Completed 1/9 BMW R75 & Crew Ardennes 1944

[Steve Ski]

Moving at a good pace, excellent progress,Dave!

 

[Dr Force]

Cleaned and first shot of spot primer for some parts. Looks clean so no obvious areas to repair, sidecar is currently drying and then I’ll do the smaller individual components. I always then do another coat and leave to dry for 72 hours before contemplating paint.

*And figures have been despatched, thank you Jeff*

 

[Dr Force]

And sidecar now dry

 

[Briggsy]

Frustrating when cleaning the airbrush takes longer than the painting does, still the finish you get is worthwhile.

Cheers Simon

 

[Dr Force]

Thrilled to see the 3 figures land today. I have to say it’s been outstanding service from Jeff from start to finish, no issue at all.

As for the figures, I’m really happy with the quality of the cast and sculpting. I know some here are not a fan of the casting process where we get the jagged cuts. It’s never really bothered me as I’m quite happy sculpting over but can see it might be a pain for others. I’ve checked the main casts and can see some slight slippage on a couple but that was simply removed and blended with a scalpel. Some resin air bubbles, when removed, left a cavity, with a notable one at the front and bottom of the helmet goggles for the sidecar figure. I popped, opened up and resculpted, that area, with a minor repair on the back of the collar also.

Face sculpting is beautiful and most parts are very sharp and tidy.

Overall these are top quality figures and I’m looking forward to pinning these suckers up and blending fresh sculpt.

 

[Briggsy]

Never done anything this large before, those joins look rather rough, is that normal? Looking forward to seeing them painted.

Cheers Simon

 

[Dr Force]

Never done anything this large before, those joins look rather rough, is that normal? Looking forward to seeing them painted.

Cheers Simon

Its how Jeff, splits his figures so you have to be ok with partial sculpting.

 

[Nap]

Hi David

Great progress on the moped (lol) and sidecar , super smooth prep work and priming

Great pics of the figures as well , so much detail on them , interesting the way the joins are formed ......presumably a swipe of putty is needed

Looking forward to more on this excellent project

Thanks for a good and interesting Vbench as well

Have fun @ the bench

Nap

 

[Dr Force]

Thanks for your encouragement and interest.

I have pinned the boots and one arm before test fitting in the sidecar. The MG34 is a hybrid of Jeff’s and the one that came in the kit for the bike.

Jeff’s was brittle and so it felt better to cut, join via a steel pin and glue together. I will sculpt the gaps so it’s one piece.

The joins are backed with JB Weld 2 part epoxy and are ready for repair sculpts. The figure fits nicely in the seat with the mg34 sitting perfectly on the sidecar mount.

Painting needs some careful planning as he’s hunched over so if I fix the other arm it’s going to be tough to paint proper highlights etc.

 

[Ferris]

I get the impression that Jeff gives the right level of attention to his big scale figures, as these figures and casts look excellent. The joints are weird, but well manageable.

Will be an impressive model!

Adrian

 

[Briggsy]

Ah I understand the joins now, different but with wiggle room. The fit is great looking at how the butt of the MG sits into the shoulder so tightly. This is looking great.

Cheers Simon

 

[Dr Force]

I get the impression that Jeff gives the right level of attention to his big scale figures, as these figures and casts look excellent. The joints are weird, but well manageable.

Will be an impressive model!

The casts are very good, absolutely no issue with the what is expected of me to clean up, but I’m very impressed with the crisp details.

Adrian

Ah I understand the joins now, different but with wiggle room. The fit is great looking at how the butt of the MG sits into the shoulder so tightly. This is looking great.

Cheers Simon

Thanks Simon

I will sculpt the folds slightly in to the butt of the mg34 once it’s ready to be fitted

 

[Warren SMITH]

Excellent work so far.. looking forward to seeing how you tackle the figures..

 

[Dr Force]

MG and hand pinned along with helmet.

Ive decided to paint as a lump, trying to fit the arms in this position after painting parts would be messy. I figure the hunched pose darkens the the waist behind the elbows to not worry about it being high quality, it’s almost unseen.

So tonight I managed to fit the other arm and started blending in the gaps. I’ll post up the finished piece once I’ve completed the tidying up.

 

[Nap]

Hi Dave

That gunners looking good , I do like the way your planning this as you build , really thinking about things , constructive comments and explanations in the thread

Thanks for sharing

Looking forward to seeing more

Have fun @ the bench

Nap

 

[NigelR]

This is going to look awesome when done!

 

[MalcC]

Wow, these figures are superbly detailed. can't wait to see this take shape.

Malc

 

[Dr Force]

Thanks all.

Ok so I cleaned and hit the sidecar guy with “spot primer” This enables me to see defects more clearly, for more tidying before final primer prior to paint. The joints that were pinned, backed with epoxy and sculpted over look pretty good, just a few areas to improve but not much work. I have noticed a couple of tiny resin blobs and the odd air pocket, so will get them dialled in, but for now he fits perfectly in to place.

I Resculpted parts of the sleeve area and mg34.

 

[Briggsy]

Great work, with all the camouflage on the figures this is going to be ace.

Cheers Simon

 

[Dr Force]

Started on figure number 2 which is the rider…..much less work, but I need to dry build the bike to make sure I get the arm angles spot on.

Im going to drill a hole through the outside of the arm, to the main body and leave it so the arms can be adjusted to the correct place before fixing in. I will then fill the outer arm/shoulder hole.

I have removed resin blocks and fitted the helmet, boots and canister, that just leaves the arms which will need more sculpt at the rear due to some more significant gaps. The casting blocks were on the joint areas of the arms so the fit was not as nice.

I’ll leave the other figure for now so the primer is rock solid by Saturday……even 90% dry primer can be considered soft and can cause more bother with finishing, so spot primer it may be, it still has to be completely dry.