Back to the Future: Desert Town

Remember the 20mm desert town I made a few years ago? And them dumped into boxes for later.

Well, later is now. With my thumb removed from my arse, having a quiet sunday afternoon with the girls crafting and me firing up the airbrush after getting the first box of buildings (Kim was off for a high tea).

So.....1 basecoat of Vallejo RAL8000 airbrush primer later (and a bit of grey primer on some doors for practice).

And the basics are done. And then realised some bases are not completely sanded yet <sigh>.

My high quality phone cam *cough* bullshit *cough* washes it out so much it looks grey, but these are washed with Brown and Black  and then airbrushed on a 45 degree angle with VMC Dark Sand. (just trying out stuff here to get the look)

Slightly better shots of how they look now.

But......my VMC paints are now 10+ years old and in need of replacing. Many have clogged beyond use, and with my more frequent use of the air paints (not just Vallejo but many others) I think it is time to no longer to use them for my airbrush (as all of the cleaning when they clog (and clog they do!) is getting annoying. So, I picked up some AK Real Colours lately, and the AK RC079 CARC Tan (beats me what that means) come damn close to the Dark Sand I used so I am giving that a try, and will highlight it with AK RC041 Portland Stone and that will be the paintbase for all of them.


I grabbed the 3 water trougs as well as they are nice and small practice models. The missing basing sand on a few isn't an issue either, I'll paint the buildings first anyway and the real weathering is done first, and the basing finished last.


The factory/barrack toilets are ready to be primed.....but I can't for the life of me get a colour in my head that is neutral yet fitting. Pictures of the wrecked one are plentiful though, like this one:

On a sad side note: Googling "Open pit latrines" breaks your heart. Drownings, and the amount of people in the world who don't even have this most basic of toilet plus the pics of kids.

Northag: Buying the farm - the actual farm I bought from Leven.

Was pleasantly surprised by the order I made with Leven a while back being handed to my wife (who was a bit less, shall we say, happy about it).

A slow unpack later (everything is individually  wrapped with extra protection on all of the chimneys which is very, very good product care) all the bits are in front of me. Grand total of the order is 30 GBP.

I ordered:
- ACC07 - Garden Accessory Set
- FAR06 - Corrugated Shed
- HOU08 - Detatched Bungalow
- IND03 - Modern Storage Tanks
- IND16 - Joinery Shop
- MIL01 - Airfield MT Workshop (4pcs)

First impression: Leven still makes a great quality product for a nice price. Definately reccomended.

Second impression: The airfield MT Workshops, when viewed from the side, have sag in the front and back. It is a rather large piece and not a major issue, but it is there. The Modern storage tanks, the 2 large ones have the same miscast....but again, no major issue and easily solved with some spare plastic. I washed the pieces in hot soapy water as always, but they were still a bit slippery. I sprayed them with degreaser but after that that it still felt very smooth. With my current "hand-issue" I have a bit of trouble feeling is the resin is just very smooth or still has some mould release on it.

I'll start with the Airfield shops as I want to want to make 4 identical pieces that all have their own feed storage, clean up the very few resin bubbles and then give them a good scrub again, add some details and glue them to nails for painting. But more on that later.

It might smell a bit funny - part 1

As I'm waiting for parts I was cleaning my harddrive of no longer needed bits, and ran across a picture of the S&S toilet block for Africa (or other places).

Which I like, but let's face it.... not paying 10 quid each plus shipping for a bubbly cast that needs fixing, cleaning and basing anyway. So, a few bits of scrap foam, a plasticcard base and cardboard for the panels later, I have the basics for a very shitty toilet on the left, a UN sponsored toilet on the right that I need to add a handwash basin on the side and a privacy wall in the front of the doors, and a army barracks/factory toilets in the back. So I get to paint a well made, a ok one and one that has gone completely to shit.....jay.

As it is now planned, paint the army one this week first, while doing finishing work on the other 2 when I have the time so something might be done in between.

What a difference a 2 weekly Life coach makes.

Heleen has been my Life coach for 2 months now, and we did work in the attic and living room to make it all a lot less messy. And now we are tackling my hobby room so I actually have space to work, paint and photograph to sell stuff. Granted, I can't do a whole lot without frequent breaks, but I sure do work.

So I've gone from this:

To this:

The last eyesore is the gamestable full of stuff, but I will be hitting that between now and the next session. Also I need to put the AB back in its hidey hole.

Air Raid sirens / speakers - a trip down memory lane - completed

...and with the base done and the varnish dry, the speakers are ready to dispense the word of God/Allah/El Presidente.

Northag: Buying the farm - part 2, subsection A

Had a spare hour so painted the little stinker. Airbrush base for the yellow, and then just 2 dozen washes and detailing. Looking forward to receiving the scenery I ordered so I can modify it and put it on the final base.

Air Raid sirens / speakers - a trip down memory lane - part 1

Back in Juli 0f 2015 I made a master of a speaker and press moulded them a few times, not all very succesful. Made a top for the Minaret I was then working on and it was then forgotten.

As I want to spend less on the hobby and you know, finish stuff, going over the WIP drawers is a smart thing to do as they are stuffed to the brim with unfinished kit.

So, here she is ( I picked a few other things to play with, but settled on just the speakers in the end)

I added a mechanically bit on the top, to cover the drill hole for the power cable that now smeaks down the pole and into the floor, nicely bolted down. A bit of tape keeps it stuck to the lower part of the pole.

Sofar I've painted the speakers, mechanical bits and pole. The sneaking cable, hatch and concrete floor are for a later time....maybe tomorrow evening, maybe monday. I will not start painting anything else till this is done....which is somthing I should have done ages before. But hey :)

I'm also motivating myself to get the desert city done, so this one going on the top of the Minaret is my proverbial kick in the bum. It will do double duty on Russian (backed) installations as well...stay tuned for those :)