Channel Update
July/August 2020
Hello everyone and welcome to the channel update video for July and August 2020.
As always we have a look at the projects i am working on, the models i have finished, the new kits i bought, and, behold: Which are the model shows that are coming up. I have one model show appointment for you guys, but more of that later.
I hope you are all doing well and maybe you had the chance to enjoy the nice summer time over the last weeks.
I couldn´t really do that, because i had to deal with a nasty tumor in my left index finger. It caused me some grief and was on sick leave for several weeks.
What i had in my finger was a so called Schwannoma, i would describe it as a not necessarily dangerous nerve sheath tumor.
It started to annoy me in July and after a few visits of several doctors it was established that this tumor was basically harmless and could get removed with surgery.
This caused me some grief and pain, but i could stay at home for a few weeks and had a bit more time at the workbench. Because of that i was a little bit more productive than usual, so i was a bit unlucky at first, but lucky in the end.
Since we are already talking about being lucky: In the next weeks there is actually a model show approaching, a big show actually.
Honestly, i would not have thought that this is even an option this year, but it appears like that the 13th International Model Show Ried/Austria might actually take place on the 17th and 18th of October 2020.
Of course there will be special measures for hygiene and distances between people, which are essential to make it all happen.
It might be hard to believe, but the organizing team plans to open the show on that weekend. They communicated already that there can always be changes, depending on how the situation develops.
If you intend to go there i advise you to keep an eye on it yourself to make sure you don´t end up standing infront of closed doors.
If the show takes actually place i will be there and display my work just like in the previous years.
I would be happy to meet you in person there, just come around and say hello to me. I am sure i will meet new people as well as my old friends there.
I am looking forward to this, it will be a good consolation for all the other model shows that had to be called off this year. If the show takes place we will certainly enjoy ourselves there.
In order to remain in personal contact during this time without any model shows i invited some of my scale modelling buddies over to my home, so we could just hang out here.
One of them was Markus, who runs a YouTube channel as well, the name is Scale Bench - plastic models.
He brought along a gift for me: A Greek hoplite by Medieval Forge Miniatures in 75mm scale. I think the figure is supposed to depict Militiades during the Battle of Marathon.
Its a gorgeous resin figure. I wasn´t familiar with that manufacturer before. Very interesting.
I hope i can do the figure justice Markus. Thank you very much for this gift and support mate! Thank you for your appreciation.
I might be able to build and paint this figure fairly soon. It is a very cool and tempting subject.
The ancient Greeks are not very present on my channel anymore. I do some Romans occasionally, but the Greeks during the Persian Wars are cool as well. Again, thank you Markus!
Now we have a look at the projects i managed to finish since the last update. I completed 3 projects.
It seems like i used the time during my sick leave well, when i was not sitting around in some doctor´s office.
The first thing i completed was the Crusader Mk. I by Italeri i built for the "early days of war" group build hosted by De Lan.
There was not too much left to do, i only had to paint the figure.
That wasn´t a big deal. First i primed the figure with light grey paint, then i painted the face with a color set by Lifecolor. The uniform got painted with Revell colors.
Finally i applied an oil paint wash and added the same dust effects i already used on the tank.
I am satisfied with the result. A resin figure would have been more detailed and all, but this figure by MiniArt was pretty ok.
The second project i finished is this little vignette with the two GDR border guards by Valkyrie Models in 1/35 scale.
It was my entry into the "Nato vs Warsaw Pact" group build hosted by UKscalemodeller.
It was just a quick in-between project and fairly spontaneous as you can imagine.
I was interested in the subject for some time already. Not too long ago i found these and had to get them. I wasn´t aware of the brand Valkyrie Models before.
Ordering them wasn´t cheap, but the level of detail and the overall quality is very good. Very enjoyable to build and paint them.
I mostly used acrylics by Revell, Lifecolor and Vallejo to paint the figures. Luckily i own a few NVA uniform pieces and some other gear, so it was pretty easy to get the colors of everything right, since i had to mix the paints myself.
It required more work to find out how i should paint all the insignias and emblems, as they are very crisp and visible on the figures and one can paint them up just like the real ones.
