Next up is the oil paint “glazing”. A thin layer of green was applied to the flesh. Thick enough to alter the color, but thin enough to let the spots and stripes show through. This glazing was highlighted and shaded then stippled smooth with a dry deerfoot brush. After that I reapplied the strips in oils and blended them in more naturally. Lastly I glazed the scales on the shoulders and thighs to make their tones different and interesting. Now I’ve got to wait a day or two for this to dry. Bummer!

Moving right along I got a lot further tonight than I thought I would. Not bad for 3 hours of work! First after priming in white I sprayed the flesh with a Tamiya “Sky” like color. Then I airbrushed on faint lines of a slightly more saturated green which isn’t visible in the pics. I then masked off the “red ears” with sticky-tack and airbrushed on the red. After I sprayed the chest and back with a medium brown color. The front was then highlighted with a desert yellow mix. The same mix was applied to the back to make the shell pattern. Then Khaki Drab was sprayed on the back shellover the brown color deepening the look. The same drab color was applied to the chest for the pattern.

At this point I used Mig Productions Liquid Mask and masked off the chest and rear shell. I also masked off the stripes with the liquid mask so that Leo will have the light stripes like real Red Eared Slider turtles. Once the mask was dry I spattered Leo with more liquid mask from a toothbrush to get some light specks on his skin later. Next I used Khaki Drab and shaded all the shadowy recesses around the muscles. Then I used Tamiya Field Gray (military green) and lightly oversprayed all the skin. The mask was rubbed off and darker stripes were hand painted on with JGSDF Drab Green. Lastly the more thin paint was spattered on and blueish veins were applied with oils.

Next I’ll start painting the flesh with a thin glaze of oil paint to further highlight and shadow the figure as well as apply detail to the chest and toe nails. The straps and mask will be painted after all the skin and shell is done.

Back when we were doing the 31 days contest on the forum, FilmMkr showed me this awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figure he was working on. I managed to snag an original from the sculptor, but I think mine was from a later if not last pour from the mold. In fact the mold probably should have been pitched BEFORE mine as it made for some unfortunate monkeywork. Nothing major and I’m not posting this to knock the sculptor at all. In fact this kit is AMAZING! But it’s worth showing those wondering what happens when a rubber mold has outlived it’s prime.

As seen in the above image, after so many uses (around 15-25 depending on the complexity of the mold) the mold starts to tear and deteriorate resulting in buldges and blobs eminating from undercuts mostly.  The largest blob is seen above on the left shoulder where ther eis a big undercut between the body and shell. On this kit they were relatively easy to fix given the detail of the sculpt. Just dremmel out the buldges and refil the detail with Aves Apoxy Sculpt and add whatever textures are necessary. Here’s the result:

Notice that I removed the buldge and matched the surface texture of the surrounding areas. Not a huge fix, but worth noting for anyone else with similar issues on any type of resin kit. I replaced the resin sword hilt guards with resculpted ones I made from Sculpey as the originals were not nice. I also replaced the brass sword blades (just strips of brass supplied) with once I cut and sharpened from aluminum sheet.

Here’s the full kit ready for primer. I’ve since primed him with Mr. Base White. Later I’ll start painting him. I found out that the TMNTurtles were “Red Eared Sliders” and plan to base my skin texture on them. I’ll be giving him the “red ears” as well as some faint striping to his skin to make him look more like his pet-store brethren.

The scene is continuing to take shape. Since the last update I’ve completed the tank and assembling the figures I’ll be using. I’ve also assembled the UC Hardgraph Gundam Arm and will be resting in the wall of the abandoned/destroyed factory.

While putting the scene together it hit me that I could make this a multi-purpose base, something I’ve wanted to do for a while due to limited display space. I have a couple of German rail cars in 1/35 that I’ve been planning to “modernize” and build as scenery or just on their own for kicks. I decided that by adding embedded rails and a loading dock to the scene that I can later build and photograph them on this base instead of creating an all new base for them and thus take up even more display space.

