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Fantastic work skalk. Those little details are really amazing and add so much to the piece.

what i love now the most is your thirst for knowledge... testing new ideas... wether they work out or not... you are going boldly where no one has gone before...

the chimera for "drybrushing" trackmarks... unbelievable...
the wooden sticks for push and torn marks... brilliant!

and so much rust and other yucky effects...*bows* thanks for sharing!

The track marks are totally inspired. Genius.

So, uhm, Skalk?

Lovely piece. I mean it. I look forward to taking it from you, and refueling my Manticores and whatnots. Epic.

Except there's one problem.

THERE'S NO FUEL HOSE TO PUMP PROMETHIUM FROM THE TANK INTO MY PRECIOUS, PRECIOUS VEHICLES.

kthxbye.

--B.

Wow! Loving where this has come! The electrical panel was an excellent addition, but I'm really diggin' the trashcan, toolbox, and other shambles in the corner. This thing just gets better and better and is a true testament piece of how this community comes together to make something unique and awesome through helpful, constructive criticism and encouragement.

Terrific work as usual Skalk!! The scuffing on the tile by the Chimera worked out great! Love the trash barrel and piled up bits against the ramp. How about some oil or fuel splashes/drip spots around the drain where the Chimera was placed? Fuel streaks down the platform wall maybe?

Wow, this is brilliant! Thanks for sharing the pics and tutorial, I think that I can apply this right away. The trash is my favorite detail. I have to say that I was wondering about the hose too...

@ Gits- I'm really trying to make this the most it can be. My only worry at this point is the paint. I still feel it's my weakest point. Not fishing for compliments, I know I don't suck. In fact I know I'm slightly above average and climbing. I'm just not where I want to be, or where I need to be to give this piece the paintjob it needs in order to be truly complete.

@ Vik- Wow. Coming from the LoER Chapter Master that is a high compliment and I appreciate it. Eventually I'll simply know what works or not from experience and my projects will take a lot less time w/ the same excellent results.

@ graven- That seems to be the 'big hit' of my recent update. I'm still trying to figure out how to show damage to the tiles (like cracks, etc) as I sure a Leman Russ would be heavy enough to crush them down quite a bit (think of any major US road w/ a lot of semis going over it day after day). I have an idea but not so sure how to make it work. I'll figure it out.

@ Brian / hdbbstephen- I had a hose, but some old guy drove off with it still in the filler neck. I have a replacement one on order with the Adeptus Mechanicus. They gave me tracking number 968-273-76-382533 but would not give me an estimated date of arrival. If worse come to worse I'll just cobble one together.

@ Moltar- This project is why I am glad I'm a bitz hoarder. I've had that tool chest since somewhere between '96 and '99. All the other stuff I have no idea really. There's a gas mask from a 1/32 scale M113 kit I built when I was in the Army. The cables are from a 2nd Ed Servitor that I cut up for my Pit Slave gang in '98. There's other stuff in there that I've had for a ridiculously long time, like when I was 12. But I knew someday I'd use it.

@ rust- Thanks! Fuel splashes / etc will be last on the list before I do the final matte spray. I'm also going to have rusty gross seepage from the trash can, grit and nastiness around the grate, etc.

@ hdbbstephen- I hope my failures lead to your successes. And the hose... well, you saw what happened.



I still have a lot of work to do. By the time I am done with this I'm likely going to seal it in a glass display case.

Naw, just kidding. I want to use it in every game. I won't obviously, bit it's going to look mighty awesome on the table. Now that I've kicked up the ante I'm going to have to look at my past projects w/ a more critical eye, which is dangerous because that's how this Frankenstein projects started out.

I'll have more to share in a few days, work is getting nutty again and the OT is available. May as well ride the $$$ train to the very end.

 Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:
I'll have more to share in a few days, work is getting nutty again and the OT is available. May as well ride the $$$ train to the very end.

Wish I had that Over Time problem I don't get any... The rest of the engineering dept where I work all have a crazy amount of time off on the books but me, so I am the engineering support for the holidays. On a positive note though, I can sit at my desk and clean flashing off mini's for 8hrs a day without being interupted by folks

Back in the day when I had a cube instead of open floor plan I would paint at my desk during break and lunch (and when I had the 10:30am to 7:30pm shift I'd paint straight through from 5 onward). Sadly I can barely get away w/ jusr Dakka posts these days.

Read through this today and WOW very cool.

Love the projects, tank looks cool.

Where the heck you get all that building material, cool.

