My photo
Being a modeller for quite a few years now, I decided to explore the endless possibilities that the world (through internet) offers, and come up with a series of ways of building, modelling and painting fast (but not hastily), to create the worlds I was seeing in history books since I was little. . .If you care to join me. . . This is the place to be! And, I promise you to find the way (or ways)!!

Monday 29 November 2010

Normandy House Building Tutorial #1

Good day and good week everyone!!!!

Last weekend I started making a new Normandy house for my ever-lasting Normandy Project (perhaps I should rename it this way), but while I was planning it I thought to use it for a tutorial post in my blog!
I have taken photos for each step of the building-making process, so as to make it as clear as possible for anyone interested in making his own buildings!
I reckon that it is an easy process - but believe me, I have ruined many buildings up until now, and yet I have plenty more to learn! If you face any problems while making them please feel free to contact me! I do commissions!! :-)

So, time for me to start:

1st Step - Materials needed:
The first and most important material you will need would be good old coffee!!!A nice cup of good blended coffee (especially if you work late at night as my self does)!



2nd Step - Other materials needed:
* A ball point pen
* A steel ruler
* X Acto knives
* Sheets of foamcore cards. I usually use 0.5cm sheets, for durability reasons. This width, tends not to warp when you apply materials on it (plaster, colours).
* 0.5cm Card (windows and doors casings)
* PVA Glue
* UHU Stick glue
* Pins
* Vallejo's White Pumice
* A big Flat brush
* Acrylic colours. I personally use Crafter's Acrylics. They come in many colours and they apply really well on the house's surfaces.
* Cotton buds!! Yes, yes, cotton buds. I personally use them for the chimneys - you know the three spikey things... :-)
* Balsa wood. I use 2mm sheets, for my second's storey floor.
* Plastic doors and windows. I personally use Wills materials - OO Scale. In this tutorial I will use Wills SS86 Doors and windows kit
* Plastic floor tiles.I get them from a local manufacturer here in Athens. They come in 30x30cm pieces, 3mm height and they get cut very well and hold their shape, without warping!I believe you can find sth similar in your local store, wherever you are!

I believe that this is what you will need in general. In case I forgot about sth, I will mention afterwards.
Now, we are ready to move to the third step!

3rd Step - Placing the templates and cutting
Use UHU stick glue to glue the house templates. After the cutting, take off the paper templates from the foamcore.


I have made some templates for my buildings, which I usually use on the foamcore sheets, so as to be able to save time and patience credits, while cutting!



4th Step - Cutting the templates




5th Step - Cutting the Doors and Windows cases
I use a sharp X Acto blade and a steel ruler, so as to cut the doors and windows cases (gaps). Be very careful while doing this! You either may lose a foamcore sheet or a finger. What suits you best! ;-)
After doing that, remove the paper templates, and let the foamcore sheets ''free''!!



6th Step - Gluing the wall components
After cutting the walls, use PVA glue and pins to attach the wall compontents together.
Simply apply some PVA on the places you want to be glued and after that stick the pins to the side of the walls for better stability. Before applying the pins, remove the pins heads!






7th Step - Making the second floor preparation
In this photo (I apologize for the blur photo - it was taken late at night), I am showing 4.2cm height foamcore pieces that I used in order to be able to make a second floor in my building.The second floor will be made from balsa wood (2mm sheet). The exact height of the foamcore pieces (4.2cm) might vary, but I used a kneeling firing figure for reference. When you want to put figures in the buildings, you will want to be visible behing the windows slits! I know it seems generic, but the building is made primarily for wargame reasons. When I improve myself I'll try a different approach on this aspect of building making! So please be tolerant! :-)



8th Step - Making the Doors and Windows casemates
In this photo sequence, I am showing you what I used for the doors and windows casemates. It is 0.5cm card. The dimensions may vary to taste, but what I did was:
Doors: W:2.5cm H:0.3cm
Windows: W:1.5cm H:0.3cm





9th Step: Applying the White Pumice
In this photo sequence I am showing the application of Vallejo's White pumice ''plaster'' on the buildings' walls. It can be applied very easily, with a simple flat brush.
After the application you need to let it dry overnight. After that paint can be applied.







This is the end of the first part. I apologize for not finishing the tutorial today, but I had to get some sleep!!!I hope you understand.... :-)
In the next post I will show you the painting parts of the tutorial, so stay tuned!

Hope it helped you a bit!

T.

Thursday 25 November 2010

Pegasus German Trucks

Good day everyone!

Today I uploaded some pics of Pegasus' German Trucks (Opel Blitz) I bought recently.

They are great models, ideal for wargames, since they come in few pieces (hoorah!!!), and every kit contains two models - as the norm now dictates the fast build models! :-)

The painting procedure is the following:
First, they were primed with Flames Of War Paint Spray (German Vehicles - Dunkelgelb), then they were airbrushed with Green and Brown stripes, washed with Vallejo's Seppia Wash, Drybrushed with Vallejo's 882 Middlestone and finally they got a final drybrush (light) with Vallejo's 819 Iraqi Sand. Easy peasy! Anyone can do it! :-)

I hope you like them!

