Tomcat's Puma

[DrSprue]

Very cool Neil. Love the Puma and the Miniart diorama stuff looks very interesting.

[Tomcat64]

Very cool Neil. Love the Puma and the Miniart diorama stuff looks very interesting.

Thanks Tony "interesting" is one word for it

[DrSprue]

Very cool Neil. Love the Puma and the Miniart diorama stuff looks very interesting.

Thanks Tony "interesting" is one word for it

Oh I bet. I never saw a Miniart kit. Looks like alot of fun. I saw the plastic spruces from the beginning of this post, but the base almost looks like a thick vacuum formed like product. Is it injection molded or vacuum?

[Tomcat64]

The base and the walls are all Vac-formed, the window frames, shutters and street furniture etc are all injection.

The base is ok as it's just a single piece but mating up the two halves of the wall sections is a real challenge.

[gaz45]

Stunning work there mate

[bfrd]

The setting looks like it will be stunning. Can't wait to see it finished.

[Tomcat64]

Stunning work there mate

The setting looks like it will be stunning. Can't wait to see it finished.

Thanks guys

Well last weekend didn't quite go to plan so I haven't started weathering the cat as yet, but I've made some progress on the vac-form ruins this week.

The scruffy-looking gaps down the edges and around the window casements were filled with squadron white putty. Then the wall ends were stippled with Vallejo textured brown earth to get a better finish for the rubble


You can see in the previous shot that I've also inserted the window frames using Tamiya standard cement, and as expected there are gaps to be attended to


So these were filled with squadron white and sanded down. One of the reasons I'm using squadron over the other putties in my arsenal (PPP, Vallejo) is that it's the most adhesive, so as well as filling the gap it's strengthening the join - again something I've learnt from the previous experience with these Miniart dios.


With that done I attached the walls to the base with CA and slathered more squadron into the resulting gap. In retrospect I might have been better off actually putting down a thin layer of putty and setting the ruins into that (kind of like tiling) - will try that next time around.


That was then tidied up


And then primed in Ultimate black, with Ultimate Grey randomly sprayed afterwards to create some tonal variation in the undercoat - apologies for the quality of this photo, I was obviously not paying attention to the sunlight coming in from the window!


Finally I've started blocking in the colours. I'll block them all in prior to starting in on the weathering. The cobbles for the road were sprayed with Vallejo ModelAir - a mix of Dark Sea Grey & Camo Black/Brown. This was masked off and the paving was sprayed with Light Gull Grey, and finally the base coat of the brickwork was brushed with Vallejo ModelColour Red Leather. The gull grey looks a little bright at the moment but hopefully that'll settle down after a couple of washes.


Next up I'll mask off what's been painted so far and get the final colours laid down for the walls, and then start weathering this all in.

Thanks for looking!

[DrSprue]

Wow thats really cool to see how you make a diorama with this kit.

[Quax]

I was obviously not paying attention to the sunlight coming in from the window!

Does the sun shine in Swindon? Looking great as usual Neil, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the brickwork so as I can steal all your ideas sorry I mean learn lots of stuff (I tried to find strikethrough or paste it from Word but it wouldn't let me )

cheers

Paul

[Tomcat64]

Wow thats really cool to see how you make a diorama with this kit.

Thanks Tony - it's always a voyage of discovery for me too

I was obviously not paying attention to the sunlight coming in from the window!

Does the sun shine in Swindon? Looking great as usual Neil, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the brickwork so as I can steal all your ideas sorry I mean learn lots of stuff (I tried to find strikethrough or paste it from Word but it wouldn't let me )

It doesn't happen very often which is why it caught me out

I've 'alf-inched a brickwork painting process from a railway builder that I'm going to try so stay strapped in this could get bumpy! It also requires some patience which may trip me up early in the process!!

[Stokesy44]

I've 'alf-inched a brickwork painting process from a railway builder that I'm going to try so stay strapped in this could get bumpy! It also requires some patience which may trip me up early in the process!!

There's nothing better than trying a new process

[Quax]

I've 'alf-inched a brickwork painting process from a railway builder that I'm going to try so stay strapped in this could get bumpy! It also requires some patience which may trip me up early in the process!!

