Norman Lim's Travel and Model-making Blog

Visiting Glen Coe, Scotland

2011-10-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

The drive from Fort William towards Isle of Skye on the A82 is most exciting and long. It is paved with scenic views that are hidden till you get off suspected areas to peek pass the hedges. One such places is near the dam where the Scottish Hydro Power Station was situated. We stopped at a spot about 400m passing the dam and bashed through the hedges and stood at the drop off and got these pictures.

The Power Turbines of the Dam

River uphill flowing from the Glen Coe range

Opposite Glen Coe battle site with the MacDonalds

7 Waterfalls from where we stood

Eilean Donan, Locklash, Scotland

2011-10-28T10:54:00.000-07:00

This is an exhilarating drive, 1400km in 13 hours.

Journey started in the southernmost part of the UK, Dorset coast near Lulworth, see another post. Passed this place, this is the second time I am here at Shaftsbury. Had a raved pork pie, yucks by our cooking standards, the cold thing about it is that, its wrapped in puff pastery, but served to us COLD! and the shocking cold further to the 5 degrees C outside is the price, a blimey GBP 5.00! Yes 5 quids! But the view from the rear of the cafe is what I came here for, the famed GOLDEN MILE!

Zipping along at 90 miles an hour, sometimes even on A Roads because we are racing against the sun in October. Then came the Tornadoes GR3, flying next to us, followed by the ultra new Eurofighter Typhoons, a pair just zoomed supersonically below us! We hear them only when they passed us, thats how we know they are supersonic, plus the BOOM! that followed! Magnificent backdrop of Ben Navis Mountain range! 3 degrees out there. Stopped my car, mount my camera on a fence post, set to self timer and 17mm super wide angle and took this shot in the blinding cold wind! Then zipped back to the car for some warming up.

Zoomed out again to take a shot by my travelling partner. Seeing the highest peak in all of Britain, is somewhat awe inspiring.

Then 60 minutes after, we come to this, Glen Coe, the ski area of Scotland! The sun is almost setting in the background and its almost 5pm already! Have been driving for 12 hours non stop except for 30 mins lunch over at Carlisle.

Arriving at Loch Lomond, home of Loch Lomond Golf Club, site of the British Open a few years ago. This is an ammo building that was built with investment money for silk production, and nothing happened. A Scot friend of mine once told me the moral of this story, never trust a Scot with your wallet! Hahahaha.....never wish this for our own heritage, would we?

Finally, we are here. But this photo is grabbed from Wikipedia ...sorry. Got mine too which you can see, very sweet! To get the shot way below in the history section, I climbed down the rock embankment and squatted in the cold sea sod!

Talking about being an enthusiast of castles, a fetish of mine; we dined and waited for the sun to set to grab this after mucking around for 30 mins in the freezing sub zero winds. Finally, we got an ISO 1000, F4, 30 secs exposure with a specially positioned car of mine with high beam on to light up the bridge and the leading edge of the castle positioned off the carpark off A87.

Crossing the bridge over to the Isle of Skye to have this shot taken with my telephoto 200mm. Set on tripod. The wind is scary, and after this shot, we went over to have dinner to wait for the night lights to come on, which is about 8pm usually.

For this shot, as written above, I climbed down the rocks to squat in the sea water sod. Had to rinse my Original Swat Waterproof Win2X boots to prevent the PU from rotting away later!

From Wikipedia, something to read about Eilean Donan.

Eilean Donan (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Donnáin) is a small island in Loch Duich in the western Highlands of Scotland. It is connected to the mainland by a footbridge and lies about half a mile from the village of Dornie. Eilean Donan (which means simply "island of Donnán") is named after Donnán of Eigg, a Celtic saint martyred in 617. Donnán is said to have established a church on the island, though no trace of this remains.
The island is dominated by a picturesque castle which is widely familiar from many photographs and appearances in film and television. The castle was founded in the 13th century, but was destroyed in the 18th century. The present buildings are the result of 20th century reconstruction. Eilean Donan Castle is the home of the Clan Macrae.
Eilean Donan is part of the Kintail National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland. In 2001, the island had a population of just one person.

