Enter Flockit
Now to try out my new toy, a Flockit, which is an electrostatic dispensing tool which will put down fibres onto a glue covered surface which make then fall vertically and looks like a grass field.
I started with 2.5 mm fibres in a very open type pattern which was then followed by 6 mm in a denser layer. Finally I used 12mm long fibres of both green and straw colour mixed in the hopper in a 90 -10% ratio.
For the track section I put down a layer of PVA brushed on thinly and then covered this with chinchilla dust, sold in pet shops. This was pressed down into the PVA and the excess removed by turning the base on its side and tapping the base so the unattached items fall off. This leaves a fairly sharp edge which can be overcome by using a camera lens cleaner puffer to blow the chinchilla dust onto the grass thus softening the edges.
Plants were made from green scene scatter and some other similar products such as Woodland Scenic’s foams. The hedge was made from teased out rubberised horse hair which was sprayed with adhesive and scatter material was dropped onto it until the desired thickness was achieved. The small bramble in front of the Hetzer was made from pastiche with a covering coat of adhesive and scatter applied as previously.
The track was sprayed with a couple of brown colours to match the weathering on the Hetzer and before this dried completely; pigments were applied in a random manner both in colour and placement. The grass edges were spayed with the brown colour and pigments were deposited randomly in this area to simulate the dust from passing vehicles.
The Hetzer had been fixed in place with PVA and I sprayed a very fine line of the browns along side the tracks to simulate dust coming from the tracks. I sprayed a very light coat of this colour over the wheels, front and rear plates and the side skirts to help tie the model to the base.
The last item to make was the mane plate which was printed out after downloading the badge and adding text. A clear self-adhesive clear plastic was cut and stuck to both front and back of the paper label, this was done to protect the printed ink when the label is attached to the front wall.
A point to remember when making a rural groundwork is to keep everything random and have nothing in straight lines as that is never found in nature.
To sum up
Well that’s it for this project, it’s been fun although it has taken a lot longer than I envisaged at its inception. The build of this kit is straightforward but the paint and weathering have taken time to build up the various layers of paint with both acrylic and oil as well as the various pigments. I am convinced that it’s this build up of layers that tell the story of the vehicle and give the model its character.
From a personnel point of view, I think that all models look better on a base, be it a simple section of road or grass to a large diorama and the inclusion of a figure will also give a sense of scale.
Bill C.
