Remora Island

[shropshire lad]

Thanks , one and all , for your favourable comments I shall now have a go at addressing the points that have been made . Firstly , this " little" project started out as merely a way of supporting my Remora/Lorelei boat but has developed a life of its own . Almost to the extent of dwarfing the boat . It has also become yet another experiment in the use of new and different materials in my never ending quest for high quality scenery . Some of what I have done so far has been reasonably successful ,other elements have room for improvement .However , although the theme for the diorama is fantasy/sci-fi based all of the ideas and techniques I have used could be utilised in railway and military modelling .

 As I said in my introduction this is very much a work in progress and there is still much to do , which includes more work on the tree . I take Dan's point about the tree either needing to be bigger or having some companions and I shall give it some thought and have a look to see if I have got any others that might be suitable . However , I need to be careful that the level of detail that I put into the tree(s) matches the scale that I am working in , so I don't reckon the use of poly fibre and scatter foliage would cut it now . This means the use of individual leaves which in turn would require significant time spent on sticking them on . Not a problem in itself as leaf-sticking is quite therapeutic but I need to make sure I don't spend too much time on it . I am also thinking that I want to borrow/steal/continue Bexley's idea of a single toxic fruit on the tree . I have been debating whether it would have a greater scenic effect having just the one "apple" , like Bexley's , or have the tree covered with them . Any thoughts welcome .

 With regard to figures , I don't normally include them as I am a lazy modeller and I haven't got around to learning how to paint them properly but I feel that in this diorama I need to include a couple . However , I think I am going to cheat a bit . The ones I have in mind are a couple of Fichtenfoo's Red Star 47 crew figures so I won't have to paint their faces as they are covered by gasmasks . I thought about his deckhands but came to the conclusion that in this instance they wouldn't be suitable .  My thinking at the moment is to have one of the figures up a ladder trying to pick either the single , or one of the many , toxic apples , and the other holding the bottom of the ladder . I reckon two of the crew figures lend themselves nicely to these poses but as they won't be available for several months things could easily change .
  These figures would be crew members from the boat but I quite like the idea of having a single permanent resident in the shape of a billy goat . Possibly eyeing up the backside of the guy holding the ladder with the intention of butting him off the island .
   I also thought about having a pair of red eyes light up in the mine with a figure approacing the entrance oblivious to the dangers within ... but not this time .

 As for what it is made of ... 300kg of plaster ontop a foam base . It is bloody heavy . My eyes would definitely water if it fell on my foot .

 As the story of the diorama is of the island breaking away from the mainland and floating off into the sky the track would have gone deep into the ground to where the inhabitants mined an unspecified ore . At the time when the island broke away the mine tubs were attached to the winch and were being pulled up to the surface which was suddenly accelerated as it broke away . Just as the tubs were about to be pulled off the island the winch cable snapped , but not before one of the tubs went over the edge but as it was still attached to the other two their combined weight kept it from dissappearing . However , it will only be a matter of time before something decays so much that it will suddenly part company with the other two and dissappear forever . I reckon with the amount of decay that has occurred to the tubs this event happened maybe 40 years ago  , so give a few more years and there won't be much left .
 As to what they are made of , I have included a photo of the main " ingredients" in their construction . Basically they are scratchbuilt around a resin casting that I have in my possesion . I used aluminium foil that I bought on a roll from the British company called Tiranti and shaped it around the resin casting . I then did the usual etching using Ferric Chloride acid to give the much rusted look . After priming with the Tamiya rattlecan brown I gave them numerous washes using  4 Life Colour rust paints and vaious pigments . I built the chassis using one photo as reference and the wheels came from James Coldicott . I could do with two more pairs to finish them off .

 I hope that has covered everything . I'm off to get my typing finger seen to ,

  Nick

Oh ,and , go stand in the corner Reinberg .

[danpickard]

Hi Nick,
For trees, in case you don't already have a copy, and since scenery is one of your things, I highly recommend getting Gordon Gravett's "Modelling Trees, part one - Broadleaf Trees" ( http://www.titfield.co.uk/WSM_TECH.htm ,see bottom of the page at this link).  Great tree results, and pretty good descriptions of the process.  The trees aren't quick to build, but for a piece like this where there is only one or two for the scene, perhaps worth the effort to finish off the statement.  Lots of wire twisting, shaping and texturing, and leaf foliage.  Atleast in 1/35, the foliage options are a bit better than the 1/48 selections.

