Who ordered the "Big Mac"...?

Tonight's edition, (and the three yet to follow...), will concern the construction and back story of the various ships either moored or circling the Tofu Tower.  In total, six ships were built for this project, but one just didn't work out no matter how I tried to save it, so it went to another breaker's yard.

The "Malcolm-Victor", or the Big Mac as it is called by the crew, is a heavy lift ship which cruises around doing various construction and salvage jobs.  It was the second to last model in the queue, and by this time the greebly supply was getting rather sparse, so more time was spent than usual in trying to find that elusive part. 

The core of the ship is actually the housing of another dead Dremel.  Many an evening was spent searching and placing parts, then ripping them off and trying again.  Eventually the main hull was formed using the (3 part) hull of a sailboat toy from a large Kinder Surprise egg.  The cabin is an HO diesel cab, and the basic crane is from a dollar store construction toy.  Many other parts from car, plane, tank, and even architectural kits found there way onto the ship.

Once satisfied with the end product, it was off to the spray booth for some quality primer time!

This being the most complex and largest of the ships (8" in length which translates to a 100' long ship at 1/148), I knew this was going to take just as long to paint and weather it.  A Rustoleum camo green was used as the base coat, then various other paint brands with similar greens were used as accents and shade.  to finalize many shades and types of rust, siennas, reds and oranges were used for weathering.  Dry brushed, washes and pastels of course!

The crane can rotate 360 degrees, but the hook is static.  Unfortunately no lighting was included in this model.

Rather than use plastic tarps, I tried something else to give them more realism, both in colour and texture.  The tarps were made by rolling strips of latex gloves (which are everywhere these days!), and then tying them with some fine wire.  A bit of pastel was then added to give it some depth and a used look.

Hard to make out but there is cargo on the rear deck.  The Dremel shell is really not too visible except in rear shots.  Kind of a waste of a good shape now that I think of it....

The ship is named after my father, Malcolm, who passed away in 2014.  His nick name was "Big Mac", as well.  Although he was conscripted into the RAF, his dream was to serve in the Royal Navy, so I hope he appreciates this homage to his memory.  In an upcoming post, I hope to showcase his modelling skills and talents.

Unfortunately, shore leave is over, so "Big Mac" sails off into the sunset for more heavy lifting.  Next time, "Hiya"!

One Big Happy Fleet!

OK, so two ships is hardly a fleet!  But it is a beginning...  Just had to do the obligatory photos of the Regina and Jean together.  Enjoy!

(Next time, tanks on Mars!)

More background for Towboat "Jean"

Just posting a few more views of the model, plus a work in progress shot from earlier in the build.  As you can see, there were changes along the way.  Many times when constructing from 2D concepts, I find the model may look good from one or even several angles, but many times it will fail and re-application of parts is necessary.  Also, an evenings work may look good at the "end of shift", but next day you find yourself asking what were you thinking?

Painting can be a daunting task as this can make or break the model very easily.  I have seen many a perfect model in construction but the paint fails.  For this particular model I used maybe half a dozen brushes in total, albeit they are all ruined now due to the stippling and dry brushing which was used extensively.  Pastels were also used for weathering effects.

Finally, why "The Breakers Yard"?  I never just build out of the box; a kit to me is just a template and not the final result.  I like to scrounge for the right part no matter where it has come from.  In this model alone there are many old kit parts, acrylic and plastic shapes, and the omnipresent Kinder Egg (which has become somewhat of a tradition to include at least one in every model I build).  This will be evident if future posts of new and old projects.

Welcome to my Blog!

I have finally got this up and running!  Here I will be mostly posting images and the back stories of the science fiction and fantasy models I create.

My inaugural post is the most recent build.  It is the "Towboat JEAN".  The concept is based on the fantastic work of artist Ian Mcque (who you can find in abundance on the web!).  This is a scratch built model in 1/35 scale using parts from whatever and where ever I find them.  Old kit parts, plastic shapes, dollar store finds, etc.  The only actual models used were the Tamiya figures and accessories.

Enjoy and more posts and models are to follow....