SOME MORE PEICES OF INTEREST
Well hello again,
I will add some more explanation here around the texture of the gun manlet
Gun block Texture
The gun block (which was removable for transport through tunnels on the train) was a very rough cast piece of metal and looks to me to have been cast in a sand mould because of its texture. I wanted to get this effect but both models had very smooth plastic surfacers so this is how i went about changing that.
You can see how roughly cast the real one was here......
I gave the plastic some texture with some Testors liquid cement and a brush that I have cut down to a short stump for just this purpose.
After a couple of coats of this with stippling the plastic in between, I add some Mr Surfacer 500. I stipple this as well, with two coats, then gave it a light sanding to take off the high spots. I then used the 1000 for additional texture.
I added 5 types of greys, moving up from dark to light, then scratches and chips, then pastel - dust and dirt and then some oils.
I wanted to get a multi layered effect with the colors as you ofetn see with dark metals. I used a stippling approach with various dark spots made from a mix of raw umber, burnt sienna and black stippled over the tamiya layered greys. The final touches were with stell, chrome, lead pencil and some light dust pigments. After the dust I went back over lightly adding some more stains with the oil mix.
Because the top comes off the opportunity to simulate an oiled up steel suface was irresistable as a viewing alternative for my display.