The photos on this page show the completed vignette. I am the first to admit that I still need practice in refining my photography. I wanted these images to be of better quality, but they will have to do for now. If I can manage better photos, I'll replace these here, or add a second part to this article. The first photo includes a laser cut name plate and the base made from MDF. I added some color to the base to sort of mimic the hues on the plaster wall. I didn't want a stark, dark solid color on the base and it certainly wasn't going to look good with a faux painted woodgrain, so I tried this effect. The next photo shows all of the elements in context and gives a good idea of how the tank fits on the base. The next photo gives a good view of the figure and his sketch. I used a photo of an actual tank, with a charcoal, or conte crayon effect in photoshop to create the artwork. I sculpted the musette bag from APOXIE Sculpt and used a piece of mechanical pencil lead to put in the figures hand. I painted his canteen cap silver to indicate an early war model, before the caps changed to black bakelite. The last photo is included to illustrate that I did not use the waterwheel parts in this scene, preferring to keep the canal as just an irrigation ditch. It shows the shiny water to good effect. I created the wet look in the canal mud by painting the resin a dark mud color and brushing on clear nail polish topcoat. This is easy stuff to work with because it it relatively thick, dries pretty quickly, is inexpensive and very shiny. Using the nail polish eliminated the need to dam the ends of the canal and pour in resin. I hope this article inspires you to look beyond what is included in any one of our kits and pick and choose elements that can work for a scene you dream up. ©Michael J. Bishop

Page1 | Page2 | Page3 | Page4