There's nothing better than trying a new process

You do appreciate Stokesy that Neil will make it look like he's been doing it for years dont you?
Paul

[Stokesy44]

You do appreciate Stokesy that Neil will make it look like he's been doing it for years dont you?
Paul

Yeah I know, makes ya sick but he's a good guy so I cant feel bad about it

[Tomcat64]

I've 'alf-inched a brickwork painting process from a railway builder that I'm going to try so stay strapped in this could get bumpy! It also requires some patience which may trip me up early in the process!!

There's nothing better than trying a new process

You do appreciate Stokesy that Neil will make it look like he's been doing it for years dont you?
Paul

You do appreciate Stokesy that Neil will make it look like he's been doing it for years dont you?
Paul

Yeah I know, makes ya sick but he's a good guy so I cant feel bad about it

Thank you gentlemen - your optimism has been noted and is much appreciated!!

[Tomcat64]

I've managed to move this along a bit more so here's a quick update before the weekend.

After allowing the base coat for the brickwork to dry overnight it was masked off using Panzer Putty, with the rest of the base being covered in cling-film (thanks to Pourquoi for this tip).


Then ModelAir Faded PRU Blue was applied as the base coat for the outside wall


After letting this dry overnight the walls were masked off using Tamiya masking tape, tape for curves, and some white-tac blobs pushed into the plaster decoration (crenellations?). The window frames, plaster work and inside walls were sprayed with White-Grey (sorry Quax I didn't have any ModelAir Magnolia in the box!) And the lower section was sprayed with German Grey. I had to move this along relatively quickly because Panzer Putty isn't overly adhesive and will start to slip off a vertical surface if it's left too long.


And then it was that bum-clenching unmasking time... first up around the back - there's one or two rough edges but nothing that will be a problem. I probably won't do too much around here other than dirtying it up & adding some rubble because unlike the en-suite StuG dio this one isn't really intended to be seen from the back


And finally here's the front - pretty happy with the way this has gone so far. I'll let this cure overnight and then hopefully will start in with the various weathering processes over the weekend


Thanks as always for checking in guys - have a great weekend whatever you're up to

[Stokesy44]

Cool skills with the masking. Love the colours although I know its not gonna stay that way!

[papatika]

Gorgeous job! Can't wait to see it weathered!

[Tomcat64]

Cool skills with the masking. Love the colours although I know its not gonna stay that way!

Thanks mate - I realised partway through that I'd made life more difficult than necessary (nothing new there) because I'm brush painting the bricks and could have left them til last and saved a ton of masking!

Gorgeous job! Can't wait to see it weathered!

Thanks mate!

[TommyKillander]

Wow!

Amazing work - I love the Puma and it's going to look just great with this dio.

Keep up the awesome work


Tommy

[DrSprue]

Cool skills with the masking. Love the colours although I know its not gonna stay that way!

Thanks mate - I realised partway through that I'd made life more difficult than necessary (nothing new there) because I'm brush painting the bricks and could have left them til last and saved a ton of masking!

Gorgeous job! Can't wait to see it weathered!

Thanks mate!

It looks so nice Neil, with what paints did you use to brush paint them, it looks so smooth! Every time I get out a hand paintbrush, it looks like I finished the side of a garage door and was flat until I got to it!

[Tomcat64]

Wow!

Amazing work - I love the Puma and it's going to look just great with this dio.

Keep up the awesome work


Tommy

Thanks Tommy

It looks so nice Neil, with what paints did you use to brush paint them, it looks so smooth! Every time I get out a hand paintbrush, it looks like I finished the side of a garage door and was flat until I got to it!

Thanks Tony

The brickwork was brush-painted with Vallejo Model Colour Red Leather (70818) straight out of the bottle with no thinning and it went down a treat almost self-levelling in fact.

[Stokesy44]

Your Puma sent me a message, it said 'your neglecting him'

[Tomcat64]

Your Puma sent me a message, it said 'your neglecting him'

LOL - it's sitting here on the shelf staring at me indignantly like any good cat

I've actually done some work on the dio base while I've been playing with the Looney Nodule thingy but want to get that project off the bench now as it's pretty close to being done.

Hopefully I'll get back to this one this weekend.

