The WWI chap continues apace – in fact, he’s nearly done. As you’ll see below, getting most of the details done has really brought the uniform together. Only his rifle to finish and his boots to paint, then I can weather him appropriately.
His base, however, is merely beginning to take shape.
As I mentioned last time, I ordered a bunch of bricks to check out (they’re not terribly expensive – most places seem to charge £6 to £8 for anywhere from 500-1,000 of them. One of the sets I got was clearly designed for making large structures: the bricks are all uniform sizes and very, very crisp. The other set is more detailed, so the bricks are good for rubble – there are three types of brick in the set, depending on what sort of bricks you want to represent.
While I could have used the really uniform bricks for this work, I went with the more detailed ones simply because they’re slightly less uniform, which would make (I hope) for a more interesting wall. It’ll be slightly less than perfect, and any really large open surfaces will be prone to looking poorly built, but that hopefully won’t be too much of an issue in this case, as there’s going to be a fair bit of extra detail to cover those areas.
Anyway, so far I’ve built the section below the window and started going up the side:
It’s quite a relaxing thing to do, I must say. I can see the appeal in bricklaying, and I know for a fact that Winston Churchill was also a fan.
One problem I will have is how to smooth off the sides and back of the building. I’ve deliberately built out over the edge so I can work it back and flatten it off, but I foresee problems getting this to be even. I’ll probably cover those surfaces with plasticard anyway, but grinding down the edges of the bricks and cutting the foam simultaneously could be awkward, and I don’t want the building to end up lopsided or curved, as you can imagine.
I was thinking about getting a little electric palm sander, but my experiences with power tools are pretty limited. I have a nifty hedge trimmer that I enjoy using, but that’s really the extent of it. If anyone has experience in these matters, I’d really love some pointers on a) whether this will work at all, and b) which make and model would be best for my needs.
Fet Paints 