"Midnight Raid in Mosul" Dio & Write-up....

I'm sure that it'll turn out just fine. I'm always doing work that I think sucks .... Just take a break, step back, and look at it again later.

I should have said it earlier ... not that you wouldn't think of it .... but to help break up the floor pattern, try painting the tile with their "grains" in different directions.

As far as your fruit basket, I think that there will be enough going on. Here's my take on the whole thing ....

Since your main focus is going to be on the ground level, that is where the majority of your detail should be. Then, the level of detail should be less and less as you move up levels. Just make sure that the 3rd floor isn't so BLAH that it draws attention away from the viewer. It should be suttle, but noticable.

Just my 2 cents.

I've got 2x molds left (for the x-tra figure that I decided to work on during this project) before I can really lay into the construction bit. However, I've been trying to work a little on the lighting. I've got a couple of small, store bought, LED lights that blink about 3-4x/ sec. Do you guys think that this is too fast to use as a "stobe" light for the model? The real strobes we used probably flashed 1x/ sec ... if not 1.5 sec.

I've looked up different write-ups on-line, but I just don't understand the whole electrical bit. I'd rather someone just tell me what I need, and have a diagram for how to hook it up. I'm not lazy ... just retarded! HAHAHA!!!

 yeah ya know i was wondering about p.o. and his lack of work!! you might be on to something. . guys busy telling us what's wrong with our stuff and what's cool...think he's living vicariously through us...damn wanna-be!! j/k

as far as what your doing...with everything else...i dont know how ya do it, let alone keep it straight! but, if its in the booth by weekend....its in the booth! ...i'll believe it when i see the pics buddy!! lol.

camo ... feel free to smack psst at anytime ... I'm almost convinced that he really doesn't build, but rather just instigates others on all the forums!?!?! j/k....

I'm hoping that with my OIF build complete I can really start cranking on this one. I think that camo has more updates here on this thread than I do! WOW! Although, b/c I'm using the McF figures, I'm hoping that this is where I'll pic up the time. Once all the castings are completed, I should have THAT much to re-tool. I don't think that it's out of the question to get everything into the booth by the end of the week.

Now ... the base is a different story. Against all teachings prior .... I haven't even begun to lay that one out .... I know ... I'm retarded and doing it all wrong. But using these figures, I'm just not sure how big to make it. I've got a general idea, so I'm ok with that.

psst ... we need to see some updates from you buddy. Shut you lip and start talking with your hands!!! (HAHA) Seriously though, I'm waiting to see how you figures come out .... BTW, are they both Verlinden figures?

Hey- no worries. And I didn't mean to imply with my last post that there was anything wrong with the walls with or without the holes/graffiti etc.

I understand completely about the thin sheet of plaster and I remember you saying just how hard it was to spread on and get to look right. It definitly looks good now so I'd hate for it to start to chip and break off, I think you nailed the texture and that sandy color.

Keep it up! Really lookin forward to seeing that tile flooring. Did you ever think about putting all of this on a somewhat larger base, maybe including some of the road next to the tile walkway? That might also help with the balance and make the ground floor less busy, not sure how easy it'd be to pull off. It looks great the way it is- modelchasm'll tell you, I really just fling out any idea that comes to mind haha doesn't mean you have to like it or agree, I just got lucky on his OIF figure and he was able to pull off everything I was talking about (those shotgun shells still surprise me!!)

So by all means, I have no problem at all with you reeling me back into reality- go ahead and disregard away- haha I mean the fact that you've got a base coat of paint down on your building puts you ahead of me in the dio category. Everything I've ever made has made it to the half mock up/first coat of plaster/Acrylic gel medium phase- so really, I'll start taking advise from you know please!

I think as busy as the floor is with the tiles and the majority of the figures on the bottom side- plus the graffiti and everything on the walls compared to the kind of "blank canvas" most of the walls have on the second floor and up- I think you'll be fine with voids on the bottom half to help balance the empty spaces on the wall etc.

But yeah, I say make the figs and play around with their possitions before hand to see whats up- should help the creative process as well

I have to agree- LOVE the pipe work, the turn valve is sweet, definitly worth it even with that trouble it was causing you. The graffiti looks a lot nicer too!

I like that you're mocking everying up with blue tape to check the fit and make sure the overall pictures not too busy, once you figure out the best way to approach the sidewalk- this things really going to get good!

Are you still keeping the fruit cart stuff down there as well?

Nope ... that's not wrong. I think I "forget" about my builds for atleast a good 6-8 months when they go up on the shelf si I can block out the pain. hahahahahaha!

I'm glad that we have been able to help each other out on this.

