{"id":1685,"date":"2007-07-06T17:20:45","date_gmt":"2007-07-07T01:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1685"},"modified":"2009-02-11T17:23:27","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T01:23:27","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-efgf-type-74-hovertruck-diorama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-efgf-type-74-hovertruck-diorama\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb E.F.G.F. Type 74 Hovertruck Diorama"},"content":{"rendered":"

06.08.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Concepts\/Initial
\nProgress<\/p>\n

\"\"I
\ncan’t describe how glad I am that Bandai started
\ndoing a 1\/35 scale Gundam line of support vehicles
\nand ground troops under the Universal Century
\nHardgraph (UCHG) name. Really fantastic releases
\nso far and lets me do Gundam and 1\/35 armor at
\nthe same time which just rocks. Best of both worlds!
\nI’ve had my UCHG releases on my shelf for a little
\nwhile now while working on other projects and
\nplanning for this one. This project will be a
\ndiorama of the Type 74 Hovertruck and the Zaku
\nhead.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

All of my recent projects have allowed
\nme to test certain elements of the terrain and
\nbuilding that I’ve been planning for this amd
\nnow I get to put them all together. The terrain
\nwill consist of a dirt road, a grassy slope and
\na rocky stream. The hovertruck will be sitting
\non the road while the severed Zaku head will be
\nresting half in the stream. This will give me
\nthe chance to do some nice rusty effects to the
\nhead. The figures will be resting and taking a
\nbreak while on the road delivering supplies or
\nmaybe just making camp for a few days while out
\non maneuvers. Below is a diagram I did to map
\nout what I’m planning. As usual the actual terrain
\nwill probably be modified and shifted as I adjust
\nto fit the elements into place. Each square is
\n1 inch so as you can see, this will be a rather
\nlarge piece.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I started on the hovertruck first
\nas I think that’ll take the longest to complete.
\nI decided to add an interior to this since the
\nkit does not have one. Pretty surprising since
\nthere’s so many openable hatches and doors. I
\nfound some reference pics of the interior from
\nthe anime and source books thanks to some helpful
\nfolks on the forum. I’m using these mostly as
\nrough guides and am not going to kill myself making
\nit anime-accurate. There’s really no need since
\nthe hatches in which you can view the interior
\nare actually not that big. I guttet out a wall
\nthat had been placed between the driver\/nav area
\nand the rear communications\/gunner areas of the
\ninterior as it wasn’t there in the refs and would
\nallow more visibility of all the work I’m doing.
\nHere’s some images of where I’m at. Mostly I’ve
\ngot rough parts and areas installed and will detail
\nthem up more later. I had to order some diamond-plate
\ntextured styrene sheet from the LHS since they
\nwere out so much of my next steps are waiting
\non me installing the flooring. The chairs in the
\nfront are leftovers from my 1\/35 Cobra since I
\ngot resin updates for them.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Lastly is the stowage I’ll be adding
\nto the rear bed of the truck. I only had 1 of
\neach of the 2 gas cylinder sizes you see below
\nso I ended up making molds so I could cast a bunch.
\nWhile I was at it I made molds for some other
\nresin stowage bits and radio equipment from armor
\nkits to use on the truck.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

06.14.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Base<\/p>\n

I finished most of the part removal
\nand nub-sanding for the hovertruck and zaku head.
\nStill some seams to sand down however on the HT.
\nFor now though I’ve been focusing on the base
\nas I need it partially ready before I can start
\nthe damage mods to the Zaku head. I started with
\nsome scrap plywood for the base and added some
\nother scraps to build up the base for the roadway.
\nLeftover sprue and citrus netting was used to
\nmake a frame for the hillsides and then paper
\nmache towels were added. Rocks are temporarily
\nin place until I add the rest of the celluclay.
\nI used Balsa sheet for the sides of the base and
\nstained them. I’m in the process of adding the
\nsuccessive coats of polycrylic to seal them. Once
\nthat’s done I can add the rest of the celluclay.
\nYou can also see how I’m using some wood molding
\nglue to partially seal the inside of the balsa
\nfrom the future wetness of the additional celluclay
\nwhich may warp it.<\/p>\n

