nightshiftmodeller

Early video

My friends, please enjoy this venture into a slightly different alley of our hobby :) 

New 3D model

My friends, I uploaded a new, reworked rain gutter to our shared Google Drive folder. 

This one has thicker walls and is 12 cm long, so you can trim it to your liking (I couldn't print anything longer than that on my Mono SE lol)

The previous model had very thin (although accurately thin) walls. But they made it very fragile and when I was printing them for the water mill, all of them started falling apart the moment I removed them from the supports. This one is nice and stur...

HD photos

My friends, figuring out how to photograph this facade was a real head scratcher! :D 

But then, out of nowhere, sun peeked out after more than a month of constant clouds. I just knew that natural harsh shadows cast by sunlight would make the overall viewing experience much more pleasant compared to artificial studio lights. So I went out, found some props in the furthest corners of my garden, and snapped a bunch of pictures. There are a few overall shots with different backgrounds ...

The deed is done

My friends, I just finished the factory facade!

Well, all that was left to do on the model was paint the roof and make the gutters. Here I tried a few new things. For the corrugated metal roof, I tried brush-painting a layer of grey over chipping fluid. After all, a thicker layer of paint would lead to larger chips which is sometimes exactly what we need! But it also led to some exciting crackle effects and this method will definitely come in handy at some other point. Painted wood woul...

Some ideas from today’s walk

My friends, here are a few pictures of old facades I snapped today in a nearby village. Some interesting details for diorama purposes, or simply as a reference for a miniature facade 😊

Almost finished!

My friends, Covid is pretty much gone, and I finished the metal gate. 

This was a very refreshing experience because, apart from an enamel pin wash and standard HS chipping, every technique was new to me. I did the initial base coat in two layers, each chipped with VMS chipping medium, just to get the basic outline of the chips and some quick paint texture. I kept it very light because it's easier to darken it afterwards, not the other way round. 

The blue patches were p...

Some modelling with Covid…

My friends, it turned out that my man-flu was actually Covid… again, after more than a year 😪 So I spent 3 days on the couch and in bed because I wanted to get better ASAP. At least I had time to catch up on some TV shows!

Today I feel better so I did some modelling, tackling the least appealing part od the facade. And damn, what a great experience it was! Everything is painted with acrylics. The Michelin sign comes from RT Diorama set of printed signs, and the plywood is made fro...

It’s starting to resemble the original

My friends, I love that tidy, clean look of painted bricks without mortar, but we know that the real fun begins once we start the aging process.

Once again, I tried following the reference image as closely as possible. Mortar was done with Bergswerk foam putty, but this time I also used a soft round brush to stipple a bit of texture into it. Coloring was done with grey acrylics and black ink. Here I have to refine the technique in the future because instead of clean brick lines the ove...

Some paints!

My friends, I was struck by man flu, so you can imagine the suffering I'm currently going through! But despite this tragedy, I managed to slap some paints on the factory facade. 

I started with the concrete because this is the only "sloppy" part of the paint job. Sponges are heavily involved in this process, and basically you slap a few grey colors + Light Earth and Deck Tan over each other, then give it a diluted wash with black ink, add various stains and streaks, and then, using...

Primer coat on

My friends, this time I took a completely different approach! Instead of a dark primer, I went with white. I also added a thin coat of Deck Tan to establish the basic tone of the concrete. Then I flooded the entire surface with black ink which has amazing blending properties!

It was pure hell on the bricks as it wouldn’t flow between them, so I had to apply it with a pointy brush. But on concrete, it was pure heaven! It helps us to see the texture and cracks, and works as a good road...

Ready for painting!

My friends, I think that the facade is just about ready to receive a coat of primer. After all, the remaining details are easier to add once the painting is finished because they’d stand in the way. For example, the concrete and stucco will be painted with a sponge, and adding the mortar lines requires a large silicone brush.

The large window was just as fun as you’d imagine, and although not great, it’s honest work. Next time I’ll have to facilitate a different method that res...

New 3D model

My gosh, it's been a year since I made another worthy 3D detail, my friends! 

Let's fix it right now with this round air vent that you can use on miniature buildings, preferably something industrial :) 

It's located in the Google drive folder, as usual, under the name "Air Vent"

In 1/35th scale, easy to print in horizontal position, but, of course, a slight angle is always a huge help if your printer has enough resolution. 

2023-11-27 23:33:48 +0000 UTC View Post

More industrial decay

My friends, I've found some time over the weekend to work on the remaining brick segments. Today was quite productive and most of the other important elements are done! 

The air vent is 3D printed and designed by yours truly, and I'll upload the file in a moment :) 

Creating the board-formed concrete frame was trickier than I expected, but I guess better results come with experience. Each floor segment was done by gluing a strip of thin styrofoam, absolutely soaking it w...

Early video

My friends, this almost-movie is here! It was definitely the most difficult video to produce, but getting it done was extra satisfying. I feel like the occasional live entry filmed outside might be a nice touch if I can find a good filming location.

Fun fact: I traveled for about 45 minutes to the real water mill at the start of the video. My plan was to film a reasonably-long intro there, but it was so cold outside my camera's battery started dying although it was fully charged. So the...

New project!

My friends, it's time to start a new model. And this one is going to be VERY different, yet somehow similar to what we've already done before. In simplest terms, it's going to be another styrofoam building, but... 

This time I'm making just one wall. Full of interesting textures and details. It's not going into a diorama, but a picture frame. I want to try having fun with all these amazing effects in a small area. But most importantly, focus on improving old and trying out new tech...

