2020 Catch-up

The past few moths have flown past, and although workbench output has been high, content to these pages has been somewhat limited.  
The weeks leading from the October school holiday through to Christmas were consumed almost entirely with progressing the baseboards for the Itter project.  As some will know, I changed jobs at Christmas and so January has been really busy on the work front settling into my new position and getting things up and running.
I'm pleased to report that whilst challenging, my new role is proving to be very rewarding, and now that the routine of working in a new school has become established I'm keen to update this humble blog with the progress I have been making across several fronts.

Firstly, an update on the Vickers Vernon, which sadly took a back seat pre-Christmas during the big push on the Castle project.  However, I have finished all the final design work, and am now in a position to cut the final wing and tail-feather parts. Hopefully we should see that situation remedied in the coming days so (fingers-crossed) the next post will show some physical progress.  I plan to make the drawings/CAD files available to whoever might find them useful and am currently investigating a suitable hosting space - but more of this in an upcoming post

In other news, whilst no longer working day-to-day with Michael, I have been popping in to see him on the occasional evening and the progress he is making with the Itter terrain is incredible.  I've just enjoyed his last post and can confirm all is in fact even more superb in the flesh, as it were.  
During these visits we have discussed several scenic items which will help tell the story of the battle.
I include my works-in-progress below to give a flavor of what I've been up to.

The first item will be an Inn.  Michael was keen to give an illusion of the castle's proximity to the village of Itter, which although is very close to the Castle approach is sadly too far away to fit onto our boards.  Therefore, just one building will be modeled, atop the hill on the castle approach.
Not having space to recreate a full-size replica of the inn at Itter, I have opted for a more modest affair based upon a photo of an Austrian chalet found on the internet.

These pictures show the basic design, which when complete will have a full interior.

Here is the hastily painted prototype, still not finished, but giving a good representation of what the final outcome might look like.  Michael has lots of plans for this structureand I can't wait to see it finally in place on the castle boards.

Next up, Michael was keen to include a mini saw mill within the tabletop, as an added feature which I'm sure will add an extra element to the game play, if only as cover for the SS in their attempt to storm the castle.  Looking for inspiration I found this image of Birkkarhütte on the internet. 



Thinking it might make a useful woodsman's hut, I set about recreating a smaller version complete with some suitable paraphernalia. Although sadly not the kiddies bicycle!

I'm on the look-out for a suitable stationary engine to power the saw bench - which may end-up being a project in itself.

And so to my final piece for today's post.  
Within the woods which surrounded Schloss Itter there was an electrical transformer or substation, the exact details of which are unknown to us.  We do know however that there was a machine gun nest nearby, possibly within it and Michael was keen that we recreate this element.
Not knowing quite what such a thing might look like, but being mindful that it should be instantly recognisable for what it is, I have come up with this.  Hopefully some insulators, paint and suitable 'Achtung!' flashes will help with the illusion.
Yes it's probably a little industrial for the location and period, but when complete I am sure will be weathered down and blended in with Michael's usual skill.  

And here is a collective shot of my output for this last week.  The side wall of the inn looks at though it's about to fall over!  At this stage the building hasn't been glued together and is all just balancing. 
There's still much to do, but hopefully these works-in-progress whet the appetite just a little.
I'll show some more progress, and hopefully a picture or two of these pieces in position just as soon as I get the chance and maybe delve a little deeper into the details of each piece.

 TTFN,

James

*** STOP PRESS ***

I'd written this post earlier today, and have now just returned from visiting Michael, and have had the chance of some in-situ photography.  So here's a little treat of one of the installations...

Work in progress

I've not posted for a few weeks, as the pace of things has been quite full-on, and finished projects have been somewhat thin on the ground.  A change of job for me post Christmas has forced me to focus upon completing as much of the ground work of the Itter project as possible, as the collaboration with Michael will inevitably become less easy upon my move.  Michael and I both teach, in adjacent studio spaces, which has been a privilege whilst working on this project.  I will of course continue with my involvement in the project after my move, and look forward to meeting folks at Salute.  However, and as I hope you can understand, the more recent focus has been to push the project forward as much as possible.  As is the way, much of this work is not very glamorous and I hadn't felt it worth sharing.
However, Michael's recent work in progress post seemed to peak some interest, and so rather than post nothing I'm uploading some of my own photographs of the build in the hope they provide some inspiration and insight to how we're getting on.


The basic structures are all built-up from laser cut modules, all 3d modelled in advance to ensure they'd all fit as we hoped.  This has been a time consuming process and probably the reason for our overall progress looking a little slow at this point.  However, we are accelerating now and I think this time has been well spent, as it has allowed us to scale down and adjust the plan to fit the board without compromising the feel of the overall scene.  I'm hopeful that when finished, the model photographs will compare well with the original.

The picture below is one of my favourites.  The landscaped board looks tiny when in fact its huge on its own!  My word, what were we thinking!!

This picture shows the principle of laser cutting a 'live hinge' to allow the material to flex.  In this case the serrations were cut radially to allow the ramp to follow a curve.

The same technique is employed here to create a curved retaining wall.

A bit of filler to texture and the effect is worth the effort.

The sides of the bridge were clad with foam...

So that the stone detail work could be scribed on.  The chipped rendering to the top of the bridge is just playground sand PVA'd into place.

Shaped profile boards provide a robust edge to each base board.

Expanding polyurethane foam from a can has been used to create the basis for the landscaping.  A very quick, lightweight and strong method which I can heartily recommend.  I'd advise using gun grade material, which requires an applicator gun.  The cost of the gun being worthwhile for the benefit of a more controlled application.

Here the RFC pilots and Major John Howard are testing the integrity of the embankment!

Stilts were made to hold the castle at the correct elevation, and these were fixed into place with yet more foam.

And the perimeter walls added to the base.  Like the bridge structure, these will also be covered with foam which will be scribed to represent rough stone.

Whilst the castle board progressed, Michael used a mixture of decorators caulk, tile grout, bark and stone to texture the bridge board.  It is quite hard to judge the progress in this photo but he has been doing some sterling work in bringing the board to life.

Here, the RFC pilots are crossing the bridge in search of their Vickers Vernon!

Michael is becoming a dab-hand at tree manufacture!

The castle interior.  The rooms will all be furnished and have detailed wall panelling.  Just visible on the third floor are pieces built by a pupil of ours who has taken on the task of designing the armoury.  These will hold rifles, machine guns and ammunition.  He has also kindly contributed a scratch-built grand piano for the music room, but more of that at a later date.

The third board is being landscaped too.  Same techniques as before.

Well done if you've scrolled down this far!!  

These pictures are a little behind the curve time-wise.  I'll leave the joy of the latest progress to the most excellent 28mmvictorianwarfare.

Finally, I shall leave this post here with the photograph above, being a little hint towards a most wonderful development in our projects' progress.  We will definitely post all about it once we've decided how to do it justice.  

Until then, I think this figure (currently in primer), may well prove to be one of Michael's most satisfying painting jobs to date.

Best wishes everyone,

James