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"Easy Pickins"
- Thread starter Steve Ski
- Start date
Steve Ski
Well-known member
Slow Going.
Bunker time has been shortened a bit, but I’m still able to get a little time in daily. With Spring kicking in high gear that time will only get shorter, so I need to keep the momentum going without rushing the results.
I’ve finished the roof system with the weather damage in the mid-section. The evidence of neglect over time will add a bit of character to the structure and will be weathered accordingly. Man, that was a lot of shingles to make and ruff up.
After the structure was built, I moved on to making the veggies. Trying to make bushes in this larger scale takes a bit of pre-planning as there really isn’t any decent foliage on the market. But you can, however, always scratch build your veggies using whatever is on hand. As you can see from the photo below, I save a few tomato roots and other garden plants each fall. They dry over the winter in the green house and are always ready in the spring. Ya just never know when you’ll need them and it’s always a good idea to plan ahead.
I started by taking apart the root system and separating usable sections for my bushes and set aside the longer strands for ivy or crawling plants. Many times, I couldn’t find exactly what I would consider a decent clump, so I had to combine several portions to fabricate the plant bases and structures needed. There are quite a few YT vids on how to make realistic bushes that are very helpful. I watched more than a few of them before starting the veggie work and that saved me a lot of time.
I used fine and course flock and Super Leaf from Scenic Express on the bushes after applying small amounts of poly fiber, or pillow stuffing, on the branches. This really is too small for the scale I need, but I used it anyway. I won’t go over the process, but this video gives a good run down of the process.
When it comes to making veggies, I prefer to find as much foliage as possible from the hillsides and mountains in my area. The realism, imho, can’t be beat and the material is very cheap, just pick it.
Once the bushes were done, I started on the roof color tones and weathering. I added some moss on the shingles and a little bit on the top and bottom of the fence and gate. Ivy will be crawling all over this structure, so the wet and decaying wood needs this prep work to add realism to the effect.
There is still a lot to do before I can start the ground work, but progress is moving forward. Feel free to add suggestions or comments and thanks for watchin.
Cheers, Ski.
Bunker time has been shortened a bit, but I’m still able to get a little time in daily. With Spring kicking in high gear that time will only get shorter, so I need to keep the momentum going without rushing the results.
I’ve finished the roof system with the weather damage in the mid-section. The evidence of neglect over time will add a bit of character to the structure and will be weathered accordingly. Man, that was a lot of shingles to make and ruff up.
After the structure was built, I moved on to making the veggies. Trying to make bushes in this larger scale takes a bit of pre-planning as there really isn’t any decent foliage on the market. But you can, however, always scratch build your veggies using whatever is on hand. As you can see from the photo below, I save a few tomato roots and other garden plants each fall. They dry over the winter in the green house and are always ready in the spring. Ya just never know when you’ll need them and it’s always a good idea to plan ahead.
I started by taking apart the root system and separating usable sections for my bushes and set aside the longer strands for ivy or crawling plants. Many times, I couldn’t find exactly what I would consider a decent clump, so I had to combine several portions to fabricate the plant bases and structures needed. There are quite a few YT vids on how to make realistic bushes that are very helpful. I watched more than a few of them before starting the veggie work and that saved me a lot of time.
I used fine and course flock and Super Leaf from Scenic Express on the bushes after applying small amounts of poly fiber, or pillow stuffing, on the branches. This really is too small for the scale I need, but I used it anyway. I won’t go over the process, but this video gives a good run down of the process.
When it comes to making veggies, I prefer to find as much foliage as possible from the hillsides and mountains in my area. The realism, imho, can’t be beat and the material is very cheap, just pick it.
Once the bushes were done, I started on the roof color tones and weathering. I added some moss on the shingles and a little bit on the top and bottom of the fence and gate. Ivy will be crawling all over this structure, so the wet and decaying wood needs this prep work to add realism to the effect.
