GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

I'm slightly surprised by the close-ups of the figures.  I'd imagined the Modelu ones would be "cleaner" given today's high quality processes but they do seem to have bits of flash requiring cleaning up.  Are they hard plastic or poly type stuff ?  I'm wondering how well they take paint - acrylic or enamel and do you use a primer first ?

Those deck chairs look fantastic - what did you use as a former to bend the "canvas" ?

Hi Peter

I thought I would answer this separately.

The Modelu figures come with the supports used during the cutting process still attached. They are very easy to cut off with a scalpel. I fear the "flash" is just evidence of my poor cutting  :oops: :oops: There is rarely flash as such but the models can sometimes lack crispness.

I think the base material is some form of plastic…..its quite hard, not pliable. but can be carved or cut. He has recently changed the base material it used to be a bright red which could be a pain to paint.

I use acrylic paint……multiple thin washes are best to avoid clogging the detail. I initially do a thin overall coat of grey acrylic as primer/undercoat.

Glad you liked the deck chairs…….I used the handle of my scalpel as a former!

Best wishes

John

I also like Pete was surprised at the flash on the modelu figures John.

I think that is because on the website all the photos of the figures look very crisp i assume they deflash them before photography for sales purposes which i can understand. the only downside to doing that when a customer receives them in the post im sure many think well they dont look as good as the ones on the website.


Brian

Just to confirm John's point, the "flashing" is really just the supports required in the 3D printing.  It really is easy to clean up - in fact it breaks off too easily sometimes.  It isn't like the flashing in moulded models.  
Michael

When I mentioned flashing, I didn't mean the lugs attaching them to the stand, I just thought they didn't look particularly crisp.

On re-examination, the guy leaning on something (a wall perhaps), appears to have some "bits" on his hand - it might be fingers, difficult to tell from France.  It might also be that the metal figures show sharper lines on photographs…………………

I've never actually seen a raw Modelu figure so maybe ought not to have said anything ……………  :oops:

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

When I mentioned flashing, I didn't mean the lugs attaching them to the stand, I just thought they didn't look particularly crisp.

On re-examination, the guy leaning on something (a wall perhaps), appears to have some "bits" on his hand - it might be fingers, difficult to tell from France.  It might also be that the metal figures show sharper lines on photographs…………………

I've never actually seen a raw Modelu figure so maybe ought not to have said anything ……………  :oops:

There is an obvious difference in sharpness between white metal and scanned but the scanned tend to look more realistic…..However I am afraid I didnt help with the comparison because my focussing on the Modelu figures wasnt great.

The "bits"  that the guy leaning is holding represent a sandwich…….hopefully my painting will bring this out…..Cheddar and Hovis…….I suspect the Branston Pickle will not be very clear though

Keep Well

John

We can forgive you for not being able to see the difference between the butter and the cheddar, but come on John, most of us Brit chaps can spot the absence of obligatory Branston from 100 paces. Bring out the Branston!

 Have you seen the Modelu Pendon range yet? Very convincing.

Bill

[user=1814] Longchap[/user] wrote:

We can forgive you for not being able to see the difference between the butter and the cheddar, but come on John, most of us Brit chaps can spot the absence of obligatory Branston from 100 paces. Bring out the Branston!

Have you seen the Modelu Pendon range yet? Very convincing.

Bill

      

The Pendon figures do look good although some may be a bit dated for me….I will no doubt try and fit some in!

Cheers

John

I'm looking forward to seeing the lettering on the Hovis …………………………… :shock: :shock: :shock:

I have just seen that I have that same figure, John, as yet  unpainted.  I think if you model chunky branston, you might just get it to show….!
Michael

Its been brilliant weather here without any rain for a fortnight. Gardening has tended to be the priority…..we grow lots of vegetables most years but it seems an even better idea this year.

So not too much time for modelling but  on a few dayd I did manage to spend an hour or so in the railway room.

