Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

[struschie]

Great progress...!
That chippings and rust are cool! Looks like it slips on its knee armour
C'mon: Do that pipes in brass! If I could do it....

Be sure to knip off the plunger rod at the legs, once the pose is set.
Nice!

[Hunter Rose]

Thanks struschie! Actually your (amazing!) krote was one of the builds I looked at before starting my own, mainly because yours was one of the few krote wips I've seen that didn't just start at the painting process! You did a great job with the internal detail on that, cant wait to see it finished and painted.

And I did consider brass, but with all the snow and ice that will be on them I didn't really see the point, so just stuck with OOB parts.

Thanks for the interest mate

[Sharkdog]

Zeruel's not really coming along very well since I've been traveling for the past three months. Now that I'm back, I hope to get back into the swing of things and finish up the model; I'm already ordering things for the AT-field display base.

Really great job on the chipped look, it all looks very natural. I agree that the grey camo will look pretty good on the snow, and will also provide a bit of contrast in this little dio :) I like how the metallic engine parts turned out the most, though!

[struschie]

Actually your (amazing!) krote was one of the builds I looked at before starting my own

You're kidding, man    glad it was though 

[Hunter Rose]

You're kidding, man    glad it was though 

Now you have to hurry and finish it! 

Zeruel's not really coming along very well since I've been traveling for the past three months. Now that I'm back, I hope to get back into the swing of things and finish up the model; I'm already ordering things for the AT-field display base.

Really great job on the chipped look, it all looks very natural. I agree that the grey camo will look pretty good on the snow, and will also provide a bit of contrast in this little dio :) I like how the metallic engine parts turned out the most, though!

Thanks a lot Shark! And I'll be looking forward to more progress on your build 

Just a tiny update today, just sprayed the bars the darker medium grey, which incidentally is Vallejo air German grey, and then got them in place on the head

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

And put the big engine bar on and the engine guard in place

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

I'll be back on this full on tomorrow and Thursday so there should be more substantial updates very soon, thanks for the interest dudes 

[Will Vale]

This looks great, almost like industrial archaeology come to life. Love the contrast in finish between the bodywork and the details.

Will

[Jiloo]

Hunter, I have a big request for you.
Can you say something more about melting sprue? How you do it? I was trying to search for it on forum, but didn't find much about it.
Now I'm using CA, putty and cement (interchangeably or mixing), but would like to try this sprue trick. Thanks a lot in advance.

[Hunter Rose]

@Will - Thanks dude, I wanted a contrast, so I'm glad that comes across!

@Jiloo - No problem my friend, rather than explain myself I'll just quote BK from one of his great builds on his M.ak forum, as this is where I saw it for the first time and started using it

Time for a flash back tip. Melted Sprue putty

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

After drying overnight, it sands just like the plastic and blends in perfectly. It also has the added benefit of really biting into the kit plastic because it's the same material.

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

[Jiloo]

Thank You kindly. Will try this tonight.
Sorry for the interruption of an exciting workshop.

[Hunter Rose]

No worries Jiloo, always happy to help out a fellow modeller 

[Sharkdog]

That's quite interesting, since everyone's always got sprue coming out the wazoo. Are there any downsides or limitations to it?

[struschie]

Before there was putty - there was the melted sprue methode. Putty seller will list tons of weak points
It'll last longer to try (regarding to thickness). But the use of different colored sprues gives more control than white putty on white plastic.

[Hunter Rose]

Update time!

Okay well I got the vinyl cord on the legs and glued the knee plates on

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Next I wanted to enhance the rust effect on the hip part where the leg joins the torso with mig pigments using graveyard dirt for the darker recesses, old rust as my mid tone and light rust to highlight.

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

I also used the pigments to weather the fuel cap and the springs behind the hip armor

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

I then dry fitted the legs just to start finalising the position

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

And I was pleased how my rusted hip joints look when the legs are attached

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

And finally the moment I've been waiting for!! I put the head on too, its still dry fitted at this point though just in case I need to tweak the pose when I start sorting out its position on the base

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

I started to lay out how its going to be positioned on the base and marked out its feet positions with a pencil so I can gouge out the hole in the foam for the deep snow effect

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

So I'm pretty much now able to start preparing the base and thinking about the snow effects on the polar bear and krote.  So the next step will be foam gouging and snow spraying! I'll get the base sorted first then start with all the final effects on the models

More soon thanks for looking! 

