French POW dio WIP **update: 2/26/09 pg 11**

Very nice work...some questions:

1) is that balsa and basswood?

2) gonna leave the barn open so the viewer can see inside or close 'er up?

3) freakin' nice shrubbery---how'd you make 'em? 

Hey Manny. Thanks fer lookin'.

Combo of balsa and basswood: bass for strength in the main frame, and then balsa where softer wood more convenient.

I'm gonna leave all doors open for sure. In addition, I'm making the roof sections removable. I am contemplating having the garage door(s) off completely, and stored inside the barn itself, a la "these doors are old, and I'll get around to fixing them one day". It'll also leave more space for the figure placing.

Here's one of the ref pics I've been working from:

The smaller shrub is made by "planting" small  twigs, from a porch broom (from Michael's), in that little, cut, square of styro. Then small sections of Woodland Scenics foliage branches, scraped mostly clean of the foliage itself, were glued on. The larger shrub is Hudson and Allen branches glued to an armature of real twings.

Thanks again for the comments. I know, of all of the people on here, you'll keep me honest with my refs. Feel free to chime in anytime, if I start to get lazy. It will reveal my impatience- which I'm trying to overcome.

Steve 

Steve!

FREAKIN OUTSTANDING WORK!!!  I am anxiously waiting to see more!!!  The barn looks awesome!  You've inspired me to start work on a dio that I've been milling about in the back of my mind for years now that includes a barn very similar to yours!!!  Thanks for the inspiration; seeing excellent work like yours always makes me want to get my projects going!! 

Do you have any pics of the figures yet? 

The background story sounds like a pretty good one; I'd very much like to hear...er, read it if you'd like to share it!!!

Keep posting!!! Looking forward to the update!

SteveM wrote:

Hey Manny. Thanks fer lookin'. Combo of balsa and basswood: bass for strength in the main frame, and then balsa where softer wood more convenient. I'm gonna leave all doors open for sure. In addition, I'm making the roof sections removable. I am contemplating having the garage door(s) off completely, and stored inside the barn itself, a la "these doors are old, and I'll get around to fixing them one day". It'll also leave more space for the figure placing. Here's one of the ref pics I've been working from: The smaller shrub is made by "planting" small  twigs, from a porch broom (from Michael's), in that little, cut, square of styro. Then small sections of Woodland Scenics foliage branches, scraped mostly clean of the foliage itself, were glued on. The larger shrub is Hudson and Allen branches glued to an armature of real twings. Thanks again for the comments. I know, of all of the people on here, you'll keep me honest with my refs. Feel free to chime in anytime, if I start to get lazy. It will reveal my impatience- which I'm trying to overcome. Steve

Hey guys, thanks for looking in...

senojrn: thank you very much, I'm glad you're gonna get to making your barn. I'll throw my grandpop's story in there when the figs are completed- it'll have a bit more relevance then. I'll add some in progress pics ofsome of the figs; I left them out at first because, after importing the photos, I can finally see how they are covered in sawdust (from the barn raising). A hundred more disclaimers could follow, but what the heck...

Buddho: thank you for your compliments!

Manny: yeah, the barn will be completely open from the back. I am building this on a 14" (thereabouts) turntable- lazy susan- so the viewier can spin it around to view the inside. The roof sections a be also removable. Finished ground floor last night, and began 2nd floor. I'll take some shots and post.

Thanks again, guys, for your comments.

Steve 

Steve, as great as the barn looks, it's the figures that are drawing me in.  Your figure painting has improved immensely since I first saw your work just a year or two ago.  Your style of subtle shading is something I'm working on improving in with some figures right now.  Are you using oils or acrylics?  I've been sticking with oils lately, since it gives me, oh, about 4 days to fix my mistakes while I attempt to teach myself some shading and highlighting. 

Excellent work on the figures!  I really like the shadows and shading you're doing!  Do you start out with a black base coat/primer then paint up from there?  It kinda looks that way; just curious, always trying to improve my figure painting techniques... 

Fantastic detail work, too!  Are those Dragon/DML figs or resin? 

I'm still hungry for more!!!  

Also, what are the dimensions on your barn?  Foundation to roof peak and also from floor to floor?  Are you going with 10 scale foot ceiling per floor or a little less?

Those figures are looking very nice. Clean edges and some very good detail.

I'm having a hard time visualizing what your overall dio will look like though.

Mansteins revenge wrote:

Is the canteen on the soldier depicting a torn felt cover with the metal canister showing through???.

Continued working on the 2nd floor last night. Took some SBS shots, just for laughs.

One thing I wish I started doing at the beginning of this barn's construction is to make the wood look a little more real, more like scale lumber, with texturizing before I attached it. I can still go back and do that to the structure, but realized some areas would be harder than others to retro-texturize. I figured I'd do it to the flooring before I laid it. Here's what I did:

Cut 7cm planks (about 8 scale feet):

Made deep grooves with embossing tool: 

Made lighter gooves, with razor saw, to texturize:

Sanded this down with fine grit sandpaper:

Here's what it looks like:

On the planks that will have exposed ends, I texturized in cross-hatching pattern:

Glued 'em down with carpenter's glue, with (hopefully) equal spacing. Some ref shots showed floors with about 3 - sometimes 4" spacing, others had no gaps at all between planks. I opted for gap:

With a dental tool, I "hammered" in the planks:

Here's the rear of the dio so far:

How the barn sits, from the front:

The unfinished farm cart, where it will be parked... I just wanted to get the cart built up enough to be able to see how much room it would need. Will detail later:

That's as far as I got last night. Tonight, finish 2nd floor, and continue on with roof detail.

