The Toyhunter's Gazette

Bugatti Car Show

2009-04-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

The Construction

Materials

1. 30 cm x 24 cm Framed 6mm plywood
2. white illustration board
3. glossy black hard cartolina
4. tomica solar turntable
5. tomy town railway segments and frames
6. elmer's glue
7. tamiya grey lacquer aerosol
8. mr. hobby white surfacer 1000
9. smoked white plastic
10. superglue

Procedure

cut from the illustration board, the inside dimensions of the frame.
mark the diameter of the turntable and cut at offset of at least 5mm
outside the turning plate.
this is to let the board drop to the inclined casing
letting the turntable jut out of the floor as an elevated platform.

cut out a rectangle from the glossy cartolina
and scour the surface with your desired floor pattern.
there is the traditional square grid tile pattern
but you may always go beyond the norm.

use any graphics software to design your walls.
scour groovelines using a ballpoint pen. make sure that
the lines matches that on the floor pattern.

in this exercise, i did the groovelines on the board
then glued on the printed graphics and rubbed
hard with a flat board hoping that the groovelines will
appear. they did but not as obvious as i wanted
them to be.
so i placed a piece of paper on top and did the groovelines
again and the desired depth was achieved.
spray 2 coats of any acrylic/lacquer clear aerosol
and let dry under a lamp

glue the gloss cartolina on the floor board
and press hard using books or in my case,
the heavy mattress of the double decker in my room,
and leave for 15 minutes.
cut out the hole using an X-Acto knife and with a
permanent black marker, color the rim so the white
board won't be obvious once you settle the board on
the turntable casing lip incline.
by the way, use the white surfacer on the plastic
frames from the train segments. it dries faster
than regular primer although the effect is the same.
spray over the tamiya grey lacquer after and dry
for at least 30 minutes.

as you notice, on the second post with pictures,
the thickness of the base of the frames is too massive.
cut holes from the floor board and insert the base
until you reach the first top plate(shown in pic)

notice the rectangular hole at the bottom of the
circular one? that's for light to pass through the board
reaching the solar cells to power up the turntable.
cover the hole with a smoked plastic sheet.

do not fix the diorama on the frame for turntable maintenance.

more pics
http://s419.photobucket.com/albums/pp279/evotones/CREATE%20DIORAMA/BUGATTI%20SHOW/

AutoEisenBahn-withcars and train

2009-03-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

thanks for looking :)

Auto/EisenBahn-H0 Scale Diorama

2009-03-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

bear with me as i get us through the construction of this diorama.

The Base

you will need the following materials for this one.
1 40 cm x 17 cm wood frame with plywood backing.
1 8mm corkboard9get the one with small speckles)
1 air-dried white clay
coarse pebbles
dried grass
greenery
"water" sheet
Elmer's GLue
Superglue
UHU transparent Glue
thin strip of illustration board
paper clip
paint and thinner
paintbrush
some trees
and an H0 scale train set. this one i bougth for just 23 HKD.
it's battery operated and made of plastic.

cut a rectangle from the corkboard based from the internal dimensions of the wood frame.
apply glue on the plywood backing and place the board on and place some heavy books on it.

since the train tracks are made of plastic and all black, use the a silver colored paint and apply on the rails.
mix red yellow and black and a bit of white to get the color of wood.
apply on the wood part of the track.
apply elmer's glue on the gap of the wood

fill up with the coarse brown pebbles and shake off the excess.

stick the rail on the corkboard with super glue and apply elmer's glue alog the track and pour in some more pebbles.

shake off the excess after 5 minutes

apply glue alongside the pebbles and pour in the greenery

place the "water" sheet over the base and mark the edge of the pebbles

cut with a pair of scissors

mix blue and yellow and black and white and you'll get greyish green.
apply on the water corner

add lots of black and a bit white for the road paint

stick the water cutout using transparent UHU glue

get a lump of air dried clay and mold a mound over the water corner

use a stick to mold the clay

do another mound on the road corner

paint the road break lines using white paint and a very small brush

apply some glue over the mounds and pour in the dried grass bits.
after 10 minutes apply some glue over that and pour in the greenery bits

cut a strip of illustration board and stick on a yellow/black stripe paper.
glue on bits of metal roads cut from a paper clip(around 1 cm in length)
and pierce these onto the corkboard.

be patient with the above and you will end up with this

1:43 Scale Garage

2009-02-25T08:09:00.000-08:00

i took home some sample materials from the office.

1. wood tile measuring 25 cm x 14 cm or 10 in x 5.5 in.

2. a paint finish sample. a dark grey matte sprayed

on a 1/8 plywood.
3. a simple black and white checkered
pattern printed on A3 paper.

get one of those 3M spray adhesive(adjustable) and apply on the
B&W checkered paper and carefully lay on the wood tile.
make sure the surface is flat, dry and clean before doing so.

i have some sticker paper with me bought in NBS last xmas
coz i cannot find any over here but i forgot to bring my inkjet printer
and the office's machine is a laser one. i cannot risk printing an
unknown paper with it.

after 10 minutes or so, cut off the overlapping paper off the wood tile
and spray with PYLOX Clear Lacquer. place it under a lamp while working
on the wall panelling.

measure 4.5 cm x 3 cm (1:43) that would be approx 1.95 M x 13.5 M in 1:1
over the matte finish plywood and get a huge knife and cut superficially
just getting through the thickness of the paint.

draw some guidelines for the "metal rod" support "holes". these are
commonly left behind after the poured-in concrete dries.
these are found in Arch. Tadao Ando's architecture.
although this partucular wall may be dark grey aluminum panels
with huge perforation at each corners

choose the small round edge bit from your precision tools set and "drill" the holes
on the plywood.

you will have something like this

glue some discarded pieces of the matte finished plywood at the rear of the base for
added support wehn installing the backing.

apply super glue and stick on the back wall applying enough pressure for the glue to settle.

after a minute or so, glue the left and right side panels on the base and on the back wall
and hopefully you'll end up with something like this

i bought these Snap-On garage sets from simon almost 2 years back
and brought them here with me early this year

here's the finished base and wall panels.

i have worked with 1:64 garage equipments before
using vinyl. it is a versatile material because it is a bit
malleable. i cannot find it here. not just yet anyway.

