nightshiftmodeller

It’s big!

My friends, the 36-minute Chevy video is finished, and I started assembling the water mill from RT-Diorama.

The whole scene weighs almost 4kg with the majority of the chonk (3,5 kg) contained in the plaster base. I’ll be making that from scratch because it’s too heavy for my glass shelves.

The mill is really awesome with lots of interesting details! Assembling it was a new experience. I decided to fill the inside with blocks of styrofoam as this would lead to a couple of ben...

First component of the diorama is ready!

My friends, the truck is finished, and I must say it was an interesting experience. Fun at times, but also frustrating. The build, the handling during painting (it's much different than a tank), subtler weathering, having to paint the interior mid-build, masking of the windows, etc. led to an interesting experience. 

After finishing the model, my thoughts were "this ain't my cup of tea". I mean, don't get me wrong. Softskin vehicles have their specific charm (and they can still loo...

HD photos

My friends, here are proper photos of the finished truck. Well, proper is a questionable word because nothing of the interior is visible in them :D But that's what usually happens with interiors. As long as we know they're there, right?

I have all the photos and video footage ready and the next job is video editing. Ideally, I'd work over the weekend as well to get it ready for you ASAP, but I'm getting finished with the hallway remodeling and would like to lay down new floors so I can ...

Details and stowage

My friends, everything is in place and ready for weathering! But I’d like to keep the earth tones quite subtle on this one because the paint job looks just right to my eye. Also, the truck will be parked on a cobblestone road, and a muddy finish would look quite out of place!

As for this update, it was quite fun. The drums are mostly weathered with acrylics, and as I found out, acrylics are perfect for long, thin, controlled streaking effects!

The flour sacks were more difficu...

A little transformation

… done with a pin wash, chipping, and rusty oil paints!

My friends, this is the largest benefit of post-shading and a pale base coat. You can apply a wash and the model looks finished - if it represents a clean, new vehicle. Also, you don’t have to hold back with effects because they won’t make the model unlikeable and dark, but tone it down to a more natural finish.

I’d like to keep the weathering on this one rather light because a vehicle like this wouldn’t see so mu...

Some cool bricks

Here are a few ref images for brick walls. Imagine scribing this into styrofoam 😁

Paints!

My friends, the scariest part of this project is behind us, and by that I mean masking! I didn’t do the best job, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed in the upcoming steps 😁

I went for a VERY pale base coat. This was once again done with AK RC and Tamiya paints, the MVP being Olive Drab Faded from AK, and Buff from Tamiya for highlights. A good amount of clear varnish was also added to the mixture. Decals from Miniart are awesome, up there with Tamiya and Meng quality. VMS de...

Ready for spraying!

My friends, the rest of the build (read: the flatbed and wheels) was very straightforward! It’s as if all the perils were contained in the cabin. But the irony is strong because you’d never expect the flatbed to contain the most PE details.

The truck is missing the front wheels because they don’t hold in place at all 😂 But they’re very nicely detailed as well.

Stowage and cargo was a tough choice, but I think the final composition looks alright. The flour sacks won’...

There was no other way…

My friends, I like to build first, then paint. And I try to avoid anything else, but here… I had no other choice but to paint the interior before continuing with the assembly.

The cabin was maybe the only area where a slightly bigger modification took place - I sculpted a new seat cushion from Magic Sculpt according to references. It was much easier to paint compared to the flat block from the kit 😁

Painting was quick and straightforward. Black primer, Olive Drab from Ak Rc...

New project!

My friends, I started working on a new diorama, and it’s probably going to be the most epic one so far.

The Chevrolet truck is just a small part of the upcoming scene, and I’ll be releasing the model as a full build & paint video. The kit from MiniArt has incredible details, but it’s a slog! I’m already halfway through the instructions and so far I’ve been assembling things that are not going to be visible. But damn, the details and quality are impressive!

As for t...

Early video

Told ya, let's gooo! 

HD photos

My friends, here are proper photos of the finished Puma vignette. It covers so much of the scene that I decided to snap a few pictures without it :D But that's the tradeoff when you're making a simple scenic base that acts as a display stand for the model. 

I'm currently working very hard on the video! Sadly, it won't be ready today at 6 PM (the usual time for early releases), but sometime tomorrow. This situation happened a couple of times this year, and I'm always sorry when I ca...

Done!

My friends, this “quick summer project” is, at last, finished! I’m currently working on the video so it’ll be ready in time 😊 I’ll get back to you once I have it done.

Groundwork done

My friends, the only things left are the fence and plastic drums… and maybe a few extra small details 😊

The ground needed to be muddy because the Puma is muddy. As such, I used the same enamel earth effects. Before that, though, I added some extra debris on the ground - fine dirt and crushed leaves. Everything was then pre-dusted with Buff and treated with enamel mud tones. I picked some od the keaf scatters out with rust-colored acrylics, and highlighted the grass as well. Just so...

First paints applied

My friends, the airbrushing phase is finished and I also managed to paint the concrete slabs with acrylics. It was the same procedure as on the Conqueror diorama, but more simplified. Only 3 steps were needed to achieve this finish 😊 For some reason, the left corner slab gave me a more greyish finish. I tried to fix it several times with no luck, lol.

Up next are enamel earth tones (there will be a lot of mud on the concrete as well) and then painting the fence and barrels!

Base ready for paints

My friends, I’m just about to start the airbrush! As I mentioned in the previous post, the base is very simple as its main goal is to showcase the model.

