The former blacksmith shop in Rickarum, Sweden. 1/35 scale,

[Malachi Constant]

Pic.8 [img][/img]

Also ... what did you use for the serial number plates on the drill press and grinder?  Decals from Archer?  Etched plates from (where?) ... or     Thanks!  Dallas

[Junior]

Thanks VERY much Barney  ;!

Mr. Potato Head,
I will post a couple of SBS real soon.

Barney,
The spanners are from a Factory Tool Set by Dio-Park. They have the right thickness, size numbers etc. contrary to the etched tools available. At least the ones that I have seen are far too thin but that´s just my opinion. Vectorcut tools have the right thickness but can´t be painted with the paints and techniques I´m currently using.

Dallas,
It´s a re-worked Dio-Park desk. Scraped off the wood grain on the drawers. Re-shaped the top of the desk for less overhang and glued a thin piece of styrene sheet to it - saved me the trouble of getting rid of the wood grain. Might give it another color for a better steel look -we´ll see.
The plates for the drill press etc. are transfer decals from an Archer jeep dash board set (9-803). I started with a couple of etched plates but found them a litlle too thick - yes too thick in this case so they ended up on the two compressors (not shown in my pics). So you were right about everything.

Anders

[Junior]

SBS on Tool Board, Spanners & Wrenches.

The tool board was cut from sheet styrene. Rounded the corners a bit and added Philips screw heads from Alliance Modelworks in pre-drilled holes in each corner. Also cut two strips of styrene and made a rack for the screwdrivers etc. and one for the steel brushes.

Humbrol Flat Black as a base coat (spray can).
Airbrushed Humbrol Matt Varnish to protect the base coat from later chipping.
Airbrushed AK Worn Effects and finally a mix of Tamiya Flat Black with a few drops of Flat White.
Chipped away very little paint with a stiff  brush and hot water.
Brush and sponge painted tiny stains with a mix of Humbrol 33 Flat Black and 62 Flat Brown enamels and finally some very light washes here and there.

The hooks for the spanners are thin wire bent and cut with the help of an etch mate. First tried stretched sprue but they broke too easily. The rest of the hooks for hammers etc. are basically U-shaped etch pieces found in various handle sets from Royal Model and Verlinden. All tools that only needed a single bent hook like the spanners were glued in place and the hook was added afterwards.

I will here describe how the spanners and wrenches were done as the rest of the tools were done in so many different ways so if anyone is interested in those please let me know and I could do an SBS  Part II.

Airbrushed Alclad Gloss Black Primer - this is a must for the chrome finish. Dries in less than an hour. By the way Alclad paints can NOT be used with a brush they are too thin but have great coverage when you use an airbrush. VERY toxic !

For the spanners that I wanted a new look I airbrushed Alclad Chrome. Another option might be Mirra Chrome but I haven´t tried that brand - very expensive at $90.00 a can.
It´s important to spray in a similar pattern as you were using a paint brush - back and forth and all in one go otherwise you´ll end up with a stainless steel finish which I did a couple of times. Keep pressure below 1,5.

Next a coat of Alclad Clear Gloss. The two ends of the spanners were masked with Tamiya tape and the middle part was airbrushed Alclad Stainless Steel. Thís is for the new look were the ends are usually in a chrome finish. Not sure there are any of those in the current pictures but they will appear here and there in the build later on.

The wrenches and the rest of the spanners were airbrushed Alclad Stainless Steel or Semi Mat Aluminum and dirtied up with AK Engine Grime and various other washes. On some of them I also carefully (these are tiny tools) scraped off the paint to reveal the black base paint for a more worn look.

In some cases I also used AK Steel Pigments and a graphite pencil to highlight the edges - same thing but the pencil is of course easier to control.

As for the rest of the tools (metal parts) I also used Humbrol 53 and 191 for brush painting that´s why they are included in one of the pics. I prefer these to Vallejo, Tamiya and other metallic colors but that´s a different story that I might describe in Part II.

This might sound like a real quick job but believe me it takes a lot of time especially with all the screwdrivers, hammers, pliers etc. included. Maybe it´s not worth it but that´s what I did. Hope it all makes sence.

Anders

Pic. 1

[Junior]

Pic. 2 [img][/img]

[michael mott]

Hi Anders thanks for the info on painting, looking at the overall picture of the workbench the thing that I find most intriguing is all the extra bits of parts and clutter the trays with the gears and springs the placement of pieces being worked on, work gloves and rags. I think that this adds even more to the realism of the overall ensemble that the superb quality of the painting of everything.

