The way things are going at the moment it very much looks like this will be the penultimate Diorama Lite post. I will aim to get this one finished during the week ahead but then I will be taking a break from Monday posts. With all the will in the world I can no longer juggle three posts a week, quite simply other things are now competing for my time and I also want to concentrate on my Baron’s War project.
Will this last? No. Release from lockdown together with summer in the UK means it is time to get out more. There are outside jobs to do, family and friends to catch up with and places to go. Come the Autum and Winter months I feel certain Dio-Bolical Monday will be back and between now and then I reckon there will be the occasional news update to follow on from last Mondays post too. I suspect Diorama Lite will also make the occasional guest appearance as well.
Back to “Billy Joe”.
The figure, a great little sculpt from Reaper, will make an appearance next week. This week, between other things, has been about getting some basic base work done. I’ll need to dedicate much more time to this next week if I am to get it finished. The tyre stack, oil drum and petrol can all came from Crooked Dice. They do some great accessories and are well worth a look at. Their range has become quite extensive and the prices are, in my opinion, reasonable too.
What you see below in the sequence of photo’s is the start of the painting process followed by the weathering and dry brushing. It never ceases to amaze me, not just in respect of my own work but with others too, how these things transition from basic metal, plastic or resin into something which looks more life like.
As far as the painting goes there isn’t a great deal to report other than I used the hairspray technique on the oil drum. In case none of you know what that is I will explain it here.
After priming the drum was painted black. This wasn’t essential but I just wanted an extra layer of colour to be on the safe side when paint gets removed. With the black dried the key “rust” colour was applied, in this instance Vallejo Color Red Leather. Left to completely dry the drum was then sprayed with hairspray and allowed to dry once again. Next a top colour was applied. Obviously you can chose whatever colour you want by I went light for maximum contrast. Allowed to dry the next step is to take an old brush dipped in water and slowly start to brush where you want the rust to show, typically this is edges and rims. As if by magic the top colour is slowly removed showing the rust colour beneath. The reason for the black layer was just in case I missed anywhere with the hairspray and took some of the Red Leather off too.
Once I was happy with the result I added some Humbrol rust weathering powder here and there.
That’s it for this week. Some more basing to be done next week along with “Joe”.
TIM
The Imperfect Modeller 
Looking great so far, but I’m going to be terribly disappointed if the model doesn’t look like the lead singer from Green Day…
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Not based on this video I’m afraid but …
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Then again….
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… you’re getting closer with this one. 🙂
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I may have peeked…. 😉
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Great work on the base for the Diolight TIM, look forward to seeing the figure you have for the scene
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Cheers Dave, I think the figure is pretty apt for this one.
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Love the diorama, and I totally agree about the joy of watching bits of grey metal and plastic slowly turn more and more realistic.
I have the Reaper mini you’re going to use, and I’m looking forward to seeing how you painted him! Mine’s here: https://pmpainting.blogspot.com/2020/07/zombie-hunters-part-4-town-and-country.html
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He’s a nice figure Matt and you did a splendid job on yours together with the others in the picture. 🙂
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Looking good mate & fully understand you reducing the strain a bit – quality over quantity 👍
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That’s about the extent of it Alex. I can’t do all of it as properly as I’d like right now so I need to step back, hopefully for just a few months and then I’ll be back. 🤞
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I bet you were “tired” after doing that base! (sorry I’ll get my coat). Looks great so far, I fully understand you reducing the number of posts per week, I struggle with one a week sometimes!
Sadly life comes first, if we had fun all the time we wouldn’t know when we were having it!
Cheers Roger.
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Haha, that’s a good point Roger. Hopefully a few months down the line I’ll be able to claw more time back but right now I have so much going on it’s ridiculous!
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Nice work on the oil drum! 🙂 I’m assuming that we aren’t really going to need to change how we use our time ’cause we’ll be back in lockdown again sooner or later! 😉 Best make sure I’ve got me modelling supplies in!
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When all is said and done I quite liked lockdown from a hobby perspective John. Coming out of it is proving a bigger challenge than I expected but the winter months are bit like lockdown for me so I should have more time again then. 🙂
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Nice work on that little base. Have always struggled with the hairspray technique (and the similar salt technique for that matter).
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thanks Pete. As and when Give it another try, it’s not something you can’t master I’m sure. 🙂
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Off to a great start there! I never really got the knack of the hairspray technique, I always just sponge on my rust, but those results do look good. Can’t blame you for slowing down on the blogging, get out there and enjoy the sunshine/meeting people whilst we’re allowed to – miniatures will still be there but for now we’ve all been shut in long enough (and I say that as someone who wasn’t even shut in all that much – still nice to be able to actually see other humans now though).
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As much as possible that’s the plan. Sadly not enough hours in the day. Not helped by getting older and slower! 🙂
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Now that is the perfect Post-Apocalypse backdrop! I’m looking forward to seeing what mini resides there. For some reason, the name makes me think it is going to be someone like Joe Dirt, if you know that seminal movie.
No worries on slowing down your posts either. Being able to do things beyond painting is a wonderful thing that I had nearly forgotten about myself and I seriously doubt any of us would begrudge you that pleasure 😀 Maybe it will be a seasonal thing and easier to do when winter comes back around.
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I’m pretty sure it will be seasonal. Come the autumn and winter weather there will be plenty of indoor days. 🙂
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I don’t know how you do it Dave, I’m flat out just posting a bit every month let alone trying to do three a week!!!
Just to let you know I have moved away from the old enamels after arriving here,there’s a neat shop in town that covers all the Gammers requirements, not sure how it happened but I’m adding to my collection of paints every time I go into town! I’m not sure about the hairspray method though, is it difficult?
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Haha, I bet you go into town daily! No, the hairspray method is a piece of cake and very effective I think. If you can manage wire trees you’ll have no problem! 🙂
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