These are the two additional Gilles figures I have just prepped.  I’ve modified the bareheaded one to give him a “hands in pocket” stance – done usingMiliput around a wire armature. I’ll let the primer dry for 24 hours and then get started on painting them – cheers for now. Continue reading Two more Gilles Villeneuve driver figures
Boring as hell but for sure an essential part of model-making.   As I usually have up to 20 projects on the go at any one time, I generally try to include as many pieces as possible in one priming session, as I just find the whole process so boring and time consuming. Apart from the actual spraying, the preparation takes up an enormous amount of time, but having said that, it’s an absolute must in terms of getting paint to stick to the surface. Initially I started out painting the Villeneuve helmets (I mentioned in yesterdays post) and then I … Continue reading Priming and undercoating – essential, but Boring stuff!
I eventually got back to my line up of 1/20 driver figures and today I decided to tackle the Villeneuve figure and try to make some progress – it’s the dreaded “day job” – keeps slowing me down and distracting me!  I actually now have three Villeneuve figures on the go at the moment, different versions from 1977 to 1982 – (with and without the helmet).  One great aspect of these GF figures is the variety of helmet options they provide. In the case of this Villeneuve kit, both the Bell and GPA helmets are included – so rather than … Continue reading Gilles Villeneuve GF-models Driver figure WIP
I started work on the Pegaso “Valentina” – figure today – somehow I managed to shake off that cold so as I was feeling much better, I decided to start the assembly process. I have another couple of figues nearly ready for priming, so I thought if I got this assembled I could include it in the same batch for painting.  As with all figures (but particularly metal ones – due to their weight) I pinned all the main joints. I drilled each joint out and used some very stout heavy gauge wire and superglue to anchor them. Not shown … Continue reading Vale 46 “WIP”
I’m laying low today with a bit of a head cold, so my output from the studio wasn’t great. I piled in some vitamin c together with Panadol and armed with a few of boxes of tissues I did some on-line research for a couple of F1 modelling projects I’m planning. I also got to work with some lead foil to finish off the Armco barrier I started a while back – nothing too taxing – when I needed a break from the web, I spent a while forming some foil round the end of the armco with a wooden … Continue reading Armco, Lemsip and lead foil – a great cure for the common cold!
I’ve purchased a few figures on-line recently – one of which arrived today from Paderos in Germany who, by the way offer a great service, packaging and shipping etc. Entitled “Valentina” (as opposed to Valentino – I wonder why?) it’s a rather saucy metal figure from the “Pegaso Girl” range and well up to the usual Pegaso casting and detail standard.  In the interests of decency I will of course avert my eyes when I paint this figure – Doh! This will ensure I take absolutely no pleasure from the process – well what else can I say!!!!   This … Continue reading Vale 46
I’ll use two of the GF-models driver figures representing Alonso for the F10’s I’m building at the moment – I’ve chosen two; GF-24-036 (a ringer for Alonso) and GF-24-003 which needed a bit of modifying in order to get the suit fitting tighter as worn by Alonso at the moment. The “baggy” fit of the suit on this figure would be more akin to something worn by Jacques Villeneuve – he always seemed to wear his suit 4 sizes too large – maybe I’ll get another one – I feel a Sauber coming on? – no definitely not – too … Continue reading GF-models Driver figures – Revell Ferrari F10
I was reunited with some long lost photos of an “old friend” recently – a Fender Stratocaster guitar I had the pleasure of painting! About five years ago I was asked to re-paint an old electric guitar which had been well and truly “rocked to pieces” with very little of the original paint remaining and very badly scratched through to the wood – in fact, it looked a lot like one of the “Rory Gallagher” tribute fenders which are now available. It looked to me like it should be thrown in a skip, but I was told it was a … Continue reading Jimmy Hendrix – Fender Stratocaster – an old friend!
I didn’t have much time today to spend painting, so I grabbed another of the primed wargame figure I have near my bench and whenever I had a few moments during the day, I painted this little figure of Napoleon Bonaparte. This is from a set produced by Foundry Miniatures of Bonaparte and his Marshals – the set consists of 12 foot figures including some of his well known officers and aides. Once again, I enjoyed just mixing the colors and getting it done in the day – so one down and eleven to go!  I’ll paint up some others … Continue reading Napoleon – 28mm Wargame – Foundry Miniatures
As an addition to the base for some of the 1/20 driver figures I’m building at the moment, I’m going to use a piece of Armco barrier from the plastic Tamiya pit set (see pic of set from Tamiya site). The contents of the set are quite good and it still stands the test of time since I bought it over 20 years ago!  When I bought it back then, I was building a Tamiya kit every couple of months and I must have intended doing some sort of diorama with all the cars I’d collected, except I ran … Continue reading Tamiya 1/20 Armco crash barrier