POLYSTYRENE is a stiff foam material and it comes in
different sections(circular, square, rectangle, triangle...)
it is pricey compared to wood though.

and so for today's exercise, i have decided to do a car lifter
because i don't have the 1:43 scaled one from a box set.

since i do not have POLYSTYRENE with me and i still have
some spare wood stuff from the ROUTE 66 project, i opted
for the wood material instead.

i will still do a POLYSTYRENE one of course. let's just say
this is a prototype.

using an 8mm x 8mm wood section(which is roughly 34 cm in 1:1)
cut 4 pcs at 6 cm each ( should be only 5 cm but allow 1 cm
for cutting and filing later)(ref img 40-1)
using a flat section metal file, smoothen the edges at an angle.
do this to all pieces.(ref img 40-2)

use a 5mm x 2mm hard wood section and cut 2 5.5 cm lengths.
using a small X-Acto knife, cut away a small section of the strip
to provide space for the two platforms which will be installed
later. ( ref img 40-3)

using the same metal file, scrape off about 2 mm in to create
a tenon ( ref img 40-4)

go back to the square sections you did earlier and measure half a centimeter from the
bevelled edges. ( ref img 41-1)

use the X-Acto knife again, create a mortise 2 mm deep. (ref img 41-2)
try the pieces together and see if they fit.

use 10mm x 3 mm wood strips and use a metal file to scrape off a right angle groove. ( ref img 42-1)
get all the pieces together and assemble using super glue.( ref img 42-2&3)
checking fro strength...( ref img 42-4) if what you did is weak, the diecast will fall
and will suffer considerable damage.... use alternative same weight object for tests

check out the four-poster if it fits proportionally and that a human figure may
walk underneath.

paint the structure with Tamiya X-series paints of your liking
or any enamel colors

for that thing located on one of the posts of the car lifter,
use plain illustration board.(please use the high quality all white one for small
objects because the black-backed one isn't that sturdy)

cut several pieces beginning from the base plate at 8 mm and reducing to 6 mm
for the front panel.( ref img 44-1)
for the transitional part use the round end of a guitar string.( ref img 44-2)
there is a cylinder below the mechanical box and use
the tip of a click-pen.( ref img 44-3)

glue the pieces together( ref img 44-4)

and paint the object black.

use a piece of string ( any color you want) or any colored wire for the
tube(or electrical wire). just stick it anywhere on the object but make sure
it will look at least sensible though i don't really know how it works

for the wall mounted tire rack
use 5mm x 2mm wood and cut 2 9 cm strips, 2 1.5 cm strips, 2 2 cm braces and 2 1.8 cm wall brackets.( ref img 46-1)
use an X-Acto knife and do lap joints on the first two strips. remember to measure at least a cm
cap between the longer strips. this is where the tires will be placed. ( ref img 46-2)
glue the pieces together ( ref img 46-3)
and try on for size ( ref img 46-4)

paint the tire rack to your desired color.

the ANDO walls are now covered mostly of wall mounted pictures
and adding a bit of realism
the modern concept of the garage need not have any exposed
electrical conduits coz nowadays, these components are embedded
in the walls revealed only by the fact that there are switches and sockets
mounted on walls. but for this one, i decided to show the electrical stuff
just for the heck of it(actually) although unnecessary.
a socket/switch or two here and there will suffice.

for these conduits, cut off 2 mm strips of illustration board
or use a 2 mm square section of POLYSTYRENE.
at each end, cut a 3 mm x 4 mm rectangular shaped swith/socket housing.( ref img 39-1)
paint 4 of these with TAMIYA SILVER and let dry. ( ref img 39-2)
cut a 10 mm x 8mm rectangle from an illustration board/POLYSTYRENE
and a successive 8mm x 6 mm one. stick these two together and paint as well. ( ref img 39-3)
add wire from a guitar string and shape into the switch lever and stick onto the PANEL BOX. ( ref img 39-4)

it may look very traditional of course but it's a good exercise in doing these objects.
it will help you prepare for something more intricate in the future

thanks for taking the time

some shots

Hillside Road

2009-02-22T03:54:00.000-08:00

get yourself an 8 inch x 5 inch corkboard
a rough piece of styro, plaster of paris,
a narrow piece of illustration board
3 cut pcs of bamboo skewers
some paint and glue

chip away the styro to form your hillside base
and mix the plaster of paris and sculpt to
what will look like a rocky hillside

mix some red yellow black and white Tamiya X-F paints and paint
the dried plaster of paris-it will look like a lump of shit but you'll get over the appearance
pour glue alongside the hillside and pour in greenery and let dry

cut a long stirp of illustration board and cut away a groove in the middle.
stick the pointed bamboo at the back and paint it with silver and the usual yellowblack stripes
for road barriers.

you'll have something like this in around 2 hours

and then you're done

thanks for looking

Route 66

2009-02-14T03:50:00.000-08:00

i bought these toy soldiers-all 350 of them fro just 130pesos
and they are in 1:60ish in scale.

they have lots of poses although all of them are male
but that can be arranged later-just add dried elmers glue
for skirts and handbags

anyways, i tried 3 of them this morning in preparation
for the diorama.

just use a knife to cut off the unwanted bits like the guns
grenades and body kits....

go to any hobby shops and purchase ACRYLIC COLORS
RED YELLOW BLUE WHITE AND BLACK-they're all you need
since you may mix to get limitless number of colors-
make sure you choose the XF ones since you will be applying
FLAT COLORED paints (although for leather jackets use
the X ones for GLOSSY COLORS.)

if anyone remembers the HAPPY DAYS 70's sitcom about the 50's ( where the then regular
sitcom actor turned director RON HOWARD starred ),
the classic "cool FONZ" outfit for those days is the pair of jeans white shirt
leather jacket and glenmore shoes

from the left, a filling station attendant, a "cool" dude and..... some guy

will do a number of them including some ballooned skirted females
i started with the filling station structure.

