tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75314405520746227982024-03-12T17:22:48.339+00:00Kit NoobDiary of a novice scale model maker and his adventures in the wacky world of Braille Scale.Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.comBlogger765125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-74008033048076198212021-03-25T10:58:00.001+00:002021-03-25T10:58:12.022+00:00When is a Kit not a Kit? Part 2<p> Previously, I did a post about whether 3D printed models could qualify as making. Well, here's another little conundrum which is maybe even more though provoking...</p><p>Is a 'virtual kit' still a kit? ๐</p><p>Let me explain. I've been playing the PC game <b><span style="color: #38761d;">'TANK MECHANIC SIMULATOR'</span></b> for a while now - in this game you take on the role of a tank museum curator (and his staff) and you are tasked with collecting and renovation old tank hulks so that you can display them in your museum!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3SA5_m56quI" title="YouTube video player" width="490"></iframe></p><div>I find this game very relaxing, it's sort of a 3D virtual jig-saw puzzle in a way. Nothing too mentally taxing, though you can up the challenge by stripping the tanks right down to the last nut (which is what I do). Reassembling them in the right order can be a bit of a head scratcher! ๐</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49737797252_a3ac72097d_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="291" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49737797252_a3ac72097d_c.jpg" width="517" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana;">Above: You begin your Tank Mechanic Simulator project with a real junker! Aside from<br />being a rust bucket you will find that there are many parts missing which you will have to<br />source or craft in order to be able to renovate the tank! (Pzr. III)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Anyway, my point is two-fold. First of all, as a scale modeller I find this process very educational and it gives me a real insight into how complex some of these armoured vehicles are. It also gives me a real insight into what some of the components are and how they fit together, which is a real boon when you are taking on a complicated plastic kit.</div><div><br /></div><div>Being able to see inside a vehicle that you are making a plastic kit of can be very useful, especially is you a super detailing your model.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49737470606_a03764c6fe_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="275" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49737470606_a03764c6fe_c.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana;">Above: (Panzer III) Stripping back the tank to it's basics and slowly replacing the<br />missing components is very relaxing. Here you see me about to spray the new bits<br />which so far have just been primed in red.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>But also, and my main point is, even though this is virtual assembly you still get a kick out of completing, painting and adding the decals on the tanks in this game. And it's a lot less messy!</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, I'm not going to be as stupid as to try and convince anyone that a game like Tank Mechanic Simulator is any real substitute for the physical craft of scale model making, but as I have pointed out it can be a useful and satisfying ancillary hobby for modellers.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49737801062_ffd67ccb26_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="799" height="287" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49737801062_ffd67ccb26_c.jpg" width="483" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana;">Above: You get a real sense of elation when you finally complete a tanks in this<br />game. Here I have put back together my Panzer III, I can now sell it or place it<br />in my virtual museum!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>As the game progresses you access bigger and more complex tanks to challenge you. I have reached the pinacol of the available tanks - so far, but more are in development - with the German Panther & Tiger and the Soviet KV-2 and American Pershing! Believe me when I say that the more complex tanks can really make you sweat!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51070318281_d4571d857f_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="283" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51070318281_d4571d857f_c.jpg" width="503" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana;">Above: The interior of the German Panther tank (using the x-ray mode). This gives<br />you an idea of just how complex the late-war tanks begin to get. Believe me when I <br />say that there is nothing more frustrating to finally complete a tank like this only to<br />find that you forgot one small component hidden deep inside!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>There is lots more to this game I haven't covered - like the excavating for buried tanks, painting camo schemes and organizing your museum - but the renovation and construction are most relevant to model makers I guess.</div><div><br /></div><div>Eventually you do work your way through the dozen tanks that come with the game, but the developers do have a long-term plan for the game and are adding some very interesting projects to the game in the future. I'm absolutely ecstatic at the idea of doing a Churchill tank and Lordy - that Maus!!! ๐</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51070607861_c9d06c439a_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="279" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51070607861_c9d06c439a_c.jpg" width="496" /></a></div><br /><div>Tank Mechanic Simulator is available on STEAM for ยฃ15: <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/407130/Tank_Mechanic_Simulator/" target="_blank">https://store.steampowered.com/app/407130/Tank_Mechanic_Simulator/</a></div>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-83070166349522281152021-03-16T12:18:00.001+00:002021-03-16T12:18:18.289+00:001:1 Scale S&W Model 10 'Kit' - Part 3<p> Moving on the base colour painting of the revolvers grips, I began with another round of masking!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51018698683_01ea480433_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51018698683_01ea480433_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>First of all, as you can see, there was the fine masking of the outline of the grips. But then, as I had already base-coated the frame in black, I also had to find a way of quickly masking the rest of the gun to prevent any over-spray...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51019881232_5548f5b84e_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="752" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51019881232_5548f5b84e_c.jpg" width="376" /></a></div><p>Yep, a plastic bag (actually a stay-fresh sandwich bag)! Quick and very convenient.</p><p>I then laid down a base coat of a hazelnut paint, but as the grips are meant to be wooden I wanted to try and create a multi-tonal background for the fake wood-grain effect I had planned to go over this. So, I did some light dry-brushing with various shades of brown to create a streaking effect...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51035299156_47e2f56472_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51035299156_47e2f56472_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>This completed my base layers onto which I would apply my finishing weathering effects. But before I begin to start these I decided to take a very quick snap of the progress so far and apply a filter to get an idea of how I might approach the final photography for this project...<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51040563161_b70e44334b_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="800" height="290" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51040563161_b70e44334b_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Will I eventually go with a sepia effect or just a straight noire-like B&W photograph for my set of props for this project? Sepia does give a bit of a vintage look but it's a bit false in my opinion as by the 1930s sepia photographs were already a little anachronistic.</p><p>I think I would prefer to go with a slicker and moody black and white. It's more evocative of the hard-boiled detective movies of the time.</p><p>While I now start to plan my weathering of the revolver model I'm also starting to look around for the rest of the period props to go with the gun for the photo-diorama (I plan a shot of a detective's desk with several items and nick-knacks relevant to a 30s detective). In fact, I've already picked up my next prop...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51042047878_81b911275f_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="800" height="291" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51042047878_81b911275f_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana;">Above: Dress Up America 939 Kids Pretend Play Police ID Wallet</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I thought a detectives wallet, ID and badge would complement the revolver really well. Obviously I would have to make up a realistic ID and badge - both of which will be the subject of my next project once the revolver is complete. (I was thinking - maybe - an FBI badge?) </p><p><b>NEXT: Weathering the revolver.</b></p></div>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-89212079921184969472021-03-02T16:13:00.003+00:002021-03-02T16:13:24.076+00:00Emperor Augustus Bust Model<p> As I've mentioned before, one of the main reasons I take so long to complete projects is because I tend to jump between multiple projects, going from one job to another depending on how I feel at the time. And sometime I might not even get back to a particular project for quite some time (I'm looking at you K7 truck)! ๐</p><p>Anyway, today I'm working a new 3D bust model, another classic Roman statuette of an Emperor - <i>Augustus (I am a big 'I, Claudius' fan and particularly enjoyed Brian Blessed's portrayal of the Emperor who gave us the name for August)!</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50996714231_fc1284f800_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="594" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50996714231_fc1284f800_c.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Above: A statue of the first Roman Emperor Augustus (r. 27 BC - 14 AD) as<br />a younger Octavian, this sculpted artwork dated to around 30 BC. It is located<br />in the Museo Capitolino of Rome, Italy. [Credit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>.]</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I was kinda drawn to this new project as I'm just reading <b>John Williams's 'Augustus'</b> - <i>'A brilliant and beautifully written novel in the tradition of Robert Gravesโ I, Claudius, Augustus is a sweeping narrative that brings vividly to life a compelling cast of historical figures through their letters, dispatches, and memoirs.'</i></p><p><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><b>Modelling Challenge</b></span><br />This will be my third 3D printed bust and I've still got lots to learn about the technicalities of preparing and setting up 3D files for printing. One of the issues I'm trying to make sense of is how the orientation of the model file on the printing plate can effect the quality of the print. Additionally, I want to find out more about how supports can be set up to get the best results.</p><p>So, this time around I'm changing the orientation of the model on the bed AND trying out a different type of support (and number of supports)...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50993167032_402b1ed029_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="800" height="330" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50993167032_402b1ed029_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>The bazzilions of 'legs' look rather disconcerting and I did worry that having so many supports might affect the quality of the print, what with all the contact points from all the supports. And as it trned out, I was right to worry...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50992355193_d82d307022_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="799" height="310" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50992355193_d82d307022_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>The result looks bad, but in a way it is quite positive as well because I feel that I am getting a sense for how things work. The fact that I had a 'premonition' that there were going to be problems means that I might be getting better able to avoid them in the future (maybe). So, I'm not too down.</p><p>Another positive was that - as I had hoped - the unsupported front of the bust printed out perfectly...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50992652458_85d7b23872_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50992652458_85d7b23872_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>And even though the back of the head was a bit of a mess, it was the back of the head AND after a bit of a clean up I could see that it might be fixable...<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50993350376_ddbf26c44b_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50993350376_ddbf26c44b_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>So I got out my MILLIPUT putty and had a bash at recreating the damaged hair. I had to use my imagination a bit but - as I said - it is on the back of the statuette so I wasn't too worried...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50993682093_642c3729df_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50993682093_642c3729df_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>My 'hair' attempt is a little prominent so I shall give it a bit of a sand to help blend it back into the rest of the model. Even so, it does feel good that I can deal with problems like this wen they occur. I'll just carry on experimenting with my prints and try to get better and better at preparing my models so that they have the least amount of problems.<br /><p>Here's the completed model, though I might add a small plinth to it later...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50996255948_0c5ef2c9d0_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="751" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50996255948_0c5ef2c9d0_c.jpg" width="376" /></a></div></div>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-2044458506265996502021-02-27T14:39:00.004+00:002021-02-27T14:39:23.065+00:001:1 Scale S&W Model 10 'Kit' - Part 2<p><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><b>Painting the Prop Revolver...