As broken tiles just cut one out dig out under it a little, then cut it up an put it back in. Also as someone mentioned earlier, take an odd tile out and concrete the hole up, like some half ass repair man would IRL.

This is another inspirational thread I have found on Dakka, just awesome.

This keeps getting better and better Skalk, looking forward to the next update, imagine a whole table with this amount of detail

 GiraffeX wrote:
This keeps getting better and better Skalk, looking forward to the next update, imagine a whole table with this amount of detail

Oh, I can imagine that, but I'd only be inclined to let my opponent join in if all of his models were painted... but with a bunch of pics and a third person to take turn-by-turn notes one could make a killah bat-rep!

hi,
looking good stalk! Im loving the attion to detail and the weathering on the boiler loving the work dude!!!

HAZZER.

Amazing work Skalk! The Toolbox takes the scene to "EPIC" level! It looks like you also learned the most important lesson "If you don't make "vroom vroom" engine sounds- it doesn't work "

This is absolutely outstanding work! I love all the litte details on the updated Fuel Depo, for the hose the Ork Stompa has some prtty good hose bits that would probably fit well on this piece.

Skalk, i read you wanted to show the weight of say a leman russ on the tiles, like in old roads...

I'd try it with a wooden ruler. Put it on the track with the thin length down, and smack it a couple times with a rubber hammer. It will be just enough pressure to form a vague gutter. Using something a bit wider will make the track wider. Not sure if it will work since I have no idea what you used as the base. Wood? If so it might not work.
Foamboard? Then don't smack it too hard...

Wow. absolutely amazing terrain. Your attention to detail is just superb. You've got some great ideas that I will have to snake!

Subscribed.

Impressive body of work here Skalk. Really like the way you're not afraid to change your finished pieces and improve them further... Some of your techniques are truly inspired

@ Camkierhi- Thanks for taking the time to post! I get that that stuff at yard sales, eBay lots, friends, 'going out of business' sales, picking random things up off the ground, etc. It's a lifelong practice I started a really long time ago. The tile idea was a good one and I had been thinking about it for a while and finally figured it out. See below.

@ GiraffeX- I tried to imagine doing an entire table at this level of detail, and I suddenly had a vision of finding myself with no friends or family left because I had taken the last 10 years doing just thing. And my table looked great!

@ hdbbstephen- Luckily my game group has painted armies.

@ HAZZER- Good to see you back around Dakka. I've had a lot of fun on this project and have learned a lot.

@ Dave- Oh dude trust me, I did more than 'vroom vroom'. It's a TANK.. I scraped it back and forth making "BRRRRAAWWWW!! CLANKCLANKCLANK BRRRAAWWWWWW...GRRRAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" noises. And thank you for the compliment, nice to know you are digging this.

@ Biohazard- I appreciate the feedback, it means a lot. I figured out the hose issue, it's below.

@ MauS- I tried the whole "weight' thing, except with a much more intense weight and method, but the base is made out of plywood. It took a while but I figured it out. See below.

@ Gorgrimm- Thank you, appreciate you taking the time to post. And feel free to snake away. If I have an idea that inspires someone, I'm glad that it is passing along. A lot of what I am showing here are ideas given or shown to me from others. This is my take on those ideas. The stuff I've come up with on my own is usually done the really hard way as I'm still going through a learning process.

@ Ruglud- Thanks for stopping by, and thank you for the compliment. Tearing apart a 'finished' project is a bit stressful at first, but seeing what I have done with this will make the next 'tear down' easier.



I have a lot to share with this update. Tried to post last night but things didn't work out that way, so you get a whole bunch all at once. My first step getting back to this project was to make the tiles look more 'crushed' so I dug out some tiles:



depth:



Took this pic in case anyone thought I was taking the 'easy way out' by simply pulling up tiles along the score lines instead of where the tracks would be. Another fortunate circumstance that works in my favor for sure, but it wasn't just because it was 'easy'.



However, it became obvious very quickly that doing a single strip WAS lame, so I wound up tearing a lot more stuff off and ground a huge channel out of the base w/ my Dremel tool.



Skipping ahead, this is where I would up w/ the build. I put each individual tile back 1 at a time, and while I like how it came out I see something that would have made it look even better but it would take hours to do and honestly I really do not want to do that right now. It's going to remain an idea for next time. And this does look pretty cool 'as is'. I think this is more what Bruticus had in mind when he gave me advice on this, doing something w/ the open space to make it an active part of the piece instead of just a huge open area.