While for now it just looks like
\na boring HT and Zaku head, I think it’ll be the
\nmodified figures and their actions that will make
\nthis very interesting. That and the rocky stream.
\nThat’ll be VERY fun and challenging to create.
\nHere’s some pics:<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

06.17.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Base
\nand Stowage<\/p>\n

I’ve been making some simple one-piece
\nmolds to create additional stowage for this project.
\nThere’s a lot of room in the truck bed for stuff,
\nbut most stowage sets available for armor don’t
\nreally have what I want, enough of what I want,
\nor just plain don’t fit right. The Italeri Modern
\nBattle Accessories set had 2 different sizes of
\ngas cylinders, but only one of each. Growing up
\nI lived near a Corning Glass Plant and saw many
\ntrucks carrying loads of gas cylinders. They always
\nintriqued me so I wanted to recreate that here.
\nI first made a mold and cast 4 cylinders. Then
\nI took those 4 (of each) and made another mold
\nso that I could cast a bunch at one time. I added
\na barrel and some small canisters too to fill
\nup the space. The hovertruck also came with 2
\nlarge ammo boxes. They have openable lids, but
\nfor my needs that wasn’t necessary. I took one
\nand glued it shut and filled in any gaps. I made
\na mold of it (and a beer and water bottle) and
\nmade a bunch to use here and for later projects
\nas well. These are large enough to look good on
\n1\/20 MaK projects too. The beer and water bottles
\nwill be cast in clear resin, having made a new
\nmold to cast a bunch at once. Then I can paint
\nthem with clear green or brown and the water bottles
\nwill have just a clear blue lid. The resin I’ve
\nbeen using mixes clear and dries white. What’s
\ngreat is that you can see any air bubbles in these
\nsimple molds and tease them out with some wire
\nbefore it sets. Below you can see my truck bed
\nfilled.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Also I finished applying the celluclay
\nto my base. Now I can start on the damage to the
\nZaku head!<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

06.19.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Figs
\nand Damage<\/p>\n

Next up for this in-progress report
\nis the Zaku head damage and the figures. I’ve
\nused figures from a few different sets for this
\nproject. I’ve used the squatting figure from the
\nHovertruck (unaltered) and the “relaxed”
\nfigure who will have a new head (gotta sculpt
\na new neck) who is laying on a rock. I used two
\nfigures from the Dragon Afrika Korps set as well.
\nAs far as modifying them, they both have caps
\nthat match the Hovertruck figure (included in
\nthe Afrika Korps set, but for the other 2 figs)
\nand the one who is fishing has a new right hand
\nthat will hold the pole better. The fishing poles
\nwill be scratchbuilt. The tan figure from the
\nTamiya German Tank Loading Crew set will be carrying
\nbags of ice and has had his hair removed. The
\nbox below him will have a tarp inside, and bottles
\nof beer, bottled water, and ice.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The Zaku head is almost done now
\ntoo. I just need to clean up the “d-rings”
\nand add a rough cast texture. I might dent up
\nthe “nose” too. To make the damage I
\nused a Dremmel, candle (to bend the plastic out),
\nand pliars. I made a dent on the top left of the
\nhead by heating that part with a candle and pressing
\nit in with the handle of my pliars.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Painting and Weathering the
\nZaku Head<\/p>\n

06.21.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Head
\nRust<\/p>\n

After the primer on the head had
\ncured I began the painting and weathering process.
\nThe process of weathering and painting the head
\nto look rusty and damaged will be a little more
\ncomplex than what I do for normal vehicle weathering.
\nFirst the parts were primed\/textured with a dark
\ngray Krylon primer. After that cured I sprayed
\nit unevenly with a rust colored mix of Tamiya
\nAcrylics.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