Early history
The presence of a vitrified fort was recorded on the island in 1912, though the nature of any early fortification is uncertain. In the 13th century, a large curtain-wall castle (wall of enceinte) was constructed. At this time the area was at the boundary of the Norse-Celtic Lordship of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross: Eilean Donan provided a strong defensive position against Norse expeditions. By the late 13th century it had become a stronghold of the Mackenzies of Kintail (later the Earls of Seaforth), who were vassals of the Earls of Ross. A tower house or keep was built at the north-east corner in the 14th century, and in the 15th century a smaller defensive enclosure. Having lost control in the 14th century, the Mackenzies obtained a charter of Eilean Donan in 1509, and in 1511 the Macraes, as protectors of the Mackenzies, became the hereditary Constables of the castle.
In 1539 Iain Dubh Matheson, chief of the Clan Matheson, died whilst defending the castle against the Clan MacDonald of Sleat on behalf of Clan Macrae and Clan Mackenzie.

Ferry Journey to Dover From Calais

2011-10-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

We landed from Caen, drove to Paris, now, we wanted to see the cliffs of Dover and also Ian Fleming's house, the creator of James Bond, Agent 007. We caught a glimpse of also the original Radar system put up before the Battle of Britain.

The journey from Portsmouth into Caen is French owned, but this return journey is ran by British P&O. This port is amazing, 660 lanes for loading onto ferries to all over Europe! This is view from our trusty vehicle.

The view out one deck below us, container trucks and goods bound for the UK from greater Europe.

The view after an hour of cross channel sailing. The setting sun in the background gives a nice pink tint to the view. The fore decks are closed due to the cold weather, so we can only take the pictures of the white chaulk cliffs from the stern area. Wind is really cold as the cold spell crossed the Atlantic blew over us. Gulls fluttered and decked the pristine clear blue sky. Amazing view after we crossed the breakwaves.

Spectacular view, thats worth the other 4 hours drive back home. This trip, we have traversed from the southern tip of England to the northernmost tip of the northern coast of Inverness, Scotland, now, travelling from Dover to Bristol! Talking about measuring the country!

2011-10-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

Château de Gisors

The Château de Gisors is a castle in the town of Gisors in the départment of Eure, France.

The castle was a key fortress of the Dukes of Normandy in the 11th and 12th centuries. It was intended to defend the Anglo-Norman Vexin territory from the pretensions of the King of France. In 1193, the castle fell into the hands of the King of France and thereafter lost a good part of its importance as a frontier castle.
It is also known for its links with the Templars. Put into their charge by the French king between 1158 and 1160, it became the final prison of the Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay, in 1314.

Jacques de Molay (c. 1240/1250 – March 1314^[1]) was the 23rd and last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, leading the Order from 20 April 1292 until it was dissolved by order of Pope Clement V in 1312.^[2] Though little is known of his actual life and deeds except for his last years as Grand Master, he is the best known Templar, along with the Order's founder and first Grand Master, Hugues de Payens (1070–1136). Jacques de Molay's goal as Grand Master was to reform the Order, and adjust it to the situation in the Holy Land during the waning days of the Crusades. As European support for the Crusades had dwindled, other forces were at work which sought to disband the Order and claim the wealth of the Templars as their own. King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Templars, had de Molay and many other French Templars arrested in 1307 and tortured into making false confessions. When de Molay later retracted his confession, Philip had him burned at the stake on an island in the River Seine in Paris, in March 1314. The sudden end of both the centuries-old order of Templars, and the dramatic execution of its last leader, turned de Molay into a legendary figure. The fraternal order of Freemasonry has also drawn upon the Templar mystique for its own rituals and lore, and today there are many modern organizations which draw their inspiration from the memory of de Molay.

Jacques de Molay

Olden times are times of peril and evil during the dark ages. When in debt, lesson here, kill the creditors, discredit them, burn them in public, just like people nowadays, borrow from Ah Long today, report police after receiving the money! How convenient.

The first building work is dated to about 1095, and consisted of a motte, which was enclosed in a spacious courtyard or bailey. Henry I of England, Duke of Normandy, added an octagonal stone keep to the motte. After 1161, important reinforcement work saw this keep raised and augmented; the wooden palisade of the motte converted to stone, thus forming a chemise; and the outer wall of the bailey was completed in stone with flanking towers. A second keep, cylindrical in shape, called the Prisoner's Tower (tour du prisonnier), was added to the outer wall of the castle at the start of the 13th century, following the French conquest of Normandy. Further reinforcement was added during the Hundred Years' War. In the 16th century, earthen ramparts were built.

