Category: WORKBENCH

Figures and dioramas in progress

F1 RACING MINIATURES, Formula 1, Gilles Villeneuve, WORKBENCHLeave a comment

Gilles Villeneuve 1/20 helmet visor – GF-model figure

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I’m not having much luck with these figures recently – after discovering in my last post that I’d put the visor strip on the Schumacher helmet upside down, I then went and accidentally put a nasty crease in the visor of Villeneuves Bell helmet – such is life!   It looked pretty good as I had given it three coats of klear and I had just added the lifting handles and the fastners – it then fell off the workbench and I stupidly picked it up between my fingers with a little too much force….end of visor.   So I’ve cut a … Continue reading Gilles Villeneuve 1/20 helmet visor – GF-model figure

Formula 1, Michael Schumacher, WORKBENCHLeave a comment

Schumacher helmet – visor tear-off strips!

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To make the tear-off strips in 1/20 I’ve used plastic about half as thick as the visor plastic supplied with the kit – I sourced mine from the top of a Sharwoods sauce bottle (it’s the type that’s pretty much shrink-wrapped around the neck) so it’s very flimsy and thin.  I considered making a full tear-off ie, one which would extend right across the visor from side to side but I’m of the view now that I really don’t need to go to that trouble.  The time/effort involved just wouldn’t be worth it from my point of view in terms … Continue reading Schumacher helmet – visor tear-off strips!

Formula 1, Michael Schumacher, WORKBENCHLeave a comment

Schumacher 1/20 Schuberth Helmet – WIP

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After finishing the decals (I still see some areas which need tidying up) I painted the inside of the helmet blue and the visor and neck rim black. As the figure is bareheaded, I want to display the helmet and Hans device  beside him, so I thought it best to attach the helmet to the neck brace.        I drilled a hole in the back of the helmet to take a small metal pin and a corresponding hole in the face of the neck brace and join the two with a bit of Superglue.  The retaining straps (which I originally fashioned … Continue reading Schumacher 1/20 Schuberth Helmet – WIP

Formula 1, Gilles Villeneuve, WORKBENCHLeave a comment

Gilles Villeneuve – 1/20 Helmet – WIP

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I got the decals applied yesterday – these decals are from a 20 year old Tamiy pit set – I’m impressed – they floated off the paper in one piece – no problems at all and they even withstood some Champ decal fix to get them to adhere to the shape!  Just for comparison purposes I put it beside the Schumacher helmet – poor Gilles – those old helmets were pretty useless when compared to the sophisticated composites in use today – having said that, I doubt if even a modern Schubert helmet could have saved him given the awful … Continue reading Gilles Villeneuve – 1/20 Helmet – WIP

Formula 1, Gilles Villeneuve, WORKBENCHLeave a comment

Gilles Villeneuve – 1/20 GF-models driver figure – nearly there!

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I eventually got some decals applied to the suit, so I’ll let them dry and give the whole thing a coat of matt varnish with the airbrush.  Once the coat of Johnsons Klear (I’ve just given to the helmet) dries, I’ll apply decals to there also.  The visor was given a “dipping” in a pot of Klear to bring up the lustre after all the filing and bending to shape it – this process is courtesy of the “Propellor heads” in my local modelling club – (they use it on aircraft canopies to great effect).  So once these are dry … Continue reading Gilles Villeneuve – 1/20 GF-models driver figure – nearly there!

AVIATORS, WORKBENCHLeave a comment

Top Gun pilot – 1/35 scale – Verlinden figure

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I came across this partially completed figure when I was looking for some other (totally unrelated) stuff recently – it’s a common enough thing amongst us modellers; you come across a set of decals for an ongoing project (which has probably been on-hold for years) the discovery re-ignites the passion to get it restarted; you even get to the point of making a work-task list so that you can hit the ground running when you come back to it!  Then you very carefully put the various components away (so that you can find them – doh!) only for the fateful … Continue reading Top Gun pilot – 1/35 scale – Verlinden figure

Formula 1, Michael Schumacher, Uncategorized, WORKBENCHLeave a comment

Michael Schumacher Monaco 2006 1/20 Driver figure (GF-models)

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I eventually got all the decals applied and pretty much 99% of the painting finished (still some areas I’m not totally happy with) – so nearly there with this figure.  I used the Hobby Design decals – not as good as MSM’s (very thin decals requiring careful handling & lots of carrier film to be trimmed).   The fit of the decals on the helmet were very poor – lots of surgery required – in fairness the decals were probably mastered for a generic helmet shape, so I shouldn’t complain.  I used a little licence on the Hans device with … Continue reading Michael Schumacher Monaco 2006 1/20 Driver figure (GF-models)

Tameo 1/43 March 751 Brambilla, WORKBENCHLeave a comment

Tameo March 1/43 Vittorio Brambilla – winner Austria 1975

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I’ve always been a fan of 43rd scale model cars – many years ago (too many!) I built a fair number of them, but then got into larger scale cars, armour and military figures.   Recently I’ve started back into building motorsport related models (figures mainly) and after seeing a build-thread of one of these Tameo kits on Britmodeller, I  got a real buzz to “have a go” so browsing on-line recently I picked up two kits on Ebay this one; a March 751 and the other a Brabham BT26 (by SMTS).   Of the two, the Tameo is manufactured to a … Continue reading Tameo March 1/43 Vittorio Brambilla – winner Austria 1975

Formula 1, Gilles Villeneuve, WORKBENCHLeave a comment

Gilles Villeneuve helmets – WIP – 1/20 scale

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I started painting the pattern on the helmets today, with reasonable results. Firstly the color I went for is what I called in my last posting a “Charcoal Blue”” combined with a “Red Orange” .  To get the Charcoal Blue, I mixed (50-50) Valejo Dark Prussian Blue with Dark Sea Blue and added a couple of drops of Scarlet and the “Red Orange”was mixed using Flat Red (20%) and German Cam Orange 80% .  So far I’ve resisted using the only decent set of decals I have from an old Tamiya pit set as I’m not sure they will stand … Continue reading Gilles Villeneuve helmets – WIP – 1/20 scale

Formula 1, Gilles Villeneuve, WORKBENCHLeave a comment

Gilles Villeneuve driver figure – more progress….

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….well sort of!   In an effort to establish a useable color for the helmet, I decided to have a close up look at my 1/18 scale Exoto diecast 312T4 (which contains a really nicely finished driver figure).  From the many reference photos I’ve seen of his helmet, it’s hard to determine the actual shade of blue used.  I suppose it depends on all sorts of variables including reflected light etc, and in trying to replicate any color on a miniature, the main variable (in my own opinion) is: “does it look right”?   So in an effort to finally decide what … Continue reading Gilles Villeneuve driver figure – more progress….