IRON RAILS 2015 GB

I haven't been able to get a lot done due some nagging medical issues but these are some photos about a week old. I'm working on the Dio and the Morser at the same time but i'm making some progress.

The Morser is primed and painted and I'm working on final assembly. The mountains are up and starting to carve out the boulders and crags and should start painting by weeks end. I used my 1/72 Locomotive (that I dropped on the floor) as a reference for scale so "about" 15" tall will give a dramatic effect with the entire board at 48X20. With those in place I feel the scale is correct, but no doubt i'll be doing some things on the fly.

Carving such a big section(s) turned out to be more difficult that I thought. It's like a canvas where you have a photo in mind and carve down to it, but the trick is making it look real and majestic. I've done some smaller rocks and boulders before but nothing like this. I use a long flexible kitchen knife and a disposable xacto knife to make the cuts and right now i'm installing the portal.

Terry[/URL[URL=http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/kingtiger11/media/Hasegawa%20Karl%20Morser%201%2072%20Scale/DSC01704_zps9asndjxm.jpg.html][/URL[URL=http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/kingtiger11/media/Hasegawa%20Karl%20Morser%201%2072%20Scale/DSC01706_zpsytk2rxrx.jpg.html][/URL[URL=http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/kingtiger11/media/Hasegawa%20Karl%20Morser%201%2072%20Scale/DSC01709_zpspk87bevj.jpg.html][/URL[URL=http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/kingtiger11/media/Hasegawa%20Karl%20Morser%201%2072%20Scale/DSC01712_zpsy26kdonu.jpg.html]

I just noticed on these photos that I scrapped the large wall and started over with some better fitting pieces but I saved all those parts for another time and the left rise has a mountain road, in scale will be about 20' above the ground level. There may be too much water in my final work, having a small creek/river and a pond may be to much but i'll know more as I go along.

Jibber, the layout progress of the base and mountains is looking good. 

Duke Maddog, The Soviet armored train is bad**s too

hey TERRY hope you feel better. are you carving the rocks into the material? have you considered getting some molds, casting your own rock in resin or hydrcal.and gluing them on for the rocks. i have some experience painting rocks with good results. also i wonder if an HO scale portal would work or maybe an O scale. it would save you some time.

Thanks Wayne, I am feeling better and need to step things up. I have used Hydrocal with the molds before but only for smaller rocks, nothing on this scale. The foam fragments like real rock that allows you to be pretty creative but like anything else you don't want to it over do it and look fake. As for the portal, HO is perfect. I looked at both scales and O is way to big and wouldn't look right.

Carving the foam is a little bit of an art and i've wasted a few pieces trying to get the right look. The photo shows some of those I scrapped before finishing them and now I think i'm getting it right.  

SprueOne

Duke Maddog, The Soviet armored train is bad**s too

Thanks. I'm hoping to get back to them soon. Yeah, I'm building two of them.

Guys I've been away for a bit but I promise to post some pics today. I've made some progress but I keep getting setback. Slow and sure I guess. I have one mountain carved and ready for paint and the other built and ready for carving, the Morser about 80%. Terry

Take your time Terry. I just got a lot of the train cars in that I'd ordered to supplement my Russian armored trains. Now I have to pay for them! I had slowed down work on the trains while waiting for these and also so I could finish my Saturn VB rocket in time for the Nationals.  

Duke are showing any pics of that Saturn, now thats a project.

Ok where was I....I have a base coat of a dirty green/gray/brown mix working on my sample color (below). I had to really thin out the base color to get into those crevices, now I'll add some highlights of white and grey then a black wash in the deep cavities and along cracks, then I'll add a touch of rust brown tone for highlights. After looking at it, I still need have some clean up to do and additional carvings but I'm getting there. 

The second mountain will hang over a road that'll be supported by a row of stone and boulders. The portal will need to be touched up to come a little closer to my base color and set in place. 

The Morser is almost completed just needs a final assembly and finishing. 

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Terry

Karl-Morser

like Terry i have been away too and probably won't get back to RR gun until July. Just need to reorganize the bunker, finish a bunch of shelf queens, the DD from Hell and whatever else is going in regionals this weekend. and send my BADGER A/B back to the shop for a rebuild. to give you an idea i drove 9 hours to a regional last year and this one is in town and i am blah about it. THIS WILL CHANGE and i will be better for it.

on a happier note i picked up a 1/35 MK-IV ammo carrier for the KARL dirt cheap from a friend. SO i can park the K-5, gondola, and  diesel in the back and the BR-86, KARL, and heavy flat car with ammo carrier in front.

TERRY look at woodland scenes colors for doing rocks. they are water based and transparent so you can go thick with a base coat and various thinned colors for washes on the rocks. I am doing a base for 1/35 TYPE XXVII which will have some rocks in it.

I will thanks Wayne and good luck with the Bunker

jibber

Duke are showing any pics of that Saturn, now that's a project.

It is quite a project and I am showing it in progress on other Forum sites, not here. I've found that anything posted here (unless it is in a Group Build) tends to disappear from the font page too quickly for anyone to see. Besides,  post an ongoing Thread with ALL my in progress projects at the same time; and since it includes space, aircraft, armor and ships all happening at once, there's really no place to post something like that where it will be seen by anyone before it disappears off the page. So, no. The only thing I post on these FSM Forums is my Group Build projects. The Saturn V is being shown on the IPMS USA Forums, SPAModler Forums, Modelworx Forums, and Modeler's Alliance Forums. In the first three Forums, she's seen in my dedicated "Maddog Manufacturing" threads, in the last she's in a "What's on the Workbench" thread shared by everyone else on the boards.