most hobby shops have balsa
and some thin wood with tongue and groove
line patterns.

the smallest being 1.5 mm panels or approximately
100 mm width in 1:1 .

cut the balsa using a very sharp knife. just glide through
and it's easy as cutting casava cake without the sticky bit

glue the beams and posts according to your design.

draw the lines of the door and windows at the back of the
tongue and groove wood pattern-these walls will be painted later.

notice the slanting column? it hasn't been glued to its base yet.
and the corners of the walls will be covered by 4 mm-width plain wood later on.

the wall corners of the filling station structure
which will house a mini grocer and store,
needed wood angles to cover
the tongue and groove joints.

use 12mmwidth x 2 mm thick balsa wood.
cut in two panels one would be 2 mm wider ( 7mm and 5mm=12mm )

glue on the corners and when set,
the width of 7 mm will be the same on both sides.

for the roof, i cut strips of 8 mm x 2 mm of plain balsa
to serve as rafters. i don't need to do full trusses since
i won't see them in all their supposed glorious detail
-although if you want a stronger structure a full truss is recommended-

for this one, i decided to have 5 rafters to support the roof.
the base of the roof is of 3 mm balsa.

notice that i positioned the rafter strip on the cutting mat
and adjusting the inclination, i determined how much length i should cut it.

glue the cut rafter strips together to form a triangle.

glue these rafters onto the roof panels

and you will have something that looks like this

until yesterday, i wasn't able to decide
which 1950s gas company should i use
for this diorama.

i chose SHELL

the gas pump in those days had a regular rectangular body
that we see today although they are smaller.

they only had one pump hose for each machine
so they are slimmer.

i bought 2 stamp blocks and removed the rubber negative
and carved away until i got the desired dimensions at roughly
1.8 M or 3 cms in 1:60.

then i got these thumb tax with a rubber covering which was
perfect for the company logo installed on the top of the machine.

print prepared ads decals logos stuff on a sticker paper
or in my case on a piece of paper since strangely enough,
HK stationery shops do not have them

cut off the spike and file until the underside is flattened.
stick with super glue but you have to press really hard and longer
than usual because the glue doesn't stick fast with metal on metal.
well...it DOES on skin on skin

paint the wood block with TAMIYA ENAMEL paint based from the gas pump
design you have researched from the net.

trying it out on the station...

while the station walls were drying,
i did the roof details.

shingles are a basic roofing tile for most american
homes.

they are made of wood ceramic asphalt, etc.

in this age of modern technology, construction has seen
new and revolutionary roofing materials some of which
are made of several compounds battling the fiercest
climate anywhere in the world where they are installed.

in this diorama, i'm using a 1mm board that has been cut
in 1 cm by 1 cm square and glued on the balsa wood panel
one by one.

start from the bottom part going up overlapping
succeeding layer 1-2mm on the preceding one.
make sure you mark the roof panel with lines to keep your track

you'll end up with something like this

mix the following paint colors: for this one a dark green grey is chosen

TAMIYA XF-8 FLAT BLUE 30%
TAMIYA XF-3 FLAT YELLOW30%
TAMIYA X-1 GLOSS BLACK 35%
and a bit of TAMIYA thinner 5%

paint over the glued (dried) "shingles" and let it dry for an hour or so

now, if i want the effect to be asphalt, i would have sprinkled over fine sand(available in NB )
on saturated glue then painted over.

i did some detailing on the station.

did some advertising bills
and some oil cans

cut a 5 mm x 3.5mm x 2mm from a piece of hard wood
and sand the corners.
with an image of SHELL MOTOR OIL face printed on
a piece of paper-can't find a sticker paper here yet-
cut them all out and stick on the cut out wood blocks
with ELMER's Glue.
apply with a BLACK PERMANENT MARKER
and your OIL CANS are ready

the long nozzle is the metal spike from a thumbtack

use the spare balsa wood used from the structure-always save bits and pieces
of stuff in a bin for future use
cut out strips measuring 3 cm x 5 mm for the rack shelf
and 2 cm x 5 mm for the support.

here's what you will have

i have this acrylic display case measuring 25 cm x 10 cm x 12.

it has a black plastic base and i thought, the curved corners
are perfect for the diner

after cutting the strips of metallic blind
i glued them wrapped around the acrylic
case and...

the interior of a typical 1950s diner
is usually in the art deco concept.

a black and white checkered floor
and some bright colors add to the
excitement of having your burger and fries
and a chocolate shake or ice cream soda
in an upbeat ambience-and later regretting
having to munch on those cooking oil-soaked
potato things-but that was half a century ago
when no one knew about fat and cholosterol

anyways, just surf the net and you'll find loads
of 50s diner stuff and print them on a sticker paper
-again, i can't find any- so i just use glue to stick the
stuff on white cardboards

make sure you place the "right era people" photographs
on the wall for authenticity unless you're back from the future
and hang framed images of Britney Spears or Weird Al Yankovic
to the inevitable culture shock of the customers

the unmistakable tail of the 1957 Chevy
a 55 FORD Fairlane being filled with fuel
a 55 PONTIAC engine check
at the other gas pump lane is a 55 Chrysler deSoto Firelite

Tomica Ferrari 512BB

a KENWORTH T600 by White Rose Collectibles

some nostalgic pictures

a Diner along Route 66

« on: November 28, 2008, 12:43:29 AM »

Quote

not yet done with all the neon light trimmings and stuff

inverted an acrylic case and glued on some metallic blind strips.

thanks for looking :-)

My Tomica Lancer Evolution Line

2009-02-12T22:25:00.000-08:00

This particular model of Tomica is a must for any Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution collector.

Tomica doesn't regularly release them in droves so it is important to be up to date to any
information whether or not Tomy will release anything for the year.

2007 and 2008 were very memorable years because the Lancer Evolution X had lots of
releases from the regular box to the TL and a couple of Box Sets

oh... by the way....

i'l post the others as soon as i find the photos.

