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Thanks Gits'. Great to hear that (warm and fuzzy inside).

Progress:
Many layers of grey have coated the inside, then some subtle shading and highlighting.
What little decoration has been added.
And the outside received primer (grey) and many layers of white and then yellow; all via air-brush.

All was going so reasonably well... and then I put a series of black finger prints around it while painting the lower edge...

Most cleaned off, but one persisted and I'm in the process of covering it up and attempting to match the air-brushed tone with hairy brush, as well as touching up a few other areas (I'm definitely using the proceeds from this model to buy a decent air-brush that'll give me a consistent flow, although I didn't help this one by tipping in some old, bit-filled paint at one point).

Anyway, this is what it looks like:


Once I've fixed my yellow, I'll gloss coat the whole thing and it'll be done.

This is a very unusual project... is it for a model railroad perhaps?

It is unusual indeed.

This is for a company that designs windfarms. They wanted a model that they could show to people.

They decided that 3D printed models were too expensive and my friend (who works there) said he knew a man who makes models.

It has to be accurate and to-scale to their drawings.

This particular model (at ~1:48 scale) is a test to see how long it would take me, how much it would cost, and whether they like what I can achieve.

If they are happy with all of it, they might commission me to make a larger scale version of the full piece (with more platforms, ladders, and many other things). This would end up over 70cm (~28 inches) tall... and doesn't even include the windmill bit at the top...

This is why I'm being so precise with the model.

It has given me the idea to approach other companies that might want scale models made, as a way to actually get a decent wage from this stuff.
Could be the start of a "proper" job, or I could be deluding myself again...

Hope it works out for you mate... it's pretty awesome.

Thanks Gits'.

This kind of thing does bring out the perfectionist in me though; there are so many things on this that I know should be better (and will be on the final commission... if I get that chance).

Having glossed the inside, I could finally glue in the lower platform. I am very pleased that the ladder does reach the air-tight platform, as it should, and the lower platform is lined up with the flange. I did all the measurements, and cut and glued all the parts carefully, but until you properly install this kind of thing, there's always a doubt.

However, the gloss has highlighted one issue I was not aware of, and this is the subtle sagging of the air-tight platform. It must have been the painting (white spirit does attack polystyrene) as this was flat when I glued it in, and I've only painted it since. Something else to keep in mind about thin (0.25mm) plasticard and painting. Not that anyone else reading this uses the paints I use. *shrugs*

Still, today's tip; gloss varnish will show up any and all imperfections in a surface. Use that to your advantage.

I still need to gloss the outside, but more photos of the inside to keep you going:
You also get a view from below (that I haven't shown before), and no one in reality sees; the lower platform being the lowest anyone goes.


Final photos are likely tomorrow.

Really impressive stuff. I can definitely see you doing this professionally.

It's great to see you getting paid to do what you love. Awesome work - so much yellow!

Excellent. Even when following strict guidelines, your attention to detail and preciseness (hope that actually means what I mean ), come through into a great build.

Hope the little mishap with the warping does not hurt the model much.

Good luck with it, I'd love to see your take on the larger scale one!

Thanks Gits'. Time will tell.

Thanks Graven. Not getting paid to do it yet... but if they like it...
As for yellow, wait until you see the final photos...

...On the note of photos, there will be a slight delay as the air-tight floor is being re-painted; I tried to matt varnish it to take it back to before it was glossed, but my matt varnish appears to be... pretty poor... to put it politely. The only way to make this matt is to go out and find a suitable varnish or re-paint it.
Re-painting is quicker and cheaper.
Will find a better matt varnish for future use.

Thanks LT. I believe it means what you intended it to mean.
My little perfectionism daemon on my shoulder keeps telling me it could be better here and there.

See above about the warped floor. Once it's matt it shouldn't show, you can only look down upon it.

Larger version will be bigger (well duh...) and better (after this practice). I do hope I get the chance.

Finished (barring any comments from the customer).

Outside:

Yellow.

Inside:

With re-painted air-tight platform that no longer shows the warping.

Scale shots (with a 1:48 scale 6ft cardboard cutout and Ork #1):


And there you have it.
There may be a delay in the full model (if they want it), so I might find something else to do in the mean time... maybe even something for my own army... Or this Lynx that's been staring at me for 9 months...

It looks better with the ork in it...

 Gitsplitta wrote:
It looks better with the ork in it...

Agreed!

 Dr H wrote:



After seeing it with it's red roof and wooden walls, I had to do that one.
The fence needed re-gluing as the old glue had become brittle and some sections fell off (so I took the time to rearrange them a little).
And I added a post to hold open the hatch at the rear (that was defying gravity).
I kept it nondescript, as I don't want it to jump out in the setup or upstage the eventual trains.

We praise you!

Ah, Gitsplitta, but the ork is the wrong scale for the model. He should be bigger.

Thanks StarDrop.

Excellent yellow, and great job recovering the warped platform.

I do like it with the Ork too, though I'm not sure it'd be the best business strategy to present it like that to a "real life" client!