Michael 

[finescalerr]

I just saved that SBS for a possible future article. -- Russ

[Malachi Constant]

This might sound like a real quick job but believe me it takes a lot of time especially with all the screwdrivers, hammers, pliers etc. included. Maybe it´s not worth it but that´s what I did. Hope it all makes sence.  Anders

One thing I can say that might not have been said before, I admire your single minded focus and intensity.  A project like this can wear a man down very quickly.     Dave

It's certainly worth it.  Definitely NOT "quick & easy" ... but all that extraordinary attention to detail (literally) pays off in those overall shots, in which all the bits & pieces "look right" both individually and collectively ...

And, your description of the effort (on JUST those tools) reinforces what Dave said ... it's a really big project and you've focused all the way down to the nitty gritty ... with outstanding results (so far ... no slacking off now!) 

Cheers,
Dallas

[Junior]

Thanks again guys  !

Need some input here about the roof. Had planned to build a removable roof but now have another idea. First of all a removable roof would mean that it would mostly be sitting somewhere next to the diorama for viewing purposes of the interior. This means that all the nice details rafters etc. on the end walls that are glued to the roof would also be removed and the main building would look rather lame in my opinion. You can also see in the previous pictures that there is already a white horisontal board that starts at the add on building and overlap the main end front wall. That board will fit very nicely to the rafters on the overhang of the roof. This would look very strange with the roof removed.

Here´s what I´m planning right now.

No.1.

Just model a fraction of the inner ceiling in an irregular pattern maybe as little as one or two centimeters just to indicate it´s there. The inner ceiling boards starts right on the first cross beam above the Verlinden shelves. Above that is of course the attic - you can see the attic door on page 11.

No 2.

I would then model the roof along the two end walls and long walls but only a fraction of it again - nothing at the peak of course. Maybe the width of one or two corrugated sheets and the boards supporting them. This would also be in a somewhat irregular pattern as somebody just cut through the roof. I think this would indicate well enough how the roof would have looked. For the add on building I would do the same but probably have a complete roof (tarpaper) over the second space. It´s unlikeley I will model an interior in that space as only the wall at the far back would be visible unless you lean over the diorama and damage the whole thing.... !

No.3.

I could easily make a very thin corrugated sheet that would fit neatley over one or both sides of the roof that I could use as a prop for my outdoor photo sessions.

Have lately seen at various shows that Armour modelers are not hesitant to model a roof like this but it´s of course most unusual at this forum.

What do you say guys......  ?

Anders

[DaKra]

I think you should be bold and complete the shop with a fixed roof and cieling, and the perfect interior is viewed only through the windows and doors.   That would be hard core!   

[Mr Potato Head]

The cool thing about models is they can look prototypical, but don't have actually be engineered to support the weight or hold up to earth quake or hurricane standards.
So I say do both, build a roof that's removable and still have the rafters and the ceiling tiles visible by building it as a stand alone structure that fits into the roof, sort of like a puzzle piece or a box within a box,, it will accomplish two things: You will be able to show off the awesome interior detail and show off the ceiling detail, too
MPH

[lab-dad]

I would model the "back" roof (fixed) and then a removable roof on the front.
Rafters would then be fixed.
Then you could fill the attic with more of your wonderful little details!
-Marty

[Chuck Doan]

You could mount a video camera with the ability to be rotated outside the dio-then the viewer could look around as if inside. MAybe a periscope lens or something clever. Seems like everyone is using them in trains and RC things and undercover work....24 hour AndersCam on the Web!

[finescalerr]

Build the roof, set it on fire, and view the interior through the resulting holes.

Seriously, why not either follow Marty's suggestion or build the roof and rafters as a removable unit to allow a clear view of that remarkable interior?

Russ

[marc_reusser]

I thirdly agree with the full removeable roof.  I feel the carved/cut away or missing look is trite, and visually annoying/detracting. Plus a completely closeable/removeable roof will help to somewhat protect the interior from dust, fading etc.


M

[michael mott]

I also agree that modeling the roof completely and being able to remove it accomplishes both protection and integrity of the model.

A hydraulic hoist in the middle of the shop that could raise the roof could be really cool.

cheers Michael