Focused....focused on everything

2009-02-12T21:37:00.000-08:00

As many DCPH members know, i am indeed focused...focused on everything.
what's a collector to do?
i love a lot of different cars and i truly admire those who are indeed focused
on ONE line and ONE line only. Like my wife Tintin, who collects VW T2 Buses ONLY.

Anyway, i am t...r...y...i...n...g really hard to get only the ones with dominant blue in them.

The wife of a good friend of mine, who collects vintage cars in 1:43, saw my collection
one day and asked him, " i thought Gary had a BLUE color themed collection?"

look at this...she said pointing at the monitor,,,

Corvettes

Minis

VWs

Ford History 1:18s 1910-2000 Models and some 1:43 Old Blues

Ferrari Cab

well, yes i do have a blue color themed collection...about 25 % of my toys are in blue. hehehe

i am absolutely happy when i find a toy or two in blue especially if it is a Ferrari, a VW, a Morris Mini Cooper, a Nissan GTR, a 1:60 Tomica Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and an American Muscle Car.

In the next few days, i will be posting my various collecting lines.

Farm

2009-02-12T20:26:00.000-08:00

i am doing preliminary studies for a
diorama i was about to do for myself
but a fellow collector wants one as well.

i'll do the project for him first :-)

a FARM Diorama in 1:64ish

i am absolutely thrilled to do this one.

did the first physical structure of the farm diorama
i'm building for a fellow collector.

all fields have sheds smacked right there somewhere
in the middle for farmer's wishing to rest.

this one is made out of toothpicks and walis tambo :-)

i cancelled the tollgate's base coz it just occured to me
that i can actually merge the two dioramas.

the farm dio measures 49.5 cm x 65.5 cms.

in 1:60 scale that will be approximately 300 meters x 396 meters
covering a total area of 118,800 sq. meters. that's 11.8 hectares.

did a parcel of land to be plowed :-)

90% done on the papier mache base for the farm and
road paving for the tollgate

a rice plant consist of a stalk
and several blades of leaves(well that's how i see them :lol: )

in this scale it is near impossible to fabricate thousands
much less one plant.

i roamed around a grocery and found a plastic brush.

and i immediately saw what i was looking for
to fabricate a ricefield.

as you can see in the previous image, i applied the papier mache
this morning and bored holes for the rice stalks

just a trial in planting the stalks...

just need around 20 or so of this brush, cut away and plant and i may be able to cover the parcel of land.

painted the land base today

planting the rice stalks is next .

planted some yesterday and yes, it is hard.
even in this scale model. :|
it is harder in real life of course coz of the
heat of the sun and the back-breaking position. :-(

did some planting over the weekend
and it is hard work indeed but to have something
like this in the end is well worth it

finished planting the plastic rice last week :-D

it was really hard cutting the bristles from the'brush
cutting the little wire that is attached to it
and plasting them one by one at the holes drilled
on the papier mache soil :|

anyways, the hard part is over and the rest will be
sort of easy :-)

blank patch of the board upper right and left will be
for waterponds :-)

these are the plastic brushes used for the rice.

finally put the finishing touches on nic's farm
this morning and decided to take final shots
before tomorrow's delivery.

i must admit it was a long process
mainly because i have a day job now :lol:

i enjoyed the construction of this farm because
we( the salas clan ) have enjoyed countless
of fun and excitement when we were kids spending
a month or so at our uncles' sugarcane and rice
fields in Mexico, Pampanga during the summer breaks :-)

the tree seem to be losing lots of leaves but ei! some trees do hahaha

meanwhile, enjoy the photos :-)

Thanks for viewing.

this diorama is owned by nic1493

Kennon Road

2009-02-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

Please bear with me, my pictures and the process in building
“INITIAL-D: The Baguio Drift”

Ingredients:

1. 10 castings of INITIAL D Cars By YUJIN in 1:87 ( 72? )
2. 1 pc. A2 size Cardboard
3. 1 Super A3 Size Corkboard
4. Boysen Acrylic/Latex Paints( red, yellow,blue, black and white)
5. #1,#2 and #5 Flat Paint Brushes, 1 of each
6. 1 Tumblers
7. 1 Rubber Cutting Mat
8. 1 SuperGlue and 1 Elmer’s Glue
9. Pen and Paper
10. Steel Ruler
11. Cutter
12. X-Acto Knife
13. Water
14. A pair of Scissors
15. Newspaper
16. coarse aggregate (pebbles)
17. Green Foliage

It is very important not to miss small details in building
a diorama because this will add to the realism of your work.

PAPIER MACHE

This concoction is very easy to prepare.

You need old newspaper. Newsprint is very very easy to work
with water since it crumbles and dissolves easily.

After squeezing excess water out of the “dough”
pour in a generous amount of elmer’s glue and mix
thoroughly.

You will have a lump of very soft papier mache.

cut out some foamboards and stick this to a base.
this will be the structure for the lionhead.
i did this because it will save me time and papier mache.

THE BASE

The 2-way road is 7-8 meters in width (approx. 7cms from
your steel ruler in1:72-87 scale)

Cut out 2 pieces of white carboard based from dimensions acrylic base.
Cut out the road and elevate at 1 inch from the cork board.

It need not be as high as your reference picture because
you will end up with a very tall diorama thereby spending
Quite a lot of money for the acrylic case.

thanks for the interest .

Freedom

2009-02-12T20:24:00.000-08:00

This diorama took 2.5 hours to make
because it didn’t involve any plaster or
papier mache.

Bear with me, my pictures and the
process in building “FREEDOM!”