[Stokesy44]

Your Puma sent me a message, it said 'your neglecting him'

LOL - it's sitting here on the shelf staring at me indignantly like any good cat

I've actually done some work on the dio base while I've been playing with the Looney Nodule thingy but want to get that project off the bench now as it's pretty close to being done.

Hopefully I'll get back to this one this weekend.

I'm getting the dio itch myself again. Went to Belgium in 2011 on an Ardennes tour. Stopped at La Gleize which is as far as Kampfgruppe Peiper got in 44. I've got a beautiful Tiger II in the stash - you can see where I'm going here....

Thinking of calling it 'Up the hill to La Gleize'

[Quax]

I'm getting the dio itch myself again. Went to Belgium in 2011 on an Ardennes tour. Stopped at La Gleize which is as far as Kampfgruppe Peiper got in 44. I've got a beautiful Tiger II in the stash - you can see where I'm going here....

Thinking of calling it 'Up the hill to La Gleize'

We could do a Peiper buddy build then send them all to Neil to make the diorama...

Paul

[Tomcat64]

I'm getting the dio itch myself again. Went to Belgium in 2011 on an Ardennes tour. Stopped at La Gleize which is as far as Kampfgruppe Peiper got in 44. I've got a beautiful Tiger II in the stash - you can see where I'm going here....

Thinking of calling it 'Up the hill to La Gleize'

Ooh do it do it do it


I'll go and stock up on pop corn now!!

[Stokesy44]

We could do a Peiper buddy build then send them all to Neil to make the diorama...

Paul

Ooh do it do it do it


I'll go and stock up on pop corn now!!

[DrSprue]

[Tomcat64]

[Quax]

Paul

[pourquoi61]

Brilliant work on the Puma looking forward to the dio toooooo.

[TheNordus]

I like this one, your work on the diorama made me go back and work on my Miniart diorama piece.

[Tomcat64]

Brilliant work on the Puma looking forward to the dio toooooo.

Thanks mate

I like this one, your work on the diorama made me go back and work on my Miniart diorama piece.

Thanks mate - the Miniart dios can be a real challenge even with the simple ones, but I really like the end result.

[Tomcat64]

Well, as m'learned friends pointed out this one has been a little neglected while I was off exploring the final frontier, but there was some progress and now this is the only project on the bench so it should start swinging along again.

As a reminder here's how it looked last time I checked in


Which was all a bit clean really, so first up was the new process on the brickwork which involved creating a really thin wash using Vallejo Model Colour Light Rubber. The new bit for me was wetting the surface with water before adding the wash, this had the effect of improving the flow into the recesses. After a couple of coats the effect was starting to come out but I wasn't completely happy with it...


So while I was pondering that I doused the pavement and cobbles with various mixes of clay wash to create some random grubbiness - Grime, Dark dirt, light dirt and brown were all liberally applied


And then cleaned up to leave this


Back to the brickwork and I realised I'd been a total prawn and had left the dio the right way up as the wash was settling and drying which meant it naturally gravitated to the bottom of the recesses rather than the centres (Damn you Mr Newton and your apples!). So I then applied a couple more washes and laid the dio so that the relevant wall section was laying flat while the wash was drying - that worked much better.
Ye cannae change the laws of physics laddie. I'm wondering in hindsight if it might have been quicker to have used a Concrete clay wash so I might try that next time around.


So after a couple of washes I then randomly picked out some of the bricks in darker shades again using washes of various darker browns. The woodwork was picked out in green, and the edges of the broken plaster was painted with Light Rubber.


And also applied some thinned washes of green & Sepia to the paving slabs and some of the cobble stones to add some variety there


A quick look around the back where I've also filled in the rubble section with Vallejo textured dark earth


Finally I toned down some of the picked out bricks with a light grey wash and this is how it looks at the moment


Hopefully I can move this along now - I need to build up some additional details such as a street lamp and drain pipe and start dirtying up the paintwork. I've also got some figures to build up and add, as well as weathering and finishing the Puma itself.

Thanks as always for looking!

[ElCapitan]

The various washes have worked so well, the cobbles look so real especially!

[DrSprue]

Oh it all looks really great, that brick work tho is amazing and so real all around. I do have to agree with you tho Neil...