</b></span><br />Because the cylinder included additional detail - such as the bullets in the chambers - I had to begin the base coating by spraying this part first before installing it...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50979140287_cd0e277fc8_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50979140287_cd0e277fc8_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I'm applying this base coat using a satin acrylic spray. I did some research about how other people painting prop guns and I decided to go for a black base and then to apply a powdered graphite dusting which I would then polish up for a gunmetal metallic finish... Fingers crossed!<br /><p>But before finishing of the rest of the frame in the black I would have to mask off the grips - which I will be giving a wood effect finish. I began by sketching out where the frame and grips would be before applying the making tape...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50983375822_581a824e29_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="704" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50983375822_581a824e29_c.jpg" width="352" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50983271341_f0587e96a8_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50983271341_f0587e96a8_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Now, the astute among you will probably be saying 'why didn't he spray the wood colour base coat before he masked out the frame'? Good question, and the simple answer is that I don't have the right colour brown at the moment but want to crack on with the job! ๐</p><p>One of the down-sides of this current lockdown is that I can't just pop out to my local hobby shop, most of my stuff has to be ordered from Amazon (if they have it). The consequence of this is that when the correct brown spray arrives (and I did toy with the idea of just hand painting it) I will have to re-mask the revolver <i>again </i>to spray just the grip!</p><p>Anyway, moving on quickly... ๐</p><p>SO, I sprayed the frame - I'm kinda disappointed that my airbrush is out of action at the moment so I'm having to resort to using a rattle can spray BUT because the surface of this print is so uneven (despite my efforts) I'm thinking the extra thickness of basecoat is probably a good thing! ๐</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50985580691_0abea856ef_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="800" height="303" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50985580691_0abea856ef_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>This gives me the basic black I need to start to build up a metallic look and that's what I'll be testing next as well as - hopefully - working on the 'wood' grips!</p>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-72736886542618639332021-02-21T13:51:00.004+00:002021-02-26T22:01:01.514+00:001:1 Scale S&W Model 10 'Kit' - Part 1.5!<p> A bit of an addition to Part 1 of this project, but not quite Part 2 (the actual painting)...</p><p>This is one of those occasions where choosing the 'easy' option turned out not to be so easy after all. I chose this particular 3D model of a revolver to print as it had the fewer component parts - this was achieved by the designer by crating the 3D file from a 3D scan of an original object. (There was an alternative revolver model on THINGYVERSE that was a proper 3D constructed object with multiple parts BUT it did not have the option for the 'snub' nosed version of the gun.)</p><p>Now, I'm only a novice at all this 3D modelling stuff but one thing I seem to have noticed is that while 3D scanning is great for producing a very quick virtual model of the object you want - none of that tricky 3D design stuff - it has one slight downside. The cheaper 3D scanners don't seem to be hugely accurate or of tremendous resolution and seem to result in some unwanted surface imperfections (which gives the model as sort of weird mottled texture).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50965796622_83604e773a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="500" height="354" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50965796622_83604e773a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Above: Here is a preview shot of the <i>scanned</i> 3D model gun's cylinder that<br />I chose to make. Note the uneven and wrinkly surface texture!</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50964984153_a94b876e28.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="500" height="343" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50964984153_a94b876e28.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Above: Here is the cylinder from an alternative revolver model which<br />was created in a 3D design application. Note the smoother, even surface.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The upshot of this - in the case of my model gun - was that what time I saved by using a low component model I lost by then having to do a LOT of surface clean-up! Du-Oh! ๐ฃ</p><p><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><b>Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's Off To Work We Go!</b></span><br />In Part 1 of this project I got to the point in the model construction where I thought I had a model ready for painting (which would have been Part 2). Er, no...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50962271907_e8dab6530b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="499" height="304" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50962271907_e8dab6530b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Above: All my 'completed' components laid out 'ready for painting'!</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The main problem arose - as it often does in modelling - when the primer was applied to the model. In this case I was already somewhat aware of the uneven surface texture of the model but hoped that the filling and sanding I had already done had taken care of the worse of the defects. BUT, as an extra precautionary step I decided to use my new filler/primer spray rather than just a normal paint primer as a base coat.<div><br /></div><div>Now, the down side of priming can be that the smooth base coat layer can have the effect of highlighting any more subtle surface defects that you perhaps didn't notice when the model was in 'the raw'. And such was the case with my revolver...</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50964889758_b4a337a5c8.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50964889758_b4a337a5c8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Above: Applying Plastic Putty to some of the deeper dinks!</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Although the thick and gloopy filler putty spray did help smooth out some of the more shallow wrinkles in the scanned model I found that there was still some pitting here and there. So, 'plan B' was to try and rectify these with an extra surface repair material - <b>Vallejo's 'Plastic Putty'</b>.</p><p>Plastic putty is a funny stuff, it's an acrylic (water based) putty - almost a cream in consistency - that can be squeezed or brushed onto the model and when soothed out onto the surface - like plaster - fills seam lines and slight gaps.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="290" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gUn2xnefo4I" width="490"></iframe></p><p>An alternative to this product is 'Mr. Surfacer 500' liquid putty, but I like the immediacy of Plastic Putty. This is also why I am using it instead of my usual go-to filler putty - Milliput - which demands to be left to cure for 12 hours before sanding.</p><p>I simply dab on small dots of plastic putty to cover pitting or squeeze out a thins line of putty in the case of seam lines...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50964889873_cfcfc4e226.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50964889873_cfcfc4e226.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Then I use a wetted smooth and wise brush to gently smear the putty into the defects and carefully blend the excess out over the surrounding area. I leave the putty for just a few minutes - this is all it needs to start drying, be warned - and then I further blend away any unwanted putty...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50965703077_23d91487f0.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50965703077_23d91487f0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>As I say this is a great 'quick fix' approach which is rather more of a cosmetic technique. Deeper faults would require something like Milliput and plastic putty does have it's downside. Too much excess putty is bad as while you can sand it - after at least and hour of curing - it doesn't sand brilliantly well. You can run the risk of chipping or tearing off some of the repair work you have done if you aren't careful... So, be careful! ๐</p><p>SO NOW...</p><p>I think I am ready to start painting! LOL</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50964890128_4b70a07e9e.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50964890128_4b70a07e9e.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-15457025287272444452021-02-16T17:08:00.003+00:002021-02-16T17:08:28.653+00:001:1 Scale S&W Model 10 'Kit' - Part 1Well, no sooner had I decided that multipart 3D prints can count as 'kits' than I started on my next project. This time it's a life size revolver!<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50945999212_6f2947bbaf_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="800" height="301" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50945999212_6f2947bbaf_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><div>The background for this is my interest in solo role playing - I'm a fan of the Lovecraft Mythos horror - and unlike group RPGs it's somewhat harder to 'get into the spirit' of the game so heavily based on atmosphere as is a Mythos 'investigation'.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50946030018_a652506cd7_c.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="800" height="274" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50946030018_a652506cd7_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.chaosium.com/call-of-cthulhu-starter-set/" target="_blank">'Call of Cthulhu'</a> is one of the most popular Lovcraftian Mythos RPG systems<br />and it includes a nice solo scenario which is my preferred means of playing.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>(For those of you not familiar with a Mythos RPG - like 'Call of Cthulhu' - it's part horror and part detective story. Think of Scooby Doo if it were directed by Wes Craven!)</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, to get into the mood some solo players like to 'dress' their game table with some suitable and relevant 'props'. In my case I am collecting a few items reminiscent of a 1930s private eye - hence the S&W 'Detective'-style revolver (I'm a big fan of the 1930's hardboiled detective movies)...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50946117473_cfe9fe2c0d.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="473" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50946117473_cfe9fe2c0d.jpg" width="395" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><b>Trouble Is My Business...</b></span></div><div>3D Printing a model is - for a novice like myself - can be a bit of a challenge in itself, but as this will be a prop it will add an extra modelling dimension to the project. After printing I will be painting the model and trying to achieve as realistic looking effect as I can - I'm just not quite sure if my painting skills are up to it. We shall see...</div><div><br /></div><div>To begin, I found the model I wanted on THINGYVERSE (well, I actually wanted a Colt Detective .38 but the S&W was the next best thing). The model isn't very complex and looks like it was 3D scanned so the texture is a little janky, but passable for a prop...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50946696173_225b25d1d4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="499" height="209" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50946696173_225b25d1d4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>On the positive side, as the picture above shows, the model files included to versions of the S&W Model 10, the standard 6 inch barrel version and the 2.5 inch 'snub' which I want.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not having so many parts to print has it's pros and cons. The model was quicker to print the parts there were (4) BUT it does mean that it is somewhat less detailed and, of course, there are now working parts. [There is another more complex model which is a true multi-part model with all the real revolvers main components as separate objects for printing. But this just comes as the 6 inch version.]</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><b>3D Printing Strategy...</b></span></div><div>As I learned from my recent Athena bust print having the ability to print as one or a few pieces maybe nice but I found I could squeeze a little extra quality out of the file if I sub-divided some of the more tricky parts using the slicer software. Doing it this way - breaking down the model - also meant that I was less worried about having to use a lot of print support and that they might not work.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, I decided to cut the main revolver frame into two halves for printing...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50942253092_97e7677217.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="500" height="361" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50942253092_97e7677217.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>However even this proved to be a little complex as the revolver's cylinder included the chambers and the bullets and this caused some unforeseen problems and the chambers fouled up with excess filament and there was a defect in the cylinder itself. Still, the rest of the frame turned out not too bad...</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50932267937_20afdbe0cf.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="499" height="394" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50932267937_20afdbe0cf.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>So, my solution to this - and so as not to waste a lot of the print - was to reprint the cylinder as a separate component and additionally slice it into two halved so I could get the best detail out of the chamber and bullets...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50942083556_0b20679094.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="500" height="344" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50942083556_0b20679094.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>And so, this is what I ended up after a couple of days of printing (I printed at the best quality to see if I could alleviate the rather rough surface texture)...