As far as the tiles go. Pretty much, as if I had to stay it, everything is earth-tone. If it's not, then it's painted. However, most of the tile that you're going to find around a "normal" person's residence is just going to be different shades of earth-tones. I'd just paint with different shades and possibly "pop" and 1-2 tiles out showing a dirt patch. I think you'd be ok with that.

 ya know model.....I HATE WORKING WITH REAL SMALL PARTS!!!!! and that turn valve is where i spent most of my time this morning!!!! one little tiny part that by the end i was ready to take a lighter to (and watching it melt) just to get the self satisfaction of inflicting the mind numbing aggrevation this thing caused me!!!!! . but i appreciate you noticing that. you may not be able to see it but i took a file to those pipes and made the "hex nut things" ( plumber i am not). over all i was pretty pleased with them and appreciate your "wow's".

 as far as what else im doing with it, still need to (what i call) "accent" the sidewalk (btw...what other colors do they use for tile)? any pics or info. of that too would be most helpful bud. add a little garbage, maybe some dirt clods, etc. and yeah, some paint touch ups. then the fun begins with cutting and hacking the figs doc!

i really have to thank you and p.o. for the help. i cant thank you guys enough. after im done it can sit on my shelf and the infantry can do battle with the dust!! seems wrong for some reason!

I'm workin', I'm workin' ....

I wouldn't put a light fixture out on the balcony, however you'd correct if you placed out on the first floor just above the doorway. HOWEVER ... IF you were to put one out just above (NOT next to) the doorway on the balcony, I don't think anyone would argue it. I understand that you don't want to overload the ground floor. (I'll look through my pictures again and see if I can find any pictures that might be of some help...)

The pipes and graffitti are dead on ... literally. The different angles REALLY pulled everything together. And the pipes!!!! WOW. I like the addition of the turn valve too. Nice!

I'm not sure what else you have planned for th building itself, but I'd say that you're done ... minus some touch ups and final touches on painting. But, yeah ... you nailed it.

Nice job.

camo junkie wrote:

there's half your problem model...too many projects...not enough time...all these ideas swirling around in your head...then burnout!! <--- if it were me!!

Yeah ... you might be right ....

 ... nah.

camo ... YOU ARE NAILING THAT BUILDING!!!! Seriously!!!

Great job. I think that's just what I needed to get my butt in gear today. Awesome update!

(I think that we should be calling this thread the "Iraq" group build!!! HAHA!)

ok, here are a couple of updates. i hope (so far) these enhance the build. enjoy!

i added some more graffitti at different angles and please ignore the tape at the moment.

still more work to be done.........

So ... I can't really explain it, but this one is going super-slow. I haven't gotten much done over this past week, when I was hoping to get almost all the construction completed. RRRrrrrr......

I'm continuingto work the casting process. Some of the pieces that I'd like to use are giving me some troubles in the molds ...  I should just break down and buy/ build a pressure caster. Maybe one day.

I've also decided while I'm working on this do, that I'm going to do one, single figure for an SF buddy of mine as a gift. I'm just adding this one on as a "piggy-back" project and will build it up as I build, paint, and finish this "raid" dio. I'll post updates for that figure on this thread instead of doing another write-up.

Hopefully later today I'll have an O-fficial updates with pics. Also stil trying to get my OIF base in the booth.

Stay tuned to both threads for updates later today.

psstoff995 wrote:

I can only imagin the size of your spare parts room haha

Yeah, no kidding!?! ... It's getting that way. I've moved from a few plastic containers to a file drawer just for spares!

Sweet! Lookin forward to it.

Definitly sounds like it'll be slow going with the casting process (or slower than usual at least) but the methods make sense.

I can only imagin the size of your spare parts room haha

Ahhh .... yes, and .... yes .....

I'm trying to work/ cast pieces that I know that I'm going to need for other figures in the dio. These are large parts, so it's not like a 1/35 figure where I can get 2-3 figures per mold. You're talking about doing a mold just for 4x hands! I've got to buy some more molding material so that I can do a torso and a pair of legs that I want for later. I promised one of my SF buddies that I'd do a piece for him ... hell be frozen over if I'm going to buy another figure JUST to mod him again!

Working with the Mighty Putty has turned out to be quite nice as I said before. It simply quickens the pace of the build ...  you don't have to wait for the stuff to cure. 10 minutes and its ready for sanding, priming, whatever.

As far as all the casting work goes ... I'm casting most pieces as is. The vinyl is still a little funny to work with, not to mention that would be modding the original material. I prefer to cast the original piece and then mod the resin cast. If I REALLY like the modded piece, I might think about casting that. However, I'm usually modding that piece for a specific build ... and as you can tell, I prefer not to build the same thing twice ... but then again, I'm always interested in adding parts to my parts bin. Every once in a while I'll clean out my molds. No need to keep them all if I've got the part in the bin right!?!

I was lazy tonight, so not much got done ... just a bit of thinking really. However, I'm pretty "planned" out for tomorrow. Should get enough done to make up for the "lost" day today. I'm also planning on getting my "OIF" base into the booth in the morning. That way I can work on this dio while drying ... I can spray it again about lunch, again working on this dio as it dries.

