Andy's Modelmaking Misadventures

[Reynard]

Love it @Andy in Germany

By dingy, I'm assuming you mean a haven of scum and villainy with the Human version of Greebo.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Love it @Andy in Germany

By dingy, I'm assuming you mean a haven of scum and villainy with the Human version of Greebo.

Hey, "Greebo's" could be the cafe name...

 

[Andy in Germany]

I got some souvenirs while in the UK. For souvenirs, I tend to buy items I know I’ll use, although this generally means they have no obvious connection to where I bought them from; on this occasion, I came home with a part for my folding bike and this model Bugatti, because nothing says “North east England” like a model of a 1930s Italian racing car.

This poor car will now go through a process to the others already used for games, and emerge looking much the worse for wear, probably with all kinds of unlikely weapons to compete in “The Races.” I imagine it being driven by some kind of scheming bounder, the sort who spikes his opponents drinks, sabotages their cars and probably also cheats at cricket, the cad.

I’m not sure what colour this will be: I have a vague feeling Italian racing cars should be red, but I rather like the blue. Of course, by this stage in its career, it probably has little of the original left anyway…

 

[Punkawallah]

Of course, if you had a boat . . .

 

[Reynard]

View attachment 792245

I got some souvenirs while in the UK. For souvenirs, I tend to buy items I know I’ll use, although this generally means they have no obvious connection to where I bought them from; on this occasion, I came home with a part for my folding bike and this model Bugatti, because nothing says “North east England” like a model of a 1930s Italian racing car.

View attachment 792246

This poor car will now go through a process to the others already used for games, and emerge looking much the worse for wear, probably with all kinds of unlikely weapons to compete in “The Races.” I imagine it being driven by some kind of scheming bounder, the sort who spikes his opponents drinks, sabotages their cars and probably also cheats at cricket, the cad.

View attachment 792247

I’m not sure what colour this will be: I have a vague feeling Italian racing cars should be red, but I rather like the blue. Of course, by this stage in its career, it probably has little of the original left anyway…

Blue is "the" colour for Bugattis - they are actually French and not Italian, albeit originally founded and built in Germany. And light blue was / is the national racing colour of France.

 

[Reynard]

Of course, if you had a boat . . .

View attachment 792248

 

[Andy in Germany]

Blue is "the" colour for Bugattis - they are actually French and not Italian, albeit originally founded and built in Germany. And light blue was / is the national racing colour of France.

Good to know, thanks. I looked, and the cars were indeed built in Alcase, over on what is now the French side of the Rhine and not that far from where I used to go cycling.

Knowing blue is de regueir, de regear, the right colour is very helpful: contrary to appearances I'm trying to make sure the cars in the games aren't too similar, so it means I can follow the overall colour plan, so thanks for that.

A French driver would be an interesting idea; unfortunately, I already have an idea for my dastardly character...

 

[Punkawallah]

Good to know, thanks. I looked, and the cars were indeed built in Alcase, over on what is now the French side of the Rhine and not that far from where I used to go cycling.

Knowing blue is de regueir, de regear, the right colour is very helpful: contrary to appearances I'm trying to make sure the cars in the games aren't too similar, so it means I can follow the overall colour plan, so thanks for that.

A French driver would be an interesting idea; unfortunately, I already have an idea for my dastardly character...

 

[Andy in Germany]

View attachment 792371

Basically, yes. Although probably more obviously British. For instance:

 

[Punkawallah]

Basically, yes. Although probably more obviously British. For instance:

View attachment 792375

You never see Muttley and Eric in the same room . . .
:-)

 

[Andy in Germany]

The Harbour on Ascension Island was financed by the Chamber of Commerce, a shady bunch of “Business Leaders” that have more political influence than is probably healthy. They are known mostly for lobbying against any taxes or regulations being introduced on the Island, and are notoriously reluctant to spend money on anything which doesn’t bring an immediate and obvious profit.

To save on machinery costs, the wall was built using hammers and shovels by workers from the underclass of people stranded on the Island. The result is no picturesque, tourist landmark: it’s rough concrete slabs over piles of crushed Lava.

This crude construction didn’t stop the Chamber of Commerce from charging exorbitant fees for mooring, so there’s a growing industry in smaller boats collecting passengers and cargo from ships anchored offshore. Unfortunately for the shipping industry, this works better for say, whisky, than coal or herds of cows, so the majority of ships are forced to use the harbour itself.

I can never make something the simple way if there’s a messier option, so I decided to surface the model using clay. This meant rolling it out like pastry, then gluing it down onto the heavily braced and shellacked card. After spending hours making lots of little slabs on the first section, I realised I could just lay a whole section and cut where the “concrete” is supposed to have cracks between the blocks. Of course the clay shrunk when it dried, but I filled the worst cracks roughly and claimed they were “repairs”, caused by buying materials from Charles Vane.



As mentioned briefly last time, I also made it vaguely modular so I can use a couple of different configurations. The pieces are held together with magnets, which Beautiful Daughter thinks is the best part of the whole design.

She is also planning extensions; watch this space…

 

[Punkawallah]

A ‘tour de force’! Eagerly anticipating the Cafe Thierre/Greebo’s, home of stilted conversation.

 

[Drago]

Of course, if you had a boat . . .

View attachment 792248

You were passing Accys housenwhen that was taken?

 

[Punkawallah]

You were passing Accys housenwhen that was taken?

I didn’t call in - I heard the strains of ‘The Old Bamboo’, and assumed he was busy.

 

[Andy in Germany]

As I was finishing the harbour, the inevitable happened: I found that to cover the last few centimetres of the “wall” I would have to open a fresh pack of clay.

I decided I may as well try and build something else with the rest of the package, not least because I’d already made a possibly irredeemable mess of the dining room table. I looked at the apparently endless “projects” list. Clay didn’t seem an appropriate medium for making an airship, but it could work for some warehouses that I’d like to add to the industrial/harbour area of Georgetown.

This time the building was to be made of bricks, and should have an interior, which was all a bit ambitious as it meant I would have to score the bricks and also stop the card walls going all bendy, to use the technical term, without lots of inside bracing.

I also want this building to be the headquarters/hideout/front business for one of the criminal elements on the island, so it needs to look suitably nefarious.

As Ascension is a thousand miles from just about anywhere, building materials are expensive. On the other hand, building regulations are effectively non-existent: you find a patch of land or an old building and provided you pay the right people, it’s essentially yours, and you can do what you like with it. I’m aiming for this to look like an older building that has been taken over, legally or otherwise, then patched up and extended for the needs of the new enterprise.

In keeping with this, the materials are largely recycled, apart from the obvious tin pretending to be a storage tank (of which more in future posts) the corrugated card has been scrounged from an office clear out at work, hence the pretty decorations. I have about a hectare of this stuff in various inappropriate colours, so expect more of this building style to appear.