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50942082986_2d70d78389.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="500" height="308" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50942082986_2d70d78389.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50942191717_119321ee10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50942191717_119321ee10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50942083546_52a855a705.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="500" height="316" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50942083546_52a855a705.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><b>Print Cleanup...<br /></b></span></div><div>Now the tedious bit, a long session of trimming of flash and sanding out any rough spots before gluing the halves of the major components together AND THEN even more sanding to smooth out the joints and seam lines.</div><div><br /></div><div>Funnily enough, I'm still not 100% sure what type of glue is the best for sticking PLA parts together. I've been using super glue to play safe, but I must look this up. The good thing about super glue is it can help fill seams between joined parts.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50949555886_f9a1160cc9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50949555886_f9a1160cc9.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Using Milliput putty to fill defects and gaps. Here I have printed a new<br />catch as the original was badly formed, I have also applied a thin layer<br />of Milliput which I then ran a knurled handle over to create checkering.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>I'm finding that PLA isn't the easiest material to sand, not like kit plastic or resin, and too heavy abrasion can end with breaking down the fibrous layers that the 3D extrusion comprises of. So, you have to be careful, filling and sand is preferable.</div><div><br /></div><div>And this is where I am at at the moment, continuously finding small blemishes and uneven surfaces that I feel I have to attend to. In the meantime, however, I'm starting to think about how I might paint the finished model. I have several possibilities of finishing techniques but I also have a couple of alternative finishes I could go for - gun-metal blue or nickel...</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50946005532_7a4ba0dcdb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="500" height="278" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50946005532_7a4ba0dcdb.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dare I take a stab at a nickel finish? ...Er, maybe not!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>In preparation for the assembly of the model I did 'dry' test assembly first, just so I could plan how I would put the separate components together as I may have to add some supports of some kind...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50949556403_aa9826398b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="500" height="304" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50949556403_aa9826398b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>I identified a couple of potential problem spots and decided I it would be best if I added a rod that would pass through the frame and cylinder to hold it in place properly. Otherwise, there doesn't appear to be any major issues.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>NEXT: In part two of this project I will begin to paint the assembled model.</b></div>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-57972420677075765962021-02-13T13:05:00.004+00:002021-02-13T13:05:38.304+00:00When is a Kit Not a Kit?<p> OK, this sorta has me scratching my head a bit. Is a multipart 3D model a kit?</p><p>The reason this is confusing me a little is that there seems to be a pretty distinct demarcation line in the modelling world between a 'kit' and a 3D printed model. But let me explain my quandry...</p><p><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><b>Busted!</b></span><br />It had to happen. So far my 3D printing adventures have been pretty much disaster free, that was until I took on something a little more complex and a little larger than my normal print models. As a history fan I was very taken by some of the classical statues and busts that are available over on the THINGYVERSE 3D model repository so I - nervously - attempted a scaled down test of Emperor Claudius...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50897647736_c377e92c61_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="689" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50897647736_c377e92c61_c.jpg" width="345" /></a></div><p>As you can see from the above photo of the finished print, everything when surprisingly well and I was very pleased with the quality of the result. So much so, in fact, that I was very keen to try another (though these are very long prints - around 9 hours or more for a 10cm high bust) and I decided I would do a series of classical busts.</p><p>My next attempt was a miniature version of the famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena_of_Velletri" target="_blank">Athena of Velletri</a> (a copy of which is in the Louve) and I set the print settings up exactly as I did with my Claudius hoping that I would get the same excellent print results...Oh dear...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50925795113_994ec020cd_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50925795113_994ec020cd_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Much to my horror after <b><i>11 HOURS </i></b>of printing - where everything seemed to be going just fine - I noticed that something wasn't quite right. And sure enough, when the print ended and I removed the network of supports that encased the print there was a prominent defect across the shoulders, neck and chin of the bust.</p><p><b style="color: #bf9000; font-size: large;">So, How Do I Recover from a Print Disaster?</b><br />As is obvious, I am new to the world of 3D printing, were I not new I might have the experience to have avoided such a frustrating failure. But, trawling some of the 3D printing forums I notice that I am not the only one who has these 'oopsies', it seems to be a common pitfall for all new printers.</p><p>However, here's where my background in plastic scale model making perhaps makes the difference...</p><p>I note that for many 3D print novices there seems to be this notion that the goal is to produce the 'perfect print' and - yes - that is a nice idea but when there are so many things that can go wrong having a strategy for when things go wrong seems only sensible. Too often I have seen examples where novice printers simply try, try and try again - always in search of that illusive golden print!</p><p>That was not my instinct, for me the kit makers philosophy of <i>'how can I save this model'</i> kicked in. As much as anything else I just couldn't bear the idea of abandoning 11 hours 'work' and the 7 meters of PLA filament that had been used to make a model that was 75-80% perfect... What could I do to rectify the 15-20%.</p><p><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><b>Repairing a 3D Print</b></span><br />As I said, it seems to me (though this probably isn't completely true) that many 3D newbies are after perfection and some maybe don't have the modelling skills required to make pleasing repairs. It seemed quite natural to me - a modeller - to want to 'make good' the bad bits in my print. So, my first idea was to simply cut out some of the duff parts and replace them with nicely printed pieces...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50926481321_9e7b18a550_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="799" height="315" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50926481321_9e7b18a550_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Luckily doing this is made pretty easy using the 'slicer' software (Flashforge Flashprint) - this is a program that prepares 3D models by dissecting the model and translating it so that a 3D printer can make up the model from extruding (squirting out) layers of molten PLA filament! ๐</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50926608727_a79712e0b9_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50926608727_a79712e0b9_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>As it turned out, it was a little more complex than that (isn't it always with me). And, just to make things a little more interesting I decided to experiment with cutting up parts even further to see if I could get the best quality prints that I could...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50925795408_014fb5485b_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="800" height="323" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50925795408_014fb5485b_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>To be honest, it just meant that I had to sit down and do some serious planning about how all the parts would come together... <i><b>Like a kit!</b></i></p><p>I find it interesting that there seems to be some sort of perceived division between traditional kits and the new craft of 3D printing. There is a area of cross-over. In fact, looking into it further I discovered that people like me who have a small 3D printer often use the work-around of cutting up large prints into smaller components and then reassembling the output into a large model that they otherwise could not print. In other words, they make kits.</p><p>Parts made I then had to stick them together - using superglue, although I was not quite sure what was the best thing to use for PLA - and there were a few little gaps here and there that needed to be filled and smoothed away using fine white Milliput putty...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50930458387_83fcbcdb68_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="748" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50930458387_83fcbcdb68_c.jpg" width="374" /></a></div><p>Originally my idea was to have the bust model I am doing as they came off the printer in plain white PLA. My Claudius figurine looked great, but with the obvious repairs in my Athens (as it turns out there is 'white' and then there's 'white) I rethought this idea. Actually, the starkness of the white PLA was a little to intense - even my wife and daughter commented that it was 'too much'. And so, I decided to give the model a coat of paint.</p><p>To help disguise and cracks I first primed Athena with some of the new filler/primer spray I have bought - this settles into any small lines - and then I use an off-white colour to give the bust a marble look. I was very pleased with the final outcome (especially as the Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 'Ivory Beige' spray turned out to be a satin paint)...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50933154302_b8e38a9a79_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="698" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50933154302_b8e38a9a79_c.jpg" width="349" /></a></div>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-4035887924235946432021-02-06T11:10:00.003+00:002021-02-06T11:10:35.931+00:001940 US K7 Truck Conversion - Part 4<p><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><b>Back to the Drawing Board!</b></span><br />When I was working as a Web Designer one of my personal rules became 'never use a new technique or tool first on a live job'. This was rule was born of long experience where I always found that 'new things' (however cool they sounded in theory) always tended to screw things up by adding unforeseen complications. Such - it turned out - was my attempt to jump straight into a ongoing project by adding 3D printing into the mix! ๐ฃ</p><p>My idea was to simply print out several individual parts that I wanted to use to 'retrograde' my ICM Zil-157 truck and just 'stick them on' to the existing parts. Uh-uh! That was a very short-sighted move as I has put little thought into how I would attach them and what knock-on effect they might have to the rest of the existing kit assembly.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50901666116_888c190290_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="800" height="251" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50901666116_888c190290_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>This picture above shows my move from printing small individual objects - and then sticking them together - to thinking about building a one-piece large component that makes it easier to joint other components to it.</p><p>This also means that I will have to do some simple modifications to the original kit as well...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50901783597_fa4c77b94f_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50901783597_fa4c77b94f_c.jpg" width="376" /></a></div><p>In a nutshell - this is a 'look before you jump' situation. You can't just bang bits together and hope for the best, there has to be some sort of grand plan from the outset. Lesson learned.</p><p>The good news is that the initial 3D design work I did isn't wasted. I can simply put the individual object files together into one larger component...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50907739868_0ddb427e0f_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="800" height="321" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50907739868_0ddb427e0f_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>So what started as a 'quick fix' of a job turned into something a little more complicated, but I guess that's pretty typical when you are trying to learn something new. Overall, I'm really enjoying the 3D printing thing, but I have so much to learn!<div><br /></div><div>Still, the results - so far - are quite satisfactory and definitely a step up from my old scratch built efforts...</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50908435001_4f0115454d_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50908435001_4f0115454d_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><b>NEXT: Completing the cab and priming.</b></p></div>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-33056271462663302122021-01-15T13:26:00.009+00:002021-01-16T10:18:13.902+00:001940 US K7 Truck Conversion - Part 3<p><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><b>The K7 Mudguards...</b></span><br />The original American K7 truck had pretty beefy mudguards, but the Soviets soon got rid of those for something simpler (and cheaper to make). So, to turn my current kit back into it's precursor I'll have to make a set of these rounded mudguards to turn the Zil-157 back into the good old American K7!</p><p>But, how to do it? ๐</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50830542911_5a51b62e14_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="320" height="329" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50830542911_5a51b62e14_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">The American IH K7 - I like big mudguards and I cannot lie...