I was a bit clueless about the insignias of the border guards at first and had to do the research. It is not a subject i deal with very often. Anyway, i got there in the end.
The vignette consists of a dense foam plate, which got framed with balsawood plates.
I cut out the shape of the landscape, covered the top part with repair grout and glued on the carriageway slabs by Eureka Models.
It would not have been necessary to paint the slabs, but i did so anyway. Painting them and adding some oil paint washes is not a big deal, but it spices everything up a bit. However, it is not a must.
Next i applied the groundwork, like the soil, grass tufts and shrubbery. They are mostly by MiniNatur and Fredericus Rex. Looks convincing in my opinion.
Finally i decorated the base with this East German emblem. These can be had in vast numbers for little money over on eBay, so i have no bad feelings when i stick on a real piece here. It adds a lot of interesting i think.
All in all i enjoyed it a lot to work on this vignette. It turned out to be something quick and a nice change of pace indeed. From what i can tell you enjoyed this as well.
And finally i completed this little Stalingrad diorama with the Zündapp KS 750 by Lionroar and the figures by the Bodi.
I just completed this earlier today, so this should be new to most of you guys. The final reveal video of this piece will be one of the first videos you will see following this update.
While building this diorama i did a few things differently. It was great to see how that would work and whether or not i could always do it this way in the future.
Some of those new approaches worked well, some did not. I guess this is all part of the learning curve.
At first i was uncertain how i should continue. I then decided to glue most of the components in place, including the debris and the mud, so i could paint it all as one.
I basically had to place the debris and sculpt the ground, like the muddy road with the tire imprints, in one go.
When the glue had cured i basecoated the diorama with black paint and from there i continued to paint all the components, using both the airbrush and a normal brush.
When i was done with the acrylics i switched over to oil paints, which were mostly used for the muddy road section. That worked very well, because the oil paints create a heavy and moist looking finish on the mud. That worked perfectly.
For the debris i used mostly pigments by Vallejo. They are great to simulate the brick dust.
When i painted the motorbike i also tried something new: The hairspray technique.
The reason for that is the fragile nature of the model and i was afraid that my trusted Maskol technique would lead to damage on all those brittle parts. The hairspray technique seemed to be a good alternative in this case.
First of all i basecoated the motorbike with black paint, then i applied the dark grey color, the decals and a layer of varnish.
Then i applied the hairspray, followed by a dark sand yellow color. My plan was to replicate one of those bad improvised camouflages that were often used at that time.
Once it all had cured i started tos scrub over the surface with a small moistened brush. This created some nice paint chipping effects, just like we expect it of the hairspray technique.
Despite that i am not overly impressed by this. It was a very tedious process, neither fast nor simple, and there is always the danger that one removes too much of the paint, which could ruin the result.
Well, what can i say. This was my first attempt, so one should not expect perfection right away, but i am not entirely convinced by this technique to be honest.
I will certainly give it another try in the future, but i don´t think this will be a technique i will use very often.
After the detail painting phase i covered the model with another thick layer of varnish, because i was afraid of the hairspray getting dissolved by the following oil paint wash.
I mean, water can dissolve the hairspray, so what would a more aggressive thinner do? I was surprised to see that the hairspray can withstand the more aggressive thinner i used for the wash. It does not make much sense to me, but that seems to be the case.
With the motorbike out of the way i painted the three figures. That was a fairly simple task, since there is not too much to do there. The high level of detail of the figures certainly helped there, it made the painting process a no-brainer.
Finally i mounted it all on the base and added a few rain puddles on the road, using a two-component resin.
The base got decorated with the emblem of the 24th Panzer Division, which can also be seen on the motorbike.
All in all i am quite happy with the result. It is small, but neat i would say.
I learned a lot of new things here, which will pay off for future projects.
Alright, now we take a look at the projects i am currently working on. This is my well-known English Civil War diorama.
As you can see i made some progress. I cut out the shape of the landscape and sculpted the gun emplacement.
The cobblestone road got sanded flush with the diorama frame. The process was a little bit tedious, but only because there was so much to sand. The stones i used here are soft enough, so it worked. It looks more tidy now.
However, i think i will have to reorientate the diorama idea a bit, because i don´t think that those three figures are enough for the scene.