[Hunter Rose]

Made some more headway with the layout. Started by carving out the foam where I had marked the footprints, and trimmed the base down so the edge down a bit.
Bugger and now I've realised I didn't take a picture of them posed on the base after I'd trimmed it only before!  >
Basically the edge of the base is just behind the back foot of the krote now, so not as big as shown in the following photos

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

The feet dont raise above the level of the snow so the krote wouldn't have clean footprints more of deep footprints with not so deep trenches inbetween, so grabbed the stanley knife and did this (also this photo was taken after trimming so you can see the edge is now close to where the krote stands)

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

I also Whipped out the pigments and did some work on the vent at the back, as before, used the dark graveyard dirt pigment for the deep recesses to give the impression of depth, then used old rust on the vent to contrast against the dark and some light rust to highlight.

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

I also added the spring tubes, however instead of using the copper wire I used solder, I prefer this in spring tubes as it offers greater flexibility, which is good for this model as if I have to do more final tweaking to the leg positions its flexible enough to be able to move with the leg.

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Next time I get a chance to get to the modelling shed I'll use the rust pigments on the spring tubes to weather them.

Thanks for the interest guys, more soon 

[struschie]

Great use of pigments - esp. the hip joints, yes! I'll borrow that ;D
The slided/sunken markings of the Kröte are cool! Really looks like it just landed after a big jump ! As mentioned by the others (ähhhmmmmm.....), the base seems a little to long also for my taste with just that two actors. But I'm also sure, you've got a master plan to enrich that base :)

Also helpfull for my built to see closeups with armor. I've to do more filling and sanding

nice garden you have there

[Hunter Rose]

Great use of pigments - esp. the hip joints, yes! I'll borrow that ;D
The slided/sunken markings of the Kröte are cool! Really looks like it just landed after a big jump ! As mentioned by the others (ähhhmmmmm.....), the base seems a little to long also for my taste with just that two actors. But I'm also sure, you've got a master plan to enrich that base :)

Also helpfull for my built to see closeups with armor. I've to do more filling and sanding

nice garden you have there

Happy to inspire struschie! Its funny that your krote build helped me now mines helping you! 
Yeah a few people on the Ma.k forum said they thought the base was a little big for their taste, I had thought a lot about making it smaller but decided to stick with it because part of the original idea was just an expanse of crisp snow between them. However I must admit I am seriously considering having a half buried broken wooden fence running at a slight angle through the middle between them. hmmm, decisions!

Thanks about the garden, its where I relax after a hard day krote sanding!

[Sharkdog]

The half buried wooden fence sounds like a good idea, especially with how well the wooden scaffold turned out in your Red Hornet dio.

Are you going to make any more footsteps for the little dude, or did he fall back on all his tracks?

[Hemish]

Man thats looking amazing, the weathering is just right, Kudos to you

[Hunter Rose]

The half buried wooden fence sounds like a good idea, especially with how well the wooden scaffold turned out in your Red Hornet dio.

Are you going to make any more footsteps for the little dude, or did he fall back on all his tracks?

Thanks Shark! Funny you mention that because I still have a load of bits of wood left over from the Red Hornet build which is why I thought about it    And with regard to footprints yes he has fallen back on them but I'm still going to do some messed up snow tracks like the krote ones behind him even though its on the edge I dont want him to look like he's just jumped out of a plane and landed there!

Man thats looking amazing, the weathering is just right, Kudos to you

Thanks Hemish  , I am really pleased with how the weathering turned out, haven't done too much in the way of pigments on the krote yet because I'm planning on having a lot of snow on it especially on the head, want it to look like its been wandering the wastes for a while

[Hunter Rose]

Right! Been busy with the family so haven't had much chance to get at it this weekend, but did get a chance to sneak in today and weather the spring tubes I glued in, did this by brushing the whole tube with the graveyard dirt mig pigment, gives a very slight very dark red hue and kills the shine of the spring, this time to highlight I didn't use the light rust I used standard rust, as I didn't want it too bright so it was another slight rusty variation in colour.

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Right then I did some more work on the base, I'm going with the fence idea I was thinking of, so there is now an old broken fence also half buried in snow between them, so its as if the polar bear was crossing an old field while the krote was following the fence around it on patrol when they suddenly discover each other through the snow

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Ma.K Polar Bear and Krote Dio

Pretty happy with the old fence, its not glued in yet so I can paint it first spray the blue foam white, then glue it in before starting the snow effects. So from hear on out its snow snow and more snow! So hopefully I'll be back with more very soon