Anyway, I first layed 2 sheets of 1/2″ MDF board to make a raised base. Then I used Basswood as a nice stainable border to clean-up the edges of the MDF and to create a lip for pouring my pavement using plaster of paris. While the Ebony stain and polycrylic finish was drying I sketched my layout on the base and photographed it for later reference. As usual this is subject to minor changes, but is pretty much how the layout will go.  You can see how I later decided to add rails in red and the accompanying dock in blue.

Once dry I added a piece of scrap basswood and a lip of tape to contain my plaster pour. In the plaster mix I added a lot of rip-rap, talus, ballast and sand to give texture later when chipping out potholes. After the plaster cured I gave the base a coat of primer then immediately sprinkled the base with a thin dusting of baking soda then more primer to seal. This gives it a rougher more asphault-like texture.

When cured I chissled out the grooves for the rails and began scribing in cracks and potholes. Since this is a long-abandoned facility, maybe 3 years or so, nature has begun to take back the landscape. Most of the cracks will have weeds sprouting from them and fines/brush will be growing up the walls and arm. I also started making the mold for and pouring the sidewalk. I made a section of factory wall as well and will make multiple plaster casts of that too once my new silicone mold rubber arrives.

I began to create some of the details for the dio as well. First was a sheet of signs which I’ll print out later to use. You can download them here. I also made a cable spool from 1/32″ plywood sheet. Mig productions is sending me their Modern City Accessories volume 1 and 2 and modern street lamps to use for this piece. The set contains dumpsters, street lights, barriers, etc… I won’t be able to fit it all on, but all of it will find its way into future projects. I’ve also had a set of “Modern Diorama Accessories” from Blast Models for years that I’ve been meaning to use. I might throw something from that in. Sattelite dish, fridge, microwave, TV, computer, vacuum…

Here’s all the pics:

I’m in the mood for a tank and diorama and this has been burning a hole in my shelf since it arrived. It’s the 1/35 EFGF M61A5 Main Battle Tank “Semovente” Phantom Element from the realistic Gundam model series: U.C. Hard Graph.

This is a really big tank to say the least. Compared to my KV-2, the KV-2 looks rather small and meek. Lots of fantastic details are molded into the design such as non-slip texture, panels, latches, etc.  Several places allow for open hatches and the rear door could be very easily modified to hinge open with a single cut down the molded center door-seam. The drivers hatch is very interesting as it does not flip open, but rather swivels in a circle to open up. This is due to the low clearance of the twin cannon barrels.

Speaking of barrels, the two barrels are two of only 5 parts that require seams to be dealt with. The other three are the front latches and the underside of the turret. All of these seams line up PERFECTLY with typical Bandai quality. Just snap them together and run some thin glue down the seams. Squeeze and you’re all set.  Most of this kit still requires glue to put it together, but there’s a few snap-fit parts which IMO are in great places and really help line things up for gluing.

The road-wheels and suspension are fantastic. The suspension can be swiveled to allow this kit to sit on rough terrain without any modifications. The road wheels come in three parts each (2 halves and a polycap) and have that typical line of flash down the center that most armor kits tend to have. The easiest way to deal with is is to put the road wheels together then slide them on some brass rod in a drill. Choose brass rod that makes for a tight fit. Below you can see a youtube video of the clean-up process. It made the tedious process of cleaning up 24 road wheel halves into 12 very quick sanding sessions as seen below.

The kit can be constructed with the front/side covers on or off. Both look great, but I’m more partial to them being off and is probably how I will display mine. With them off there’s more room for stowage and you can see the treads and road wheels. Those places always look so great when weathered that it’s be a shame to hide them.

As of now the kit is constructed completely based on the instructions. I could prime and paint it and go from there, but I’m going to look it over some more and see if there’s anyplace worth modifying with leftover PE latches, stowage hooks and whatnot. I’ll be adding a pile of stowage to this thing as I often do. I just love the look of a lived-in, used AFV with lots of equipment hanging off of it. I’ll also be making this into a diorama utilizing the Gundam Arm set and making some factory ruins in the background.