Gotten here on my way from Paris to Calais for the Ferry over to Dover.

What is shocking for us, as we were looking for prawns for dinner cooking....is this! 89 Euros a kilo for live prawns! This town is not too far from the sea, not to mention that added more into our shock.

St-Gervais-St-Protais church was built between 1542 and 1590. In it, there are a lot of art done around that time.

The town was served as a frontier town between the invaders Britons and the French locales. Town was taken by William the Conqueror of England, says the guide book we got from the castle information office.

Painting of about 16th century mural on the walls of the interior of the church stood quite clearly over the last 5 centuries and survived 2 major world wars. This is the mural depicted the european interpretation of the Mount of Transfiguration of Christ. It is normal to see paintings during that period to depict the figures in the bible dressed in European garbs and clothing, a testament to the fact that most people have very little information of the lifestyle, habits and customs of the Judea during that era.

The church in a commanding position on the main road leading to the Chateau, surrounded by old Tudor type houses and newer pre-war, Georgian and Parisian architecture, influence from 65km due south.

Makan Session Kuala Lumpur

2011-10-05T08:15:00.001-07:00

Whackaroos in action in KL. First Crab dinner I had here at the Causeway Bay Restaurant at Seri Hatamas. Apertise, Taiwanese Style tempura type of chilli crispy sotong!

Killer App came next. The house specialty - Crab Porridge. Cooked with blended century eggs, Hong Kong Style. Finished even the spring onions!

Crispy Salted egg crabs from Indonesia. We whacked even the crumps! Tangy, crispy, saltish and sweet crusty crumbs.....scrumptious.

Final Crab dish, the deep fried garlic and onice buried crabs. This is followed by individual Scalops and also chai poh steam prawns.

Ramses 99% done

2010-04-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a project that took longer than I anticipated due to my travelling to the UK for some work. Finally I attached the cobra and I have yet to paint in the black lines to accentuate the details on the head dress cobra, but as it is, I am quite happy the way it turned out. As the original sculpt did not have too many details on the face, this has been a very difficult project for me to paint mostly due to the head dress, which needed some shading which was done right after these pictures were taken.

There was some white fumes powder showing after the CA glue dried, this is also corrected after the photos were taken.

A very young friend of mine is a Warhammer enthusiast and I promised him to work on one of his heroes....which is the one next to the bust that was just primed.

Not being an avid model maker, I can understand the work laid up for me just to clear up the sprue flashes, but I cannot do anything to the figure standing on his heels because its stuck! Carving a completely assembled figure is a daunting task indeed!

Ramses Body Attached

2010-04-19T16:10:00.001-07:00

This should be the final leg of the project before we complete it. After the tedious head dress struggle, which still needed some work, the head is compared to the body work and the disparity in skin tones needed to be brought closer, even though I think the face normally is slightly brighter for royalties with bodies exposed to the sun, the faces are sometimes sheltered. However, the disparity is great and once I finalised the muscle tones on the body and is happy, I now have to bring the tone closer to the face.

The photographing of the tones are difficult to get it right due to the use of overhead ring lamps and flash and ISO 1200 due to darkness on my desk.....so, the picture below is what we finally was able to get close to what I see. With 7 to 8 layers of careful light skin toning and dark wash back and forth to prevent the powdery look with is due to pigment breakup during glazing. I added some glazing medium to hold the pigments together otherwise, it will look patchy.

As you can see, with the toning, the body work is now closer to the face tones, and I am happy with it. Next, to fill in the rubies on the crown, I painted the balls on the resin with black, then crown them with red, then gloss varnish each ball to get the depth look like the ones on the cape.

Finally the nipples were painted in purple mixed with German Chocolate Brown leaving the tits lightly exposing the flesh colours below and glazed over with thinned down paint to give it some highlights. My wife told me that the nipples are way too purplish, so, I added more brown and glazed over it....now she is happy, at 5am in the morning, with gastric pain in my stomach, I wasn't in the best shape to pick a fight with her.