When that dried enough (a few hours)
\nI applied mapping and drybrushing with Tamiya
\nXF-12 J.N. Grey. What is mapping? It’s creating
\nlarger areas of paint and stains to give a multi-dimensional
\nlook to the weathering. Imagine that you’re basically
\npainting small islands on a map. Below you can
\nsee wone of these spots\/islands. Later when I
\napply more effects, washes, discoloration\/fading,
\netc… they won’t be so pronounced. You begin
\nblending these in by drybrushing around and on
\nthem with the same color.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

After the XF-12 mapping I applied
\nanother coat of mapping, but this time with Tamiya
\nXF-71 Cockpit Green (IJN). This has a great Zaku-esque
\ncolor to it and contrasts the rust nicely. This
\ntime the mapping and drybrushing was applied with
\nbits of sponge where the prior coat was applied
\nwith a few different brushes. After the XF-71
\ngreen had dried I drybrushed some more XF-12 over
\nit to dull the look and help blend it in. Then
\nsmall brighter spots of XF 12 were applied much
\nlike negative paint chips here and there. These
\ngreens will basically be whatever paint is left
\non the Zaku after the initial damage and sitting
\nin the rising\/falling water for a few years.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

And lastly for this update I applied
\na gloss then satin coat of Future to seal it,
\nan earth colored wash, and a flat coat of Future.
\nNext up is more washes and staining to bring out
\nthe rusty effects and blend in the leftover green
\npaint.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"<\/p>\n

07.02.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Head
\nProgress<\/p>\n

The head is pretty much done. After
\napplying some oil paint rust streaking, a wash
\nor 2, and a flat coat, I applied the pigment powders.
\nI still think it needs some more, but I wanted
\nto get it affixed to the base first. Here’s some
\npics:<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

07.04.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Busted
\nand Rusted<\/p>\n

The head rusting is pretty much
\ndone. I tweaked it a bit and added more light
\nrust streaks. I also added some waterline dirt-marks.
\nThey’re not showing up well in the pics however.
\nNext up is the scary part… pouring the water
\nand potentially ruining the head. Scary scary
\nscary.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Painting and Weathering the
\nHovertruck and Stowage<\/p>\n

06.21.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Primed
\nInterior<\/p>\n

Here’s some shots of the primed
\ninterior of the hovertruck. When the primer is
\ncured I’ll be painting this in Tamiya Deck Tan
\nand weathering it up. I’m using the light deck
\ntan so that once it’s all closed up you’ll have
\na better view since it’ll be a lighter color.
\nThat’s the hope anyway! Plus a lot of real armor
\nhave very light colored interiors. Here’s the
\npics:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"<\/p>\n

06.25.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Such
\na SHAME!<\/p>\n

What a shame… what a shame. The
\ninterior of my Hovertruck is all painted and weathered.
\nIt looks great! The shame is that now I’ll be
\nclosing it up and you’ll only be able to view
\nit through some little windows. I airbrushed the
\nentire interior with Tamiya Deck Tan. Then I hand-painted
\nall of the little details, consoles and such with
\nvarious colors. After a gloss coat of FFA, decals
\nand a satin coat of Future, I applied the paint
\nchips and then gave it all a light earth colored
\nwash. Then I gave it a flat coat and added some
\nstowage, water bottles, maps, modeling mags, and
\nthe Mig FAQ. Here’s a bunch of pics.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

I also painted and weathered all
\nof the stowage since I needed to add some inside
\nbefore closing it up. I think all of my recasted
\ngas cylinders, barrels, and ammo boxes turned
\nout great. The large wooden box was scratchbuilt,
\nwhile the others were from a Tamiya set. Those
\nwere also fun to paint and weather. Overall I’m
\nvery happy with the results. The various colors
\nand tones of the stowage will add a nice bit of
\nvisual interest to the piece.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

07.02.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Fish
\nand Chips<\/p>\n

The hovertruck has been painted
\nusing Tamiya Khaki Drab as a base then lightening
\nthe panels with a lighter mixture of the khaki
\ndrab + khaki + white. After that was done, a gloss
\ncoat and decals were applied. Then a light green
\nfilter followed by the paint chips. I still have
\nsome paint chips to do yet then onto the fading\/discoloration.
\nSince this is a truck\/utility type vehicle I want
\nit to look somewhat “broken in” and
\nworn.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