There is still a lot to do before I can start the ground work, but progress is moving forward. Feel free to add suggestions or comments and thanks for watchin.
Cheers, Ski.
Great stuff Steve, got a new video to check out just in time for Lunch! 
Brokeneagle
Master at Arms
R75 Almost Complete
The R75 and sidecar are nearly completed. I just have a few more items to deal with such as toning down the rusty tail pipe, clean up some overzealous scratches and rust marks, splatter some euro dirt, and dust up a few locations up from the underside.
Thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.
notworthy I muust have missed this previously.......unbelievable good! Fantastic work - very realistic!!!
Steve Ski
Well-known member
Ya, we're Polish, we got an excused, HA! This is shear lunacy!!!
Thanks, Ian!
Thanks, very much. If you're working 1/35th scale, you'll be fine, but this scale is over the top.Just got caught up here. Awesome...Awesome Stuff Here!!
I too will check out that video as I also have a tree in my future.
Steve Ski
Well-known member
There’s Got to Be a Better Way!
Progress report: Maybe I’m not looking hard enough, but placing these leaves one at a time is getting old real fast, hours actually, for this small area alone. I know, gluten for punishment, but I haven’t found anything else that would come close to the scale I need.
Belly Ache Alert!!! Pass the snivel wipes, if you please.
If there’s a better way to tackle this, I’m all ears. I thought the ivy plants were tough on “Early Mornin Dew”, but this is much more difficult. Getting in between these tiny twigs without breaking any of them is a real challenge. It’s not like I can use flock and poly fiber, or even a MiniNatur set, and get decent results.
If you are going to take this route in this scale, I don’t see any other choice but to grind through it and carry on. Like I said, maybe I didn’t look heard enough, but I have not found a better solution and using fish tank plastic won’t cut it, too fake, IMHO. I will be adding a lot of smaller punched leaves in the gaps to make this tree look as real as possible and not so much like a sparse cactus, or a cheap knock-off attempt.
Well, like you said Glenn, “Welcome to the nut house”, or better yet, welcome to the lunatic fringe! More to follow and please, if there are any suggestions out there, I’m all ears.
Cheers, Ski.
Progress report: Maybe I’m not looking hard enough, but placing these leaves one at a time is getting old real fast, hours actually, for this small area alone. I know, gluten for punishment, but I haven’t found anything else that would come close to the scale I need.
Belly Ache Alert!!! Pass the snivel wipes, if you please.
If there’s a better way to tackle this, I’m all ears. I thought the ivy plants were tough on “Early Mornin Dew”, but this is much more difficult. Getting in between these tiny twigs without breaking any of them is a real challenge. It’s not like I can use flock and poly fiber, or even a MiniNatur set, and get decent results.
If you are going to take this route in this scale, I don’t see any other choice but to grind through it and carry on. Like I said, maybe I didn’t look heard enough, but I have not found a better solution and using fish tank plastic won’t cut it, too fake, IMHO. I will be adding a lot of smaller punched leaves in the gaps to make this tree look as real as possible and not so much like a sparse cactus, or a cheap knock-off attempt.
Well, like you said Glenn, “Welcome to the nut house”, or better yet, welcome to the lunatic fringe! More to follow and please, if there are any suggestions out there, I’m all ears.
Cheers, Ski.
Maybe if you painted the glue on the areas that you want the leaves and then shake the leaves out that'll work?
And I thought doing tracks is tedious.
And I thought doing tracks is tedious.
Brokeneagle
Master at Arms
keep going, its looking really good so it will be worth it in the end. vgood:
vgood:
Brokeneagle
Master at Arms
I had the same idea.....could be the answer for the majority of the work with a small amout added by hand?
centaur567
Well-known member
Wow!! Great stuff. Gary S.
Steve Ski
Well-known member
Thanks for the encouragement, Gents! I think Glenn and Ian are correct, keep going, no shortcuts for this process. Besides, I've already passed the lunatic phase and now I'm 100% zombie, pluggin along.
