June Update

Thought I would share a quick update on some of the models that have been gathering on the workbench.

The four larger additions to the coffee stick ghost town have all now been undercoated and have received their first round of brown shading, the burnt umber & black mix. Next stage for these will be the burnt umber layer.

The other smaller buildings are beginning to start taking shape. These have all been given roofs which have been tiled with tiny pieces of cut cardboard. Chimneys cut from foam board off-cuts which will be covered in putty and the rest wooden exterior walls.

And finally this one, with cardboard shuttered windows – still not quite sure about them, but we’ll see. The wooden overlapped roof has now been finished.

And so it begins

Now that I have finally succeeded in the annual rediscovery of the back garden, hacking through the undergrowth that looks like a scene from the 'Lift After Humans' DVDs, I can venture forth and start sanding down and painting some of the models built during the cold dark days of winter.

This is not this year's photo, but the scene before and after from a couple of years ago, however it was very much the same.

Hopefully from now on I will not be delayed posting as the problems with syncing the photos from the phone to the laptop have mysteriously gone away (after trying many online resolutions regarding turning settings off and on, deleting profiles and sacrificing chickens - none of which worked) it just started to work without any prompting, just as I was about to resort to manually transferring them.

The first three buildings have been rubbed down and had final fixes made to them, and two of them have now received their base coat, when this is dry I'll check for gaps where crevices need to be touched up before starting the first round of varying shades of brown.

Moss on the Roof

The standalone haunted house model is almost complete. I’ve finished the white dry-brush/dusting around the woodwork and turned my attention back onto the roof. I felt it needed a little something, and that was a greenish tint for moss. I got the idea after missing my train on Saturday and whilst stood on the platform at Romford, I found myself looking out onto a roof that was tinted in such a way. So using a deep moss green paint, which I also picked up from a pound store as part of that shopping trip, I mixed with it some PVA glue and a sprinkle of dark green flock and proceeded to tint the roof in patches. In most cases it was a fast flick of the wrist in downward strokes using the paint in the same dry-brushing approach, and on occasions picking up a little of the thicker mix just to add that little extra depth where the moss has actually taken.

I also gave the front tower a light brush with the green as well just to age the tower up and make that feel slightly more decayed than the rest. Something more sinister about the tower, maybe?

I’ll take some more photos in outdoor light before and after I varnish.

Finally I’ve glued the stone pillar in place on the bottom corner, and now I’m leaving that to dry before making a final check prior to varnishing. My next stage will be to build a baseboard to set the model off in its grounds, maybe a crumbling outer wall and an old gate, an over grown path leading up to the front door.  Who knows?

For anyone who might be interested in the first volume of my trilogy, a heads up, the first volume will be available at a discounted price for a week starting this Friday, 28^th August. It will be part of the Kindle Countdown Deals which will have the greatest discount at the start of the offer but then the discount is reduced as the week goes on. That will be on Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk from Friday morning.

Previous post in the Haunted House series: Woodwork Painting

Next post: Coming soon

Woodwork painting

A few close up photos of the front of the haunted house. I have now moved on to painting the woodwork. The whole model was given a black undercoat, and the stonework and roof tiles were painted up with varying shades of black and white mixes until I dry brushed with white.

The woodwork, likewise, is painted with a limited pallet of black, burnt umber and white in different mixes. The planking on the walls of the model were given one less coat than the beams which had a lighter burnt umber applied in a light application before I started dry brushing (or I like to call it dusting) with white over both the planking on the walls and the beams.

Front part dusted with white, shows as contrast to yet to be dusted section

I'll post a further update once this part of the painting is finished.

Previous article in the Mystery Model / Haunted House series:
Stonework Painting

Next article in the Mystery Model / Haunted House series:
Moss on the Roof

Stonework Painting

Today was very wet, so there was no chance of working out on the table to start the painting of the stonework. So the painting work was brought inside. I built up the layers of varying shades of grey. 

Although over several hours I managed to cover several rounds I was unable to complete the whole cycle in one go, so a further session will be needed. I decided to also use the grey layers for the roof tiles as well, rather than the terracotta I usually go for with roof tiles.

As this is such a large model, holding it and painting it is quite a task. I have found a way to support it and paint it whilst in the living room, a bean bag. The model can be held in a snug embrace by the bean bag keeping it in position whilst I work on it. It also allows me to take interesting angled photos. 

Previous article in the Mystery Model / Haunted House series:
Haunted Undercoat

Next article in the Mystery Model / Haunted House series:

Woodwork Painting

Haunted Undercoat

Just a quick update this weekend. The haunted house has now been rubbed down and the undercoat has gone on. I used a basic black acrylic paint. This took several hours to cover and used an entire 120ml new tube of paint, plus a couple of squirts from another tube when I was touching up around the windows.

The next job will be to clean any paint off the broken glass, then start painting the stonework around the base.

Don't forget the Karl mug competition - details here

BTW if you want to try and work out how long this took, add together the running time of these albums: Buffy the Musical + Rent (Original cast recording) + War of the Worlds + Rocky Horror (The Full Gory Story)

Previous article in the Mystery Model / Haunted House series:

Remedial Work

Next article in the Mystery Model / Haunted House series:

Stonework Painting

Scrap build model update paint work

There’s not too much to say that hasn’t been said already regarding the paint work for these models, so rather than whiter on here are some pictures.  Previously I showed the black undercoat stage.

Black/Dark Brown 50/50 mix

Dark Brown

Dark Brown/White 50/50 mix

Dry Brush White

The only things left to do are the windows and the varnish.

Scrap build model update.

It’s a good feeling when something comes together and turns out better than you expected. This was really just an experiment with using up odd pieces of foam board which because of their size and shape controlled what I could do to some extent. I think the discovery of the extra triangular piece I found just before doing the roof made the model for me. I also especially like now it’s finished the slightly irregular shape of the roof – I think it adds character to piece and keeps it in line with the very rustic nature I’ve been going for.

The doors have been added, by sticking on strips of coffee sticks that have been cut vertically to make thinner boards.

For one I've put a small window in the door and another round the back I stuck extra thin planks across the middle to give the appearance that the door could be half opened. 

The gaps have been filled or had pieces stuck over them, the model sanded down to get rid of any glue that might have seeped through.

Anyway the painting has now started and the under coat is on. 

I’ll be following the same basic painting strategy of undercoat black, then black/dark brown 50% mix, dark brown, dark brown/white 50%, dry brush white. In each case the layer that goes on is painted quicker, more sweeping strokes and so not going back over the same area to ensure that there is colour bleed through from the earlier layers. The paint layer is applied thinner but the paint is not watered down.

Paint and finish

More of a picture posting this time, as I’ve described the details of painting these models before.

Basically after a quick rub down with sand paper, I give them an undercoat with cheap black acrylic paint, then a base coat of a black/brown mix, a lighter brush with brown, then brown/white mix and dry brush with white.  Just three tubes of cheap acrylic paint from the local store provides all the base colours. The windows then get repainted with a nicer black acrylic paint after.

Black under coat

With black/brown & brown/white mixes added

Extra white dry brushing

Windows repainted with black

The last stage still to do is to varnish them.

The doors will be fitted later as they can be slid into the door frames.