07.03.2007 \u00c2\u00bb More
\nChips<\/p>\n

The chips are all done. The scraping
\non the front part of the HT was done first with
\na brush, then with a sponge. The longer thinner
\nscrapes are done by drybrushing with the same
\nsponge.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"<\/p>\n

07.03.2007 \u00c2\u00bb More
\nChips<\/p>\n

The fading and wash is done for
\nthe hovertruck. The first pic shows just the fading.
\nThe second two show the hull after the wash. The
\nwash is a dirt color and not real heavy. The dusting
\neffects with pigments will show off the dirt and
\ndust later.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

07.07.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Weathering
\nwith pigments<\/p>\n

Now that the wash has cured, a final
\nflat coat has been applied and weathering with
\nmud and pigments has begun. First I did a pre-dusting
\nusing a mixture of Tamiya Flat Earth and Buff.
\nThen I mixed some my my sifted dirt that I used
\nfor the base with some water and used a thick
\nold brush to spatter it all over the underside
\nandwhere else that the turbines might blow mud
\nand water. And finally I’m in the process of adding
\ndusting here and there with pigment powders. To
\ndo the crew footprints I made a mold of one of
\nthe Hovertruck crew’s feet which have treads molded
\nin. I then poured more silicone in that mold and
\nmade a “foot stamp”. What’s cool is
\nthat it “erases” or places pigments
\ndepending on where you use it. It erased from
\nthe bed and the collected pigments from that it
\nreleased when placed on the roof.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

07.08.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Pretty
\nMuch Done<\/p>\n

The truck is pretty muc done except
\nfor a few minor things like painting the rest
\nof the lesnes and applying the mirrors. I think
\nI’m going to use some chrome window tint for the
\nmirrors. It’s thin sheets and thinner once the
\nfilm is peeled from the clear backing. The stowage
\nis all added and the weathering is all done. The
\nstowage adds a fantastic and much needed splash
\nof color and visual interests to the monochromatic
\nscheme. Here’s pics:<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Display Base, Figures, and
\nFinal Touches<\/p>\n

06.25.2007 \u00c2\u00bb River
\nRock<\/p>\n

I finally, after much searching
\nand testing found the perfect cheap and nicely
\nscaled river rock for my creek\/river bed. I had
\nfirst tried dyed cat litter and it looked okay,
\nbut not perfect. Talus and ballast was too uniform.
\nBut then my neighbor had his driveway paved. The
\npavers had poured construction sand all over the
\nasphault which at first I paid no mind to. However,
\nafter a good rain, all the littlest sand particles
\nhad washed away and what was left was what you
\nsee below. I went to Home Depot and for under
\n$3.00 got a 50 pound bag of the stuff. After some
\nsifting through fine mesh to remove the sand,
\nall that was loeft was the rocks. About 5 cups
\nof sand yeilded 1 cup of rocks. Below is a pic
\nof some in a Crystal Light cup which I save tons
\nof and use for mixing washes\/resins.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

07.02.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Figs,
\nDucks, and More Rocks<\/p>\n

First up is the base progress. I
\napplied the dirt using my dirt tutorial to the
\nbase. I sorted the riverocks via a strainer into
\na small and large sized rock piles. Then I started
\nadhering the river rocks by first pouring on the
\nlarger rocks and then over them the smaller ones
\nfilling in the gaps and such. I wanted larger
\nricks near the shore and the smaller ones out
\nin the actual water so that under the water they
\nlook smaller and deeper. I didn’t go all the way
\nup the slope with them since that’ll be grass
\nand such. The Zaku bullet casings were also added
\non the shore as if they were washed up by waves\/floods.
\nThe weathered Zaku head was attached to the base
\nusing 5-min epoxy then more rocks were applied
\naround it to make it look more sunken in. The
\nrocks were then given drops of “prepared
\nmatte medium” from ScenicExpress.com. I applied
\nit using an eyedropper and applied it liberally.
\nNow the rocks are set and are not going anywhere
\nwithout some effort.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

