Middle-aged kit building

[BigDon]

Well this seems like a good place to ask.

There is a Asian decorating technique, often, but not always associated with bonsai, that you create tiny fishing villages and such in plant terrariums. Every since moving to my new home I've been thinking of this, and after that incident with Frogzilla the only reasonable course is to give up animal husbandry altogether, and now wish to implement construction of a few dioramas. As the pieces are already built the tics and such won't be nearly the same issue as working with airplane glue and tweezers. (I'm sure I'd somehow end up setting myself on fire again.) Sort of like constructing model railroad towns, only with live plants and mosses for gardens and lawns.

I have several nice tanks that will make excellent terraria. Frogzilla's old home is going to become the home of my tropical sundews when the night temps drop into the mid-50's. Also, if I may lapse into greenhouseman nerd-speak, I already started an arboreal village. I purchased a 50 year old Dracaena marginata that's on the verge of "mothering" back in April. That's a condition that occurs after decades of being either trimmed to height or used as stock for cuttings. The canes thicken into trunks, and new heads then sprout all along the trunks length. I was happy to shell out the 400 bucks for it, even if it was the retail price, and still am.

I've started with what's going to be "mature plantings", cityscape speaking, by attaching small epiphytes (airplants, in this case,) in several of the flat areas formed when a cane tip was cut and the three new heads coming up form a platform. These will periodically flower for a nice contrast.

If somebody can give me a name to google up that would be great. "Japanese knick-knacks" seemed to be too broad a net to gain anything useful.

Thank you.

[pzkpfw]

bonsai village

... seems to google-up a few hits.

also:

terrariums bonsai village

[NEOWatcher]

Bonsai diorama?

[grant hutchison]

"Miniature Japanese garden" also turns up a lot of hits in the right conceptual vicinity.

Building miniature gardens used to be a common thing when I was a kid (though not specifically Japanese). There was a local competition every year, and you could buy supplies (tiny garden seats and bridges and so on) in the shop where I bought my model kits.

Grant Hutchison

[BigDon]

Did I ever tell you guys that you're great? I'm sure I don't do it often enough.

I now even have a list of online stores.

Looking at the options now I'm going for both Asian and Western villages. (Not cowboys) The marginata is going to be either a Swiss Family Robinson affair or a fairyscape. Probably the former as less of a temptation to youngsters.

As a one time greenhouseman, I can even point out the posers already. Most any of these gardens that contain succulents are tourist fodder as said succulents in most cases will outweigh the entire diorama in a year, two at most.

I'm familiar with over half a dozen mosses, another half a dozen small forb-like grown covers and ferns specifically selected for terrarium use as I've cared for all of them on a professional basis.

I'm almost getting excited over this.

[publiusr]

Yes, I think 3D printing will put a lot of the small-scale resin detailing producers out of business. Some of the photo-etched metal (the flat objects that are folded into 3D shapes) will go the same way.

Grant Hutchison

That's sad.

I have this memory of tiny Apollo spacecraft atop a Birthday cake. My mom had just got a chocolate cake and got mad at me for even having an interest.

I have often wondered who produced these cake toppings back in the 1970s.

The closest I could find:
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1970toys.html
http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com...pace-toys.html

[Swift]

Yes, I think 3D printing will put a lot of the small-scale resin detailing producers out of business. Some of the photo-etched metal (the flat objects that are folded into 3D shapes) will go the same way.

Grant Hutchison

On the flip side, on sites such as Shapeways you can find people starting their own little companies making specialized model parts. The link is to model trains, but there are lots of others. I think we'll see an explosion of unique, niche parts made.

[grant hutchison]

On the flip side, on sites such as Shapeways you can find people starting their own little companies making specialized model parts. The link is to model trains, but there are lots of others. I think we'll see an explosion of unique, niche parts made.