</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Creating an accurate and complex 3D model is a bit beyond my software skills (for now) so I had to take a sneakier tack. I spent some time trawling through the 3D model repository <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/" target="_blank">THINGYVERSE</a> to see if I could find at least something similar looking (these big rounded mudguards were pretty common in the 1940s & 50s). Maybe there was another WW2 truck model I could filtch the mudguards from?</p><p>Well, and this is a funny story, it turns out there wasn't a suitable WW2 truck model BUT - for some strange reason - they did have a model of a 1950s <b><i><span style="color: #990000;">Romanian Steagul Roศu SR-101</span></i></b>...And you are not going to believe this (I didn't) but the SR-101 was a Romanian copy of the Soviet Zis-150 which was a copy of the US K7! ๐</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50830542896_77d5324fe7_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="320" height="289" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50830542896_77d5324fe7_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">The Romanian Steagul Roศu SR-101 - a copy of a copy of the K7!</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Nothing I do is ever straight forward, but until I learn how to use a proper 3D modelling program - so I can create my own models - I'm going to have to settle for these half-assed shenanigans (making very simple models and 'borrowing' shapes/parts from Thingyverse). </p><p>Anyway, I downloaded the 3D model files and opened the one relating to the cab component and happily there were those lovely big mudguards...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50830482928_03f7ed7550_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="320" height="336" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50830482928_03f7ed7550_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>The messing around didn't end there though, after I did a quick test print I found that the model was not scaled accurately (typical). So, I had to do some measuring and some quick math and rescaled it so that the mudguards matched the size of my plastic kit's cab.</p><p>I printed the model out using the new black PLA I bought and set the quality to 'high' to make sure the rounded mudguards came out as smoothly as possible...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50828954846_5cae24e055_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="320" height="316" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50828954846_5cae24e055_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Not bad at all! ๐ Some of the cab was a bit messy (not my printer's fault, it was a crumby model) but fortunately the important bits were fit for purpose. It was now just a case of cutting the mudguards off the 3D model and doing a bit of a Dr. Frankenstein by transplanting them onto my Zil-157's cab.</p><p>Out comes my little multitool and a thin circular cutter...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50837320173_2cb6551096_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="320" height="306" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50837320173_2cb6551096_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>First of all, I roughly cut out a chunk of the trucks bonnet including the mudguard. Then I carefully trim away the unwanted bits of the 3D print until I'm left with just the mudguard component itself.</p><p>Once I have a roughed piece I try a bit of preliminary fitting to get an idea how I will go about cleaning up a finished mudguard and how I will attach it to the bonnet...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50838129172_e7c443ea7b_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50838129172_e7c443ea7b_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Not too bad, and the size is spot on. But now I have to neaten this all up and permanently attach the grill and mudguards...Which is where I will leave things for now.<br /><p><b>NEXT: (HOPEFULLY) A COMPLETED K7 CAB.</b></p>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-23416742368111034872021-01-11T12:53:00.007+00:002021-01-11T12:53:43.703+00:001940 US K7 Truck Conversion - Part 2<p> Right, having done the research to determine the slight differences between my target model - the US 1940 International Harvester K7 truck - and what I am going to call the 'donor' model - the 1958 Soviet 1958 Zil-157 truck - let's list them...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50816954846_fbb41e4a56_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="136" data-original-width="320" height="238" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50816954846_fbb41e4a56_n.jpg" width="561" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Above: Left - 1940 K7. Right - 1958 Zil-157.</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The main cosmetic differences between the original US truck and the later Soviet copy that I am concerned with relate to the truck's cab.</p><p><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">1. GRILL</span></b> - The US model had a horizontally orientated set of radiator grill spars, while the Zil-157 had a it's grill spars running vertically.</p><p><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">2. BUMPER (FENDER)</span></b> - The K7 had a large bumper section integral to the bottom of the engine housing and mud-guards, the Zil-157's bumper was a simplified and separate flat rectangle.</p><p><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">3. ENGINE SIDE VENTS</span></b> - The K7 had 4 on each side - the 157 had 3.</p><p>And my biggest concern...</p><p><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">4. MUD GUARDS</span></b> - the K7 has nicely rounded mud guards, again the Soviet's simplified these with some easily manufacturer flat arches.</p><p><i>[<span style="color: #0b5394;">5. WHEELBASE/CARGO BED</span> - The Zil-75 was classified as a 6x6 truck and as such had three axels with two wheels at the front and for wheels on each of the two rear axels. The International K7 ("Inter"), 2ยฝ-ton variant I want to model was a 4x2 truck - two axles, two wheels at front, 4 wheels at the rear, front wheel drive - so I will have to build a new chassis and bed. But this is easy so it's not a major concern. I'll also have to make 1940 era US civilian wheels and tires as the Soviets stuck great big heavy duty off-road tires on the Zil-157.]</i></p><p>On a 1/72 scale model these are enough modifications to make a conversion pass for an original K7 (at least on a war-game quality model).</p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><b>The Work Begins!</b></span><br />It seems really strange opening a plastic kits after so long an absence, but here we go!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49904182271_b89c6d8fbc_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="319" height="243" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49904182271_b89c6d8fbc_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50816042458_3823635a2f_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="319" height="328" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50816042458_3823635a2f_n.jpg" width="503" /></a></div><p>The ICM Zil-157 plastic kit comes - mostly - moulded in grey and the details seems very sharp, with no flash to speak of. Here's a close up of my main project work, the 157 cab...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50816971667_7049aa3626_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="314" data-original-width="320" height="393" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50816971667_7049aa3626_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>First of all, I'm looking at the modification of the grill - I'll have to remove the 157's and build a new grill with horizontal spars. Also, another minor difference between the trucks was that the K7 has what I shall call thin 'cheeks' on either side of the engine compartment which were absent on the 157. I'll begin by reintroducing them as this will involve cutting the sides off the compartment - I'll also remove the 157's grill... </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50820786121_b01521b2aa_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="303" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50820786121_b01521b2aa_n.jpg" width="379" /></a></div><p>I may need to do some additional modifications to the engine compartment side-panels, but I will only know what I have to do once I move onto doing the new mudguards (job No. 3 on my list).</p><p>Now, though, I have to tackle the replacement radiator grill. As I mentioned, the original US K7 had horizontal grill spars - I can either try to scratch build this component myself with good old plasticard or try creating a model in 3D and print it out. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50820392116_7ff0b5d9b3_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="320" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50820392116_7ff0b5d9b3_n.jpg" /></a></div><p>The above picture show the grill, huge mudguards and the massive bumper unit. You can understand why the Soviets simplified a lot of this in their version, that's a lot of metal and lengthy manufacturing!</p><p>I used GOOGLE SKETCHUP to draw a 3D model of the K7 grill (scaled for the 1/72 kit)...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50820770168_9e5c07abbf_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="320" height="311" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50820770168_9e5c07abbf_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>As a3D printing novice, I was very unsure if I could get the detail of my model to render. While it isn't the most complex model all those tiny caps between the grill (0.5mm) had me worried so - for the first time - I set the quality to 'hyper'! What this does is increase the resolution by reducing the size of the layers printed, hopefully resulting to increased detail.</p><p>Well, the overall dimensions and fit was good...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50824725447_4d12a79d55_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50824725447_4d12a79d55_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>But the black PLA material makes it a bit hard to see the detail - were the grill spars printed out properly or just a unrecognisable mess? Let's give the grill a quick spray of primer to see...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50823885423_a544dbedc1_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50823885423_a544dbedc1_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Hooray! We have a passable K7 style front grill! Task No. 1 done. Though it'll look better when it's properly cleaned up and fixed in place. ๐๐</p><p><b>NEXT: THE MUDGUARDS & BUMPER.</b></p>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-2413508784545087782021-01-07T11:26:00.007+00:002021-01-07T11:26:48.434+00:003D (Physical) Modelling, Getting Started<p> So much to learn! Arrrrgggg! ๐ฒ</p><p>...In the background I am slowly learning to 3D model from a software perspective BUT I am also intrigued by the modelling aspects of 3D printing in a more tangible sense. What can I do with a PLA printed model? Can I sand it? Can I paint it? Etc, etc... </p><p>This just shows what a complete noob I am to the world of 3D printing. I don't even completely understand the properties of the print material, whether it be PLA, PLA+, PETG or ABS (to name but a few types of filament). I'm still trying to learn the pros and cons of each, but - in the meantime - I'm sticking to the basic - jack of all trades-ish - PLA!</p><p>Anyway, I needed a test project to try out modelling craft skills on a PLA model and I settled on this little chap...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50780875947_0395ff9ede_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="319" height="301" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50780875947_0395ff9ede_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50780876167_d781a6ef6c_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="320" height="348" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50780876167_d781a6ef6c_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Baby-Groot seemed a good test piece as he'll make a nice birthday present for my daughter (the model is actually a small plant pot for an 'air plant'). </p><p>I was VERY pleased with this model - the first medium sized print I have done and only the third print in total - though the candy red filament that came with the printer to get you started is a little gaudy. I'd really like to get a nice neutral grey or even black PLA for future models.</p><p>Anyhoo... The quality of resolution of the print was a lot better than I expected. Yes, close-up you see that characteristic 'stepping' pattern that 3D prints inherently create when building up the layers of filament, but the models I have created so far have been a lot smoother than I expected AND these have been set to print on the 'standard' quality setting and <i>not</i> 'high'! </p><p>To further smooth out the prints I wondered how priming would affect the surface of the model (I also was keep to get a better look at the general detail as the candy red filament kinda hid some of the finer detail as it was so garish)...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50783509758_825d4c8f24_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="320" height="394" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50783509758_825d4c8f24_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Using a grey primer spray certainly showed just how well the Flashforge Adventurer 3 could render models and the layer of paint did help smooth out <i>some</i> of the print pattern (and it worked very well with the PLA). I did a bit of further research and I discovered that you can buy what's called a filler/primer spray, this is a slightly more gloopy primer paint that can fill in some small imperfections and gives a smoother surface (allegedly). That may be worth a try in the future - hopefully it won't fill in detail so much as to obscure it (we shall see)...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50791358556_ee698e54b0_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50791358556_ee698e54b0_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>I then added my first paint 'base' layer, naturally I went for a medium 'wood' colour. For some reason this particular brand of paint came out a little glossy - which was annoying - but it does make the 3D model look rather nice.</p><p>However, I decided that this mid-colour was still a bit too light and so I ended up experimenting with some darker washes and dry brushing - just as I used to do with my plastic kit models - to darken and give the wood effect some depth...