Do yall remember the old sayin? "When yur hind quarters and elbow in alligators, ya begin to wonder why ya came to drain the swamp." Well, I'z just keepin me hinny above water, HA!
Do yall remember the old sayin? "When yur hind quarters and elbow in alligators, ya begin to wonder why ya came to drain the swamp." Well, I'z just keepin me hinny above water, HA!
Steve Ski
Well-known member
There is a Better Way!
After scratching my head till I’m almost bald I finally decided I wasn’t going to waste any more time placing individual leaves on this tree. I kinda liked the little bit of hair I had left, HA!
Honestly, to get a tree looking realistic in this larger scale is taking more talent than I’ve got and I really don’t fancy rushing something or putting out junk just to get this dio finished. A lousy, lazy approach this far into the game could trash everything I’ve worked for up to this point. Sometimes ya just gotta stop, step back a few hundred yards, and think it over. Besides, I was missing my bunker time like a long-lost friend.
Just a few days ago I was wandering around on the Ranchito looking for decent plants I could use to simulate foliage for a tree in this larger scale. I musta done such a good job with the weed eater, I couldn’t find anything acceptable. Then I remember my veggie stash had small dried flower bouquets and other material that might work. Sure enough, I found something. This stuff has been on the top shelf for years and I think I grabbed it just in case, from Hobby Lobby, so this will work. Yall can tell me what you think, but after extensive searching I wasn’t having any luck finding a decent alternative.
With the tree now stripped and most of the tweaky twisty branches removed I can start placing clusters after the painting is finished.
This dried flower bundle is Caspia, or so it says on the wrapper. If I do this right, I just might have some success. I was going to airbrush the bundles and then go back and brown out the stems, but decided that was more work and would leave spots undone. I’d have to go back with a brush anyway, so I just used some thinned out Vallejo Russian Green #096 and a large soft pointed brush. It’s working well so far and the natural dried brown bleeds through giving a good appearance. I’ll be highlighting the tops for depth as well and touching up the stems as needed. Time to get this project moving.
More to follow soon and if you have any suggestions, please holler, I’m all ears. Cheers, Ski.
After scratching my head till I’m almost bald I finally decided I wasn’t going to waste any more time placing individual leaves on this tree. I kinda liked the little bit of hair I had left, HA!
Honestly, to get a tree looking realistic in this larger scale is taking more talent than I’ve got and I really don’t fancy rushing something or putting out junk just to get this dio finished. A lousy, lazy approach this far into the game could trash everything I’ve worked for up to this point. Sometimes ya just gotta stop, step back a few hundred yards, and think it over. Besides, I was missing my bunker time like a long-lost friend.
Just a few days ago I was wandering around on the Ranchito looking for decent plants I could use to simulate foliage for a tree in this larger scale. I musta done such a good job with the weed eater, I couldn’t find anything acceptable. Then I remember my veggie stash had small dried flower bouquets and other material that might work. Sure enough, I found something. This stuff has been on the top shelf for years and I think I grabbed it just in case, from Hobby Lobby, so this will work. Yall can tell me what you think, but after extensive searching I wasn’t having any luck finding a decent alternative.
With the tree now stripped and most of the tweaky twisty branches removed I can start placing clusters after the painting is finished.
This dried flower bundle is Caspia, or so it says on the wrapper. If I do this right, I just might have some success. I was going to airbrush the bundles and then go back and brown out the stems, but decided that was more work and would leave spots undone. I’d have to go back with a brush anyway, so I just used some thinned out Vallejo Russian Green #096 and a large soft pointed brush. It’s working well so far and the natural dried brown bleeds through giving a good appearance. I’ll be highlighting the tops for depth as well and touching up the stems as needed. Time to get this project moving.
More to follow soon and if you have any suggestions, please holler, I’m all ears. Cheers, Ski.
I got nothing for ya big guy...watching what's next. 
paddy
Well-known member
this is how rich people do it 
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