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Post by Tom on Apr 18, 2022 10:52:15 GMT -5
These are awe-inspiring. Love every one of them.
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Post by Alfaholic on Apr 19, 2022 5:10:25 GMT -5
Absolutely fantastic Jerry - Iโm happy to present you with the 1st Place Ribbon ๐
The #3 P2 is a winner.
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Post by jager on Apr 19, 2022 7:30:45 GMT -5
I think we can all be very envious of that Jerry. You captured the period charm so well.
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Post by oldirish33 on Apr 26, 2022 12:08:07 GMT -5
These are awe-inspiring. Love every one of them. Thanks Tom! Building dioramas is my passion. I just wished I had started on them sooner in life. Absolutely fantastic Jerry - Iโm happy to present you with the 1st Place Ribbon ๐ The #3 P2 is a winner. Thank you Martin, I am honored to accept your award! That P3 was the catalyst for the entire work. I have become smitten by cars of that age and the men and mechanics that raced them. I think we can all be very envious of that Jerry. You captured the period charm so well. Thank you Ian. Really don't want anyone to be envious, just motivated to do one better.
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Post by oldirish33 on Apr 28, 2022 10:41:02 GMT -5
Le Mans Finish 1966 - Part 4: Moving to a different part of France in a different twentieth century decade, we come back to the Le Mans finish diorama and an update on progress. I now have the base about 98% complete. The next phase will be trying to fit drivers in the cars and making other spectator/official figures. The drivers bit will take a bit as I've had to order figures and it will likely take a few weeks to arrive. I will then need to make a suitable backdrop for the diorama. I had originally thought of using the Michael Turner print of the finish, which in part fueled my desire to make the diorama. Now I'm not sure. Blown up to full size to cover the length of the diorama, it might over-power the diorama itself. In conversation with Ian (Jager) about this area of the track which is just down from the finish straight grandstands and pits, the area immediately behind is where scrutineering took place and there was a low shed where that took place. I've thought some of making a 2D version of the shed in the background, against a rainy cloudy sky. Still in the thinking stages . The track in this section is lined by an earthen/sand filled berm lined by concrete retaining walls. Separating the area where there are photographers/spectators/officials, etc. there is a ditch. I have replicated this feature, but make no allusions as to scale correctness. This is primarily an art piece after all. The next two images show that work. Note the concrete retaining wall in the image above has been painted white. This was to allow the banners that go on this section to show better. At the bottom there is a strip of wall painted to replicate concrete and the inside "retaining" walls have been painted this color as well (after these images were taken.) I made the banners to replicate the signs hanging at the finish line. I made decals and affixed them to a heavy white colored plastic bag. The BP banners each consist of five individual decals. The Necto banner took some time. Not so much to make, but to determine the verbiage on the sign and color. There are images of these banners hanging in various locations at Le Mans. However, none of the images had a clear indication of what the signs said (I don't speak French). Over a couple days, going back and forth between images I finally figured it out. It simply says in French, brake and clutch linings, which is what Necto made. The Esso made pictured below was a trial run. He is a decal I made, applied to clear plastic. The back of the plastic is sprayed white and he is then cut out. It took awhile to find an image of the correct Esso Oil Drop Man that had enough resolution to be enlarged. I then made a support frame work loosely based on what's in photos. I am not 100% satisfied with how he turned out, so will likely make another, as well as the right hand BP banner (paint back white so its no so opaque) when I next make decals. As I said, about 98% done with the base. This image was another trial placement for how the cars will be positioned when done. My plan is to move the #2 car up a little and make it appear a bit more symmetric. Next update as we get closer to completion!
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Post by Tom on Apr 28, 2022 12:29:02 GMT -5
That's coming along nicely, Jerry! I appreciate the amount of research that goes into making this correct, canโt be easy when all there is to go on is small reproductions of original photos which didn't concentrate on the surroundings anyway. Any more questions about French stuff let me know, my French is at least passable and decent when it comes to car-related matters.
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Post by Alfaholic on Apr 28, 2022 23:43:01 GMT -5
It's looking good Jerry, just don't get the cars toooo close and mess up the overall result
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LM24HRS
Member
Paul - "Collecting Motorsport in Miniature; for the passion and its history".
Posts: 457
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Post by LM24HRS on Apr 30, 2022 7:50:09 GMT -5
This is indeed a pleasure to behold Jerry. Love the advertising decals on a plastic bag idea. I've never ventured into making decals yet. So much to do and learn when I eventually retire. Enjoying the trial and errors which at the end of the day is all about diorama building. Great stuff.