Nice work on the tunnel entrance and the rock above it, that is looking exceptional. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Wayne, enjoy the new Bunker man. I sure need a major overhaul in mine; maybe someday....

Duke I'll check it out, that sounds so interesting. I find that white is the hardest color to paint, so if you don't mind, what manufacture and type of white did you use. Seems like a automobile white that polishes up would work. Thanks.

The mountains in my Dio is showing only a base color, theres several other colors and shades going on it before I get to the right tones.

Terry, I use a flat white from Walmart. It is their store-brand paint that only costs 96 cents a spraycan. It goes on airbrush fine and , as long as you don't re-spray too close and/or too much, it coats very well. I've been misting it on over time and it is coming along pretty well. Later I can add a glosscoat if I need to.

Is that the 5 footer from Dragon?

Yes. It is in 1/72 scale and actually stands (with the base) about 5 foot, 6 inches tall. I'm hoping to get more done on it this weekend.

regionals in town this weekend. entered 16 including my first dinosaur and working on 2 more Velociraptors that could get done tonight and entered on Saturday. BUT I DIGRESS as usual.

guy has 2 sets of 1/72 track, BR-86 for $20 and 3 1/72 resin heavy flat cars that look like they were molded from the older DML but look pretty nice.

let me know.

The 1/72 flat cars sound cool, I have 2 Verlinden flatbeds that I'm putting Tigers on. It would be nice to see a photo or find out who the manufacturer is.

jibber

The 1/72 flat cars sound cool, I have 2 Verlinden flatbeds that I'm putting Tigers on. It would be nice to see a photo or find out who the manufacturer is.

i'm going to get them. WTH bought a 1/35 Tamiya CHAR B-1 with a ton of AM stuff and a Triceratops already. already have a pair of OTS BR-86s.

Great, I think painting any Dino would be challenging. Could we put a couple Raptors on a flatbed and throw a net over it, now that would be cool.  

jibber

Great, I think painting any Dino would be challenging. Could we put a couple Raptors on a flatbed and throw a net over it, now that would be cool.  

painting dinos is a lot of fun. i use my SOLTAR with Comart paints at 10psi  followed by oil washes. as for dino suggestions, i have a bunch of crazy diorama thoughts and folks are also "advising me" THERE WILL BE NO RAPTORS ON THE K-5. but they will be with other builds down the road.

region 10 regionals is over. my gondola didn't place in miscellaneous which was disappointing. i know one of the judges so will ask him. took 3 firsts, 2 seconds, and a third BUT only 3 are noteworthy and surprising. took a second in towed artillery with my DAK sFH-18 150mm gun in travel mode and DUKE a first in OTS post Korea (Trumpeter Syrian T-55 mineroller) and a first Korea and earlier (Airfix MK-IV Female).My 1/35 velociraptor went up against a 1/24 spinosaurus by a good friend who will be teaching me how to beat him.

Bought all 3 verlinden OTS heavy flat cars and picked up my 1/35 ammo carrier for the KARL. and a 1/35 Triceratops. and some airbrush fittings from another friend who is an Iwata distributor.

Awesome Wayne, you should be very proud.

UPDATE. talked to my friend who judged miscellaneous about my Gondola. First it was going up against an awesome HO scale scratch built steel mill blast furnace and an  ICM 628 part European trolliey THIS IS NOT WHINING Learned i need to explain things better on the description. They didn't like seeing space between the low sides and the bed. you can only see it using a flashlight. i didn't explain that the sides were removalable in real life too and no doubt warped after years of abuse so they might not fit flush any more also i know this will be part of a larger diorama so some things were not complete because i don't know how the final placement will be. GOOD LESSON LEARNED

i started a 2015 OTS (1/72) GB. anyone building here, no matter how far along, is welcome to join.

2015 OTS GB

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Finally got my uplinks squared away and starting on a Trumpeter Karl Morser in 1/35. There are over 1200 parts in the kit and I spent some time going through the parts and booklet. I think I'll start with the carriers and got a little work started. These are the side rails with springs and brakes, I'll get more photos later but I've never seen a more beautiful box of plastic...

spring mounts are a PITA. i have one of those, can't remember which one. i know i have an OTS one, separate carriers and one with both. DON'T have carriers in 1/35. though i did. do you have the PZ-IV ammo carrier?

Wayne I don't have the ammo carrier or additional ammo yet but I do have the Trumpeter Karl crew if I decide to go in that direction. I usually have a thought in mind when I build these things, but on this one I'm just going to keep building and when I have to decide on the transport mode I better have made up my mind by then. I'm going to pickup some Fruils for the gun and build my own track, but I'm pretty sure I'll go with German Grey as my color.My 1/72 scale is in three color camo.    

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Making some headway on the carriages.

Main assembly of the carriages is complete and primed. On the wheels, I went for a used look by mixing Mig Standard Rust wash and Mig Old Rust until I got the right color. Once applied and dried, I wet my finger and rubbed down the color to show some wear and I think it turned out okay. I painted the shiny rims with Vallejo Steel, but I still need to take it down around the inner edge to just show the areas that come in contact with the rails[/URL[URL=http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/kingtiger11/media/Karl%20Morser%20Trumpeter/DSC01771_zps0hnszlbf.jpg.html][/URL[URL=http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/kingtiger11/media/Karl%20Morser%20Trumpeter/DSC01775_zps75pzkwkx.jpg.html][/URL[URL=http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/kingtiger11/media/Karl%20Morser%20Trumpeter/DSC01772_zpso0w8zhgk.jpg.html][/URL[URL=http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/kingtiger11/media/Karl%20Morser%20Trumpeter/DSC01774_zpspyax4fic.jpg.html]

Terry