Ingredients:

1. 1 pc.1:87 Cararama VW Kombi Pickup
2. 1 pc1:72 REAL-X Lancer Evolution VIII
3. 2 23 cm x 12 cm white cardboards
4. Mr. Hobby Acrylic Paints( red,yellow,black & white)
5. #1,#2 and #5 Flat Paint Brushes, 1 of each
6. 1 Tumblers
7. 1 Rubber Cutting Mat
8. Elmer’s Glue and Super Glue Gel
9. Pen and Paper
10. Steel Ruler
11. Cutter
12. X-Acto Knife
13. Water
14. A pair of Scissors
15. fine Ballast sand for hobbyists
16. Some Horses

I am not comfortable with the roads being parallel
to the base of the diorama, that’s why I often, if not
always, draw the road at an angle.
The 2-way country road is 5.5 meters in width (approx. 7 cms from
your steel ruler in1:72-87 scale)
I intended to place 2 cars passing by
a wood fenced field full of horses.

The dirt sidewalk 1.2 meters wide ( around 1.5 cms form
your ruler.

Get your pen and start sketching the road, the sidewalk and the field

Cut out the road which is elevated from the natural grade line.
It is very important not to miss small details in building
a diorama because this will add to the realism of your work.

For the wooden fence, cut approximately 2 mm of the
balsa wood used in a previous diorama.

Note: do not throw away cut out pieces as you may be
able to use these in future construction.

Get a partitioned plastic container for these bits and pieces
of “rubbish”.

Mix yellow white and black and you’ll get the color for the
road. Apply this color using lots of water for that
washed look.

For the road, use your x-acto knife to cut grooves for the
“concrete” segments and pacing tile pattern.

This will be very realistic when painted
as the paint will seep in.

Remember to scour the carboard with your knife several
lines. This is for the “walis tingting” effect used in concrete roads
to prevent a slippery surface during rainfall.
Use considerable amount of water in applying the grayish green color
of concrete.

In the photos the concrete seemed to glimmer,
it is because I sprayed a thin layer of clear coat. This is to protect
your base and let the materials settle better.

And it added the effect of a slippery road hence the screech marks
caused by the sudden application of the brakes of both cars
to avoid hitting the “liberated” horses.

Then you will have something like this.

After all of the above, the tedious task of photography is next.

It is advisable to do the pictorial under a bright sun but i
don’t have the luxury of time to do that.
Again, it is most enjoyable building these scenes and I hope you may venture into it.
It is most relaxing indeed.
Thanks for the interest. :-)

"Weather" You Like It Or Not

2009-02-12T20:22:00.000-08:00

It is the start of the LUNAR NEW YEAR
and Hong Kong is relatively quite
in terms of shops opening and doing
their regular business.

seemed getting back to normal today though :wink:

though, it is definitely festive
with families roaming around and
paying their relatives visits and
sharing cookies, cakes and tea
Last night, a mahjong was being enjoyed
by my landlady's in-laws as I arrived
from dinner.

The whole day of Sunday was hectic
for me though.

After breakfast, I started building another diorama.

This time, since the “brown” fiasco
of the warehouse scene with the “weathered”
Shelby Cobra 429, I bought on Saturday night
a small bottle of Mr. Hobby Copper to experiment
with.

I haven’t really done an acceptable-to me, that is-
weathered look. But this time I am satisfied
with how the whole diorama turned out.

Again please bear with me, my pictures and the
process in building “Weather” You Like It Or Not”

Ingredients:

1. 1 pc.1:43 Chevrolet Camaro by Road Champs
2. 1 pc. A2 size White Cardboard
3. 2 pc A4 5 mm Foam Board
4. 28 mm x 14.5 mm Acrylic Case
5. Mr. Hobby Acrylic Paints(copper, red, yellow, black and white-basic colors)
6. #1,#2 and #5 Flat Paint Brushes, 1 of each
7. 1 Tumblers
8. 1 Rubber Cutting Mat
9. 1 UHU and 1 Elmer’s Glue
10. Pen and Paper
11. Steel Ruler
12. Cutter
13. X-Acto Knife
14. Water
15. A pair of Scissors
16. 3 mm Stainless Steel Wire
17. fine grain sand for hobbyists
18. toothpick

THE BASE

Start off with a sketch as usual

I am not comfortable with the roads being parallel
to the base of the diorama, that’s why I often, if not
always, draw the road at and angle with reference
to the line of the base. In this manner, I don’t need to
move my head too much in order to view the diorama.
Although the pictorial of this one took around 6 hours
from yesterday including this morning’s revisions, trying out
every possible angle I can think of, the diorama building
itself was 7 hours in total.

The 2-way road is 6.0 meters in width (approx. 15cms from
your steel ruler in1:43 scale) but I only showed half since the car
will only be on one side and I don’t intend to place
a second car passing by it (which is probably another idea
by the way).

The pavement/sidewalk is 1.6 meters wide ( around 4 cms form
your ruler) there are seldom sidewalks that are paved with
tiles but I thought it was to be a “neat” detail in this scene.

Cut this sidewalk out from the foam board-which is 5mm thick
that is around 200 mm in 1:43 scale.

Use your x-acto knife to cut grooves for the “concrete” segments
and pacing tile pattern. This will be very realistic when painted
as the paint will seep through.

Cut out 2 pieces of white cardboard based from dimensions acrylic base.
Cut out the road and chop the edge at 45 degrees downward. This is for
the gutter line. Cut a hole for the drainage as well.

It is very important not to miss small details in building
a diorama because this will add to the realism of your work.

For the drain grill opening, cut out a third of the thickness of
the foam board 1.5 cm through. Get your toothpick (used or not :lol: ), and cut
several pieces of around 3.5 mm long and glue these on the underside
of the cutout foam board.

Test the view of your diorama every now and then to check
the progress. This will determine whether you are on the
right track or not.

For a road detail, sketch a hole with your pencil and cut this out
from the cardboard.

THE PAINTING

Get your black paint and apply on the toothpick and all over the
underside of the drainage grille.

Mix red yellow white and black and you’ll get the color for the
pavement tiles. Apply this color using lots of water for that
washed look.

For the road, remember to scour the cardboard with your knife several
lines. This is for the “walis tingting” effect used in concrete roads
to prevent a slippery surface during rainfall.

Use considerable amount of water to apply the grayish green color
of concrete. By dropping a blob of black paint on to the still
wet concrete color, you may have that oil drip look on the road.