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Post by oldirish33 on May 4, 2022 11:56:56 GMT -5
Thanks guys! I will keep that in mind Tom. So far, Google translate has been a big help. This may be my opportunity to make a diorama of how the result should have been Martin. Maybe I should make it a real fantasy piece with Ken Miles winning! Making decals is pretty straight forward Paul. If you decide to try and need assistance let me know.
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Post by oldirish33 on Jun 1, 2022 13:41:49 GMT -5
Le Mans Finish 1966 - Part 5: Its been just over a month since my last update on this project. I have made a little progress since my last report and now have all the figures I needed to complete that portion of the project. The base is now just about complete and I have installed a row of Gendarmes on the bank as in the photos of this scene. The resin driver figures for the cars arrived and after gingerly taking one apart, the test fitting of the driver began. One of the things I have discovered about the Spark models is that even though the base is held on by three screws, it takes a bit of effort to separate the base from the body. These models are definitely not made to come apart and go back together again multiple times as I discovered when doing the test fitting. With the photo etch parts and other pieces, I held my breath each time I tried reassembly. Despite my best efforts, I still had to reattach part of the exhaust and rear suspension which came off while handling. I ended up having to cut the steering wheel into three parts to get the driver to fit and be able to hold the wheel which was slightly oversized for his hands. Once fitted and secured, aligning the wheels was a challenge. Needless to say, with one done I am not relishing doing two more! If I wasn't a stickler for this type of realism, this project would be much easier. As it is, I am apprehensive about taking the other two cars apart, even though now that I know what I am up against it would be much less trial and error, assembly and disassembly. I really want to use the Spark models of these three cars, but I am now at a crossroads on that. I have the three cars by IXO and I am thinking they may be easier subjects to work with and will look okay together as a group (the fact they are a bit bigger may help fill the track space better too.) Diecast is much more forgiving than resin. I am going to take a hard think on that one. I still need to decide on a a backdrop, as well as cut and router a base this will sit on. Hopefully another month won't go by without making significant progress towards completion.
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LM24HRS
Member
Paul - "Collecting Motorsport in Miniature; for the passion and its history".
Posts: 457
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Post by LM24HRS on Jun 8, 2022 13:07:15 GMT -5
You are a brave man Jerry. I made a start by simply undoing the 3 base screws on my Spark version. After realising the base and body were not coming apart easily I put the 3 screws back into position. Your perseverance has certainly paid off. One of the possible reasons why we don't see driver figures inside these Spark models. I fully understand your X roads situation. Mind you, you now have the experiance of dissecting a Spark model, so in theory the other two should be easier.
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Post by jager on Jun 15, 2022 10:16:14 GMT -5
Surely this is a walk in the park for you Jerry. The hard part, which you've already done, is understanding how they come apart. Coincidentally, I've just transferred a driver figure of Graham Hill from a scrapped Spark 1960's BRM F1 car into the Spark 1972 Matra LM winner. It was a very simple process and I'm quite pleased with the result - making it my only Le Mans car with a driver figure.
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Post by oldirish33 on Jun 18, 2022 10:22:21 GMT -5
Surely this is a walk in the park for you Jerry. The hard part, which you've already done, is understanding how they come apart. Coincidentally, I've just transferred a driver figure of Graham Hill from a scrapped Spark 1960's BRM F1 car into the Spark 1972 Matra LM winner. It was a very simple process and I'm quite pleased with the result - making it my only Le Mans car with a driver figure.
IMHO it makes the model! Great job!
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Post by orky on Jun 20, 2022 9:33:22 GMT -5
Amazing work, really well done.
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Post by oldirish33 on Sept 13, 2022 13:25:04 GMT -5
And Now, Something Completely Different... I am taking a break from racing and car related dioramas to do something that I have a keen interest in, but realize it won't be everyone's cup of tea. I have held a long fascination with steam traction engines ever since I was given a Matchbox Showman's Engine as a boy. Over the years I have had an opportunity to see these behemoth engines in operation, as well as static displays in various museums. Corgi (among others) have made some very well detailed road or traction engines in 1/50 scale and I have been harboring a desire to make a display of the ones I have for some time. Now that I have decided on the size, what you see here is the initial layout of a late 1920's logging operation diorama I plan to make. Logging was and still is a big business where I live and the diorama is a partial nod to that industry. While it is a fictional scene based on historic photos, I am trying to incorporate many elements one would see in the local woods a hundred years ago or so. Stay tuned.
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