Tree Building using plastic armatures in 4mm scale

[Mikkel]

Very nice. The tree is of course superb, nice shades of grass too. The gaudy ice cream van jars with the calm autumn colours, just as it would in reality! 😀 

[MAP66]

5 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Very nice. The tree is of course superb, nice shades of grass too. The gaudy ice cream van jars with the calm autumn colours, just as it would in reality! 😀 

Thanks Mikkel,

Quite right about the ice cream van, I would normally apply some weathering to dull the colours on vehicles but who would want to buy an ice cream from a grotty old looking ice cream van 🍦😄

[MAP66]

Some pigeons arrived in the post today, not my favourite creature but I thought I should have a go at painting something that small as they have a place on this diorama along with a squirrel or two.

I have installed the hoop top railings and weathered in some pathways the other side of the railings, along the pathways I plan to place a couple of park benches.  

Here’s another couple of progress pics, just the one deckchair at the moment occupied by big band enthusiast Harry ‘The Horn’ Blower, he brought his own deckchair not realising that the park will provide seating. However, Harry has arrived far too early, even the band haven’t arrived yet!!

Meanwhile, a sole pigeon, others to follow, is first in the queue for a 99 🍦

 

 

[LimboBrit]

13 hours ago, MAP66 said:

even the band haven’t arrived yet!!

It's going to be a challenge to get a complete big band on that band stand. I look forward to seeing it

[MAP66]

2 hours ago, LimboBrit said:

It's going to be a challenge to get a complete big band on that band stand. I look forward to seeing it

There might be a bit of a wait getting the band members painted (everyone’s patience is much appreciated) hopefully the finished article will be worth the wait. The fiddliest thing, apart from the painting of the 3D figures, is releasing them from the support sprues undamaged. I have already suffered one casualty by way of a broken trumpet, that’s not going to sound too good! At 1/76 scale, the detail on these band instruments are really at the limit of what currently can be 3D printed. You can imagine how fine and fragile the trombone is for example.

So, I’m afraid it’s not going to be a full brass band, I don’t think my pockets are deep enough to go to that expense, they are a bit pricey. If all goes well we will have a reduced in numbers representation of a brass band 😄 🎼🎺

[LimboBrit]

55 minutes ago, MAP66 said:

I have already suffered one casualty by way of a broken trumpet

As a saxophonist I won't be loosing any sleep about that 😉

[Mikkel]

That pigeon is exceptionally well painted. I have a bit of 1/76 pigeon-painting experience, mine were just white and yet it was hard to make them look like anything other than a blob.

 

I like the positioning of it too, works really well. Less is more and all that. You may not need that many more?

 

 

 

 

[Miss Prism]

Have just discovered this excellent thread. Let's hope more of the lost images can be restored.

 

[MAP66]

On 14/12/2022 at 05:58, Mikkel said:

That pigeon is exceptionally well painted. I have a bit of 1/76 pigeon-painting experience, mine were just white and yet it was hard to make them look like anything other than a blob.

 

I like the positioning of it too, works really well. Less is more and all that. You may not need that many more?

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your kind comments Mikkel,

Pigeon painting is a bit of a tester, I must admit. There will only be 2 or 3 pigeons featured, as many of them had their feet broken off as they are too fragile. Never mind, they can still be used by placing on grass to disguise the missing feet.

There is going to be a squirrel somewhere! I’m leaning towards placing it on top of a litter bin (yet to be installed, probably on the pavement).

Like all my dioramas, ideas keep on coming to me for more details to include. 😄

[MAP66]

On 14/12/2022 at 09:58, Miss Prism said:

Have just discovered this excellent thread. Let's hope more of the lost images can be restored.

 

Thank you, much appreciated.

I am still working on retrieving the lost images but it will take a little while yet before there all back 🙂

[MAP66]

Season’s Greetings All 🎅

Well, I’ve been dabbling in the background engaged in short sessions, over several days, restoring lost images from pages 1 to 4. All now done, please enjoy 😀

 

[MAP66]

Below is an image of how things look on the cobbled road sections before they get better. I think its good to show where all the bad fitting angles are, to highlight that I hardly ever get it right on the first, second or sometimes third attempt when measuring and cutting out. Which is why I always have plenty of filler to hand (the white stuff).

When all painted up and blended in you would never know where the gaps where 😉

The close up has also revealed that I need to get the black gloss paint out again for the bits I missed on the railings!