Hopefully, I'll be able to really get some things done .... stay tuned for some updates!!!

Not bad- so are you planning on making casts, then mod-ing them with putty- then making the main casts of that??

Sounds tedious. Anyway hope it goes well tonight! I should be on here for most of it, I'm working at the desk

It's NP Irish ... really. Just don't DOH yourself to death!

I haven't really gotten too much updated over the past two days. I've mostly just been trying to get some castings done, but funny enough, this large scale is giving me some problems! I'm just trying to get my pour/ vents holes just right so that the resin will come out nicely ... mostly just a trial and error procedure. I use the Alumilite stuff, so yeah, I have to deal with the quick-set stuff. I like it though. I've gotten used to it. It's all about just mixing a little at a time.

I'm was hoping to get a little more done last night, but then I forgot ... it's WED night and LOST was on (yeah, I'm a LOST nerd...) so nothing got done. I'm hoping to get the last few casts that I need done tonight, so that I can get most of the figures mocked up. However, I'm thinking about molding a few more pieces, but I'm not going to decide that until I get the first mock-up done.

Hopefully, I'll have some more update pics up later tonight.

modelchasm wrote:

666Irish wrote:  camo junkie wrote: hey, while i got you here, take a good look at my "sidewalk". what would you do with that. i was going to throw some debry (?) and paper etc. on it, besides the "food etc"...but im curious what you think i should do. i'm kinda saving that for last until i start the figs. What kind of struck me right away was the fact that you have the table out with items from the store on sale, yet the shutter is closed on the store (it's 'midnight', right)?.  Maybe knock the table over, and spill the contents of it and the bag on the sidewalk and give the fruit a rotted look. Some good grafitti on the wall in Arabic would be a nice touch too. Irish ... I know that it doesn't seem like it cause "camo" is a thread-stealing junkie (HAHA!) but my build is actually to one "at midnight". Read the full post from th 1st page and I think that you'll get the idea. Thanks for the suggestions though ... .that was actually a good catch!

By the way, have I mentioned, "DOH!!!"

I think it's glowing to work out just fine

hahaha

AWESOME!! I just figured if you broke up that round edge it would let the light out- haha no why I didn't think to just sand it rough as opposed to flatten a whole edge doesn't make sense...  Glad you found the short cut!!

That SOPMOD set up looks great and definitly sturdy enough to hold the rod- now that the glowings working out I really cannot wait- the putty work and the re-seeming worked out real nice.

This is going way too cool! Way to go!!

**UPDATE**

I fugured before I shut down for the night, I'd better leave with an update.

I decided to go ahead and sand down the helmet that I'm going to use instead of doing it after casting ....

Next, I turned to fixing the rebuilt leg after trying a new type of putty didn't work so well. However, on the off chance to try something new again, I tried Mighty Putty ... yes, advertised by that annoying guy. Worked like a charm. Sets/ cures a little fast but once you get the hang of it, I feel that it works to your benefit and work goes much faster. Here's the reworked knee and hip joints.

From the above pic, you can see that the knee pad straps were lost doing the "hacking". With a little wire loops and masking tape, these were easy to pull off ... compared to the "factory" straps on the other leg.

As molds were curing, I decided to turn to working the weapons and figuring out how to light them.

Here's the progress on the PEQ4. I used 2x different sized rods to make a tube that the FO just slid right into. You will also notice that a small piece of the brass rod sticks out from the alum rod. This will be an anchor to help glue the acrylic rod too (notice the acrylic rod has been slightly drilled on one end.)

... the two meet ....

... and the finished PEQ4 fitted to the rifle with eveything attached (just for fitting). I don't really like the PEQ4, but I don't really have anything else to build it with and I don't really want to buy another figure JUST to get the PEQ4 ... although it is an option....

Sadly, that's all that got done today ....

I'm hoping that once the molds are finished, things will pick up as I'll have the pieces that I need to work with.

As always, thanks for the help ... and stay tuned for more!

DAMN DUDE!!!! .... You're good ... Seriously!

While I didn't get down to exactly what you were talking about, it brought me aroud to the solution. I began sanding down one side of the rod using a sanding stick, but instead of getting the flat surface like you had suggested (obviously using a sanding stick) I was getting more of a rounded surface ....

THEN is hit me! All have to do is slightly sand the whole surface of the exposed rod and POOF it lets light out the entire length of the sanded portion! When I figured that one out, I felt REALLY stupid ... RRr. rR. ....Rr.rrrrrrrrrr..... ... please excuse my friend, he's a little slow, stupid.

But I think it's glowing to work out just fine. However, as I move on to working more and more with the lighting .... it looks like I'm going to be going the way of the "Hans" .... setting this one into a shadow box. I don't want to, but I just don't think that the light is going to be strong enoung to give the effect that I want. However, I won't really know until I get the real light systems built. Until now, I've just been holding the ends of the FO btwn my fingers ...

Thanks again psst!