T.










Sunday 21 November 2010

Hat's Cromwell

Good day and good week everyone!

It's been a awhile since my last post, but I have a good excuse! :-)
My photobucket account was obsolete for some days, due to the number of visits I had from fellow modellers who were interested in seeing my work!
I only wish I was that successful in making money as well! :-) Perhaps I should start rethinking my career route! ;-)
I have to find a program to resize my photos, and consequently their size, in order to have my account open for all the days of the month!

Today I uploaded some photos of Hat's Cromwell tanks. They come in few pieces (I can't remember how many exactly, pls forgive me for that), and they fit in very easily!
They can be modified and converted also. A must buy for fellow wargamers!

I hope you like them!

T.

P.S: I know that I glued the track parts the other way around, but when the time came to do it, I have had the box tossed away! Artistic touch, some may say. . . :-)








Wednesday 3 November 2010

An embossed house!!

Good day everyone!

I would like to thank all of you again, for your visits and comments! You are the ones that make this blog exist! :-)

As for the ongoing - and never ending Project, I've finally managed to finish a new house, and this time I used a different method of construction. Apart from the foamcore sheets (0.5 cm) that I used for the inner walls of this house (in order to give stability), I used Slaters' Plasticard (#0419 - Stone courses Grey)embossed styrene sheets to give the essence of stone walls, a picture so common in Normandy.

These sheets are very easy to work with, since their thickness is 0.5 mm, which makes them easy to cut according to your wishes!! :-)
You can find them in most stores, who sell modelling materials or from internet. I bought them from England from a shop full of goodies! It is called Gaugemaster ( www.gaugemaster.com ). Great service, reasonable prices (I sound like a seller)! :-)

On a second thought, I should have used Wills Quoins for the corners of the house, to make it look more realistic, and perhaps weathering it a bit more. Food for thought for my next house. Evolution comes with small steps each time! :-)

I also put some photos of the last two houses I made, in order to see how nice they blend together!I know I sound cocky, but I like them! :-)

Hope you like them too!

T.


















Tuesday 2 November 2010

Homage to those who really count!

Good day everyone!
It's been almost a year since my first post, and the result so far has exceeded my wildest expectations! Many things have happened during this year, many things I've made were exhibited in this little corner, but what was the most important aspect of this venture, was, is and (hopefully) will be, you my followers!!!

That's why today, I decided to pay my homage to these loyal fellows that have had a great impact on my efforts in modelmaking so far!

Thus, many thanks to (in chronological order :-) ):
  1. Wargamer http://wargameterrain.blogspot.com/
  2. Andrey Brozyna
  3. Peter Tennyson
  4. Dimitri Kremmydas
  5. Panzerfaust150
  6. mighty_maussie
  7. GEM http://garageexclusivemodels.blogspot.com
  8. Geordie an Exiled Fog http://exiledfog.blogspot.com
  9. Kala nea (Efharistw Giwrgo) http://kala-nea.gr/
  10. CPBelt http://ordinarygaming.blogspot.com
  11. Arquinsiel Bitterblade
  12. Arturo Carretero
  13. Captain http://www2modelzone.blogspot.com
  14. John a
  15. ochnee (aka Al) http://20thcenturywargames.blogspot.com
  16. mork6969 http://mork6969.blogspot.com
  17. Paul http://plasticwarriors.blogspot.com
  18. Daniel
  19. sinfuselaje http://microescala.blogspot.com
  20. Beccas http://wargamerblue.blogspot.com
  21. Young Stan
  22. GReg http://gregswargamingblog.blogspot.com
  23. Conrad Hawkwood http://battlegrouphawkwood.blogspot.com/
  24. Dan http://gunnerswargaming.blogspot.com
  25. Alex Giersch
  26. cluny http://soldadosnapoleonicos.blogspot.com
  27. DoomOnYou http://doomiesden.blogspot.com
  28. Alex Rom http://wargamestenerife.blogspot.com/
  29. mojo http://mojosquantentunnel@blogspot.com
  30. joseluis http://jlpmaquetas.blogspot.com
  31. Paul http://paulsbods.blogspot.com
  32. rousell68 http://onelover-ray.blogspot.com
  33. Yarik http://yarikminiatures.blogspot.com
  34. Ethics gradient (aka Alan) http://anotherslipperyslope.blogspot.com
  35. west1871 http://westmodelsandfigures@blogspot.com
  36. kitarte
  37. Scullmeister
I only wish I could say thanks to each and everyone of you in person!
Too bad that we are scattered all around the world!
Thank God, our madness unites us all! :-)

Thank you all ! ! !

T.

Monday 1 November 2010

Too much green around!

Good day and good week everyone!

Last weekend I made a couple of more buildings for my project.
This time I decided to use some new methods on them.
This building, has some stonework on it (Wills OO - Coarse stone sheets), and some green bushes (Woodland Scenics - Cluster foliage) for its ''garden wall''.
I hope you like it! :-)

T.

P.S: I have to take some photos of the other building I made. When I do, you'll see how these two buildings are combined together!