Sprue Cutters Union #7: Your Significant Other

 This week the Union asks (for the first time) a question I am totally unable to answer, since I do not have, nor am I remotely close to getting a significant other.

- How does your spouse (significant other) view your hobby? -

So instead of writing a depressive novel about my so-called "love life," I'll simply give a shout to all the other great blogs that are part of the Union by giving you all the following links:
 
David Knight's Weblog
The Combat Workshop
Kermit's Bench
Yet Another Plastic Modeler
Migrant's Wanderings
The Eternal Wargamer

Sprue Cutters Union #6: Can't Make Me!

This week, the Sprue Cutter's Union asks a question I originally thought I could have alot of fun with answering, however, after giving the issue further thought, I discovered my answers were actually somewhat boring.

- What will never make its way on to your workbench? -

I've pondered this question for days now, and the conclusion I came to was this: I can't honestly say there is anything I won't try. At least once, anyway. 

     

Now, don't get me wrong here, there are some things I truly would rather eat a bowl of broken glass than force myself to work on (vacuum form kits spring to mind), but even then, if the subject is right, or the commission is good enough, they will see my workbench. That said, I suppose instead of answering this question as "what will never make it's way on to your workbench?" I'll respond as "What would you rather not see on your workbench?"

1.) Vacuum form kits. I absolutely hate these things. I really do. Not only are most of them expensive, they are crudely detailed, and a pain in the ass to work on due to numerous factors including the thinness of the material and the work involved to clean up the parts.

2.) Mega kits. You know the ones I'm talking about. Those kits where the parts just never end, like SOAR Art's DORA railway gun with it's epic 3,000 parts. They're not bad kits by any means, they just bog me down because they seem to go on, and on, and...

3.) Anime figures. This is one that has nothing to do with parts or quality. I just have ZERO interest in the subject matter, and you know how it is, no interest equals stressful project. 

4.) Planes. I absolutely HATE filling seams and re-scribing detail. Period. In my experience aircraft of any type seem to be the worst offenders for needing epic amounts of both, therefore I avoid them like the plague if I can. 

5.) Ships. This one kind of falls into the category of "mega kits." It's not that I don't like ships, actually there's many I would like to build, they just take so long to finish I end up exhausted and feel like I'm treading water whenever I attempt one. (no pun intended.)

And if you're interested in what the other members of The Union have to say:

Lt. Smash's Models
Eternal Wargamer
Yet Another Plastic Modeler
Scale Model Workbench
Doogs' Models
Build The World With Me
The Combat Workshop

Simple Wood Grain Effects

Introduction
There are numerous ways to replicate a wood grain in plastic. The most common (mostly used on model car dashboards and the like) are waterslide decals, which are available from numerous companies, and may be somewhat costly. The other is dry brushing, which involves painting the piece a dark color, the highlighting the wood grain areas with a mostly dry paintbrush. My method, on the other hand, is a simple three step process utilizing the versatility of oil paints that can be used on almost any surface with excellent results every time.

Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant

About The Build

Manufacturer: Verlinden Productions

Scale: 1/5

Subject: Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant

Kit Number: 2032

Date Built: August 2013

Modifications:

• N/A

About The Build

I built Verlinden's Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant as a companion to my earlier Gen. Robert E. Lee.The entire experience was fairly straightforward as far as large scale resin busts are concerned, with the majority of assembly time being spent on paint work and detailing. Though the uniform appears black, it is actually a very dark blue, Tamiya TS-55 Dark Blue to be exact which, according to my research, is actually a close match to the blue shoe polish used to dye Union Army officer uniforms. As with my other large scale figures, I blended the basic skin tones in oils, then used pastels for the shading and highlights, which I find a far easier process than blending them with oils. After a coat of Mr. Topcote clear flat, the buttons and other details were picked out in various shades of Testors metallic enamels, then the pedestal was painted according to this tutorial on replicating wood grain effects with oils. For being my second bust, I'd rate the effort as "good," definitely not a show winner, but acceptable for my growing shelf of Civil War soldiers.

Finished Build
click thumbnails to enlarge

Poll: Which Project Do You Want To See?

With two projects coming to a close soon, it's time to start thinking about the next item on the to do list. That being said, I'm having a hard time deciding on just which kit I want to build. That's why I've decided to ask the readers with a simple online vote. The project with the highest number of votes will be the next subject of a W.I.P. series here on Havoc Models. If your choice is "something else," let me know your idea in the comment section. If there's enough responses with the same subject, that project just might make the lineup.

survey software