If you're looking, thanks. Comments and suggestions always welcome. I haven't stepped foot in a real barn in years, so chime in if you see missing detail, or if I've added something that shouldn't be there. I'll be glad to hear it.

Steve

Wow your realy putting some efort into this barn I hope it turns out very very very very well. Can't wait to see more!

So where will the Neil Peart drum kit go?

Seriously, that's going to look beautiful. I'll be keeping an eye on this one for sure. How will you make the wood look aged? Use that patina that Floquil or somebody makes?

  Steve, man this is coming along great. Nice touch texturing the wood. nice job on those figs also.  Is that the mini art wagon? 

stick man: thanks! I'll get more shots up, as soon as I can get motivated out of my Sunday morning ritual of splitting two pots of coffee with my wife, and then doing nothing at all for a couple of hours

Jim: I think I have too many careless glue splotches to actually age the wood. I'll paint it instead. The drums could pe packed into the cart, as mine are usually packed into my CRV. Warping and melting is part of my sound, man!

panzerguy: thanks a lot! The cart is from ADV / Historex. Been sitting in my stash for a good while, and glad to finally use it.

Buddho: much appreciated. I believe, however, that the bridge you are working on makes my barn look Lego-level.

Thanks for looking and commenting, guys.

Steve

 Hello steveM,

 That is fantastic work on barn raising! I really liked your mini toot, detailing the planks. One detail that I don't know if you're planning on adding, is maybe some pegs for tackle storage. We used horse shoes to hang tack on. There is alot of tack to harness a horse to a cart. Just my .

 I don't spend enough time in the dio forums and would have missed this fine project if it weren't for Manny posting in the Armour forum. Thanks Manny.

 Best Regards,

Man!

You're serious about this dio, aren't ya?!

You're doing some incredible work! I'm like, at a loss for superlatives! Just amazing work all around!

WOW!!!!!

Thanx, gents!

Mobious: thanks! Yeah, I've got plans for hanging all of the stuff I can think of, deal is- I can't think of much. Somewhere in my stash I have parts for a workhorse. Gonna dig that up shortly, so I can get an idea for the storage. If you want to throw in some ideas for what needs to be hangin', please chime in ().

Doog: yer too kind! I appreciate your eye for realism and detail, so feel free to fire away.

I have applied the texturizing technique to the outer plank siding, and have almost finished. Been kinda tedious, but it looks better than just throwing some cut planks up there. I'll post a pic or two when that's done.

My wife smiles at it, like I've gone off the deep end. I believe that to be some measure of success.

Thanks again, guys, for the comments and compliments. All comments and critique still welcome.

Steve

SteveM wrote:

My wife smiles at it, like I've gone off the deep end. I believe that to be some measure of success.

That one had me laughing for a while.   Every time my mom gives me the look, I kindly remind her that she spends thousands of dollars a year and half of her free time to keep a horse.

Steve,

OUTSTANDING WORK!!  This is simply amazing!!  As Doog noted, this project definitely deserves a WOW!!!  I am on the edge of my seat anxiously awaiting more!!! 

Just a wood-weathering technique idea for you to do with as you please.  I use a blackish-brown acrylic wash to weather the balsa and basswood that I have used in my Willie & Joe dioramas; it has always turned out really well.  I start out with just a brush-on base coat, allowing the natural wood color show through some.  Once that is mostly dry, I add another wash coat to darken the shadow and water-streaked/heavy weather areas.  For the lighter, sun-bleached highlights, just keep the base coat and/or add a little gray-brown wash overtop.  I have also done a gray-brown dry-brush coat that works well too.  On the glue stains, you may have to do a little sanding or shave off a sliver layer of the glue and wood.  Or, if it's a spot I can't get to really easily, I just add a little thicker wash in those areas and it covers the glue stain really well.  I like the wash method because the wash color will settle into the recesses of the wood texture and create a realistic look. 

Looking forward to your next post!! 

Thanks, senojrn! I truly appreciate your enthusiasm! I will get more shots up very soon. It's really time for me to get this dio in high gear... I've got other projects that want out

Ian- I think that, sometimes, the women in our lives don't understand why we modeling dudes can't apply our patience and eye for detail to the things that matter to them My mom is an avid scrabooker, so she can relate.

However, my wife wonders (out loud), since I have built a detailed 1/35 barn out of wood, why haven't I built her a 1:1 shed or deck out back. 

Steve

SteveM wrote:

Thanks, senojrn! I truly appreciate your enthusiasm! I will get more shots up very soon. It's really time for me to get this dio in high gear... I've got other projects that want out Ian- I think that, sometimes, the women in our lives don't understand why we modeling dudes can't apply our patience and eye for detail to the things that matter to them My mom is an avid scrabooker, so she can relate. However, my wife wonders (out loud), since I have built a detailed 1/35 barn out of wood, why haven't I built her a 1:1 shed or deck out back.  Steve   Hmmm...time to get out the ol' power saw, Steve.

Some progress pictures on the barn. 2 doors = 12 hours... told ya'll I'm slow. Still have to do the 2 doors for the ventalation windows, but I'll probably keep them off the structure until after painting (at least the one above the larger door).

All commens, critiques welcome.

Making the hinges and bolts:

These glue spots make it evident that the barn will be painted, not stained. But I'd rather make sure the doors, hinges, latches stay put:

Oh, yeah... still need to attach the hinges on the hinges on this one

Thanks for looking.

Steve