The fit, unfortunately was quite bad and I did not notice earlier. The head was tilting too much downwards and the whole neck was 90% floating on air. After 3 weeks of painting, the last thing I need is to carve it again. So, I blade it slowly, cutting out the inner side of the head dress, levelling the top portion of the cape and adding a sheet of styrene at the back of the neck, cutting off some materials from the front portion...and finally, we get the head brushed with CA and attached it to the body. And I bend the sprue below the bust which I attached to assist in handling the job to angle it back about 10 degrees for the shot....looks ok. I glossed the dung beetles on the arms and we are set for waiting the crowning glory, the cobra.

One good look at it I find the neck ornament and bit glary even though I toned it down with some glazes of flesh...I will see if I can achieve the pearly look but before I do that I went through numerous photos I have taken at the Parisian Louvre and find that the red and blue looks quite authentic and decided to keep it.

Ramses Head

2010-04-18T06:00:00.001-07:00

The head is almost done, now left with shading of the head dress and putting in the jewels on the crow.

On the body, the neck line adornment is now painted in the basic colours. With some modulation needed to make it look stone like. Then its time to dot in the nipples and trim out the smudges on the arms shadows of the rings.... Few days more to go, then the crowning cobra ornament on the head and we are pretty much done.

Black lines in today

2010-04-15T04:54:00.001-07:00

There was immense problem of painting since I came back from UK. It must be all that moving of stuff in the exhibition that I pulled a muscle or something. Whenever I handle a small thing such as a paint brush, it seemed that I cannot hold it properly without feeling losing control and something is stretching in my forearm causing me to lose grip on the fingers.....
This is very evident in my painting of straight lines today....I found that I cannot paint a straight line. I can only paint the lines, then fill it back up with red and purple later to make it straight again.

It is most apparent if you looked at this part of the cape. My wife told me to have it checked with the Chinese Sin Seh at our neighbourhood as it may mean the end of my hobby for good, much to her celebrating of throwing away my 500 model kits still left undone in the closet!

I was very afraid to go to such professors in the local chinese medication hospital to have this done, it only spells one thing that is almost an inevitable characteristics of such visits, intense pain and lots of bitter medication to take.....man...its the pain or the end of 500 model boxes worth 40,000 bucks in the closet.....pains on both ends...no win situation....bad man, bad.

Ramses Update on body and Cape

2010-04-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

Its been a hectic time for us at this period. So, have to lay off for a one week after the body works. Finally, I am back in action again. Collected some dust, so, I brushed the model lightly with a number 5 brush. Then I continued to work on the head dress, while the decal is drying, I worked on the body by increasing the contrast slightly and then shading it back. Back and forth a few times.

Finally, the decals, chopped into 1.5mm X 12mm strips are joined to form the various curves in the head gear. When that is done, the thing was set aside to dry for 3 days to make sure the thing cures properly. The whole decalling process took me 4 nights of 1 hour each. While waiting, I tone the cape on the back a little bit more with primary green to bring out the rich turquoise colour.

The I added in the gold trims by drybrushing the previous black portion with a little bit more white but every so gently to make sure that it does not get into the black portion which I needed for the shadows. Gold without shadows looks fake, Gold without the base of white to bring out the glitter also looked fake....so that is why the white needed to be on the highlights. So when I paint in the Vallejo gold undiluted with a semi dry brush with Number 0, I l will get a 3 tone finish from the super bright, the dull and the near black, then there is the shadow of black. This gives the thing a more 3D look. I left the gold to cure for a few days, same period with the decals.

Next, I needed to paint over the head gear with the correct red before I add the black trimmings. This is harder than I expected. I hand painted the whole head of the bust with a Number 6 brush with Future polish, two thin coats and let it dry for 3 more days to make sure it is cured to a hard finish. Then I mixed the colour with Flat Red and Orange Fluid to match the colour on the decals and painted in the joints and to pick up the curves not achievable by the decals. It took about 5 coats in order for the colour to solidify enough to have the correct hue as the decal. This I am setting aside to dry for another few more days before I work on the black trim and bringing later the thing back with some Vallejo Glaze medium mixed with Matt Medium diluted to about 20% and do it ever so little to get the correct texture with a slight glint to the skin tones and also to leave the eyes to be glossy so that there is a glint in it permanently.

