custardpie
Elder Member
This is the fourth year Martin and Simon have ran this tournament in Blackpool and as per previous years I have been asked to do the first prize trophy. This years tournament runs Thursday 18th to Sunday 21st November and will be the first year I will be in attendance for the full weekend.
Each year the theme of the trophy is the scenario that will be played in the final. Last year was a on-line tournament supplying a fresh challenge of making a trophy that would be posted out. This year I have kept that in mind in case we enter another lockdown and have to post it out again.
Before I go through the stages of making this years trophy here is the last three.
2018 French Colonial V Germans
2019 Dutch Marines V Japanese
2020 Finn V Russian
Each trophy presented it's own challenges though the PTO one with the plants and water remains the toughest yet.
The focal point will be the DUWK, my original idea was to cut away the rear lower part of the vehicle to have more of it submerged but it was not practical to cut the resin with the tools I had available. Slight rethink and in the end I was happier with the final finish. The first stage was laying down ever lighter coats of green with a airbrush.
Then adding bumps and scratches to exposed areas. Rust and grime are then added. The canvas tarps had a similar process as the body but was applied with brushes and lots of thin washes of paint. Then highlighted to give depth and movement followed up with a final wash to blend all the colours used.
Further grime and wear is added with artists oil paints. this stage gives a more realistic look and breaks up the base colour of the model.
Laying aside the model I then start work on the base. Carving out one corner and painting it to give a muddy look whilst building up the rest of the base for slightly uneven finish.
Water effects are then added, this process takes time as the resin has to be layered up. The open edge required a temporary wall to hold the water effect in place.
A second water effects is used to produce the water movement, this is applied onto the flat water and then sculptured into waves and ripples and left to dry and go clear.
The figures are painted, then added to the base. The base has been partly finished with soil and grass everywhere but the area of the figures. Once the figures are in place I then work the ground around them to hide the figures bases. If this was certain of not being posted out I would have cut the figures off their bases and pinned them in place.
The barbed wire was a real issue. I wanted it to look realistic but the only wire I could get in 28mm was just plain wire with thinner wire wrapped around it. I tried to make it look more realistic but I was not happy with the result. I finally bought photo etched brass razor wire. It was a hard decision as it's not historically correct but the overall effect was better than I could manage with the other wires. In the end I cite artistic licence and hope it's acceptable. The stanchions are all scratch built. It was a fun experience making the coils from flat wire that actually is sharp!
The explosion was fun to do and is made up of over twenty layers of water effect, inside is flame and smoke made from very thin strands of thread.
All the lower structure of the DUKW has water effect dripping off it which again adds movement to the final piece.
All told I spent in excess of fifty hours assembling and painting this one up. It was an enjoyable build and I got to try out a few new procedures all of which I was happy with the result. Just go