The wall is made up of 2 5mm thick foam board stuck together.
The same scouring techniques were used to make the groove lines
Of the brick tiles. A little graffiti here and there will help in that
rundown scene. ( I noticed something wrong with the “no pissing”
warning so I edited it , changing all the 50 shots I laid
out last night)

Then you will have something like this.

For the rust effect (I must read something about this in order to
hone my techniques), I used Mr Hobby Copper Color.

Scratch the car with a precision screwdriver. Do not blow away
the paint shavings as this will help in the effect you are achieving.

Apply the copper paint on the scratch area going a bit blurred outwards.

I guess a rusting effect will work well on a light colored car but
this will do for the moment.

After all of the above, the tedious task of photography is next.

I used several lighting source for this.

Natural, fluorescent, flashlight, and white lamp.

i hope you enjoyed it.

This diorama is owned by Atty Vic de los Angeles.

Oil Sleek-2001 Malaysian F1 GP

2009-02-12T20:21:00.000-08:00

Constructing a diorama will test anyone’s patience.
Whether still thinking of what to do or buying the
necessary materials for it is a question of clever sourcing.

I have asked at the lounge any information on any Ferrari
F1 car encountering problems lead me to Junji’s very helpful
information and with a useful picture at that.

And then I browse on the net and
downloaded several pictures
showing different scenes of the
2001 Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.

I needed several tyres for the impact barrier
and I paid the LUNAR NEW YEAR
FAIR a visit last night and got several used
plastic tractors and paid for them
as donation for charity for 15 HKD :-D
they're not as flat as i hoped them to be
but they will do :wink:

Without further a-do here’s my interpretation
of the Malaysian Grand Prix Ferrari
racing scene mishap project titled
-OIL “SLEEK” LINES-

Bear with me for the next 30 minutes
or so in going through the process.
[b]Remember to put safety as your priority[/b]

Ingredients:

1. Hotwheels Ferrari F2001 Cars #1 and #2
2. 1 pc. 27 cm x 14 cm Foam Board
3. 1 Sheet Grass Replica
4. 1 pc. 27 cm x 14 cm Canson Warm Grey Textured Paper
5. 1 pc. 27 cm x 14 cm Canson White Paper
6. White Cardboard
7. 1 Tumblers
8. 1 Rubber Cutting Mat
9. 1 UHU and 1 Elmer’s Glue
10. Pen and Paper
11. Steel Ruler
12. Cutter
13. Water
14. A pair of Scissors
15. 5 Sets Of Tractor Wheels from Used Toys
16. Mr. Hobby Acrylic Paints
17. Paint Brushes
18. X-Acto Knife
19. Graphite Pencil Shavings
20. Cleaning Buds

Every scale model to be built needs a plan.

Get a paper and pen and start sketching
what you envision to be a racing scene.
remember that this is your diorama and you
have the right to do whatever you want with it
:wink:

The race scene shows 2 Ferrari F1 Cars careening off the road
onto the grass area with several tyre barriers.

THE BASE
Draw the outline of the race track on the foam board
In keeping up with your idea, always place the cut away
pieces on the plan every so often so you won’t be venturing
out from your original concept although, you may always
change or adapt in the future.
(which proved to be the case for this one)

Glue the pieces of paper cutouts and
the grass sheet on the foam board with Elmer’s glue.
always remember to use a flat spatula or a flat brush
to evenly spread the glue on the surface.

And you will end up with a race track.

I am not sure what it is called exactly,
but that red and white thing is a
cutout from a white cardboard I did.
An arc segment and with several
carved 2 mm lines and painted with red and white.

Glue this arc in place.

In the real scene, this does not appear in reality
but I just have to place something opposite
the tyre barrier in order for the diorama
to be visually balanced.

that's aesthetic theory and we will deal
with that later :-)

paint the salvaged tyres from any used toys you purchased
with the colors based from the race track scene.

TYRE SCREECH MARKS

There are two ways to do this.

First, use a 90 % warm grey marker and draw on the paper
the possible marks created by the careening cars.

(as shown in the image above)

But after waking up this morning, I found out that the
tyre screech marks were too bright.

And so here’s what I did.

I cut out the same shape of the race track
and glued over the one with the marker-drawn
tyre marks and began to revise.

Get your graphite pencil shavings and rub the ear buds on and
start applying on the road with several strokes until you get the
right amount to signify the screech marks.

On the grass area, use the back of your x-acto knife to make tyre grooves.

Before doing this, place your car and imagine it sliding from the road
onto the grass by rolling the car and marking the scene in your mind,
or you may lightly sketch the tyre marks with your pencil as you drive
car.

And you end up with something as shown in the image.

This particular diorama was suppose to be in reality,
the two F1 cars positioned entirely on the grass area after
careening off but I thought it lacked some drama in it.

And the cars, which are somewhat parallel to the race track, are ready to
be driven off the grass area.

What I wanted was a scene were the cars were just careening off the
race track.

Here’s what I did.

I inverted the #2 car being driven by Barrichello, in a 180 degree
fashion against that of Schumacher’s #1.

Why? When I took some pictures last night,
I noticed that the cars were facing
in one direction only, which as a viewer,
was kind of boring when placed
on a display shelf mounted on a wall.

In this case, I maybe able to view the diorama at one angle and
still enjoy the view of the two cars and the overall drama.

Well, when it is in my display case(or anyone in the future ),
just turn the diorama once a week, to view the front
and rear of #1 and #2 and vice versa.