Ramses Bodyworks

2010-04-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

I watched the movie again and found that my vest is a little too dark for Captain Lucky Jack Aubrey, so, I repainted the whole vest and also darkened the blue coat with some more matt black glazing.

I visited the Royal Navy Museum in Plymouth and found the hats did not have the golden sashes but black ones. However, in the movie, the ones found in the hats were gold. So, I wiped out the good old 4X0 brush and etched it slowly the gold thread and followed by a black wash and dry brush again with gold.

Finally, I am happy. This is the final look.

I finally finished the skin tones for Ramses. 1 hour after midnight I am done. Decals in sections are looking ok on the head dress. The rest has to be painted in by hand. Next up, the nipples, the veins, further highlights for the muscle tones. Then we are next gonna go back to the head dress to allow a few days for the body to cure.

Ramses Correction and head gear

2010-04-05T19:35:00.001-07:00

I have some problems making sure that if I painted the cape on the head dress and keeping it even. So, I had a little idea. I went round scouting for line decals. I found none. I did however found a sheet with large US flags. Brainwave......haha...I cut it up, have the stripes...and walla....

I have a problem with the eyes. The right eye is a little bit off balance.

There was a need to adjust it, so, I did dabbed in some light skin tones to make sure that its balanced.

Corrected the top of the lips to be in line with the nose, didn't noticed it earlier.

Caping Ramses

2010-04-04T17:58:00.001-07:00

Having done the eyes the last time, I wasn't too satisfied as the eyes seemed a little bit more larger than life, the gripe that I spoke off the last time.

I downplayed the eyes by introducing the double eyelids. As above, but wasn't sure if the eyes are too big and I compared it with the photos and found that they are. So, I highlighted the lower lids to increase the squint....and finally I got what I wanted.

Next I turned to paint up the silk cape head dress, I mixed some Vallejo Air Silver with Purple Rose and Vermillion and Basic Skin Tone to get the silky look and gave the head dress area a good 5 coats of it over 2 hours. I diluted the paint and gave it another 4 glazes to get the smooth finish that is glossy and even. It will take 2 to 3 weeks to cure properly before the STICKINESS goes away, so I turned my attention to the body.

From the above picture, you see the black dry brushed with white. I dried brushed this over with light blue to cover the whites and to some degrees, the blue. After I am done, I used the purple mixed up with some sunny skin tones to get in the shadows. I added 1:1 light skin tone to the blue to drybrush in the highlights and painted in the top part of folds to get the 3D effect. Then I added another part of light skin tone to this colour and with a 4X0 brush, the tips of the folds were highlighted.

Then I glaze it with diluted base coat light blue for about 5 coats to get the basic hues in place evenly. Next, to turn it turquoise, I used primary green, diluted to 20% and dry glazed over the cape evenly for about 7 coats to get to this point.

Finally, the cape is done.

Ramses Yul Bryner Part 5

2010-04-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning and I was really not happy with the eyes, even though the glancing look shows some resemblance, but I find that the eyes did have apertures that are a little larger than life and really needed attention.

I painted the underside of the eyebrows with basic skin tones darken with slight German Camouflage Black (actually super dark brown) to get somewhat sepia ink texture tone. I do not like the Vallejo Sepia Ink as it needed constant stirring otherwise it shows a glossy sheen
Then the eyes were filled with glazing medium to protect the paint in case there are some hiccups, we can still rescue it by deep washing with water
The eye edges were given a light wash of Vermillion mixed with 5% of sunny skin tone to get the edges defined like innards of an eye
Draw in the lashes for the eyes, going back and forth with skin tones till it settles in nicely without being too overt
Top and bottom eye sockets were pin glazed with Vermillion mixed with German Chocolate Brown 50:50 dilute to less than 20% with water
The upper eyelid and lower eyebags are highlighted with Sunny Skin Tone and Light Skin Tone 20:70 diluted with water to about 40%. Reason for water is to make sure its not too opague and it gives me about 1 minute to decide to wash it off or not.
Dot in the whites at the edges to scale down on the pupil sizes
Glaze the eyes again to give the glossy look
Glaze light skin tones of upper cheek bones
Glaze the cheeks with Vermillion, Black, Glaze medium and Sunny Skin Tone 3:1:5:1 diluted with 50% water. Reason for Glaze medium is to prevent the powdery look of paint pigment breakup.Bust head with face and eyes corrected below.....