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50800412591_18af3003d5_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="320" height="297" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50800412591_18af3003d5_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Pretty good, eh? (If I say so myself.) One thing that concerned me about using a liquid shadow wash - was whether the thinned paint would highlight the 3D stepping pattern by seeping in between the print layers. But, the good news is that while it did the layers of filler and base paint smoothed out these layer lines just enough to not make this such a big deal - you just need to go easy with your wash and dry-brushing.</p><p>[Note: You will have noticed that my single Baby-Groot has suddenly become three Baby-Groots! ๐ This was because of a unintended effect of having a 3D printer - as I found that all of a sudden I had family members asking me if I could 'just print me a copy' of whatever it was I was printing! ๐]</p><p>I finished the model off by painting in in the eyes and that's fairly much it...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50804518451_5dc2ee3b66_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50804518451_5dc2ee3b66_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>All in all, this has been a very interesting and informative first exercise. Working with a 3D printed model is very similar to how you might go about working with a plastic kit - though you have to be wary of the printing pattern and try to alleviate it - either by sanding and filling the model OR by printing it out at a higher resolution.</p><p>Next I will be looking more into creating a scale model print and how I go about creating a tiny recreation of a real world object.</p>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-66774732342834814522021-01-03T13:28:00.004+00:002021-01-03T14:26:04.434+00:00I'm Back! With a New Toy...<p> It's fair to say that I lost my mojo for plastic model making. Because of my own OCD I tended to get a bit too obsessive about certain detail and often lost sight of the 'big picture'. This resulted is major 'burn out' and my subsequent near abandonment of this blog... ๐ฅ</p><p><i>However</i>, a good example of this obsessiveness also happens to be the thing that is getting me to give military model making a second go! ๐</p><p>A long time ago (you know how it goes)... I got very obsessive about collecting a great many vehicles which were historically correct(-ish) for the Finnish 'Continuation War'. Most wargamers - because the game is the main thing - might compromise a bit on technical detail, I've seen a lot of Continuation War games played where the player 'makes do' with equipping the Finns with mainly German equipment with just a smattering of historically correct vehicles. A fair compromises as the Finns did actually use some German equipment.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50793728492_4f514791f9_w.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" height="225" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50793728492_4f514791f9_w.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">A typical 'Flames of War' (15mm scale) compromise for a Continuation War<br />war-game scenarios is the heavy use of German vehicles mixed in with a<br />smattering of 'captured' Soviet trucks.</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>But me...Oh boy. No, I had to collect just about every historically correct make and manufacturer of vehicle that the Finns actually used. As usual I went over the top...</p><p>Anyway, cutting to the chase - one of my major obsessions was the International Harvester K7 which was bought from the Americans in 1941, just before Finland technically changed sides and became a nominal member of the Axis coalition with Germany.</p><p>The K7 was a big truck - at least compared to many of the trucks the Finns had at their disposal - and was used as a 'heavy mover' for their larger artillery pieces. My problem (in 2017) was that there was no 1/72 models of this truck available and I ended up concocting all sorts of convoluted strategies for making one...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50793664557_fab7e2a36e_w.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="400" height="257" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50793664557_fab7e2a36e_w.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">My strategy (three years ago) to make a International Harvester K7 was to<br />convert a 1/72 kit that was available - the ICM Soviet Zil-157. The 157 was<br />a Soviet copy/modification of the K7 series which they had received from the US.</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50793538221_2e0b4da50c_w.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50793538221_2e0b4da50c_w.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Above: The Soviet Zis-151. Here we can trace the development back from<br />the Zil-157 closer to it's American origins...</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49904117091_fb59107302_w.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49904117091_fb59107302_w.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Above: The Zis-150, hardly distinguishable from the American K-7.</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/3794/12640844225_3bda482aa0_w.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3794/12640844225_3bda482aa0_w.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">And finally - or rather firstly - we have the original American International<br />Harvester K-7. It was not actually used in large numbers in American military<br />use, they preferred famous Studebaker 2.5 ton truck. A few of these US K-7s<br />did see service with the RAF and, of course, were exported to the Finns.</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the end I discovered that the Soviet Zis-50 truck was a near exact copy of the K7s - which the Soviets received from the US as lend lease - BUT I didn't feel confident about scratch building the modifications needed to 'revert' this design to it's origins...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49903524518_c7f88a8214_w.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" height="225" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49903524518_c7f88a8214_w.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Now this is hugely ironic... Three years ago when I was still enthusiastically kit making<br />you could NOT buy a K7 or it's Zis-150 equivalent! Hence my plan to build and<br />convert a 'look-a-likey' Zis-157 (a later Soviet variant) into a fauz-K7! But now, as<br />you can see from the picture there IS a Zis-150! Du-uh!</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><i>BUT THAT HAS CHANGED...</i></p><p>And here's where I explain what has got me back. Good old Santa has generously supplied me with a lovely gift of a <b>FLASHFORGE ADVENTURER 3 3D PRINTER</b>!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50792509936_01f59f6943_w.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50792509936_01f59f6943_w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Hopefully this bit of kit will allow me to make a lot of the parts which stopped me from finishing some of my conversions and will allow me to build some of the more complex models that I wanted but couldn't even conceive of scratch building (or didn't want to just make do by using a 20mm scale model and pretend it was 1/72)!</p><p>I soon got the printer up and running and have produced a few test prints (just to check it was calibrated correctly and to see what it could do)...</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/beaty/50771257711/in/dateposted/" title="Flashforge Adventurer 3 - First Calibration Print"><img alt="Flashforge Adventurer 3 - First Calibration Print" height="225" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/50771257711_92b4c507fa_w.jpg" width="400" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50775680897_2439cd80be_w.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50775680897_2439cd80be_w.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50780876167_d781a6ef6c_w.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50780876167_d781a6ef6c_w.jpg" /></a></div><p>Though, aside from downloaded third-party models, I have already started learning to create my own 3D models in a piece of software called TINKERCAD. I started simple by making the missing wheels I needed for my K7 conversion...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50791662568_20eae3f151_w.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="399" height="197" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50791662568_20eae3f151_w.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>The above simple model is just a test object where I want to test the ability of my printer to adequately produce quite small detailed objects. This ability is unknown to me as so far my 'small' printed models (see above) have not been <i>that</i> small!</p><p>And the results? ๐</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50794949261_c77c8bc4d2_w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50794949261_c77c8bc4d2_w.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Printed in 'high' quality mode (only took 11 minutes)! Unfortunately, it's<br />in that awful candy red PLA that comes with the printer to get you started...</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>To get the detail in this tiny model to show up I sprayed the wheel with some grey primer. Although I am impressed with the resolution on this 'high' quality there are still tiny 'steps' where the model has been rendered in layers - typical of 3D printing. You can buy an automotive filler/primer which helps smooth out minor indentations, I'll have to try this next. But, really, I am pleased...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50794388668_329d7b25fd_w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="390" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50794388668_329d7b25fd_w.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50795150901_6b446fbaf9_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="288" height="325" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50795150901_6b446fbaf9_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">I was shocked to see that it had even picked out the tire tread!</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This was a very instructive exercise and has given me a lot of useful information which I can now carry forward onto the next stage. I think I can further simplify this design to help it print better and then, of course, I need to print out the full set of wheels. Then I can think about the other K7 parts I need to convert my Zil-157 model kit!</p><p>So, my journey begins...Again! ๐</p>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-23111858634837740692020-08-19T20:57:00.004+01:002020-08-19T20:57:50.609+01:001/100 KV-1 Tanks Primed<p> Yes, it really has taken me this long to get this job done - a whole month. There again a lot has been going on in my life this month, including a week in hospital! (All sorted now though.)</p><p>Anyway, my KV-1 tanks have progressed and I've finally got them primed. As usual I did this with a coat of Humbrol's Light Olive acrylic spray - my go to quick-prep for my 1/100 green tanks.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50244453918_2576d62650_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="800" height="380" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50244453918_2576d62650_c.jpg" width="410" /></a></div><p>I've mentioned it before but it's worth repeating, I love this product. Not only does it go on very smoothly - giving a fine base coat - but it's an excellent jumping off green which you can then modulate into any of the greens used by the major armies in WW2; British Bronze Green, American Olive Drab or Soviet Russian Green.</p><p>As you can see I am now have KV tanks suitable for early WW2 or mid-war, just by switching out the turrets. It is - in reality - a bit of a fudge as the chassis of these models of KV did actually differ slightly. But for 1/100 war gaming I think I can get away with it!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50245091211_249f690fc9_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="799" height="350" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50245091211_249f690fc9_c.jpg" width="409" /></a></div><p>Now to plan the next stage - adding the decals.</p>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-47515897631174228492020-07-21T17:13:00.000+01:002020-07-21T17:13:23.531+01:00...Just One More Thing! 1/100 KV-1.Yes, I did say that I had completed the construction on my 1/100 KV-1S tanks... But... I hadn't! ๐<br />
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While the main feature of this projects is the conversion process of making a couple of KV-1S tanks my tinkering left me with a couple of KV-1 variant turrets. It seemed a pity to waste these parts and even though I don't foresee me wanting to play an Operation Barbarossa scenario <i>(the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941)</i> you never know! ๐<br />
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And so...<br />
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Having converted the KV-1 model's turret rings to accommodate the 3D printed turret's larger 10mm 'plug' attachment I would now have to modify the original Zvesda turrets - with their little pin attachment post - so that they would work with the new 'socket' mods.<br />
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The principal of this upgrade is pretty straight forward. I now have to make two 10mm x 3.5mm cylindrical 'plugs' which I will glue onto the bottom of the KV-1 (Model 1940) turrets. However, I will also magnetising these turrets in a similar way to the way I did with my KV-1S turrets and hence the need for cylindrical 'plugs'. The magnet will be glued inside the tubular plugs.<br />
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I had to order in the 10mm diameter styrene tubes as my local craft store have a very limited range of styrene pieces. It took me a while to find exactly what I wanted online but I eventually tracked down the items to <b><a href="https://dorspring.co.uk/" target="_blank">Dorsping Models</a></b> of Cornwall, UK. Unfortunately, to keep costs down I opted for 2nd Class postage and so a annoyingly long wait ensued...<br />
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(I should add that I tested the uncut tube for size before I started sawing off 3.5mm rings. I was most satisfied when it slipped nicely into the hole in the hull I had cut for my turret plugs. I love it when a plan comes together!)<br />