I’ve also been painting the figures
\nusing oil paints over an acrylic base coat. They’re
\njust about done. They need a little of the fading\/discoloration
\ntechnique, a little bit of a wash here and there
\njust to pop certain things, and a flat coat. The
\neyes also need done. Also, a few days ago I was
\nthinking about the guy squatting at the shore
\nand why he’s right on the waters edge looking
\nin. I decided that he needs to be looking at some
\nducks swimming in the water. Maybe he’s wearing
\nthe gloves to try and catch one for dinner. Who
\nknows? So I started sculpting some small ducks
\ntoday. Here’s the progress so far.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"<\/p>\n

07.03.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Duck,
\nDuck, Duck, Duck…<\/p>\n

No geese. Ducks are about finished.
\nJust need to clean up the males beak a bit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

07.04.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Water
\nTests<\/p>\n

Here’s my tests of the resin over
\nthe past few months. Basically any time I knew
\nI’d be pouring clear resin I had a test ready
\nfor the leftovers. The first tests were to see
\nhow different glues would work to hold down the
\nrocks which in the beginning were going to be
\ncolored cat litter. Later I tested colors mixed
\nin the resin to check for reactions. And finally
\nI checked my final glue and water color mix. Lastle
\nis the ducks sitting on my final test. The ducks
\nwill be sat into the resin a bit in the end. THe
\nresin I’m using is called Castin’ Craft.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

07.06.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Tests
\ncan’t account for everything.<\/p>\n

Well, just when I thought that I
\nknew just about everything that could go wrong
\nwith the water pour, took measures against such
\ndisasters, and believed all went well… of course
\nthere was a problem this morning. Let’s start
\nfrom the beginning on the pour process…<\/p>\n

First I followed the advice in the
\nMig FAQ and used clear tape to make a wall to
\nhold in the resin. This worked well when pouring
\nthe first layer of resin as seen below:<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The tape wasn’t tall enough so I
\nadded more and poured the second layer. This also
\nwent well, but the tape started to warp a little.
\nNo biggie as It wasn’t a look I was against as
\nit looked liquidy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I poured the final layer and waited
\nfor it to firm up some so I could to the ripples.
\nI had practiced the ripples on the previous 2
\nlayers so I knew that part would go fine which
\nit did. After the resin began to firm up I added
\nthe ducks. Again, all was good at this point.
\nA few hours later the resin felt hard enough to
\nremove the tape which I did. I had noticed a small
\nfissure between the resin and the base in the
\nfront and didn’t think too much of it. I covered
\nthe water\/base with a box to keep out dust untim
\nit was no longer the slightest bit tacky which
\ncan take a few days sometimes. This was all yesterday.
\nThis afteroon I checked on it and noticed the
\nfissure had spread and that the side of the water
\nopposite the head had come up. I can only assume
\nthis is due to shrinking of the resin during curing.
\nAt the front corner it’s raised about 1\/8″
\nor so. Grrrr. The side of the head didn’t raise
\nup and I can only assume that the head which was
\nanchored to the base VERY securely held the resin
\nin place. Next time I’ll add a few small d-rings\/staples
\nunder the water to keep it down all over. Lesson
\nlearned and passed on. Enjoy! Also if I ever have
\nthe need for water like this again (which I certainly
\nwill) I’ll try the Andreas Miniatures water instead
\nof the Castin’ Craft as I hear it’s supurb.<\/p>\n

Now, I could sit around and be pissed
\noff about it, but I have an easy fix. I was contemplating
\nadding another wood boarder around the base as
\na decorative feature, but decided not to. Well…
\nnow I have to. I bought some thin basswood and
\njust finished staining it. When that’s finished
\nI’ll glue the strips around the outside edge.
\nThis will add some nice edging to the base and
\ncover up the gaps. Whew. Glad it’s not a round
\nbase! Here’s the pics. Next I’ll add some ripples
\non the sure and around the head using gloss gel
\nmedium and FFA.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n