Finally, it looked much better after 1 hour. Happy with that. Note that the head gear has recieved 5 coats of white mixed with Dark Prussian Blue 1:1 to get the foundation for it to be painted later with the dark violet colour.

Although I said earlier, to know when to stop, however, I never regret this morning's work as in comparing the 2, you get more life out of the new set of eyes when compared to the former.

Yul Bryner Ramses II Part 4

2010-03-31T03:50:00.001-07:00

From the last time we wrote, it was work till 2 am last night. This evening, right after work, delve right into correcting the look on the face that you do not see till we shoot the photo and zoomed in..

From the last blog post, I noticed from expanding it at 15 Megapixels accorded by the Canon 50D with the EF 17-40 F4L USM lens, superb at 40mm or 75mm equivalent in 35mm mode in macro from 28cm....every nook and cranny cannot escape when shot at ISO 400 and F10.

So, I too some white, dilute it down to less than 10% and touch up the upper cheeks to reinforce the contrast with the rest of the skin colour to give it a brighter sheen. I also added some green to widen the shaven face beard are and also to darken the underneath of the lip area at the chin, this is to give the chin a more pronounced protrusion look that is prominent on the square jawed actor's facial features that I grew to love in this movie, which I have watch like more than 20 times.

I gave a super light wash of brownish black to form the edges of the lips and the lip partition line and when dry, dabbed in the 50% dilute Vermillion and Purple mix. I added light skin tone and white to the lip colour mix and dab some onto the top part of the lower lip to give it some 3D look and to enhance the shadows and simulate wet glistening. I also took some white toned down with a lot of water to round off the pupils a little bit more.

Whoa....walla, the face is now done, and time to work on the neck. I kind of like what I see here. Better stop before we overdo it. The tendency for perfectionists is to over perfect what is perfect and break it! This is something we all have to learn to do, especially me.

Double check on the facial pictures, I use a photo from the King and I.

Cheers,

Norman

Yul Bryner as Ramses II Part 3

2010-03-31T02:34:00.001-07:00

Finally, I dotted in the eyes. First, a round black semi circle is placed in the eye sockets, then a wash of vermillion to bring our life in the whites, then a smaller circle is painted in English Uniform mixed with black and leaving the centre in black.

What is needed is to tone the neck and paint in the hardest part, the shoal! My God, I am feeling perhaps I could do source for some nice red line decals just to cheat a bit...but Eunice my wife says that I am a coward if I did that!

With a +2 lens over my eyes, this will take more than +2 to work on with a 40 brush! Got to go to Paris this June to Azimuth and Blast to get myself more brushes.....the only 4-0 that I have is almost bent!

Ramses II Yul Bryner Part 2

2010-03-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Using these as the reference photos, lets hope we an achieve what I set out to do..... and the progress report shows.....ALAS!!!!! ET TU BRUTE!!!!!

The Lexar super expensive Compact Flash card tanked and I lost 2 days of work progress on Yul Bryner while trying to load it up....so, we missed the highlights, shadows, deep shadows and high highlights and toning.

Well, this is the result of the final toning over the pinkish vermillion with light flesh shades on the cheeks.

What is left is the neck portion to be done and the flesh colour section for the face would have been completed.

I drew in the eyebrows as the late Yul Bryner has profound ones like Angelina Jolie or Sean Connery. It was done with Red Brown, black and the base tone mix of the flesh and the excess over runs are cut back with 5 layers of watered down basic skin tone glazes. I filled in the eye whites, it now awaits the pupils and the red and black washes for the innards and the eye lashes. Here are two pictures taken the same, but different exposures to check out the tones.

Yul Bryner Ramses II, Ten Commandments

2010-03-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

Second Project from Young B Song Series. Serious shit I realised that painting the hood is gonna be heck of a problem later. The figures are well cast with only clean up required at the left of the nose. Far better than the 1:6 scale Luke Skywalker solid 2kg worth of resin I recieved last week as a present from my brother!

I had always wanted to do a bust of the late great actor and musical singer, either in the King of Siam in the King and I or Pharaoh Ramses II from Ten Commandments. Finally when I came across this kit, I got to have a go at it.