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Anyway, having created my new KV-1 attachment plugs I then had to stick a couple of the little button magnets I had into them. I did think about just super-gluing the magnets inside the cylinders but, in the end, I opted to secure the magnets to the turret floor and the plug ring by means of a nest of Milliput putty...<br />
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Now the annoying wait until the putty dries... ๐ซ<br />
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<b><i>And then...! Taa-daaaaah!</i></b><br />
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The new (old) KV-1 turrets snapped into place perfectly. I now have the ability to field a pair of KV heavy tank for scenarios fro 1940 to 1941 and another pair o KV variants to suit operations from late 1942 to mid-1943!<br />
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Job done... Now let's get 'em painted.Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-58265004948508316942020-07-12T14:05:00.001+01:002020-07-12T14:09:08.433+01:00KV-1S Conversions - Construction CompleteWell, finally I've gotten round to finishing off the conversion and construction of my 1/100 Soviet KV-1S tanks. It's been dragging a bit as I was trying to video the process but that turned out to be a complete shambles and so I decided to wait until I have my man-cave workbench sorted before I try vlogging my kit making.<br />
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Still, quite pleased with the end result of my Frankenstein shenanigans...<br />
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As you can see, I built the original Zvesda kit's KV-1 turrets as well as I want to convert these so I can swap out the two different types of turrets. I'll magnetise the kit turrets but will need some 10mm plastic tube to make the larger size 'plug' attachments to make them work. In this way I can field either the KV in it's early (1940 'Operation Barbarossa' period) configuration OR the later KV-1S 1943 variant.<br />
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<b>NEXT: Priming and painting.</b>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-3919507814337228242020-07-06T12:01:00.002+01:002020-07-06T12:05:47.730+01:00KV-1S - A Series of Unfortunate Events...Part 4 of my KV-1S conversion started with a bit of a 'oh, crap' moment! ๐ก<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Turret blown off a KV-1E, Soletsky District, Novgorod Oblast - July 1941!</i><br /><i style="font-weight: bold;">What is Russian for 'oh, crap'?</i> ๐</span></td></tr>
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In my last post on this project I had just cut the hole in the chassis for the turret 'plug' (for want of a better word) so I could fit the two together. The hole was 'snug'...Very snug. So snug, in fact that one in the turret didn't want to come back out or even turn!<br />
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Never mind, I thought, a couple of good twists with free it , I thought...And then...<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">...SNAP!</span></i></b> ๐ ๐ญ</div>
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I forgot that a 3D printed component like my turret is a flimsy hollow part with quite thin walls. Twisting the turret wrenched the turret plug off the bottom completely off...<br />
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Oooopsie! BUT, after the initial shock I realise that this was actually a bit of fortuitous accident. I was still trying to decide the best way in which to add a small magnet to the turret and the separation of the plug element gave me a good idea how I might, now, achieve this.<br />
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After I tapped the snapped-off plug out of the turret ring it became obvious that I now had a nice neat little 'pocket' I could glue my magnet into...<br />
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That done I then super-glued the plug attachment back onto the base of the turret (I wisely did some sanding of the turret ring hole to make sure that the fit wasn't so snug this time)! ๐<br />
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...All I had to do then was mount another magnet into the hull of the tank and the two parts should then snap together perfectly! (<i>As long as I have the magnets' <span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="https://www.dowlingmagnets.com/blog/2015/what-are-magnetic-poles-how-can-you-tell-which-pole-is-which/" target="_blank">POLARITY</a></span> correct!</i>)<br />
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Some <i>very</i> rough measuring and mental arithmetic ensued and I worked out that I needed to raise the hull magnet up about 4mm so that it met with the turret plug and it's magnet. These little magnets are quite strong so they don't need to be directly connecting with each other, they just need to be very close to each other.<br />
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I glued together a couple of 2mm thick styrene pieces to act as my platform and glued them onto the floor of the hull and a magnet<i> (ensuring it's polarity was correct) </i>onto the plastic strips...<br />
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And then came the moment of truth! I placed the turret in the hole and with a satisfying 'snap' (a good one this time) it popped into place, attracted by the hull's magnet! HOORAH!!! ๐๐<br />
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Phew! Time for a cakie... <i>(Interlude music!)</i><br />
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Well, that's the majority of the construction of my KV-1S conversion (there were only 6 parts to the Zvesda KV-1 kit in total), all that remained were the tracks but they are of the one-piece type...<br />
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NOW...I could attach these now - a lot of war-game modellers would - but I prefer to prime and paint these parts separately as it's a bit awkward to get the top of the tracks done as there ain't a lot of space once they are fitted onto the chassis. But that's a personal preference.<br />
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<b>NEXT: Priming and painting.</b><br />
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<b>๐ <a href="https://kitnoob.blogspot.com/search/label/X-Ref%3A%20100%2FKV1S%2F0620" target="_blank">Link to the KV-1S Conversion Project Series of Posts.</a></b>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-80499764076446951162020-07-03T19:18:00.000+01:002020-07-03T19:18:39.424+01:001/100 KV-1S Conversion Pt.4I've been a bit distracted with other things and have neglected my KV-1S conversion project, so it's time to get moving again!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Here's the various parts I shall be working with in this next stage of this build.</span></i></b></td></tr>
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It's time to attach the 3D printed KV-1S turret to my <b>Zvesda KV-1</b> hull, but there are a couple of things I need to do along the way. The first is to modify the hull's turret ring so I can attach the turrets plug into it...<br />
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The Zvesda hull has a pin-type turret attachment hole, this is going to have to be considerably enlarged, to 10mm. But even before that I will have to cut a nice clean circular hole precisely in the centre. I do have a circle cutter tool - like a drawing compass but with a small blade instead of a pencil - but I will need to fill the existing hole so I can draw the circle using it...<br />
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The hole filled, I can now set the hole cutter pin firmly in the middle of the turret ring and draw the blade around in a circle. This will provide me with an accurate guide by which I can cut out the new attachment socket...<br />
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Using a small drill bit I drilled a pilot hole on the inner edge of the guide and then used a Dremmel cutting bit to cut all the way round the guide. Although the quick way of getting the hole the bit left the soft plastic a little rough, so I then neatened up the edge of the circle - right up to the guide line - using a file...<br />
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I kept trying the turret in the socket hole until I eventually got a snug fit. After a wee while in she popped and I had a tank with a turret!<br />
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Well, that's the first part of my turret attachment plans - next I want to add a couple of small magnets to the model so that the turret stays in place but is easily removed and exchanged (I'll explain why later - as I have a 'cunning plan')! ๐<br />
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<b>Next: Adding the magnets!</b><br />
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<b><a href="https://kitnoob.blogspot.com/search/label/X-Ref%3A%20100%2FKV1S%2F0620" target="_blank"><i>Link</i> to the KV-1S Conversion Project series.</a></b>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-29383312091594892532020-06-28T18:48:00.000+01:002020-06-28T18:48:25.287+01:00Battlefield Scenery - Part 2 & 3/4!While making my test piece for 'modular scenery' (see previous post - <b><i><a href="http://kitnoob.blogspot.com/2020/06/road-to-nowhere-battlefield-scenery-pt-2.html" target="_blank">'Road to Nowhere'</a></i></b>) it struck me that if I decide to go down this road (pun intended) it might take me quite some time to make enough scenery to dress my dinning-room table 'battlefield'! ๐<br />
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<i>[I still have to work out how to do modular rivers and hills!]</i></div>
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And so... To hold me over until I have proper scenery made I decided to replace all my old crappy - and very tatty now - paper printed terrain (basically just printed-out stretches of textured patterns) with something newer and neater - felt scenery!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">My selection of felt pieces and some printed out templates to<br />act as guides for cutting out my felt scenery.</span></i></b></td></tr>
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There are plenty of examples online of wargamers who have been using felt terrain to great effect...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Felt battlefield example by Ronald Bingham.</span></i></b></td></tr>
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For me, one of the greatest advantages of felt scenery items and felt battle mats is their portability. I don't have a shed, basement, spare room or garage where I can set up a permanent wargaming table, so my go-to alternative is the part-time use of our dining-room table!</div>
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This means that any game I plan has to be something that can be put together and taken apart quickly and easily. I also need all the relevant parts of my battle table to be easily stored, preferably in a number of small or medium-sized boxes. This is why I decided to make my own modular scenery in the first place.</div>
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BUT <i>meanwhile</i>...</div>
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As I said, until I can make all the bits and pieces I want for a better-looking battle table, felt seems to be the way to go. It's very cheap, very flexible (in that you can quickly and easily cut-out custom shapes to make new designs for any situation), fold-able and light.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Here you see the paper templates I cut out laid on top of my felt pieces ready<br />for me to trace the outlines of my scenery onto the felt...</span></i></b></td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #e69138;">But What About the Look?</span></b></div>
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Felt is a very simple solution - given - but it can look quite nice even mixed into pre-built scenery. But I actually like the simplistic and clean look of an all-felt battlefield, my favourite battle mat is - after all - a simple piece of green baize cloth (the type used to cover pool and snooker tables).<br />
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Cutting out my felt scenery was very easy using paper templates as guides...<br />
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The main trick to getting nice neat felt pieces is to use sharp fabric scissors (and have a steady hand). I did a bit of Googling and apparently there is a very handy rotary felt cutter that would be ideal for this, but as it was ยฃ20 I settled for scissors! ๐<br />
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The end product looks surprisingly OK once a few pieces are laid out. I managed to find some nice mottled textured felt that lends itself nicely to fields. These came in a variety of colours so I could make different 'crops' or perhaps use them to indicate marshy land...<br />
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I'm still cutting away with my scissors at the moment so I don't have a full table of scenery objects yet, but I thought it would be interesting to post up what I have so far so you can get an idea about what a minimalist looking table setup might look like...<br />
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I just have to work out how to do some little hills and bridges and woodland, then I think I'll do a little test game.</div>
Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-19880943900153999742020-06-22T14:29:00.001+01:002020-06-22T14:29:35.332+01:00Road to Nowhere - Battlefield Scenery Pt. 2Blimey - I completed something! Par-tae! ๐<br />
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OK, it's just a little test tile for a modular road set I'm thinking of making, but it's something. But before I get ahead of myself - here's how I completed the tile...<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;"><b>6...</b></span> (See <a href="https://kitnoob.blogspot.com/2020/06/road-to-nowhere-battlefield-scenery.html" target="_blank"><b><i>previous post</i></b></a> for the first 5 steps)... I painted the black primed base with some muddy acrylics colours. I tried to make it quite thin in places so you can see faint patches of the black primer showing through...<br />
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I varied the mix of brown as I went along - a dark mahogany with a mid-chestnut - so that it also helped produce<br />
a patchy multi-tonal effect.<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;"><b>7...</b></span> Next, I did some dry-brushing to pick out the raised textures to give the road some highlights. I went quite light to create some high-contrast so that - in theory - it would show through the flocking easier. It does look a little messy at this point...<br />
