Some old and new stuff from a new member.

[Alexandre]

Hello gentlemen,

Marc R recently told me about this forum, and very kindly invited me to join, so here I am with some of my past project as a kind of first contact.  
I'm Alexandre, and have been very inspired, over the years, by Chuck and Marc work, even if I've almost zero knowledge about railroad modelling. I'm particularly interested in groundwork modelling and experimenting textures.
I'm also a great fan of Maschinen Krieger, SF3D/Ma.K franchise, and that's the kind of models I'm making when I'm not creating groundworks.

Here are some of my past projects. Some aren't finished, as I've unfortunately more fun and interest in the process than in the finished piece.
Hope you'll find this interesting and I'm really looking forward to know you more and share some experiments.

This is a 1/20 groundwork for a Maschinen Krieger suit :



This, a 1/35 scale Burma rainforest groundwork





Again some groundworks and various texture experiments :

















This is what I'm currently doing : Wood weathering experiment and a WIP scracthbuilt Japanese cherry tree, Sakura.



Cheers,
Alexandre.

[Mobilgas]

Alexandre,    Welcome to the Forum  Looking forward to seeing more of your modeling.

[Gordon Ferguson]

. Some aren't finished, as I've unfortunately more fun and interest in the process than the finished piece.

Welcome Alexandre, I have seen and been an admirer or your work, from the above comment you will feel right at home here ........ And there is at least me, if not more who have little or no knowledge of railways.

The only problem I now have , is that seeing your groundwork , I am going to embarrass myself later on with a posting I have to make

[lab-dad]

Welcome!
Your work is very inspirational.
I hope to see some completed scenes one day.
Marty

[marc_reusser]

Welcome Alexndre,

Great to have you here. Nice way to create an inferiority complex for me, by showing thise groundwork pieces. I too like Gordon have for a long time admired your work, and am glad to have you participating here.

Between the other groundwork, and the not finishing, afficionados here,  I think you fill fit in quite nicely.

Marc

[Ray Dunakin]

Here are some of my past projects. Some aren't finished, as I've unfortunately more fun and interest in the process than in the finished piece.

Then you will fit in just fine here, as there are several who fall into that category!   

Very nice work. I like the mud effects. Great weathering on those shutters, too.

[finescalerr]

Satisfactory. Welcome to the forum. I look forward to more of your work. -- Russ

[Chuck Doan]

Welcome ! Beautiful work! I will enjoy seeing more.

[Alexandre]

Thank you very much for making me feel very welcomed.
I already spent great times browsing incredible threads with very useful and entertaining comments.

I've spent some hours at the bench yesterday and came up with this.
This is 8cmx8cm (3.14inches).
It's better than all my previous raw bare wood attempts but still far from perfect.
And seeing Chuck last update make me reconsidering every piece of modelling of mine...
In a very good way of course, the way of improvement.  

This have a quite "cartoonesque" look, do you feel it too? That's for a 1/20 Sci-Fi project including a child's hut, so with a bit of work it may be "good enough".
I for sure would like to have a chance to get in Europe some of the US products.



Have a great day.
A.

[marc_reusser]

I think it came out looking very good, and especially at that size, with such a close-up.

When shot from that close, one can see that it suffers from that typical balsa grain problem where the coloring doesn't take, very annoying (I know first hand   )

The critique I would have, is re. the knot holes; it appears as if you added them after the wood was "grained", thus the grain pattern runs right through them. A better option might be to put the knots in place before graining, then try to curve the graining tool/wire-brush, around them...this will give you more of the appearance of the tight wood grain that exists around knots. (hope I am making sense).

I am most curious as to what you used to do the coloring on the wood.


Marc

[Gordon Ferguson]

Sort of fiddling around with same issue , extreme example but it also highlights what appears to be common is the splits inside the knot itself. Experimenting with drilling out the cocktail stick and adding sliver of balsa so that the 2 densities of wood react differently to stains/paint 



Alexandre, could give us a few details of how you achieved the "winter" vegetation in the MaK base, thanks

[marc_reusser]

Gordon,

Why not just lightly cut/score the end of the piece that you will be using for the knot, before pushing it in. Ithe piece is longer then the board (and wont be visible sticking through on the back)....or is sunk into a heavier timber (or piling )....then you could the piece about half it's length...and the remaining whole portion should hold it together long enough to set in place.

Marc

[Alexandre]

When shot from that close, one can see that it suffers from that typical balsa grain problem where the coloring doesn't take, very annoying (I know first hand   )
The critique I would have, is re. the knot holes; it appears as if you added them after the wood was "grained", thus the grain pattern runs right through them. A better option might be to put the knots in place before graining, then try to curve the graining tool/wire-brush, around them...this will give you more of the appearance of the tight wood grain that exists around knots. (hope I am making sense).

I am most curious as to what you used to do the coloring on the wood.

That totally makes sense. Plus some damages are caused by the tooth pick piece when pushing it into balsa, so that's even increasing the grain pattern just close the knot holes. I really have to improve this. Pushing the piece before the graining should be the solution.
The other thing may be to work with something else. Balsa's a troublemaker.

Coloring is pigments washed with odorless thinner, the board is flooded with water and colored with very thinned acrylics filters, with a watercolor brush, then some enamel washes. I work in a happy disorder and steps are often done twice, in no particular order, hence the quite random results in quality...

Gordon : sure, have no WIP pictures of this one but can talk about it. Mud? Grass?

[Junior]

Welcome to the forum Alexandre! Have seen some of your work over at the MIG forum.

All your ground work is just stunning  ! The latest wood coloring also look great but I agree with those who pointed out a slight problem with the wood grain around the knot holes but that´s just minor.

Anders

[Alexandre]

Cheers Anders. Thanks a lot.
Another update :
Things getting better. The grain pattern is better around the knotholes, but not as good as I wanted. I've also tried Gordon tip about knot hole split.
I'm happier with the coloring though. An older, drier and dusty piece of wood
The board is 6cm (2.36 inches)