 

 

[MAP66]

I have just about managed to assemble the first brass music stand from the Langley kit which also includes seats for the band members. A tad fiddly but I think I have the hang of it now. I have left it unpainted to show the brass and have glued a piece of sheet music onto the top bit.

Meanwhile I repaired the damaged trumpet then subsequently knackered the Tuba when attempting to remove it from the support sprues, 😠 I think that a bodge of some sort can be achieved to make it play again.

 

 

[Mikkel]

Excellent. I like the sheet music.

 

Once a week for forty years, John Smith dressed up in his Sunday best, went to the park, and conducted for three hours straight. There was no band, no audience and the locals  thought he was potty. But he thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it 🙂

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Mikkel

[MAP66]

I seem to be going one step forward and three steps backward at the moment, not content with destroying musical instruments, I now find myself standing on litter bins (It accidently fell on the floor and when I got out of the chair, I stood on it). Luckily, I have others.

On a more positive note, we now have a squirrel. The cheeky fellow has jumped down from the oak onto the railings to embark on his daily trip to the litter bin (bored with acorns I guess). Anyway, he will be an angry squirrel when he discovers that some clumsy clot has squashed the bin!

 

 

 

 

And not forgetting the poor old litter bin...

 

[sb67]

Like the pigeons and squirrel, where did you get them? 

[MAP66]

11 minutes ago, sb67 said:

Like the pigeons and squirrel, where did you get them? 

Hi Steve, nice to hear from you. Here's the link https://seriousplayscenics.com/

[Mikkel]

Very good squirrel, nice 3D print but again it is your painting that makes it look so good. Looking at the first image, I thought you had photshopped in a real squirrel.

[MAP66]

32 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

Very good squirrel, nice 3D print but again it is your painting that makes it look so good. Looking at the first image, I thought you had photshopped in a real squirrel.

I didn't use paint but sticking the fur on was tricky 🤣 🤣 Joking aside, I am enjoying this miniature painting lark, I just need to stop breaking stuff 😬

[MAP66]

My latest erratic splurge of modelling activity has seen all the music stands completed along with chairs for the musicians, although, only one band member is modelled in a seated position. I also managed to fix the broken piece of trumpet and so, apart from the conductor, we now are joined by the trumpet player.

 

 

 

[MAP66]

B*gger off squirrel and keep your eyes off my Tesco meal deal. 😠

 

My next idea for adding the detail, is a flatbed trailer stacked with deckchairs, ready to be put up by a couple of park staff.

The trailer below is HO 1/87 scale and came with a load of moulded on resin hay bales which I managed to remove using a razor saw. I need to make good the saw marks and scribe in the wooden planks and then stack with folded deck chairs. I think a tarpaulin half pulled away would also look good.

 

[Mikkel]

Lovely scenes. That last shot of him sitting in the shade of the tree is not only excellently modelled but also quite soothing. I wish I was there!

 

[MAP66]

5 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Lovely scenes. That last shot of him sitting in the shade of the tree is not only excellently modelled but also quite soothing. I wish I was there!

 

Thanks Mikkel,

I have recessed downlighters in the ceiling and by placing the diorama directly beneath one of them you get a lovely natural light effect shining through the tree branches from above and casting shadows onto the ground, sort of like dappled sunlight. It actually looks like, to me, that the second image was taken outside in natural light.

The chap on the bench gets around a bit, you may remember that he is actually came from the garden diorama, sitting in a deckchair. Any way he now has a Tesco supermarket carrier bag glued to his leg, so I guess that now makes him a permanent resident of the park scene.

One area I still need to resolve is how to create a convincing looking ‘park themed’ backscene for image taking. The photo ID scene I use at the moment is just put in place to hide from view my untidy work bench as the background. 😀

[MAP66]

My next stint of modelling involved the flatbed trailer. I wanted one stack of deckchairs to be partially on view and the two remaining stacks to be covered by a tarpaulin. I represented the two covered stacks by cutting a piece of polystyrene foam to size and then glued a folded deckchair to the top and bottom of the foam block. This saved me using 24 folded deckchairs which wouldn’t be visible. For the tarp, I cut kitchen towel to size, folded it over the trailer and then applied dilute PVA with a brush and allowed to dry. This is what I ended up with…

 

 

[MAP66]

And then the paint went on...

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and the pigeon is back!