Thanks for your time :-)

WRC Lancer Evolution VI

2009-02-12T20:20:00.001-08:00

As a part of my diorama construction series,
i was thinking of a WRC road scene and it always
amazes me when these rally cars turn(sometimes downhill)
on a curve on a wet dirt road. i could've opted for an accident scene but
that is too morbid for me.

as a coincidence i suppose, jerome and mike requested for
that WRC action. with a driver at that!
well there is an available car with a driver and navigator at hunghing
and i sold it to abac. but that was a SUBARU.
this particular road scene involves one of the most
celebrated cars n WRC history.
a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI driven by
Makinen with Mannisenmaki in the 1999 New Zealand World Rally Championship
titled “REVOLVING”

Bear with me, again, for the next 30 minutes or so in going through the process.
Remember to put safety as your priority

i won't go over the ingredients again coz you may use the same ones
as before.

the car is a casting by highspeed in 1:43.

in this particualr project, what thrilled me most is the
"creation" of the human figures.

i went around HK last night to look for suitable human
action figures but sadly, there wasn't any driver looking ones.

i saw a gashapon in toys r us and there were these ULTRAMAN
figures that uncunningly looked like drivers with helmets. so
i got one.

and a bag full of firemen in monochromatic hard plastic.

THE DRIVER AND NAVIGATOR

it must be hard for mitsubishi to choose a driver for their car.
because i had a hard time myself choosing a suitable one for this.

after around 30 minutes i decided to choose the fireman.
first it is approx 1:43 in scale and second it has a face.
the helmet he's wearing is a fireman's of course, but with a cut here and there
and a little filing, it sort of resembled that which tommi was wearing.

the hands were too long to fit the cabin, so i took ultraman and cut off its
arms and glued them on the fireman's torso.

detailed painting was next and after about an hour,
i have two human figures(although cut in half) for the car.

thanks for the time :-)

Frozen In Time

2009-02-12T20:18:00.000-08:00

There isn’t really any space for spray painting,
so I opted to set decals and diorama building instead.
Although I can always sneak into a corner on the
ground floor of the building I live in, there’s always
a chance of being questioned about what the heck I am
doing spraying paint all over the place. I cannot risk it. :-(

So I opted for building scale models of structures and scenery instead.

I have been thinking of building another scale model
but was choosing between a car park entrance shroff’s
office with the guards and the entrance barriers and a racing scene.

Since I have Monte Carlo Rally Mini Coopers in 1:43,
I decided to do a racing scene of one of the Champions
bearing #177 instead :-)

I must admit, I have been looking for similar models
of the Mini Coopers, all 8 of them in the 1960s rally races,
but I can’t seem to find anymore than the #177 and #37.

And so on Friday night, I ventured off into the hobby shops
of HK and bought several materials and tools for my racing scene
project I eventually titled “Frozen In Time”

Bear with me for the next 30 minutes or so in going through the process.
Remember to put safety as your priority

Ingredients:

1. 1 pc.1:43 Mini Cooper Rally #177 ( by del Prado)
2. 1 pc. A2(42 cm x 29.7 cm) size Foam Board
3. 1 Sheet 20 cm x 40 cm Stone Wall
4. 1 pc. A4(29.7 cm x 21 cm) White Cardboard
5. Mr. Hobby Acrylic Paints(red, yellow, blue, black and white-basic colors)
6. #1,#2 and #5 Flat Paint Brushes, 1 of each
7. 2 Tumblers
8. 1 Rubber Cutting Mat
9. 1 UHU and 1 Elmer’s Glue
10. Pen and Paper
11. Steel Ruler
12. Cutter
13. Toothbrush
14. 150 g of Plaster Of Paris
15. 1 pc. A4(29.7 cm x 21 cm) Clear Hard Plastic Sheet
16. 1 pc. A4(29.7 cm x 21 cm) Light Blue Sponge-like Fabric
17. 1 pc. “Smoked” Plastic Folder
18. 1 pc. 33 cm by 24.5 cm Wooden Picture Frame
19. 1 18 cu. In.Bag of WOODLAND SCENICS Light Green Clump Foliage Bushes
20. 1 Flat Plastic Spatula
21. Water
22. A pair of Scissors
23. TAMIYA Masking Tape
24. 1 Ton of determination

Every scale model to be built needs a plan.

Get a paper and pen and start sketching what you
envision to be a road scene.
I opted for a bridge crossing where the barriers
are made of stone.
And of course, underneath the bridge lies a
narrow river or canal.

The Monte Carlo Rally was held during winter based
from the pictures that I got. The Mini Coopers in action
were more often than not, taken while traversing snow capped
roads and bushes and hills.

THE BRIDGE

Draw the outline of the bridge on the Stone Sheet and cut away.

In keeping up with your idea, always place
the cut away pieces on the plan every so often
so you won’t be venturing out from your original idea
but you may always change or adapt in the future.

Now, in order for your bridge to be “reliable and strong”,
it needs support. Remember you are doing a scale model
so card boards should be enough to play the role of steel members.

This bridge is 80 cm high from the ground
and about the same width (in 1:43 that should be
about 2 cms of your steel ruler)
The length is around 6 meters.(around 15 cms.)

Glue the pieces of card boards in equal distance
and about the right number (I chose 3 segments
in this model) on the under side of the bridge top
and wrap around with the remaining pieces of the
Stone Wall Sheet and place these on your sketch
with the model car for size comparison and overall
look assessment.

Mix 1 part Red, 1 part yellow, half part Black and White,
for a light olive/ beige base paint for your stone bridge.

Stones are natural materials and no one stone is equal
in the world like your fingerprint.
Mix several types of colors such as
sienna (1red, 1yellow 0.5 black 1 white),
umber (1red 1yellow and 1black),
grey (1 black and 1 white), etc (with an earth color concept)

And you will end up with a multi-colored shear wall bridge barrier.

Acrylic paints dry faster than enamel
or any oil based paints and are easy to manage.
Dilute small parts of water with the paints for
desired transparency.

I did the painting first so I may be able
to do the base of the diorama whilst the
paint is drying.

THE GROUND BASE

Measure the inside dimensions of your frame.
Get your FOAM BOARD and cut out the
rectangle out from it. Place the 2 sections
of the bridge on top and sketch the location
of the river/canal underneath it. Cut out
the river gap and make sure to cut up to
half of the width of the bridge in order to
define “a river running underneath” (see lower right image)
Why half?
If you cut all the way through,
you will not have a bridge but
a hole on the ground. Cutting only
the visible part of the river will
not require you to cut another piece
of board again for the bridge itself
where you will place the model car.

