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Nice painting job Georges!

Franck

@Franck : merci. Le salon du machinisme (SIMA) commençant ce week-end, je posterai les photos du diorama début mars. Si tu passes à Villepinte, j'aurai un diorama sur le stand Razol Hall 5, un John Deere 3120 avec un chisel que je suis entrain de terminer.

Georges.

Georges,

This has been a really neat SBS to read and watch your progress. Congratulations on the end result.

I do have to say, that I prefer the version without the canopy.

Thanks for all the effort to post and share this. I look forward to your next build.

Hello guys,

I'm back from Paris and glad to let back this crazy concrete jungle city ...

Thanks Marc for your comment. I prefer the ''raw version '' as well. This gives a real Caterpillar spirit.

So, the forthcoming pictures are for the diorama and I decide to built a quarry with a old wooden workshop.

The workbench is made with small boards of lime-tree because this wood is quite hard in the way that it does bend when moist and gives a very good aspect after work. I represent just the corner of the building (one side and a part of the front side).
First work : cutting different sizes of lenght and creating some cracks as old wood. Very easy job to do with a sharp cutter and I use a metallic brush. Quite long to do because the amount of pieces but it works.

The surface to be covered are about 15 cm x 10 cm (5,90 in x 3,93 in) and 10 cm x 15 cm.

I bought some Crakle Paints two years ago and feel happy to use them. I choose three colors : picket fence (white), antique linen (yellow) and peeled paint (green). I did some tests before to make sure of how it works and to know how thick / thin the coats of paint need to be applied.

It is very simply to lay these paints and the rough surface of the boards allow a very strong ''fitting''. Depending the thickness of the paint, the results are different especially when dry with the air dryer.

All the boards are painted with a random thickness to avoid an uniform look. I work about ten borads in the same time and accelerate the driyng process with the air dryer : it's nice to see the crackle paint working.

I let these pieces dry softly dor two days before following the paint.

I scratch with the cutter to simulate the paint off. Very long work but the chips remove very easily and the wood apprears underneath. As before, the paint is removed in a random way to create some variations.

To underline the crackles, I apply with a brush on the wood some Dark Wash from Mig and Streaking Grime from AK. I put in contact the brush and the wood and the fluids go around the crackles and it's wonderful to see how this Crackle Paint from Ranger is magic. These dark tones create a nice contrast between the light colors of paint and the old wood.

All the boards get this operation with variations depending of the fact that the boards near the ground will be darker than the upper ones.

Georges.

Those are coming out well Georges .

Look forward to seeing your next steps

Nice job on the tractor Georges, thanks for the good descriptions.

Good instructions. Thank you. -- Russ

@thanks guys.The instructions should be easier to explain if it was in french !

The base of the diorama is made with a thick board of wood (pressed wood chips board >> not plywood) and measures 200 x 290 x 19 millimeters (7,87 x 11,42 x 0,75 inche).

The border will be covered with a strap of plastic sheet as the back will be higher to cope with a stack of rocks / soil / gravels. That's the first time that I build a non-flat scene. Not the Alps for this time but it's a start !

The concrete foundation is resin plaster. I realize a formwork to design the triangle shape of this base. I fix some nails in the wood to make sure that the plaster sticks enough when dried.

I sculpt the plaster with a cutter and it's pretty cool to work this raw material. Lot of dust but nice details will appear in a while.

Concerning the workbench, I use 5 millimeters cardboard (foam between two sheets of paper, I don't know the name). The painted woodboards will be fixed on the walls with white glue in a ship lap shape.

The hole on the concrete base is for a electric wood post. Next step : adding sand, rocks, gravels drowned in a thick coat of a mix white glue / water (to avoid from a glossy finish).

Georges.

Well, still have to progress after seeing Chuck's pictures ... Chuck, you're still my guide !

So, the boards are fitted on the two sides with white glue. No difficulty for this.

The upper part of the front is covered with boards on both side. On the top, a board is in a ''flat position''  as the roofing. This one will be a bit damaged due to moisture and rain. Good contrast between the white paint and the rotten wood.

The post in the corner is higher than the front side to fit with a brand sign.

Two Texaco signs will be nailed on each side. The decals are waterside ones and the plates are made with metal. I just star the weathering operations with acrylic paints, and oil paints for fading the signs. I choose paints from the Lifecolor set ''Rust and Dust''. They're applied with sponge and a soft brush.

The Caterpillar sign is made with a 3 mm plastic sheet. The fitting bracket is made with Evergreen round and rectangular rods. It's about 1 centimer (0,39 inche). His shape looks like a white light sign that has turned to yellow. I print the decal on an ink watersilde paper, sealed under a coat of matt varnish to avoid from a water reaction and fixed with Micro Sol / Set fluids. Sealed again.

The square post is drilled and the sign will be added at the top of this post.

The electric post is from a resin kit of four posts I found some years ago. It represents a wood post and no more work to do on it. I start the painting with a Foundation brown paint / acrylic Citadel which covarage is fantastic.

Then different tones of light and dark brown are applied gently (50% paint / 50% water) in several thin layers with the airbrush. Crackes are underlined with different inks from Citadel.

The two insulators are in white and the frame is really rusty so I use the Lifecolor set as well.

Georges.

Blimey. That does look good.