It'll be interesting to see how that market shakes down. If 3D printing becomes cheap, widespread and easy to do well, I guess it will shift to a market for the specification data for custom parts - you'll download the data and run off your own kit parts.
It only seems to take a slight fiddliness factor to keep the market for physical objects afloat, though. While I'm happy enough printing off my own decals for custom tasks, it involves just enough hassle that I'll go looking for commercial products first. There's a wealth of custom decals out there, sent to you in an envelope and read to use; the market for pdf's you download and print seems to be a lot smaller.

Grant Hutchison

[publiusr]

But the box art...

I wonder how long model kit making itself will last with all the computer games.

As science fiction fans age, I wonder if trek kits will fall off the face of the Earth.

I still have dreams of hobby shops and bookstores.

These interests seem lost on the candy crush generation.

[BigDon]

Pub, sad yes, but it's also how the world *should* be.

[grant hutchison]

Well, here it is in full livery:


Does that prompt any memories, Jens?

Grant Hutchison

[Trebuchet]

Well, here it is in full livery:


Does that prompt any memories, Jens?

Grant Hutchison

I don't know about Jens, but it prompts some memories for me. Specifically "How the heck do they expect me to stuff an actuator for the canard in that tiny space?" type of memories.

[grant hutchison]

I don't know about Jens, but it prompts some memories for me. Specifically "How the heck do they expect me to stuff an actuator for the canard in that tiny space?" type of memories.

You'll be relieved to hear that the next one is a much more sensible type of aircraft:


Grant Hutchison

[DaveC426913]

I don't know about Jens, but it prompts some memories for me. Specifically "How the heck do they expect me to stuff an actuator for the canard in that tiny space?" type of memories.

You'll be relieved to hear that the next one is a much more sensible type of aircraft:


Grant Hutchison

Took me a moment to realize what 'next one' you were talking about. I thought you were suggesting some sort of Captain Scarlet Series Reboot was afoot, but with updated, more plausible craft...

[grant hutchison]

You'll be relieved to hear that the next one is a much more sensible type of aircraft:

Well, here she is, at long last, in Apollo 13 recovery livery:

[grant hutchison]

Hard work, to be honest. The kit is very old and many parts were distorted. I had to admit defeat trying to eliminate some seams, because I'd have shaved off a lot of rivet detail. The 1/72 scale rotor blades were heavily distorted and very difficult to fix - I think they're a little too droopy now, but it was a struggle to get them to the stage they're at, so I've given up before I damage something. I completely replaced the forty-year old decals with a sheet from Old 66 Decals, a company that seems to exist only to provide decals for the Apollo-recovery Sea King.
I don't like the tail wheel, which Airfix supplied with the suspension halfway between extended and compressed. (Would it have killed them to mould one for the in-flight version and one for the grounded version?) Main triumph was the blue panels in the upper canopy, which I painted with a strange, viscous and quick-drying mixture intended for glass-painting hobbyists - it was difficult to get an even coat, and it dried so fast it was utterly unforgiving. There was a lot of practice on spare perspex before I finally took a deep breath and went for it with the kit itself.

Grant Hutchison

[DaveC426913]

Very nice work Grant.

How do you paint your final work? Do you airbrush?

[captain swoop]

Nice work. I made that kit about 40 years ago

For transparency tinting I usualy use a Tamiya transparent or make up my own with a mix of Tamiya gloss clear and a hint of whatever colour I need.
It has to be airbrushed though.

[grant hutchison]

Very nice work Grant.

How do you paint your final work? Do you airbrush?

Usually airbrush almost everything. This one was a little different - I airbrushed the basic white and gull grey pattern, and then individually masked and brush-painted the black, red and silver detail. Otherwise it would have involved a crazy amount of masking for a very small volume of paint.

Grant Hutchison

[grant hutchison]

Nice work. I made that kit about 40 years ago

So did I. This one is pretty much the same vintage. It still had the price sticker on the box - 59 pence.

For transparency tinting I usualy use a Tamiya transparent or make up my own with a mix of Tamiya gloss clear and a hint of whatever colour I need.
It has to be airbrushed though.

I looked at the Tamiya stuff, but it seemed to come in 100ml spray cans, which seemed excessive for four square centimetres of paintwork.