The bust was coated with Gunze Surfacer 1000. Then Tamiya Flat Black can spray. Set to dry for 6 hours and drybrushed with Vallegio White. Then I mixed Sunny Skin Tone, Salmon Rose and Red Brown to form base colour of darkened skin and dry brushed on the skin sections.

The picture above is all the above steps done and washed and glazed with the base tone with a dash of Mahogany Wood Grain from Vallegio to smoothen the drybrushing.

Disaster and then final finish Russell Crow Part 4

2010-03-27T10:36:00.001-07:00

Disaster struck today as I tried to cut down on the glossy bits of the sheen caused by Vallegio when using the glazing method of painting and the whole top of the bust turned white! So, there was a scramble to quickly use the Future to rescue it from the Gunze Flat to restore it to the original colours again! Phew it saved the day.

Now, lets review again. Below is the heavy contrasts that is done to bring out the features of this famous actor. The strong features are done by having the face :-
1. Painted with primer
2. Then solid matte black
3. Use of drybrushing white vallegio
4. Drybrushing the base colour skin tones
5. Paint in the dark shades
6. Wash with light Sepia Ink
7. Wash with Burnt Amber wash to tone down harsh contrast
8. Dot in the eyes
9. Highlight the high points with skin tones added with white
10. Paint in the lips with 2 tones of brown purple
11. Darken lip lines
12. Dot in the unshaven look with dark chocolate and dark Luftwaffe Green
13. Paint in the 4 tones of yellow for the hair
14. Black wash hair to bring out the contrast

Then you get the pre-colour modulated and blending basic face as shown below.

Then, we need to modulate and tone down or up the high contrasts with various reds and skin tones to give a gradual finish. When all this is done, the bust gets the hat and then a matte spray which turned MAD!@$#&*!

The use of Future saved the day and then the ardous task of using the basic super thin washes of the skins, the blacks, the browns to get back the original look began! After 4 hours of efforts and 16 layers of 5% colour water washing with high speed industrial fan blowing in the background, its finally rescued! With the gold brushed in as a highlight, the final figure is ready.

There is something about the eyes that is not right! Finally, I got it when I discussed this with Eunice my wife and also my son Dominique, a prolific painter himself....I need to get the whites done with some warm to show blood vessels....so, we thin glaze it with red, orange. Then I painted in the eyelashes with dark greyish brown. This gave life to the eyes.

Enjoy!Side View, the dark nooks and crannies turned white and had to have black wash of 1 part paint, 100 parts or so water and 1 part glazing agent to fill it slowly, about 16 layers! Then the shin is brought back to life. And to get back the contrasts and the curvature of the hat, same is use to highlight the areas previously painted with dark grey blue over the black again for about 5 to 6 layers. After rehighlighting the gold trim, all is set!

Finally completed with much peril! Make sure in the future, never to short cut it with Gunze or any matte finish, but to glaze it on slowly with the Vallegio 2% matte varnish over 10 layers to get it right, in this case, the airbrush does not work as well as compared to armour models or planes which I have previous done for 37 years. Labour does pay dividends in spades.

Russell Crowe Master and Commander Pt 3

2010-03-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

Finally, I am back from work, fighting jet lag and managed to tone down on the blues to make it darker and closer to dark blue/black like, brushed in the new gold that I bought in the UK. Buttons, epaulets and close in on the top hair locks and the bottom to match both colours. Here is a rotating lazy Susan look of the bust, almost finished except the headrest, which is the most complicated part, It is almost most difficult to do black shading on black.

Enjoy guys. Next update is on the hat, and once done, the project needed the bottom sprayed and complete with label plate, can't wait for it, must finish this weekend.

Russell Crowe part 2

2010-03-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is part 2 of doing up a subject that is close to my heart Having visited the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth in the UK and inspired greatly by Lord Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar, I visited HMS Victory, which I had made a 1:700th scale model when I was a young lad at 10 with a GBP 0.80 model from Airfix. Now, that is 35 years ago.

Watching the movie is also a great inspiration to want to make this model as close as I can get to the real thing in the movie. I went to download a few photos online of this otherwise, quite a character.

The face at 70% where I ended early post after dotting in the unshaven beard stubs and toning down the pink of the cold cheeks. I find the temperature a bit too cold for the face.