I left you with this assembly line of little people waiting to be painted:




A week later:





As before, Modelu on the left and Langley on the right  plus a few additions…….the first of which are in the foreground:





It may be hard to believe but this group is destined for the roof of the Soap Factory:





A bit of Family history may help…..I met Mrs D in Oldham (which perhaps explains why Granby sometimes looks more like a town in East Lancs than North Wales). Her Mum used to work in one of the many cotton mills there. In summer the mill girls used to sneak up to the roof during the their dinner time in the hope of getting a tan. One has to admire their optimism! 

I  have always wanted to reproduce this on Granby. The figures are from a Langley beach scene and the close up exposes the rather crude finish. Hopefully this will not be so obvious at normal viewing distances.


The Langley workmen, while still Hobbit like, have a better finish and were a joy to paint.




Some will go on the warehouse behind the Engine Shed but the gentleman top left has been painted up as a rent collector or tally man and will go on the terraced housing modules….the guy on the right will go in the goods yard


Most of the Modelu figures are actually loco crew but all,bar one, have been painted as warehousemen or lorry drivers



The chap with the white shirt is from Montys models…..he was in the paint shop for light repairs so I included him in the group as a comparison.  He is actually a little shorter and definitely slimmer than the Modelu figures but, unlike the Langley figures, can be placed alongside them on the layout.




 To finish…..here is my favourite figure




Its Thursday so it must be a cheese and Branston pickle sandwich for lunch

Headmaster wrote:

I  have just seen that I have that same figure, John, as yet  unpainted.  I  think if you model chunky branston, you might just get it to show….!
Michael

Its definitely chunky Michael….in fact I think he might be about to spill some!

Keep well everyone!

Best wishes

John

Super painting John.  Very impressed with the details like the neckerchief and belt and stained overalls.  Cracking job on the sandwich!!
Michael

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

………………………………………………………………………………..

 To finish…..here is my favourite figure




……………………………………………………
John

And there was me thinking he had a Mr. Whippy Cornish Ice Cream cornet John …………………………….

As Michael said, your painting is brilliant and has really brought the figures to life.  The Modelu figure are indeed very realistic.  Love the oil stains on the brown overall knees.

I was a little surprised to learn of the roof top sunbathing - in Oldham for heaven's sake !!  I thought lying on a mill roof would have resulted in more of a sooty shade …………………  I was always told the sun only started "our side" of Windy Hill ………………..

Superb figures John and as ever, an interesting storyline to go with them.  :thumbs

[user=1512]Headmaster[/user] wrote:

Super painting John.  Very impressed with the details like the neckerchief and belt and stained overalls.  Cracking job on the sandwich!!
Michael

Thanks Michael. The Langley figures have a lot of finely engraved detail which made it relatively easy to paint…..there were actually buttons and buckles etc which I ignored.

If you look closely at some of the figures the trousers are tied with cord just below the knee…..you are probably too young to remember but farm and road labourers did this to stop the rats running up the inside of their trouser legs!

Cheers

John

Hahahaha, I remember my grandad doing that when he was moving his compost heap around!  He said it was just in case…. but as a small boy I never went near, convinced they would be up my trouser leg, string or no string!
I have a slightly different figure eating a sandwich, now that I have compared them.  I definitely can't depict a cheese and pickle one, so I assume he has just finished his off!

Michael

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

………………………………………………………………………………..

 To finish…..here is my favourite figure




……………………………………………………
John

And there was me thinking he had a Mr. Whippy Cornish Ice Cream cornet John …………………………….

As Michael said, your painting is brilliant and has really brought the figures to life.  The Modelu figure are indeed very realistic.  Love the oil stains on the brown overall knees.

I was a little surprised to learn of the roof top sunbathing - in Oldham for heaven's sake !!  I thought lying on a mill roof would have resulted in more of a sooty shade …………………  I was always told the sun only started "our side" of Windy Hill ………………..