There should be a few more things going on here, so i might get me a few more figures to populate this diorama.
There are two sections here, the area inside the village needs a storyline and outside we have the gun emplacement. I have to think that through now.
Here we have the Normandy diorama for the 1944 group build. As you can see no progress has been made.
This thing doesn´t thrill me at all right now, i don´t even know why. The other projects are more motivating it seems.
There is no need to rush this and i think i won´t talk about it in the coming updates, unless i make progress on this project. In that case i will certainly show it to you.
I will put this aside for the time being, because it does not make any sense to show you this piece and tell you that i haven´t done anything in every update.
I rather show you projects where i can show and tell you more.
Much more progress has been made on the T-34 and StuG III diorama. I am currently in the process of completing the StuG III model, which will be the 5th part of my building review series.
As you can see i painted the StuG III completely, the decals are in place and i started the weathering process already with the application of a dark oil paint wash.
All that is missing now are the paint chipping effects and the dusts and mud effects.
The plan was to get this all done before the surgery would take place, so i could use the time i would not be able to spend at the workbench with the massive task of editing the video. Unfortunately i was not able to get it done in time.
The task of the coming weeks will be the completion of this model and getting the videos done.
The videos about the StuG III will be first available for my Patreon supporters, as usual. Over on YouTube it will become available at a later stage.
If you are curious about it, please check out my Patreon page, the link can be found in the video description.
Last, but not least i started a new project: The Romfell armored car by Copper Stage Models in 1/35 scale.
I reviewed this kit in a video a while ago already and i was impressed by it.
After building it i can confirm this, it is a gorgeous kit. It did not cause any problems, quite the contrary is the case. The kit is almost too simple.
The parts fit perfectly, the level of detail is wonderful and the instructions are as clear as they can be. I highly recommend the kit. What a cool vehicle as well, there is nothing else one could ask for.
As you can see i took the model already through the painting stage, the details are painted as well. Next i will get to the weathering stage.
Of course i am building a little diorama for the model as well. Just a small and simple base, nothing fancy.
The basis is a picture frame, covered on the outside with balsawood. Inside we have styrofoam, covered with repair grout and modelling clay to form the landscape.
In that corner i incorporated a wall section by MK35.
The scene is going to be set on the Eastern Front in Winter 1915/16. I will add some snow on the scene and this figure of an Austro-Hungarian officer by the Bodi. It is a lovely resin figure, which fits the scene perfectly.
I think that should be enough to display the vehicle in a nice way. Nothing overly fancy, but i like it this way for sure. As you might know i enjoy it a lot to build winter dioramas.
Alright, now we have a look at the kits i bought since the last update.
As you could see i wasn´t very close-fisted in the past two months when it comes to model kits.
I blame a lot of that on my finger, when you are sitting at home for weeks during your sick leave you have way too much time to hunt for good deals in all those webshops. That is my explanation for this accumulation.
The Roman cavalry decurio by Soldiers in 90mm scale was a must have for me, because he depicts one of the soldiers who was stationed here at the former Limes border nearby Weißenburg. My recent tour to the Roman fortress in that town inspired me of course.
I had to get me the BMW R75 by Lionroar, because i enjoyed their Zündapp so much. I am sure the BMW bike is just as good when it comes to the details and quality. It was fairly easy to source.
For the railway i have a special plan. It is meant for a huge project, which will be a buddy build. I am about to get started on this.
I don´t want to reveal too much about this yet, just this: It will be big, it will take many months and i plan to document the progress of the project with a couple of update videos.
It won´t be a proper building review, as this would be too much work at once. Instead i want to document the project with a couple of rather short videos, so you guys can follow along.
I am looking forward to this. The plans for this exist for a long time already and i think you will like it.
Besides that you can look forward to a couple of new videos. They are already done and uploaded to YouTube. I only have to hit the release button.
It is cool stuff, like the final reveal video of the small Stalingrad diorama i showed you earlier, i also made a new video about beautiful boxart as well as a new Modelling Heresy episode.
That is what i prepared for you and those things get published in the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned and see yourself what i have prepared.
Alright, now you are updated i hope.
I hope you enjoyed to watch this or listen in. See you again in the next video, your Hamilkar Barkas.