Grant Hutchison

[DaveC426913]

Usually airbrush almost everything. This one was a little different - I airbrushed the basic white and gull grey pattern, and then individually masked and brush-painted the black, red and silver detail. Otherwise it would have involved a crazy amount of masking for a very small volume of paint.

Grant Hutchison

I was never able to get airbrushing. I mixed the paint too thick and it wouldn't flow, so I'd apply more and get a blob, or I mixed it too thin and didn't cover. It never seemed satisfied with my mix for longer than 20 seconds. I'd spend an hour cleaning it for 5 minutes of spraying before it jammed up again..

Very frustrating.

[grant hutchison]

I was never able to get airbrushing. I mixed the paint too thick and it wouldn't flow, so I'd apply more and get a blob, or I mixed it too thin and didn't cover. It never seemed satisfied with my mix for longer than 20 seconds. I'd spend an hour cleaning it for 5 minutes of spraying before it jammed up again..

Very frustrating.

Pop-socks changed my life.
I now trace all my early airbrush hassles to unfiltered paint. That business you describe, of the airbrush clogging after twenty seconds or was absolutely typical - then I'd ramp up the pressure (getting splatters and pebble-dashing) or further thin the mixture (getting watery runs).
I now routinely filter through a pop-sock as I pipette the paint into the airbrush. Suddenly my airbrush is happy and tolerant, and purrs along delivering an even coat at 15 psi.

Grant Hutchison

[Barabino]

terrariums bonsai village

a giant snake in a tiny countryside village sounds like an old cheap horror movie



you should shoot some clips by yourself and post them on youtube

[publiusr]

--and hosted by svengarglic...I mean Svengoolie.
Ah the found memories--I was actually on that show..yes (cough) iwas the fourth one in the Michael Myers/William Shatner mask.
"I guess I could take longer at the podium, (wheeze) since...we all out of Shapes."
reaching for the mic "I said..Shapes..."

Zonk--sniff..I fell asleep at the keyboard again..oh yes..models

The ends of this drone might make for a nice saucer

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/...NUS_HP_River)()

[01101001]

I now even have a list of online stores.

You probably have more than enough leads, but the figurines are often referred to as mud men, specifically Chinese mud men. The Asian potted-tree artform originated in China, known as penjing, and sometimes works expressed the mark of man in the miniature scenes, with figures and structures. When the art moved to Japan, the artificial bits were refined out of bonsai.

[ngc3314]

I think I messed up a kit big-time. Atomic City makes a nice 1/12-scale Mercury capsule. The astronaut figure is vinyl rather than styrene, and I failed to understand before laying down a white base coat of spray paint that vinyl doesn't interact at all well with paint intended for styrene. It's been over 6 weeks and the coat hasn't really dried yet; still comes off on the fingers. I tried putting a silver layer over part of it to see whether that did better - nope. Really hoping there's some sort of sealing layer I could apply.

[captain swoop]

Strip it back off.
I have used Castrol Super Degreaser. It will strip any paint off plastic without harming it. Just soak the kit in it for a few hours.
(test a small amount first just to make sure but this is a widely used method and I don't know of any problems.

Also try Polly Scale ELO (Easy Lift Off) Paint and Decal Remover #552144. just use Q-Tip or paper towel to apply and wait a couple minutes till the paint starts to wrinkle then wipe off with paper towel or old rag. any decent hobby shop should have this in stock.*

[DukePaul]

Well, here it is in full livery:


Does that prompt any memories, Jens?

Grant Hutchison

That would be a very scary craft to fly. Where is the rudder?

[grant hutchison]

That would be a very scary craft to fly. Where is the rudder?

In the tailfin, below the horizontal stabilizer, I assume. Like an F-104 Starfighter.

Grant Hutchison

[grant hutchison]

I think I messed up a kit big-time. Atomic City makes a nice 1/12-scale Mercury capsule.

Oh, I want. But I need to make my stash smaller before I make it bigger again.
(I agree with captain swoop - you need to strip it down and start again.)

Grant Hutchison