[Quax]

Bricks are looking very good Neil but could you speed up before I run out of time to steal all your ideas?

Paul

[Tomcat64]

The various washes have worked so well, the cobbles look so real especially!

Oh it all looks really great, that brick work tho is amazing and so real all around.

Bricks are looking very good Neil but could you speed up before I run out of time to steal all your ideas?

Thanks guys

If it helps with pre-emptive stealage Paul I'm thinking of applying the green/sepia washes to the outside plaster sections next

[Quax]

If it helps with pre-emptive stealage Paul I'm thinking of applying the green/sepia washes to the outside plaster sections next

will you be applying those upright, lying down or upside down? Whilst your at it which plane will the wall be in....?

Paul

[Tomcat64]

will you be applying those upright, lying down or upside down? Whilst your at it which plane will the wall be in....?

Well since you ask I'll be reclining on the Chaise Longue in my underpants as usual just like everyone else when they paint right? Right?!?!?

[Quax]

Well since you ask I'll be reclining on the Chaise Longue in my underpants as usual just like everyone else when they paint right? Right?!?!?

Well I'm glad that, after the superglue "incident", you've learnt to keep them on when modelling...
Paul

[demarcation]

Very very nice mate!!

[Tomcat64]

Very very nice mate!!

Thanks Anders! Good to see you again - hope all's well

I had a good day at the bench playing about with pigments and clay washes and generally making a mess of things

I'd managed to get some time one evening last week and gave the outside "white" plaster a wet wash of green & sepia to ikky them up a little


Once that was dry the whole building was then given a heavy coating of mixed clay washes (dark dirt, grim, a little brown) all slopped on and mixed wet to give some inconsistency to the colouration


And while I was at it I dug out the Puma and gave that a good slathering in dark dirt as well


Then after wiping things off - carefully in the case of the Puma as there were a load of griblies just waiting to jump off things looked like this (camera was struggling for colour balance in a few photos this afternoon)


I'm still a little undecided about which way to point the thing on the base, but I think it'll become a bit more obvious once the dudes are added


Around the back. I wasn't completely happy with the look at this point, but wasn't sure what to do about it - more on that later.


Next I mixed up a fairly thick slop of pigments. MiG pigments Europe Dust and Dark Mud mixed with water and Humbrol DecalFix. This was applied to the underside, wheels and a little way up the edges of the fenders as I didn't want to go overboard on dirtying this up. This mix was also applied to the cobblestones at random places to pull everything together tonally.


After leaving that to dry for a while, it was reactivated and wiped off with a combination of wet & dry cotton buds, kitchen towel and damp brushes. Each wheel was worked with twice on each side with cotton buds, one end wet and the other dry to wipe off the excess once the wet end had reactivated the dirt pigments (same process on the roadway)


As mentioned earlier, I wasn't completely happy with the effects especially on the outside (blue) wall of the building, and couldn't figure out why. Then the lightbulb came on and I decided that it was too overdone - so I went back and wiped it down again to give a more subtle effect which I'm much happier with - I may come back and work it again with some different pigments to smoke stain it but not sure yet...


And that's how it looks at the moment, next up I'll start building the inhabitants using this set


There's also a lamp-post & drain pipe to put in as well as starting to rubble things up a bit. I can also start on the final components on the Puma (periscopes & aerials)

Thanks for looking!

[DrSprue]

Very cool Neil. I think I can see the difference between modelers and artists. Youre both in my mind. very nice diorama.

[Tomcat64]

Very cool Neil. I think I can see the difference between modelers and artists. Youre both in my mind. very nice diorama.

Thanks Tony - you're too kind

[Stokesy44]

This was looking really good - and then I saw the figures...

[Quax]

its all looking rather splendid! I'll be watching out for how the figures go for the next time I go out of my tiny mind...

Paul

[ElCapitan]

Looking good, can't wait to see the figures!

[Tomcat64]

This was looking really good - and then I saw the figures...

its all looking rather splendid! I'll be watching out for how the figures go for the next time I go out of my tiny mind...

Paul

Looking good, can't wait to see the figures!

Thanks guys - I think I got away with the camo on the last set of figures... I just wish I could remember how I did it!!

[NorthernModeller]

Brilliant stuff looks great and looking forward to the end result