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Additionally, I drizzled in some dark wash into the deeper crevasses and around some of the 'rocks and stone', just so they 'popped' out a little more.<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">8... </span>Onto the flocking. I haven't done a lot of this - just some vehicle bases - and so I was a little nervous about this stage as flocking is seen among modellers as being a bit of an art form! Also, I only have a very limited supply of mainly 'medium' summer green - The Terrain Tutor used a mix of three tones to create shade and highlights to his imitation grass...<br />
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After application (above photo) I tapped off the excess then waited for the PVA glue I used to stick the flock to the tile dry. Then I went over the grass with a dry paint brush and carefully brushed off any remaining flock AND to uncover any of the road detail that I wanted to show through - like the track texture pattern and clumps of 'rocks' and 'stones'.<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;"><b>9...</b></span> Now, just to finish off my road I added some extra highlights (as the PVA I sprayed on the road to 'fix' the flocking in place has dulled down my previous highlighting). Also, because I only had one shade of grass flocking - medium summer green - I added some dry-brushed highlights to this as well using a ochre-beige (a light mustard shade) just to give the grass some tonal variation.<br />
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And bob's your aunty...<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;"><b>Conclusion...</b></span><br />
Well, technically the test tile turned out 'OK'-ish. I'm both pleased that I have actually completed a bit of modelling AND that I think I did a decent job...BUT (there had to be one)...<br />
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As to it being the answer to my need for a modular road system for my 1/100 GF9T games, I am less happy. The main fly in the ointment is that the tile is warping - I managed to hide this fact in the photos I took BUT there is a noticeable bow in the middle... This annoys me as I notice it <i>(it's an OCD thing)</i>!<br />
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The whole point of reinforcing the foam board base of this tile with wooden lolly-sticks was to prevent warping...And this clearly hasn't worked. Also, this is project has been quite a lot of work so if I'm going to do it I want it to be damn near perfect with NO niggles.<br />
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So, what to do...?<br />
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Well, I think I have two options:<br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Option 1:</span> </b>Find a sturdier board on which to base my road WITHOUT it being too thick, heavy or expensive...<br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Option 2:</span></b> Do some mental calculations about just how long a complete roadway set is going to take me to make and decide whether it would be more cost-effective just to buy a pre-made set from <b><i>Fat Franks</i></b>...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">'Fat Frank's' 15mm Wargame Dirt Roads Set is ยฃ7.50 - taking into consideration<br />how much work it was to create my test tile, is paying ยฃ7.50 a better deal?</span></i></b></td></tr>
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<b><br />...To be Continued!</b>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-21183976101735970162020-06-18T19:18:00.000+01:002020-06-19T17:22:58.163+01:00Road to Nowhere - Battlefield SceneryAs said in a previous post, I really wanted to create flat tile modular scenery - like rivers, woods and roads - for my 1/100 scale war-game table...But, typically, I couldn't find a good printable system that would allow me to make up some roads (for free).<br />
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Yes, there are quite a few commercial solutions - like the ones from <a href="https://www.deepcutstudio.com/product/terrain-tiles-cobblestone-road/" target="_blank"><b>Deep Cut Studio</b></a> and <a href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WARGAMES-15mm-DIRT-ROADS-No-1-Flames-of-War-WW2-handmade-by-FAT-FRANK/282934407685?hash=item41e0347205:g:H9UAAOxyqKVRgeBb" target="_blank"><b>Fat Franks</b></a> - but I wanted to keep this 'on the cheap' (the wife is watching my hobby spending like a hawk)! ๐ฃ<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Deep Cut Studio's Roadway Tile Set - almost exactly what I wanted, but โฌ25!</span></i></b></td></tr>
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So, I'm trying to come up with some ideas for home-made flat roads... Then I found this video...<br />
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Good old <b><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx_aro8CTHw7ZD5H661hC6Q" target="_blank">Terrain Tutor</a></i></b>, he never lets you down. But I was a little unsure about how flat the roads were using TT's methods and was concerned as it does look like quite a lot of work. So, it seemed like the only way to find out was to knock up a quick test...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #e69138;">1...</span></b> </span>I cut the base out of 3mm foam board - though I'm not quite sure if that's exactly the same thing as the TT used - I think it is? <i>(Is foam board the same thing as 'expanded PVC'?)</i><br />
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...And I reinforce the edges - to help prevent warping - with some lolly-sticks.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;">2...</span></b> Next I cover the board with a thin layer of quick drying <b><span style="color: #0b5394;">PollyFilla</span></b>, I love using this plaster filler as it lends itself to making natural textures (I threw in a few bumps, just because)...<br />
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<b><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;">3...</span></b> Using diluted PVA glue I stick lightly sprinkled fine sand and 'budgie grit' onto the textured base. It's a bit hard to know when to stop or how much grit to add, but it's a kinda 'less is more' situation...<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;"><b>4...</b></span> Once the PVA is completely dry I try to create the texture of track lines - the groves in the dirt road made by wheels and tank-tracks - by spreading two thin lines of Pollyfilla the length of the road...<br />
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I then run a stick along the lines of filler to create - hopefully - the wheel track patterns. Were this 1/72 scale I would actually go to the length of rolling a spare wheel I have from one of my truck kits over the hardening filler to get a tyre pattern (as TT does in his video tutorial).<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;"><b>5...</b></span> After <i>yet another</i> period of drying, I depart from TT's instructions and do what I normally do when making vehicle bases and that's to prime the textured base with black primer...<br />
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<b><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;">...End of Part 1!</span></b><br />
I'll stop here before I move onto the painting and flocking of my road. But even at this incomplete stage I'm a<i> little</i> unhappy with the way this is going...<br />
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Overall, the road is thicker than I wanted - filler and texturing on top of 3mm foam board and lolly-stick has resulted in quite a tall roadway. Not huge, but when you remember that I originally had in mind a flat printed road mounted on a 1mm piece of card stock the 5mm tall structure I have now is a bit of a chunky monkey!<br />
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...That said, I am enjoying getting back into terrain making and it is fun! So let's see how it turns out.Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-69834959828877062562020-06-18T14:58:00.002+01:002020-06-18T14:58:51.097+01:00Apologies to Anyone Who Has Been Reading This Blog!Well, this is embarrassing! ๐ฎ<br />
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My blogs have always mainly been just for my own satisfaction, they are my digital diaries intended as records of how I did stuff or what I was thinking in case I needed to look back at a later date...<br />
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If other people enjoyed reading them, great but I doubted that I would get that much of an audience as there are loads of better modellers than me out there.<br />
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THEN...<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Today something weird happened with BLOGGER - I know they have been tinkering with their system and updating it - and when I opened it to write a post THERE WERE LOADS OF VISITOR COMMENTS WAITING FOR ME TO READ, ANSWER AND PUBLISH!!! </span>๐ฒ<br />
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Apparently people have been reading my blog! I just wasn't aware until now.<br />
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Sure I saw the occasional comment - BUT there were over 100 waiting for me this afternoon, some dating back years!!!<br />
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I AM SO SORRY... If you made a comment I was NOT ignoring you, I just did not see any comments coming up in the Blogger system!<br />
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NOW I have to sit and read back through a mountain of comments, question and what-not and try and work through the backlog. As a quick fix I have just gone ahead and published ALL comments!<br />
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AGAIN - I CANNOT APOLOGISE ENOUGH...<br />
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I am gutted that all this time I though there were just a couple of people reading my blog (which to be fair I was happy enough with) but it turns out that I had a little following all this time. I just hope that the lack of any response on my part has not turned anyone off!<br />
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Oooops!Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-16315447689766514852020-06-13T09:23:00.000+01:002020-06-13T09:28:07.984+01:001/100 KV-1S Conversion Pt.3Well, I finished the modelling part of the work on my little KV-1S tank turrets. Working with a 3D printed model - by <a href="https://www.butlersprintedmodels.co.uk/" target="_blank">Butler Printed Models UK</a> - wasn't the traumatic experience I thought it might be. Yes, the material is a bit weird - "It's plastic, but not as we know it, Jim" - and you do have to use a slight different approach to working with it, but it's not completely alien.<br />
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Cleaning up was done more by shaving and paring than by filing, I found this gave a sharper finish to the material BUT it can be filed and sanded, I just preferred to use this technique instead...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Using Tamiya's Modelling Chisel.</span></i></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49992455491_4a4f9c1253_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="800" height="253" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49992455491_4a4f9c1253_c.jpg" width="320" /></span></i></b></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">"A little off the back, Sir?"</span></i></b></td></tr>
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Filling was optional and if you are just wanting to get a war-gaming model quickly onto the table you could skip this cosmetic phase. But, I've plenty of time so sorted out a couple of minor things (they were't even what I would call 'issues')...<br />
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I didn't try to smooth out the 3D 'stepping' pattern on the model by filling it - though I had thought about it - instead I gave it a quick sand with very fine grit paper and a thin coat of liquid cement followed by another light sanding. You can't get rid of all the 3D print steps as some are in awkward places but this model is what it is and it was never going to be display level quality.<br />
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Finally, I added some little details - again you don't have to for war-gaming...<br />
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After gluing on these little bits and pieces I filed or sanded them down to shape and that's that really.<br />
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I'm quite pleased, especially when you consider that these turret models only cost me ยฃ3.30 each. They really helped me out as it's still hard to find a model of the KV-1S in this scale. I was also, impressed that BPM has the good sense to allow you to buy just the turrets themselves rather than the full tank model. It means that, in cases like the KV tank - where the chassis didn't change all that much throughout the tank's development - you can 'upgrade' your model through the series just by replacing the turret you require. Neat.<br />
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<b>Next: Onto making the chassis.</b><br />
<b>-------------------------------------------------------</b><br />
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<b><a href="https://kitnoob.blogspot.com/search/label/X-Ref%3A%20100%2FKV1S%2F0620" target="_blank">Link to this project series - 1/100 KV-1S Conversion</a></b>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-52630600247505820992020-06-10T13:18:00.000+01:002020-06-10T13:19:46.862+01:00Get Real? Tabletop Battlefield Design.I'm at the stage with my GF9 TANKS! Kursk project where I'm thinking about the design of my battlefield. Now war-gaming is such a developed hobby/industry now that - to be honest - you can get most anything you want to make a really fantastic and realistic looking miniature battlefield without having to do any real work (aside from clicking on an online store's 'purchase' button).<br />
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However, for many war-gamers, part of the enjoyment of the hobby is the crafting of scenery and accessories and making a little historically accurate piece of Waterloo or Normandy or whatever your choice of battle is that you wish to recreate. So, much crafting ensues!<br />