Cheers,
Dan

[Junior]

Really nice work Nick!

Scenery looks really great too. The first layer of the ground cover is that one of the mats from ModelScene? Looks close to one of those. Not only are the Yes album covers suitable for this diorama......how about Small Faces´"Ogdens´ Nut Gone Flake" album? 

Anders

[shropshire lad]

Hi Nick,
For trees, in case you don't already have a copy, and since scenery is one of your things, I highly recommend getting Gordon Gravett's "Modelling Trees, part one - Broadleaf Trees" ( http://www.titfield.co.uk/WSM_TECH.htm ,see bottom of the page at this link).  Great tree results, and pretty good descriptions of the process.  The trees aren't quick to build, but for a piece like this where there is only one or two for the scene, perhaps worth the effort to finish off the statement.  Lots of wire twisting, shaping and texturing, and leaf foliage.  Atleast in 1/35, the foliage options are a bit better than the 1/48 selections.

Cheers,
Dan

Dan ,

    Thanks for the reference to Gordon's book . I am familiar with it but have only briefly browsed through it at a show . I will go back and have another look . I should get it to have on the shelf , but you know how it is , there is always something more pressing to spend twenty quid on ,

    Nick

[shropshire lad]

Really nice work Nick!

Scenery looks really great too. The first layer of the ground cover is that one of the mats from ModelScene? Looks close to one of those. Not only are the Yes album covers suitable for this diorama......how about Small Faces´"Ogdens´ Nut Gone Flake" album? 

Anders

Anders ,

    " Ogden's Nut Gone Flake " ? Been there , done that , built the diorama . See photo .

No grass mats have been used in the making of this diorama . It is all static grass , using four or five  sorts in different combinations to give variety . When I do the next part of the diorama I'll try to do a sample board at the same time to show how I do it .

  Nick

[finescalerr]

That sign has a typo. It should read, "Ogden's gone nuts." -- Russ

[shropshire lad]

That sign has a typo. It should read, "Ogden's gone nuts." -- Russ

  I'm in good company , then . You looney , you .

[Chuck Doan]

Glad to see it almost done. Wow, 192904.2 pennyweight of plaster! Massive.

[marc_reusser]

Stop whining and get on with making the trees.....seems others can do it.

[danpickard]

Now I'm confused Marc...I'd have said that was real, but there's something about the car's paint finish that looks like an oil wash and streaking, or maybe the oil's weatherings I've seen are just really good renditions of whats reality...I don't know what to trust, trust know one, its a conspiracy, now I feel paranoid, whats going on in here???

I've been fooled before by pics on this forum, so I wouldn't be surprised if that is a neat little diorama.  If those trees are modelled ones, bloody awesome.

Dan

[shropshire lad]

Stop whining and get on with making the trees.....seems others can do it.

I know " Whinging Pom " never stops complaining . What I'm really looking for is to see how you do them , as I'm sure they would be better than everyone elses .

    Nice picture . I think it is real , but then again ...

Nick

[Chuck Doan]

The car looks modelish especially the windshield fit (what do I know about Citroens) , but if those are modelled leaves its time to get the balsa gliders out!

[Andi Little]

I don't think I'm qualified enough to have an educated opinion here, BUT! I can bring to the argument the fact that there are only two Citroen DS's available in kit form, both by Heller, the first in 1/43rd I think can be discounted, the second at 1/16th is a strong possibility for a dioramic basis of this standard.
However, I personally think those leaves are just to varied and specific to be modelled ....... I'll be truly eating my hat if it's discovered to be otherwise though.

[mad gerald]

... BUT! I can bring to the argument the fact that there are only two Citroen DS's available in kit form, both by Heller, the first in 1/43rd I think can be discounted, the second at 1/16th is a strong possibility for a dioramic basis of this standard....

.... hmmmm .. what, if it's an model kit (i. e. scale 1/16) as mentioned by Andi (or 1/18 die cast), arranged with some real, but bonsai like, small-leaved plants ... 

[shropshire lad]

I reckon it's the other half of the photo Marc posted in " photo of the day" .