As suspected, the tree was re-thunked - or should that be re-trunked??

I fell back on some offcuts of my trusty thyme bush with a dod of superglue in strategic places then dipped in a tub of coarse green foliage.

I hope to finish painting the dinosaur tomorrow then decide if the base needs any more detail or if not fix the dinosaur in place and call it finished.

Making a little progress on the next one now. The Hypsilophodon is reaching up for some foliage n the tree. It's had a rough coat of yellow to act as a primer undercoat as a little filler was needed around the legs. I used Vallejo plastic putty and when set, a cotton bud dipped in surgical spirit (which softens in) to rub away the excess, then a cocktail stick to mould it into the gaps and get a smooth finish.

The base had held me back so far as I could get the finish I wanted. I'd sprinkled some 7mm static straw on the slope to try and represent trampled long grass but was struggling with airbrushing, even after following some tutorials, as the colour was far too even, so I went back to the brush and flooded the area with various washes and the picked out the stalks in bright green. The previous brown washes toned this down nicely and when doing this I noticed part of the ground looked like it could be a bit of a log part buried in the soft earth so I'm working on trying to bring that to life.

The short grass at the top (neatly mown by Captain Caveman) needs a little work to make the surface more unkempt but I'm happy with the colour now.

The tree is wire twists covered in blue roll soaked in PVA and may not be the design of the finished article. I may have to rethink this but I'll see how it takes shape.

Although my cold didn't retreat far enough for me to get to Lincoln model show (which I'm not best pleased about missing again!!), I did manage to get the first two of these finished. They will be coming to the November meeting.

Quote from: zak on October 07, 2025, 03:10:48 PMWill they be at the meeting tomorrow and or at Lincoln?

I'm full of cold so they won't be at the meeting tonight but providing I'm fit and well the crocodile will definitely be at Lincoln - and hopefully the other one.

Anyway as part of my recovery plan, I'm having a go at putting some texture on the water. Another journey into the unknown for me

You made a good start with this on the play day. It'll turn into a tidy little model.

Great restoration and some good tips. I may get brave enough to try a biplane one of these days.

I picked up one on a whim ages ago from that nice mister on Beverley Market - HMS Rodney I think.  You've inspired me to give it a go.

I just realised I can do this on my phone which makes it easier to upload photos as well as keep up with the rest of your projects

I'm determined to get something new for Lincoln so found a few hours this weekend to continue a couple of these.

The Oviraptor eats eggs apparently (or at least it used to) and the pose looked like it was climbing up something to get to them hence the rock ledges. I started the nest by pressing a bowl of putty into a shallow bowl and sprinkling  7mm & 2mm static hay on it for twigs but it was too out of scale so I used the bowl as the base and built the rest up stick by stick with dead wood from my thyme bush. The eggs are also putty. Initially it was just going to be eggs in a nest at the top but I decided to try and add a bit of movement by showing the nest being pulled apart.

The crocodile was my first proper (scary) attempt at pouring a resin water feature. I mixed a couple of drops of khaki in to tint the water and tomorrow, hopefully, it'll be cured and ready for some surface texture. I was rather hoping it would be a bit more submerged but I'd made the lake shore a bit too shallow. Better planning needed next time - epecially looking at the amount of resin I had left over!!

I picked these up at Monkbar Models in York a couple of months ago, mainly as an opportunity to get some more terrain modelling experience. Very simple kits as you would expect - each creature had just a few parts to assemble which I did at the last play day.


While DCOS was away at scout camp, I had time to start on the bases - or "dinoramas" 😂. Each one is carved out of high density foam and this was a chance to use my hot wire cutter I bought for a few quid locally.

They're in various stages of completion as you can see and I had hoped to have at least one ready for the next club meeting but as ever, work and wife (those two ever present four letter words) have conspired against me. Nonetheless I may bring them as WIP.

The foliage will be completely 100% accurate for the time 🤔🤭 leaves are made by laying bits of wire lengths on baking parchment and brushing five or six coats of latex solution in leaf shapes which then peel off easily once dry and can be painted to suit and cut any size or shape needed. The weird orange flowers are just blobs of latex, again five or six coats, with the wire stem fed through a hole in the middle and a drop of superglue to hold it in place. 

As ever I'm just making it up as I go along.  Hopefully I'll not keep you waiting too long for an update.

Always a nice way to spend a Sunday - I'll try and do the full day next time.

For those who saw me messing with my static grass, this was the end result once it had all dried and was ready to peel off  the baking paper.

I just cut or rip bits off as I need it and it's flexible enough to glue on flat or uneven terrain.

When Salvador Dali was asked how he knew when his paintings were finished, he replied "I don't finish them, I just stop painting. So it was with this project - I just stopped modelling or it would have gone on and on! My goal was to get it done for the April meeting so I could take it to Sword and Lance and it's in the car ready to go.

Overall although it turned out to be different to the original idea in my head, I'm pleased with the result and other than the resin figures and accessories being a bit rough and ready in places, I enjoyed building this.

Quote from: cph64 on March 31, 2025, 03:48:45 PMHi all, thanks for breaking me back into the fold gently with only the minimum of abuse,lol!!! A great day out, I really enjoyed being there.
Wizzle, my apologies the IG on the PzKpfw III chassis is 15cm calibre. I forgot about the short barrel length, doh!!!!

Why they call them "drop shorts" then eh.

Yes a great day out and really good to get back into it again.  Nice to see you all and looking forward to the next one.

Thanks folks.  Every time I speak to people at shows, they always say they used to model in smaller scales then as they got older they eyes made it necessary to built larger scales.  Let me tell you that larger scales scare me!!  For too easy to see how bad I am  , but actually that doesn't bother me, it's the enjoyment of a bit of trial and error (plenty of error and it's certainly a trial!!)

Anyway, I finally got brave enough to put the tarpaulin up - once the cable was fixed in place I draped a bit of blue roll over it and painted it with slightly diluted PVA and some green/black paint.  As it dried, I teased some folds into it to give it a "windswept" look.  Although I did put a folded piece of blue roll over the cable, it stuck to itself and looked like a single piece of cloth hanging down, so I laid a second piece on top at the back and kept it slightly away from the first piece until it dried so it looked a little more realistic. 

To avoid also painting the ground green/black I hit upon the idea of laying some cling film under the tarp in the hope that I could just slide it out when the thing was dry.  Luckily, it worked otherwise I would not be sharing this with you  . 

Just a bit of prodding to do and because I don't want it billowing up completely, I'll glue it to the ground in places, titivate the finish - maybe a dark wash in the creases - chuck a bit of snow on it  and then it'll be time start fixing the figures in their final positions and adding the few bits and pieces of equipment.   

I'm getting quite excited now as finally, this long overdue project nears completion.  I'm already planning the next...       

I thought I'd posted on here but mustn't have pressed save!

I say again, it is interesting to read about the way you tackled the chrome finish.  I always thought the chrome plastic looked too "toy-like" and, dare I say "plasticky" but you've got it looking very lifelike.  It is the appliance of science, or trial and error?

Thanks Kev, I must have stumbled across it by accident the first time but now I've hit the "preview", like you say, it's there as if by magic