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Just how far down the rabbit hole of 'authenticity' you want to go is up to the individual and, certainly, I have seen some amazing examples of realistic looking and beautifully landscaped battle tables...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49991242072_ac665b0040_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="800" height="248" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49991242072_ac665b0040_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">An wonderful example of some beautifully constructed and realistic landscape!</span></i></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49991254372_0e4fce2336_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49991254372_0e4fce2336_z.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">A magnificently atmospheric recreation of Normandy for<br />some war gaming, the town painstakingly crafted.</span></i></b></td></tr>
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Looking at some of the breathtakingly intricate terrain models that some war-game clubs have taken months to build I find myself brimmed full of admiration BUT at the same time asking myself this question - <b>how 'realistic' does a game table <i>need </i>to be?</b><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: large;">The Galeforce 9 TANKS! Battlefield Philosophy...</span><br />
One of the things I liked about GF9T was that you could jump straight in with everything you needed by buying one of their starter sets. In the box you got all the bits and pieces you needed to start playing the game immediately, including some tanks and some flat 'scenery' with which you could make your battlefield...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">My very first game of GF9T - straight out the box, with the 'scenery' provided<br />and the tanks aren't even painted yet! LOL</span></i></b></td></tr>
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My first few games of GF9T were played on the dinning-room table with just a length of green felt thrown over it and using the flat printed 'scenery' that came in the box. This was perfectly adequate for learning how to play the game AND easily portable if you wanted to set-up at a friend's house.<br />
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However, I eventually found that ALL flat scenery had some disadvantages. As you can see from the above picture of my very first game the set-up leaves something to be desired by way of atmosphere - you'd have to really stretch your imagination to feel immersed in the idea that this was supposed to be France in 1944! ๐<br />
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Additionally, as I have mentioned in previous posts, GF9T's base mechanic is tank combat using 'line of sight' - in other words, if you can see it you can shoot it. Therefore, the intensive to add some proper 3D scenery becomes desirable, if only to help resolve instances of 'you can't see me from there' disagreements (which are a little more problematic when using flat scenery).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">The most important view in GF9T...Line of sight to your enemy. But is that<br />flat 'cottage' tile blocking your view? Hhhhhmmmm...</span></i></b></td></tr>
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So, 3D scenery was the way to go - for me at least - but then did I want to start building little miniature landscapes? The quick answer is 'no' and here's why...<br />
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Terrain building is an art in itself and once you start down that slippery slope you have to be very careful to balance your original intent - just to play a quick hour long game - against a project that could then blossom into an obsessive modelling project that could take up weeks of your time!!!<br />
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While full-blown wargamers who play games with rules that mean that their games could stretch into days long play (if not longer if they are playing a campaign) might want to have a immerse battlefield because they are spending so much time playing on it, I - on the other hand - just want a quick fix of blast 'em up fun and action.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/2815/33466712444_8b022ca11b_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/2815/33466712444_8b022ca11b_c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">I very soon began to add simple 3D objects to my games to make the task of<br />determining line of sight easier and to add some decoration. Adding objects also<br />adds an extra tactical element to the game as the intelligent use of 'cover'<br />becomes an essential aspect of the battle.</span></i></b></td></tr>
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I don't care so much if a certain house does't look like the one in the photo reference take in 1943 or whatever, I'm not - generally speaking - out to recreate an historic engagement in order to resolve some armchair general's academic 'what if'.Whether a building is of the exactly correct architecture or whether a particular model tree is exactly native to that particular environment is not so important... <i style="font-weight: bold;">Me just want go 'boom boom'!!!</i> ๐<br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: large;">Horse's for Courses...</span><br />
So the driving force behind my need for scenery is simple, practical and is based on fun rather than on what is <i>strictly</i> factual. I'm make some effort to make my board look pretty - but I'm not going to spend enormous amounts of time planning and making a replica battlefield when I already have three or four (or more) ideas about the next battles I'd like to play banging about in my head.<br />
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I'm looking at scenery that can be quickly laid down to create a general sense of landscape but which can just as quickly be dissembled and packed away.<br />
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This attitude formed the fundamental requirements for how complex <b><i>my</i></b> scenery needed to be. It needed to be quick and easy to construct - I might only use it a couple of times so no weird and niche items that will just end up as draw fodder - and they should be rather generic and so re-usable.<br />
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<i>Your requirements may differ</i> - it's a sort of sliding scale.<br />
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The basis of any tabletop battlefield is the battlefield itself - by this I mean the base on which you place any other scenic items. And for me, my ubiquitous green felt cloth (other colours are available) is the ideal multi-national, all-encompassing 'moderate climate' theatre of war. That said, I have of late been tempted by off-the-peg battle mats that have texture patterns printed on them...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Might one of these printed battle mats finally replace my trusty felt cloth as<br />my go to battlefield? This is a <a href="https://www.deepcutstudio.com/product/wargames-terrain-mat-plains/" target="_blank">Deepcut Studio</a> 'Grass Plains' mat.</span></i></b></td></tr>
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These seem to have all the advantages of my old felt cloth (you can roll them up and stick them in a draw) while at the same time adding the illusion of real ground texture. The downside is perhaps the expense, although I have noticed that they are getting cheaper all the time. A 3x3' mat - the basic standard size for a GF9T skirmish - is 26 Euros plus shipping, a bit more than the ยฃ7 I paid for my felt cloth cut-off! ๐<br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: large;">KISS - Keep it Simple Stupid!</span><br />
...And having established my preference for a simpler and more 'stylised' approach to making my battlefield everything else sort of just falls into place...<br />
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I have already desired that I really like the quick build paper-craft buildings I have been making, they fit right into my 'cheep and cheerful' ideal. Because of this pared-down 'psudo-realism' all my other scenic items sort of need to follow suit. <b>They have to be...</b><br />
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<b>- Cheap<br />- Easy and quick to make</b><br />
<b>- Preferably modular and usable in different ways</b><br />
<b>- Unfussy and simple (preferably not multipart things I have to assemble)</b><br />
<b>- Portable and kinda disposable</b><br />
<b>- East to store</b><br />
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Because of my new love affair with papercraft models I am keen to carry this on for different parts of my terrain, such as rivers, roads, etc. In this way I can have a sort of unified aesthetic, so I'm now on the hunt for different pieces I can collect to make a 'battlefield kit'...<br />
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I've already found a modular 'flat' printable river kit by Fat Dragon Games. Although this is a stylised 'fantasy RPG' scenery I'm fine with the aesthetic as GF9T is a sort of cartoon caricature of armoured warfare itself. Also, it fits in well with the tiled scenery items that came with the basic starter kit, all I have to do is print out the river tiles I need and mount them on card and place them on my battle mat. Simples! <i>(Do people still say that?) </i>๐<br />
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<b>And so the search for papercraft terrain begins!</b>Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-12697365889223765932020-06-09T15:26:00.000+01:002020-06-09T15:26:45.002+01:001/100 Kursk Project - Scenery Pt. 3I finished off the 'Rusgorov' paper-craft hamlet models yesterday, and I have to admit that I am quite pleased with them. I was a bit unsure about them at first because they seem to lean towards the fantasy rather than historical end of the hobby, being a little on the stylised and colourful side.<div>
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But, in the end, I don't think they look too outlandish or unrealistic...</div>
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Building these paper and card models was very enjoyable and I look forward to making some more when the opportunity presents itself. (Predictably, I already have an idea for another project in the back of my mind.) ๐</div>
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The purpose of these little buildings are to provide some scenery and tactical cover for my planned Battle of Kursk war-game. GF9 TANKS! is intrinsically a 'line of sight' game and therefore having scenery and objects that can obstruct a direct view between a tank and it's target can help to make the game more interesting and challenging. Well, at least this is what I have come to believe from the games I have played so far and this is why I wanted to include a little Russian hamlet as a key objective in my Kursk themed game.</div>
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Well, what else will I include on my game table? I can't just have a village in the middle of nowhere.</div>
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I've had a good look at a lot of photographs of the landscape on which the Battle of Kursk took place in 1943 and what strikes you most of all is how well suited the countryside was to 'The Biggest Tank Battle in History'! I suppose that's probably putting the cart before the horse as it was as likely as it was the flat and open nature of the region that made it a obvious choice for a set-piece tank battle.</div>
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Obviously, I don't think I'll add rolling hills, dense forests or lakes to my battlefield, rather I'll be constructing a pretty flat board with large grass plains interspersed with the occasional hovel and field. Therefore, any obstructions to line of sight will have to be artificial.</div>
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<b>Natural landscape 'To do' list:</b></div>
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- How to make 1/100 scale fields.</div>
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- How to make some small dirt roads.</div>
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What these obstructions ill be will be the next challenge.</div>
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Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531440552074622798.post-46227735825890032462020-06-07T15:22:00.000+01:002020-06-07T15:22:39.085+01:00Trains Are Big... VERY BIG!OK, I had this idea that I would like to add a locomotive to my next GF9 TANKS! game as a bit of battlefield bling. A sort of set-piece that would also act as cover for the moment of tanks, I thought this would be quite novel and look cool.<br />
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Long story short - I eventually managed to source a 1/100 scale locomotive model (ready built display ornament) and it arrived the other day. It looked great BUT it also looked really BIG!<br />
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The eBay listing definitely said '1/100' scale but when I saw the model it looked like enormous and I thought I might of bought the wrong scale (perhaps HO). ๐<br />
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Before getting too upset (the model was only ยฃ2.50 so I hadn't wasted too much) I thought I would check online to see if I could find out what size actual locomotives were compared to a WW2 tank. It took a bit of Googling but eventually I found a photo that seemed to answer my question...<br />
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Wow! Locomotives are BIG! I never realised...<br />
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Now, just to be sure I decided to take a comparative photo. I have a M4 Sherman in my 1/100 collection so set them up side by side like they are in the above picture. Let's see if this engine is the right scale as my tanks...<br />
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<b><i>What do you think?</i></b><br />
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It looks like it's right - I think - and maybe it's just that I'm not used to seeing steam locomotives that has me surprised at their sheer size? OR, maybe I had in mind a smaller tank engine (like Thomas the Tank Engine, LOL) which might not have dwarfed my Sherman quite as much?<br />
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Incidentally, the train is exactly the sort I want for a WW2 diorama. It's a German P8 class which was active throughout the Second World War, so that was a piece of luck.<br />
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It will be a big piece on the game table (which will be either 3 foot x 3 foot or 4x4), but will definitely be eye catching! I will, however, scratch build my own rolling stock - a few flat-bed transport trucks with some cargo aboard. And to justify why a train would be in the middle of battlefield I will model the train as being derailed, which a section of blown up track.<br />
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Lots still to think about.Milgeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08791475027247097256noreply@blogger.com0