Another reference shot:



Moving on to another bit on this project, here's my rough idea for the gas pump:



And some final shots from last night:





I got working on the project again this morning as soon as I got up at the crack of 10, and I was still pretty blurry from the night before so I forgot to take any WIP shots. Here's where I am at right now. Took a bunch of random pics from different angles to show things I may not have shown before now:



























And a couple action shots:





The idea behind the oil stains is that there have been spills (multiple spills) over time and if anyone has ever worked in / been to a mechanic's shop you're familiar w/ the kitty litter they spread on the spill. A lot of shops just throw it down and leave it. Same idea here.

I'd describe things in more detail (like the bits I used to make the gas tank, etc) but I'm heading out and really should not be here right now but I wanted to post. So here you go, hope you still like where this is going, and I'll be back later to answer any questions.

As always, thanks for looking, thanks for the C&C, and thanks for making this a lot more fun than if I were sitting in the back room doing this all by myself w/ no one that share it with.

I'll be back.

Beautiful work! Pretty amazing, especially considering all the tear-down and re-building that you did. My hat's off to you sir!

Yes, this is totally awesome, Skalk!

I've been watching this project from the tank on a micromachine thing and kept thinking "that looks good, I'll wait until you do the next bit" and each time you revisit it, it gets bits ripped off and then gains a whole load more awesome... and you are still saying there is more you could do to it, and I think "what else could be done to make it better"... and you do.

And so, again you have taken it to a whole new level and I have had to break my silence to say that it looks awesome.

I really like the thought process that goes into the extra details, don't just add more detail, think about why that detail is there. It makes it all the more real.

And I agree with you and others about showing the trial and error stages that most (if not all) models go through, as it helps everyone.

So good job, keep it up.

Good idea with the tiles, although how about some additional realism with cracking them up a bit?

The broken, weighted tiles look fab. I mean the vehicle damage, the oil, the rust - it's just... So ... DIRTY! Parts of me miss it pristine but boy does it work well. Filth monger.

@ Gits- Tearing things apart and rebuilding them is the price to pay for being a slacker to begin with. That said, this piece was supposed to be a quick upgrade to an old project while I was waiting for something else to dry. I had no idea at all what I was getting myself into. . Ugh. I am still enjoying this but it's becoming a Frankenstein of a project.

@ Moltar- Thanks, I appreciate the continued support! I don't know if you remember, but you were an integral part of why I started this project, and that was over a year ago. I'm glad you're still checking in on this because in a way it's partially yours.

@ Dr H- Thank you posting and for the compliments. It's always good to see people are inspired by my work and the process I share. If nothing else you can learn from my myriad of mistakes.

@ Ruglud-

Skalk Bloodaxe wrote: I put each individual tile back 1 at a time, and while I like how it came out I see something that would have made it look even better but it would take hours to do and honestly I really do not want to do that right now.

YOU BROKE THE CODE! Outed once again! Yes,I thought of it after I was about 3/4 done and had no interest in going back as I used polystyrene glue and that needs dynamite to remove when it's styrene into porous wood. I will try my hobby knife w/ a #16 scoring blade and see if I can make some cracks. Man I was so hoping to get away with that. Guess not. And really, I knew I should have just done it. My bad. Look for new update later.

@ Graven- It was hard to tear up the 'new' Fuel Depot, but I have to admit I like this a lot better. And good thing, too. If I put this much work into somehting and hated it, I'd have a Fuel Depot sized hole in the wall.



Just a bit of description of what I did w/ the gas pump. The pump is from an old airplane model kit, no idea from what or where, it's a bit that I've had kicking around for a long time. The 'hose' is actually a retaining cable off an old tank kit that was given to me in pieces by a friend of mine back in '96-'99, can't remember when. The nozzle is a bit from a model truck kit I've had (again for years) and glad to see all this stuff finally find a use.

I threw the 'kitty litter' on top of the 'oil' for a more realistic effect. The 'litter' is the dust from the bottom of a bag of ballast I've had a couple years, and the 'oil' is a mix of Badab Black and Tamiya Smoke. I also used the Smoke and Baal Red for older spills that had been mostly dried out.

I'll have more to share later. Thanks for looking!

Happy New year Skalk.

@ Galorn- Same. Hope 2013 is an awesome year for all of us.



Well, I tried. The glue made the plastic really soft. I was hoping to 'snap' some chunks. It was more of a 'squish'. Here's how it came out:







I know how to fix this. I'll be back tomorrow w/ results.

Happy 'whatever' if you are celebrating. Don't puke or get arrested. It messes w/ your hobby time.

I think that worked just fine my friend. Nicely done.

If you have a curved pick/scribe you can gouge in cracks too.