I considered a small industrial lamp on a wooden pole in the background, I even constructed the basic layout of it, but it was just off. As if the lamp was a stage spotlight directed at the Puma.

The PE chain link is from Eduard. I bought several of these many years ago and it’s the first time I found a good use for one of ...

Base for the Puma!

… and the other thing that left my entire body in pain 😪

My friends, it’s been a tough week but I tried my best to do model related stuff as well. Editing the Puma video, and then working on its base during the evenings. The concept is simple - a concrete slab road in a derelict urban area. There will be a chainlink fence behind the model. At first I considered a small corner of a building, but my goal here is to present the model from all sides, and a building would obstruct th...

Early video

Protect your trash cans because there's a thief in the neighborhood! 

Nice photos

My friends, here's a gallery of proper pictures. Even though I was able to see the Puma every day on the workbench, I'm pleasantly surprised how it actually looks on a clean background with good lighting. Can't wait to make a simple scenic base for it to give the pallet camouflage some context!

Finished and ready for base!

My friends, I finished the Puma on Sunday with some subtle mud on the pallets and rags, and a couple of final touches such as the soot on the exhaust and polished edges on the autocannon.

On Monday I filmed the final shots, took studio pictures and wrote the video script.

Yesterday was a national holiday so I spent it tearing down my old hallway, and today I’m gonna finish the video. I just finished the narration, now I’m going to seal the torn-down walls so the primer had e...

Rags!

My friends, the rags are done, and somehow I managed to sculpt and paint them all in one day 😁 What remains is to add weathering to this improvized urban camouflage and wrap things up. I’ll be able to get some bench time tomorrow for it.

Also, did you know you can pre-color epoxy putty? I mixed Green Stuff with black pigment and got black tarps… a great help because I could paint directly on top of the putty without needing to add the first shadow coat! 😊

German trash panda

My friends, the pallet camouflage is on and boy, did it transform the entire model 😂 I need to add some weathering to blend them with the model, and also add some rags and tarps that are a part of the camouflage.

I started by supergluing them all to the model according to different reference images. Then I tied them to the hull with a very cool material. 0.16 mm braided fishing line that I randomly found in Tesco and thought it might come in handy one day. The string is green, but i...

So much wood

My friends, I managed to paint the pallets yesterday, oof! That was a lot of painting!

Instead of spraying them with a dark primer, as is my usual routine, I tried flooding them with thick coats of enamel wash. This provided a good shadowy undercoat for acrylics, and I think it led to more natural results because the coverage was uneven, and the wood also absorbed the paints irregularly.

I tried to add lots of variation, some pallets are dark, others pale, some cold and grey, ot...

Pallet army!

My friends, the miniature, fully EPAL certified pallets are ready for painting 😁

Blueprints are easy to find with Google, and then it’s a piece of cake to divide the dimensions by 35. The planks are made from 0.6mm veneer, the blocks from 2mm balsa planks.

The Chopper from NWSL came in very handy here! I made probably more than I’ll need for this model, but it’s better to have more. Just in case 😊

Tomorrow morning I’m going for an X-ray with my leg, then it�...

Muddy work done!

My friends, it always surprises me how much work can it be to apply all the earth effects properly. And how the workload increases exponantially when the model is big!

But damn, I’d say it was worth the time and as someone pointed out in the previous post, mud and dust goes a long way on modern armor as you can’t rely on chipping or rust effects to add the extra contrast and visual texture.

The anti-slip surface was really hard, though! But even reference images show that th...

Muddy test section

My friends, I started this tradition on the Valentine and it’s a great way to overcome fear when you’re not confident with your mud game!

Pick a section lf the model and do everything that you intend on doing - all in one session. Once you know the what, the how, and the why, the rest of the weathering will go on autopilot!

Here I tried to replicate a muddy look from reference images. Modern armor is very different from old tanks in terms of mud distribution, especially if t...

Ready for earth tones!

My friends, those pesky details are finally done! There was so many of them, but what was worse - most of them are hardly visible.

After studying reference images, I noticed the Pumas get chipped, but in a VERY limited amounts! Mostly around the most exposed esges, handles, bolts, etc. Also, the metal appears to be very shiny, in some places I’m sure they used alluminum to keep the weight down, so I used silver for the chips.

The only place where I went heavier and added some ...

Details go pop

My friends, I’ve done something unusual. Instead of highlighting tiny details with a lighter color and then proceeding to the chipping stage, I started painting details in their respective colors, such as rubber components, lights, periscopes, etc.

The reason? I’m at a loss with chipping! These vehicles just don’t get chipped! I looked really hard at photos and the most I could find are tiny scratches along some edges. Also, the material of the vehicle is confusing. It could be h...

Pin Wash ready!

My friends, this took a while! But it doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable. The trickiest part, as expected, was the anti-slip surface which acts as a paint sponge. I found out that thicker wash gives more control on this surface (when you pour it into your metal palette and it starts to thicken after an hour or two). Or oil paints would be even better! That’s what I’m gonna do next, add some contrasts with oils and emphasize some panel lines, as well as the air intake mesh. 

I...

Ready for weathering

My friends, the decals are up, everything is sealed with VMS flat varnish, the rubber mats are painted, and I’m sweating with anticipation. Because the next step is the most satisfying one - pin wash 😊

Decals from RFM are actually very decent and not too thick. VMS decal solution did a good job with them. As for the rubber mats, I ended up painting them with a brush. References suggest that they’re originally painted green, but the paint is quickly worn down, so I tried to emulat...