RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

My figure is not articulated so it looks like I shall have to become a self taught plastic surgeon. Now where's my razor saw?

This represents an all round view of the upper hull as it is at present.

Love it!

It's looking good, really, really good!!

Next stage, whilst still working on the extra details, is the weathering. This is still somewhat of a dark art to me, but we shall see what happens. Watch this space.

Made a start on the weathering etc and it has not gone well. I figured to use the same filter as I used on the Puma, which worked fine. I started brushing, using the same rush as before, but this time I was getting brush marks. I got this off as best I could and then tried airbrushing. The paint looked fairly thin, so I used it straight out of the bottle. I think my airbrush is not working correctly as I was not getting a consistent spray. Some areas have come out quite dark. I did think about trying to remove it, but reckoned I would make a bigger mess. I am just hoping by the time I've finished with everything else that it won't show too much. Maybe a final dust coat will hide the worst.

Here is the figure I am hoping to be able to modify to man the 88mm. He is resting quietly in pre-op prior to having both his legs amputated and re-aligned. I promise he won't feel a thing. Good thing he has no idea what I'm going to do with his arms.

He is one this set of 3 German driver figures
https://www.shapeways.com/product/PGXCH ... vers-set-1

They are made of what is called "White strong and flexible" which probably is nylon. Glueing is an interesting subject. I asked the designer, who recommended what he called white carpenter's glue. I assume this to be PVA. I tried this and it did not appear to work. Ordinary superglue is no good as it gets absorbed, the material being very porous. I have reattached the legs, using Milliput to fill the gap. That stuck to one side, so I administered a dose of UHU to the other side, and it appears to be holding. I tried a selection of plastic cements and none of those worked at all. One suggestion on a forum was to use superglue in gel form, which stops the absorption.
For painting, you have the same porosity problem, so a good coat of primer is essential. It is advised to soak the parts in a solution of washing up liquid for several hours and give them a scrub with a toothbrush before priming. The finish on the figures is quite granular. Sanding them down is not really an option as you would remove all the detail. Similarly, trying to get a smooth surface using filler would, to my mind, have the same problems. What I did with one as an experiment was to use toothpaste and a toothbrush. There did seem to be some improvement. A second figure is being painted without the treatment so I can see the difference. The overall finish does not compare with resin figures or plastic kits, but you do have access to a range of figures. I have taken the view that they will generally be viewed from a distance, so the finish will not be so obvious. Pictures will appear when the figures are finished.

I have recently discovered Gorilla superglue, which appears to stick anything to anything and is not instant grab but very quick setting. Might be worth trying that.

Alwyn