HD photos

My friends, here's a large package of proper studio pictures! The first one is only a video thumbnail and it's rather small, but the rest is... you know, the usual deal :) 

This diorama was even difficult in terms of photography. When I'm editing photos, I usually just set the color balance, add lens corrections, play with the brightness and contrast a little, crop them and that's it. Here I had to mess with every slider in Lightroom to make them all look the same. Damn! :D  2023-11-18 17:09:17 +0000 UTC View Post

Finished, at last!

My friends, it is with great pleasure to inform you that this gigantic diorama is finished. Funny thing is, it's smaller than the Cats And Dogs diorama from Normandy I did a couple years ago, but it's much more complex. Also, the amount of various features and details makes it incomparably bigger in terms of the overall workload and time that had to go into this scene. 

The figures from Dynamo Models are one of the best in terms of detail and quality. But they're also the most diff...

Just the figures remain!

My friends, the resin pour was an absolute success. 

Taping the sides was the easiest task from all of my epoxy adventures so far as the "dams" are very small and simple in shape. Then I sealed the bottom of the creek with a reasonably thick layer of Still Water because the terrain was extremely porous. So much so that it was impossible to blend any paints on top of it, they just got immediately absorbed. I wasn't sure how much resin I would need, so I mixed 60 ml of total volume, ...

My friends, we’re getting there

As the title says, I’m pretty much ready to add the epoxy water 😊

Painting this base was quite whimsical because it started with basic airbrush work where I tried to establish a visible color gradient. Basically, keeping the darker and more vivid tones around the moat and the mill because that’s where all the moisture is. And then the dustier tones near the road.

Then I proceeded to paint the rocks and other details in the moat, and this was seriously heaps of fun.

...

All the accessories are done!

My friends, painting these additional watermill components was probably more tedious than the huge building itself!

To give RT proper credit, they sent me a replacement for the damaged floodgate, commenting that mine was a pre-production prototype with some kinks that had to be ironed out. They actually sent me this diorama hoping that I’d finish it in time for their box-art and catalogue… but my quick summer project (Puma 😂) threw a wrench in that wheel.

To be honest, la...

Big boi finished

My friends, after much effort and struggle, the mill is ready 😊

Some parts turned out great, others looked different in my mind, but I’m happy with the overall look.

I found the rocks to be more difficult to paint when compared to those I made from styrofoam on my previous projects. Especially the lines between them play an important role and determine how can you play around with the grouting.

I’ll be adding more moss to those areas once the mill is glued to the ba...

Oh, this wasn’t easy!

My friends, the roof gave me some trouble! Generally speaking, roofs are my weak spot and I always struggle with their painting.

Here I went in with the wrong approach and ended up repainting the whole thing. Luckily, I always make a test piece whenever possible so I only had to rework the smaller roof. But still, individually treating each tile was quite time-consuming!

Another scary part was the rocky bottom. Again, I started with a test piece. The workflow was surprisingly st...

Moar textures!

My friends, half of the mill is painted. Bricks were done in the same way as the pier, but I had to be very restrained with the moss effects. In fact, nost weathering effects had to be subdued, especially towards the attic. Painting them all in individual tones was definitely boring, but the rest was awesome!

The plastered wall was tricky because light colors are very unforgiving when it comes to weathering with dark acrylic tones. I used a picture of an old mill not far away from wher...

First piece of puzzle

My friends, here’s the first part of the diorama painted 😁 The pier for the water wheel. It was a great starting point because it’s small yet contains most textures found on the mill.

I was a bit skeptical about the rusted metal on top of it bud real life references show these parts as boring, brown surfaces, so I just went along with that.

Now I can happily apply these methods to the mill 😊 Completely acrylic, by the way!

All the textures! And a sneaky reveal

My friends, the much requested tattoo reveal is here, although it’s nothing insane and quite nerdy (nope, it’s nothing philosophical, purely mathematical 😂).

Also, I almost cut off the tip of my finger when I was cutting the veneer so I had to take a two-day medical break because it kept bleeding a LOT.

In other news, I made the cobblestone road from styrofoam, and this time I also textured it with a rock used as a texture stamp.

Then I added VMS Smart Mud, glued t...

Moat is ready

My friends, yesterday was a tough day because I went to get my first tattoo 😓😂 But I managed to lay down all the important details in the creek.

This was honestly so much stupid fun because every section is full of exciting textures, and I can’t wait to start painting this part and see how the rocks are gonna look covered in moss and algae 😁

The RT base has some interesting cinderblocks on the right side. While I’m not sure if they’re historically accurate, I repl...

New base

My friends, all the large sub-components of this diorama finally have their place! 😊 The new styrofoam base is smaller, lighter, and taller than the heavy plaster slab. Of course, the original part could’ve been elevated with a block of foam underneath, but it was the weight and size that was bothering me.

I replicated the position of each element, including the moat and the road, by measuring the original base. A handheld foam cutter was very useful for the banks!

Now I ac...

Water wheel

My friends, the water wheel is dope! And the assembly is very simple. Definitely unique and fun detail.

The floodgate, however, has some issues. Some of the parts are slightly bent, and one od the clockwork wheels wasn’t printed properly. There’s little I can do about it, but I have a few ideas on how to conceal the flaw later 😊

Also, the brick pier has some casting flaws and bubbles. At first I thought about building it from styrofoam, but plaster is actually very soft an...

It’s taking shape

My friends, the mill is almost complete. This is my progress from Friday, and most of the time was spent on the roof. It’s made from black cardboard and although the tiles come in rows, it still takes time to get it right! Luckily, once soaked with PVA and left to dry, the paper turns rock hard, becoming very easy to cut and sand flush with the laminated back side of the building.

The laser-cut patio was a breeze to assemble. I only replaced the top railings with strips of veneer beca...

Early video

As expected, it turned into one of the longer ones. Enjoy!