Sorry for the update delay, but the holidays and getting the Remoras shipped out took a good bit of time. Now that they’re here and shipped I’ve started on this pair. The clean-up went smooth enough… typical sanding and whatnot.Working with the photoetch and starting to pin it all together is where I really started having fun with it. I included a bunch of extras on the PE sheet and for the most part didn’t have a plan on where to put them. I added them to make customizing your own ship simpler. So you can see on the pair that I’ve added different panels in different places, then made some more from styrene and metal sheet to further the differences.

Like the instructions said, I added the McQue-styled holes in the hull then added some of the round grates over them They look great, especially after using some tools to damage a few of the mesh sections.

The large mesh grates for the deck (not shown) are two-parts each. I found it simplest to cut the mesh portions out first then glue them to the frames while the frames were still attached to the fret. Then I damaged and bent them up with some tool handles to make them look like they’ve seen a lot of foot traffic.

I primed the Remoras first in two thin coats Dark Grey Duplicolor auto-primer, then a thinner coat of their Red Oxide colored primer. This gave me a great base color for the rust layer. I airbrushed Tamiya Hull Red over the parts then sponged on some watered down flat Tamiya orange. (flat red + flat yellow since Tamiya doesn’t actually make a flat orange) This kept the surface very smooth and texture-free, but gave me a nice rusty looking surface whuch will show through randomly once I start the hairspray chipping stages tomorrow.

I also finished the bridge span a month or so ago. I ended up using the Archer waterslide rivets which frankly were AWESOME! Primed the bridge, then added the rivets, then primed again. Couldn’t be easier.

(photo found on Flickr in Industrial Decay Network group)

I decided to do a section of bridge over some water for the base of my Remora. The Remora will be floating above the bridge, moored to a tower similar to what’s shown in the image. The mooring point will be what holds the Remora up simulating hovering. I’ll go into it more in future updates, but for now I’m testing how I’d like to paint the concrete bridge pylons based on the reference

The pylons were made from a mixture of DAP plaster and “grit”. The grit is a mixture of concrete sand (the stuff with the fine pebbles included) white, brown and black fine ballast from Woodland Scenics and medium buff ballast. I used about 1 cup plaster, 1/2 cup grit and 1/2 cup of water and poured that into my form which I made from styrene. It takes a few days for the plaster to fully cure and stop feeling wet to the touch, but sets up and can be removed from the mold in about an hour.

My first largest pylon broke in half todaywhile I was drilling a hole so I poured 2 more just in case. I’ll have to wait a few days to deal with them now. The small pylon was scrubbed to remove the smooth finish (as seen in the untouched round leftover pour). I used a scotchbrite pad and toothbrush. Various tools were used to do the chipping and cracks.

I tried several methods for the paint, but what I found worked best was Gouache which is like a dense watercolor paint. I used thin washes of it to tine the raw plaster. The grit shows through and adds to the scale concrete texture. The lime(salt?) seepage stains were done using thicker washes at first initially, then followed up with a putty knife and full-thickness white gouache. You can see the thick streaks on the left and the thinner initial background stains on the right.

Once my larger pylons dry, I’ll scrub them and start painting them to match.

Once the plaster had dried for the paddlewheel, it was time to start the sand and sea-life. I molded the rippled sand on the base using Ave’s Apoxie sculpt. Ripples were added with various sculpting tools. The warm neutral color of the dried Ave’s was a perfect base for the sand so I did not need to prime it once it cured. Instead I used an old toothbrush and used it to flick paint from the bristles onto the sand to give it a speckled and varied appearance. I first speckled on some lightly thinned Tamiya German Gray, then Earth, and finally White. I’m very happy with the results and it gives it some texture without resorting to over-scaled grits. Then the Celluclay rocks were painted with washes of dark gray and brown.

Once those had dried it was time to start applying the random sea-life reef growth over everything. First I made a nice pile of PLFH (pocket lint from HELL) using a plethora of scenery and modeling supplies. Here’s the a few pics instead of a list. As you can see it’s various turfs, grits and flocking.

Mix the PLFH with some water and matte acrylic gel medium then add a touch of paint to tint. My first application was too brown due to too much paint. You’re going for more of a wash here.I applied most of it with tweezers and a small dental tool shaped like a teeny spoon. You’ll notice it clumps nicely when mixed, but should be slightly wet and seepy. Poke and fluff it a bit with the tweezers when applying to make it more dimensional. You can add more water and brush it onto other surfaces for a thinner application of growth like I did for the wheel. I also misted on thinned matte medium and sprinkled the PLFH onto it.

Once the PLFH dries, you can further color and tint it with diluted acrylics as well as sponging on a variety of colors to suit the look you need. My refs showed just about every color in the rainbow and the sponging on of purples, reds, and ambers looks really nice.

After even more drying, you can begin to apply other bits of corals and sea-growths. I have more to add, but here’s what I’ve added so far…

The golden growths are bits of toilet tissue which I punched out and dipped into a solution of acrylic paint + prepared matte medium. Use tweezers to pinch and apply. Check out the ref pic below to see what I was going for. Once these dry they’ll lighten. You can then apply more thinned paint to achieve the desired color. I brushed on some thinned white along the edges as well. The branchy corals are light colored lichen bits. I also applied small bits of colored sponge and “dead” colored coarse turf. White barnacle bits were made by mixing white acrylic with fine gray ballast and speckling it on with a toothbrush. Later I’ll add some photoetch coral and anemone I’m having made.

I finished gluing the components of the paddlewheel together the other day using CA gel. It makes for a very interesting set-piece for the sub I think and was pretty fun to make. The difficult part was alignment which was made easier by taping everything onto my print-out and using it as a jig of sorts to glue it together.

For the base I used a cheap wooden unfinished jewelery box from Michaels. I cut the sides to make it have an uneven terrain then I used a wooden rasp file and really gouged the hell out of it to give it an old, cracked and beaten appearance. Then I used the same techniques I used for weathering the wood on the paddlewheel which was an india ink wash, gray acrylic drybrush then another ink wash. The end result is pretty nice and goes great with the overall feel of the scene.

To mount the paddlewheel and a few masts I first filled the base with large rocks for bulk the plenty of Plaster of Paris. The large mast will be the mount for the submarine. The rocks/coral so far on the base are just for bulk as later they’ll be covered with all sorts of ocean accretions. They’re made from celluclay mixed with sand, fine ballast, and tallus. Next I’ll use putty to form the rippled sand base before coating the ripples with some sort of grit.

The anchor is a white-metal piece from a model ship supplier. I added chain for effect. It was sprayed with primer, baking soda sprinkles, then flat black spraypaint so far. I also found really tiny shells at Michaels that will be part of the finished seascape.

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:

The 1/20 Scale Falke from Hasegawa is completed. Overall a very fun build without any major problems. Parts fit was great and painting/weathering went smoothly. The base was fun as well. So nice to work with Celluclay at this scale rather than the large base for Dagobah. I used plaster rock molds from Woodland Scenics, gravel, dirt, and celluclay. I filled the bottom of the base with rocks and plaster for weight, but it wasn’t needed as the Falke is very light. To make the Falke look like it was flying very close to the ground on a ‘nap of the earth’ flight I made a tree trunk from wire and celluclay. Two wires stick up from the trunk to hold the Falke up. Then rotts were added to simulate the tree being broken by the Falke as it flies over it. This gives the illusion of flight. Jute was used for the grass.

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