Superb figures John and as ever, an interesting storyline to go with them.  :thumbs

Thanks Peter

One of the deck chair figures actually has an ice cream which I tried rather unsuccessfully to convert into a mug of tea.

I am glad you liked the oil stains….in all honesty it was a bit fortuitous. Someone once gave me the tip to give the completed figures a light wash with heavily diluted black/brown paint. Its remarkably effective in bring out the folds and creases and also makes the faces look more realistic……I was a bit heavy handed with this guy and the paint started to dry before I could wash it off…..so I made the best of a bad job.

Regarding the sun bathing….I did say I admired their optimism. I worked in Oldham for two years and I have to say the town itself was somewhat grim but the Pennine moorlands above the town were very pretty on a sunny day. In those days you would look down and see an absolute forest of chimney stacks….doubr if any are left now

Keep well

John

[user=1512]Headmaster[/user] wrote:

Hahahaha, I remember my grandad doing that ………………………………………………………

Michael

You remember your GRANDAD doing that !!!!   :shock: :shock:

Good grief young man, when I was a young man working in agriculture - late teens/early 20's - we did exactly that on threshing days.  My "boss" was an old fashioned type of a farmer who would never use a combined harvester for a wheat crop - barley and oats, yes but never wheat.  We stooked the wheat, left it in the field long enough for it to hear  "3 church bells" then brought it home to the farm, stacked it and threshed it during the winter.  Often, as you can imagine, the stacks were riddled with rats and mice.

Sorry John - your thread is all yours again………………………. :sad:

It's a long time since I've been called a young man, Peter.  Even when I was a young man!
 I too worked on a farm in my teens, but being God's Garden (The Garden of England), it was mostly fruit.  I started off as a picker, but by the time I was 16 I was on the tractor and collecting the boxes, planting stuff (again I started out on the planting seat, but progressed to tractor driver…. did I once plant a whole field of strawberries upside down….. yes I did!), stacking fruit in the cold store and loading the delivery lorries.  No rats to be seen!  Eventually I progressed to hopping - not jumping on one leg either!  Still no rats!  We did have wheat - but used the combined harvester.  I did get to work in the silos though.  Still no rats.

John, A trick with some buttons on models - particularly uniforms - is to paint the model then gently scratch over with an old emery board, revealing the metal or plastic buttons.   Or use a very dry brush a few times.  Having said that, once planted at normal viewing distance, they are not really noticeable.

I must also comment on your deckchairs.  I cannot believe your finished items started out as brass, they look very natural and very convincing.  Did the original model have the newspaper over his face, or is that your invention?  A classic pose, very amusing!

Michael

Hi Michael
The deckchairs came from a very ingenious etched brass fret……I should have taken a photo…….it was very easy to fold up into position although glueing the curved backing was fiddly….the fixing points were minute. If I were doing it again I would have done more experimenting because the cast figures have to sit more upright than I would wish.

The figure with the newspaper came as supplied……the newspaper is actually heavily reduced sheets from the Railway Modeller supplied on the instruction sheet…..the only change I made was to paint the figure ip as a work man

There was a fourth figure supplied but she is a Miss Marple like old lady busy knitting …..not quite suitable for a Mill roof……I think when I paint her she will finish up on Cynwyd  station…..in any event I liked the idea of leaving an empty deck chair

Keep Well

John

Hi John,

I've just painted my first batch of eight Modelu figures, I'm impressed with the quality, being grey already I found no need to give any sort of undercoat, in fact the grey can be left for shirts, coats etc.

I cut off the excess material, drilled a hole from under a shoe into the leg and glued in a short length of brass wire for easy baseboard fitting and easy removal too,…adding to the layout later.

Hi Phil

I shall give "no undercoat" a try….I guess its been automatic for me as a carry over from painting the red figures! Not sure about leaving the base unpainted as shirt material…..it has a slight sheen and more important I invariably slop some flesh colour from the neck on to the shirt and have to touch up :oops:

I like the idea about the brass rod though :thumbs

Best wishes

John