I feel that it's halfway to being a giant hazard stripe, at which point it would be perfect necromunda terrain

Thanks LT. It's still there and still warped, it just doesn't show up with a matt finish, and no shading/washing.
Won't get away with it on the full model as it's likely to have the cut-away span across it. But I'll use thicker plastic for it (0.5mm) and it should be fine.

The customer has not received the photos with the Ork.
That is only there for your benefit; in case anyone didn't realise the size of this model.

Graven. There are so many parts of this model that I wanted to paint in hazard stripes. Sadly, real life engineers don't appear to use them in this case.

Everything looks great, Dr H!

Thanks 'boss.

Should anyone be interested in seeing what I'm currently doing, pop over to my (mad) army blog.

As proof of life here's some wip shots of a present I'm making. See if you can tell what it is before the last photos...


After a lot of time wasted trying to make the body from card and plaster I went back to plastic and knocked out a better shape in less time... should stick to what I know...


The engines were made from conveniently sized tubes and then cast in plaster (using the wonder material; Oyumaru) as those particular tubes are not easy to sand smooth... and having made 2, needing 4, I didn't fancy scratch-building another 2.

and yes, each laser is made from 6 pieces; the thickest only being 2mm in diameter (not including the tube used for the semi-circles at the tip).

Have you guessed what it is yet?











That's right, it's an X-shaped, 4-wing, space fighter.


There's still some tidying to do, and final small details (like panel lines) will be added in the painting.

It's not an exact replica as that would have taken beyond Christmas to do, and I have 2 more presents to make before then... and to paint them all...
Why do I leave these things so late, I've had all year...

Not an exact replica, he says... Well, I'd call it an excellent tribute!

Plaster? Is it going to be a display piece (aka not used for gaming) then?

Nice job.

 Littletower wrote:
Not an exact replica, he says... Well, I'd call it an excellent tribute!

Ha, thanks LT.

Plaster? Is it going to be a display piece (aka not used for gaming) then?

Nice job.

The plaster was just for the card to hold it's shape, there's no plaster in this plastic version.

but yes, it's just for display. From what I gather this would be too big for the x-wing game, this is over 3 inches long. I get the impression the ones in the game are half that. at least.

That's most imposing, and will look very grand on a shelf. I do like your wee gift projects.

Very impressive work.

Thanks Graven. Necessity is the mother of invention after all: No money + model-maker = crafted presents.

Thanks Gits'.

Next completed... well, "completed" where it is defined as; the bulk of the work is done and all that is left is some minor touch-ups and painting...

A miniature version of the recipient's car.
If you can tell what car it is from these pictures, I've done a good job.

The bulk of the shape was made from plasticard. I wasn't going to mess about with card and plaster after the time wasted on the X-wing's first attempt.
Other pieces of sprue and plasticard were used to add bulk (to save on putty) and define depths in some places.


Once I got on to the putty work I didn't take many photos, but it was added in many stages with the shape slowly coming into view.
After the main body shape was done the final details were added; wheel arches (these were a right pita, and I'm still not entirely happy with them), spoilers, bumpers, etc.
I planned on carving the alloy wheels from plasticard pieces and gluing them on to the bulk of the wheels added earlier. These didn't go well at all, so those details, like the rest, will be added in painting... and can't look worse than the wonky, broken, carved attempts.

And the wing-mirrors are plasticard, drilled and pinned to the sides.

So now it looks like this:

Still need to go over it with fine sandpaper and fix a couple of "dings", but that's the basic shape done.

If you can't tell what it is this is what I was aiming for:

You could do this professionally. No doubt.

Freaking awesome.

You should do car concepts for companies, it is a real job lol.

Thanks Gits' and Stormwall. They're not quite at what I would call a professional level, but that is something to aim for.

I've been quiet recently as I was working flat out to get the presents done on time. The last two were finished on Christmas eve, so I only just made it.

All presents were well received, and a good Christmas was had.

Happy Christmas to all of you out there. Hope you got some nice surprises in your stockings.

Here's the final photos of what I have been making for the past 3 weeks:

Earrings and matching necklace pendant (sculpted in milliput):


"Brass" sculpture (milliput again):

She's about 6cm (~2.5") tall.

The Landrover I showed you earlier:


and the X-Wing:

Painting straight lines is hard, yo.
This one is about 9cm (~3.5") long.

Given more time, I would have changed / improved on many parts of all of these, but can't complain about the result really.

Is there a doctor in the house as I think I just passed out

I always look forward to your Christmas present work it's a step away from the norm and you never know what will see, great stuff all round from the sculpting to the brush work.

However the Land Rover is some great paint work as the shading has really given it the 3dimensional look

Also that X-wing is just fantastic yes I feel your pain as to the straight lines but you have achieved a great effect, the panel lines are spot on

Hope you have had a great festive holiday and continues to be a good one

The fact that all that is scratch-built / sculpted is just amazing. The land rover is fantastic with the one exception being the roughness of the surface. Could you have possibly tried wet-sanding in order to smooth it out a bit more?

You should do more of those cars and make them the correct size for Zombicide. They have in gameuse and I could see people buying those up.