Iron Painter 8 Round 6 (Final!): "Last One Standing"

[marc_reusser]

Not to way-lay your thread....but here are two quick camera phone shots of an old dio where I used on e of the Tuille. The figure for scale, is 1/48.  HTH

M

[Bexley]

Pattern-wise, that seems like it resembles the temporary fencing you see at some construction sites, rather than chain link fencing. I suspect it would have the same issues the Walther's stuff has. It looks dead-on accurate, but is better used for intact fencing. Thanks for the suggestion, though. Not something I would have otherwise though to try.

I don't think I'm going to bother with the etchant. It would thin the wires, but that would also make the squares larger, which I don't want. I put the figure next to a strip of the window screen, and it looks pretty decent. Also, the fence will be a background element, so I think it being off a bit won't detract from anything. Plus, I can distort and damage it, and it'll hold the shape. I'll just toss the Walther's kit into my "HO stuff I will someday turn into awesome Car Wars terrain" box.

[Bexley]

On the left is the window screen, on the right is the Walther's fence material. The figure is about a scale 4' tall. The
screen works pretty well, I think, even if it's a little big.

[marc_reusser]

The stuff in my image is not the standard chain link as we see it today...but it is a pretty good match for some of the wire fencing from the 20's through 50's.......the homes in my neighborhood were mostly built during this period so there is still a fair bit of it around.

I think the screen is better than the walthers. Having the size reduced by the etchtant may not be a bad thing, as any paint and weathering may likely heavy it back up again.  The walthers stuff looks like Tuile fabric. If ylu go to a fabric store you will see that it comes in different grades/weaves/sizes....as well as colors. I have seen it in grey and black.

[Bexley]

Here it is. I did snap a few WIPs, I'll post them later. It's late, and I'm tired and sober.

[marc_reusser]

Wow! That looks wonderful, all around. Very cool scene layout/composition, painting and overall sculpting/build.  The story definitely comes across. Look forward to the final pics. You should win no problem

Just a thought...if you havent already tought of it.....maybe make the underground part look even more toxic...like leaking barrels, glowing green liquid pooling...or even do a couple of layers of tinted resin, so there is actually a pond/layer of toxic sludge that the barrels are submerged in. Should be possible by tigtly masking the bottom of the opening a bit, so you can pour something like gloss medium, or Vallejo still water behind.

Marc

[Bexley]

That was the original plan, actually. I wanted to do some small glowing fungus on the tree too, but just ran out of time. (I could go back and do it, but I've always had the policy of leaving contest pieces as they were when they were entered. Partly because I want to preserve thelook that won or lost, but also because once I've submitted it, I lose a lot of my interest in the piece.)

[Malachi Constant]

Wow ... amazing ... fantastic!  Don't know what you did to the trunk of that tree, but it has a mostly-real and slightly-bizarre look to it that looks great here.  LOVE the fact that the top surface area is NOT flat ... you've got sensational ground contours even on this tiny little patch of earth.  Fence breach and girl's posture work perfectly cool stuff.  And, looks like a real nice job of lighting it for the photos too. 

BTW, I think I have some concerns or ideas about the underground scene ... but can't seem to sort or process them into anything useful ... which really doesn't matter at this point!   Maybe this is it:  Kinda feel like the top scene tells the whole story by itself and the underground scene is an unnecessary distraction.  Top scene has the sickly tree, broken rusty fence with fallout sign, girl wearing gas mask, single apple dangling from that sickly tree ... seems like that's the whole story ... or maybe I want to edit too much! 

Anyway ... re-read first paragraph here  .... brilliant, inspiring work!  Forge on ...
Dallas

[Bexley]

I see your point, and sort of agree. I think the image itself is better aesthetically without the underground part. But I think the caution/radiation sign on the fence alone doesn't really tell the whole story as well without the barrels. Unless maybe I really made the point glaringly obvious on the sign, putting something like "caution - buried toxic waste" which would seem a little too much like a caption and not a real sign. Also, it was hard enough painting the sign with just the word caution readable. It's only .300" tall, so it'd be next to impossible to paint all that text and have it be legible.

As for the tree, I pretty much painted it the same colors I'd use painting zombie skin. Maybe a little more grey.

[Malachi Constant]

Yeah, it's hard to know where to stop & where to keep going ... and I sure as heck ain't gonna claim to know!  

A couple more of the unfinished/not-fully-processed thoughts on the matter:
-- The black surround with the separate cut-out might be what's causing me to see the underground scene as a competing distraction ... one thought there was that the whole base could be done as sort of a "core sample" ... meaning the ground colors would continue throughout ...
-- Which could then, by way of some crumbling earth in the core, could reveal roots of the tree like tentacles wrapped around a clutching maybe even somehow "nursing" from those toxic barrels ...
-- etc. (but realizing the dio is "done" and just thinking here!) 

Point here is not so much to criticize ... as I find the work extremely FASCINATING ... and I wanna keep studying it and pick-up on the stuff I like best and "steal" (or adapt/adopt) some of that into my work where possible.  One example in that regard is completely unrelated to the "theme" of your dio ... but the simple ground contours there really blow my mind ... they are so fuggin' realistic ... and that is something that is almost always screwed up by those of us who come from the "flat earth" world of model railroading!      Flat earth ... sudden hill ... sudden valley.  Where the blank are all those subtle, little contours that are all around us?  You've captured those beautifully ... that part adapts to even non-toxic dios!  (And the rest is a load of fun and intrigue too)

PS -- Also like how the girl is wearing a gas mask and combat boots but is otherwise adorned in a "cute little outfit" ... that and the posture really capture the innocence vs temptation bit.

-- Dallas

[Bexley]

Heh. "Don't make the ground flat" is a rule (my rule three, actually) I learned early on- in both the macro (the ground is sloped) and the micro (the earth is also lumpy and uneven) sense. It's not only more realistic, it helps a lot compositionally, in that you can put things at different heights to make things more dynamic. It also helps with rule two, which is to think of it as a 2D piece, even though it's 3D.

In retrospect, I agree with the core sample idea. That would have tied the two sections together much better. And I could have had roots sticking out all over, and maybe even a few fossils or other Simpson's-esque buried oddities,

[granitechops]

Hey,, I got a tree with a trunk WORSE than that still growing in my garden!!


http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=637.1065

Is it just me, my reaction was, whats that red warning light doing hanging down like that!!  

But there I  must be a simple soul, the subtlties of "Forbidden"  & "Temptation" went completely over my head
I was probably thinking ""Intruder alert""

Not a criticism in any way at all, I love the way youv'e 'got' the tree,
wire armature? clay/filler surfacing??

[Bexley]

Wire armature, Aves Apoxie trunk, Vallejo dark earth putty upper limbs, 6mm static grass twigs.

[shropshire lad]

I like the whole diorama and find nothing wrong with the underground bit , mainly because I like those sort of querky scenes . If it becomes a distraction you could always cover it over or turn the model around .

  Any chance of a photo from the other side ?

   Nick

[Bexley]

I may set up and shoot some more in a day or so. I took those right before the deadline, so I didn't have time to go nuts with it.

I don't think the underground part is a distraction as much as it just needs to be tied in to the rest better.