THE RIVER

The river will include the LIGHT BLUE SPONGE-LIKE FABRIC,
the SMOKED PLASTIC SHEET and the CLEAR HARD PLASTIC and GLUE
Place the cut out FOAM BOARD and mark the corners of the
visible river over the fabric.
This will be your boundary line for your glue application.
Cut out pieces of your plastic sheets to match
the size of the marked fabric but always go beyond
the area for glue application. This will be covered
by the FOAM BOARD anyway.

If you notice the several pieces of fabric
scattered all over the frame, this is done in order
for the FOAM BOARD to settle flatly on top.

THE RACE EFFECTS

You’re probably wondering why we need a
TOOTHBRUSH for this project.
Well, first an AIRBRUSH costs 500 HKD minimum
excluding the compressor which may run up to 2000 HKD.
So I opted for a toothbrush to
“spray” the race effects on the car.

Although an airbrush is much more efficient,
a toothbrush is a good alternative.

“Spraying” 2 colors of paint (sienna and white)
on the car will emulate the road conditions of the race.

Mix the colors for the sienna with more water than usual.
Cut out a “wiper” path from a strip of
TAMIYA MASKING TAPE and place over
the windows of the model car.
Dip in the toothbrush and flick the bristles
with your thumb (as shown) in the direction of the toy .
It may seem that the toy is bound for “destruction”
but that’s the effect we are looking for.
Well…not “total destruction”of course,
but just the right amount of wet soil and snow
covering the car.

While the racing effect is drying,
go back to work on the base of the diorama.

THE ROAD CONDITION EFFECTS

PLASTER OF PARIS is a white powder substance
that when mixed with water, it will coagulate into
a thick paste eventually drying into a hard but manageable
chalk like material. It may be chiseled and painted on.
The last time I’ve worked with the material was when
I was 13 years of age. :lol:

Fill a TUMBLER with water on its half level.
Pour in about 50 grams of PLASTER OF PARIS
and stir with the FLAT PLASTIC SPATULA .
Do this until the tumbler is filled up to the rim.

Remember, you have several minutes to spend before
the mixed plaster will harden so work with it carefully.

Pour onto your base foam board a little at a time .
You will notice that the plaster mixture does not spread
easily onto the surface because it is relatively heavier
with water. with your desired height, help the plaster
with your flat spatula and spread evenly on the board.

You are doing a natural snow scene
so the ground is uneven. It doesn't’t really matter
if you pour on a thicker amount on one part of
the base than in other areas.

Pour onto the bridge barriers as well for that snow-capped look.

On the river/canal banks, be extra careful
not to pour on the center of the plastic sheet
or you will lose the reflective area which is quite
important for a realistic look.

Let the plaster lay for about 5-10 minutes.
A thicker application means the plaster will dry
longer than a thinner one. This one has around
1 centimeter of plaster on it so it will harden
a bit faster. Work out all the details like the
BUSH FOLIAGE and the ROCKS
on the banks of the river.

THE BUSH FOLIAGE

The material is very soft and needs only the
drying plaster for it settle on its location.
You may fix the material on the plaster with ELMER’s GLUE.
Make sure to pour on the FOLIAGE a good amount of plaster
for the snow-capped effect which,
I must admit was very enjoyable to do.

Once you’re done with the FOLIAGE, your road scenery base
is 99 % done. The missing
1 per cent is the tyre tracks effect .

THE TYRE TRACKS

Your PLASTER must be drying well now.
In order to test the softness, prick the surface
with your spatula and if it goes through ,
then it is time for the finishing touch.

This is a critical moment as it can only be done once.
If you make a mistake-there isn’t any norm followed by the way-
you have to do the plaster application all over again.

Place your model car on the edge of the road
and once you have establish your desired position,
roll the car, pressing softly against the plaster,
forward until you’ve reached the position you want it to be.

I chose to stop rolling the car in the middle of the bridge.

FULL PICTORIAL

Thanks for your time :-)

Ferrari Autogalleria

2009-02-12T20:15:00.000-08:00

this diorama is the first one i did back in 2007 in HK.
the following article was posted at www.dcph.info

since i cannot paint in my little room and i do miss doing some modworks, i bought these yesterday and started cutting away last night and this morning while doing the laundry.

here's what i did in my spare time at night for the last three days except tuesday.

had some spare time while waiting for the washer to finish my laundry this morning.
i got my cutter and pen and card boards and an adhesive called UHU.

the LOLLIPOP street sign of the showroom stands at 17 metes from ground, around 5.5 storeys high. although i think FERRARI doesn't need it. in reality, it will add some break on the linear horizontal lines of the whole structure. an accent i should say.

cutting through 1/3 of the cardboard will allow for a small bending angle which should follow the plan that ii did.
the base of the lollipop measures at 1.75 M x 1.2 M and 1.15 M on its fat part.

after the stand comes the SHIELD device. i printed an image on a paper and stuck with spray adhesive on a board and cut out the shape and cut out strips of 1.2 millimeters wide of cardboard for the sandwich.
after the stand is done, the construction of the steps followed located in between the supporting office wall on the left of the structure,
the steps climbs up to a meter to the display platform.

requiring 6 steps measuring at 167 mm in 1:1.
here are some of the shots i did after completing the above.

i did the framework for the roof. the original design called for a roof that
curves from the back up to the front from 6.5 M to around 9 M.
but i had to make some revisions due to the height of the lollipop.
the light well i did was just a hole in the ceiling but it has to be improved so i will add a framing grid later.

added some picture frames of ferrari cars for display on the walls.

i uses an old smoked plastic bag for the light diffuser.here are the update fotos...

a bit of sunlight seeping thru my window and took some daylight
fotos of the model.
i constructed a back wall as well since i was thinking of making 3 sides of the
structure all clear glass walls, i figured it lacked a backdrop.
so i put up a wall at the back measuring at a total height of 2.75 meters,
i installed the car's logo and a bright red with silver colored font.

thanks for your time