Paving the Roads

I have a knack for putting myself through a ton of work on my dios, this one is no different! I have begun the casting of the cobblestone setts that will be used to pack the roads on this base. The casting is a long process on a project this large.

Each time I pull the castings I get 75 stones. The estimated number needed to par all the roadway is roughly 3,200; all cast, cleaned and set individually onto the base. While this is a grueling process and I have had many people tell me I am crazy and I should do it a simpler way, the fact is this is the most realistic look as it is done like the real roads. 

To help smooth out the ruts in the roadway and to give a better surface for the stones to be glued, I have used sanded tile grout to cover the insulation foam used for the basic shapes.

Building a Village Corner

Now that I have the Italian home finished, I have been playing around with a few new projects trying to brain storm some new ideas for a diorama. During this time I have been building a Sherman M3A2 and needed a base to put it on once finished.

I began looking at some old buildings I never finished for one reason or another, and found one that I was still interested in finishing.

I had begun this building roughly ten years ago and got stalled to a halt do to some mistakes I made in constructing it. At the time I didn't know how to fix what I had done and figured it was a loss and put it away on a high shelf "out of sight".

I might have finished this one sooner had I realized how easy it was to undo the mistakes and refinish it. But all in all I am glad I waited until now as I have a new vision for it and have begun the construction, starting with a little demo of the affected areas.

 

It was quite simple to remove the mistake, which was infilling the beams with plaster and trying to scribe the brickwork and stucco into it. I was a bit to messy in the application and it just went down hill from there. But now I have a new slate to start the reconstruction and the construction of the surrounding buildings and streets.

Finished the Italian Home

Well, this progect has taken quite some time to finish. However, as I was originally building it for myself I went at it at a slow pace with no real hurry.

Since the beginning of this project it has taken a turn into a commercially available product.

Here are the finished images that will be used for the boxart.

Defining the Muzzle Brake

I have been doing a bit more research on the M41 and have found I modeled the muzzle brake inaccurate. This was due to using the original kit piece as a reference, A mistake I should have realized. But with a quick Google search I was able to pull a photo of the real brake. Using this I have remodeled the CAD drawing and it will print with realistic detail.

Reference Image:

You will notice the protruding tabs, in the kit part these did not extend past the outer ring. Mistake #1.

You will also notice there is a recessed hole on the bottom (and top) of the muzzle brake. The kit had them as embossed details with square corners. A close look finds these are indented and have arches on each end. Mistake #2.

It was a simple and quick fix by editing the CAD sketch of each of these details, and now the part is ready for print and assembly onto the model.

Reworked muzzle brake:

CAD to Print; Changing the Way I Detail Models

For many years I have wanted to make my own detail parts for my model kits. I have always wanted more detail than is molded into the kit, but never wanted to buy the existing items.

I guess you could call me a maker, a person that wants the detail but wants to do it myself.

This year I made many goals, one of which was to learn a 3D CAD software package to utilize the ever changing world of 3D Printing. I am happy to say I have learned how to use Solidworks, a very powerful CAD package that lets me build most any household item or vehicle parts.

The results have been beyond my expectations!

Laying in Some Color - Italian Stone Arch

Well the last couple days I was able to place tiles on the small side roofs. I decided on using "Spanish Tile" style roof, as I am a sucker for the look. Tiles are cast from Diorama Debris mold, fantastic product! A must have for the diorama architecture builders like myself.

Italian Stone Archway

Some time ago I started this project, but along the way I lost interest in building it. Well it is back on my bench as I have started a new trend for me; as you all have seen, I have a nasty habit of starting something and not finishing before I move to the next project.

So, I am trying something new. I am actually going to start finishing my old projects one by one.... No promises that this will continue to work, but I am going to give it my best effort!