A second look of the face, I find the contrast too strong and too cold. So, I set out to tone it down more.

Some of the reference photos I used. And now, I use the basis to tone the face to finally get the bottom look, now I am happy, i did up the hair, the ears and redefined the eyes and lips....
What is next is to paint in the folds and sewing seams with Sepia Ink and put the the light highlights for the blue coat and down toning of the purple shadows....gold touch to the epaulet and do up the laces....we should be completed with only the headrest remaining.

More London Photos

2010-03-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

This is where we parked to see the Westminster Abbey, the back of it just in front of the Methodist Hall.

The River Thames from the Tower Bridge side, seeing the apartments and the parked HMS Belfast in the forground on the right.

This is the Tower Bridge taken with 3 sec exposure using ISO 800 with the ferry that just came in to dock.
A look on the ferry terminal and the HMS Belfast from Tower Bridge side.

The view on other side of the river next to the London Eye.

The emblem of the city of London, the Griffin.

Big Ben Again when its about it give the West Minster Chime. 9 minutes to go.

London by Night in 2 Hours Part 1

2010-03-20T23:58:00.001-07:00

Everyone who has gone to Europe has made London a must to visit. On my 23rd journey to Europe, this is the first time I have been to the great metropolis thanks to a dealer of mine from Dorset. I was here for work at an exhibition and we stole a night out driving an hour to do a whirlwind of the sights here. On the way back, we had road works and was stuck for more than 2 hours in traffic.

This is the London Eye from the view on the Victoria Embankment on a Wednesday Evening. Beautiful night scenery isn't it?

It is very difficult to take this shot of the Big Ben due to street lighting, trees blocking the clock and finding an angle that will cover up the scaffolding that is on the Ben due to restoration works. After walking for about 30 mins all over the place, I found that the place where we stopped the car was the best! What a waste of human effort, and with a 2 seconds exposure on ISO 800, we got this shot, holding for dear life without a tripod from the wind mirror of our van.

This is a sight to behold and I wanted to do this for a long time. The Parliament from across the Thames at night. Unfortunate to have the scaffolding near the Ben, otherwise, I would have been very happy.

The Big Ben after zooming in from my position from the car on Victoria Embankment. 2.5 seconds on ISO 800, also holding for dear life on the wing mirror.

The world famous Harrods Mall, taken from our stopped vehicle through the windscreen at ISO 3200, 1/15 seconds.

Went to the war memorial at the back of Buckingham Palace. The recipients of the George and Victoria Crosses in the Great War and WWII.

Another look at the war memorial of the British Empire. Behind Buckingham.

The gate at the side of the Buckingham Palace leading to the gardens at night. We have parked here and quickly took 2 mins to take pictures before the police arrives.

Buckingham, one of the residences of the Queen. The flag is flying, so she is home. This is only the front I was told, the insides are huge.

CORFE Castle Dorset Isle of Purveck

2010-03-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

Second Day into England, we got some time to have a run down to the southern parts. First stop was to the Isle of Purveck to see the last hold out for the last of the Royalists and the Cromwellians. They snug in and defy the seige. The castle was finally blown up with gun powder in 1646 and the stones were used to build the small town of Corfe as we know it today.

This is the smallest town hall in the world, in Corfe with the background church where King George was stabbed to death by his Step Mother.

This is one of the oldest pubs still in operations today, some 400 years old, made with the stones of the Corfe Castle.

Enid Blyton Spent alot of her time here in Dorset and wrote most of her stories using the backdrop of this area in Southern England. Here is a tribute to here with a model made into the walls of the castle town of Corfe.

The plague commemorating the remembrance of King George the Martyr who was killed by his Step Mother.

The town pump for water at the centre. Behind me is the Enid Blyton memorial model vignette.

Sunset at Corfe Castle. I walked over to the side of the castle and took this picture behind the first tower at the gate at the right.

This is the side of the Corfe, I went by the side pave way, then climbed up the side slope where I found some places that accorded some grip to my very good Original Swat Win2X Boots. I climbed up the side fence and put the camera on the pinnacle and took a 3 sec exposure to capture this shot.

This shot of the ruin of Corfe was taken from 600m away from the round about at the foot hill on the pinnacle of a fence support for barb wires which oversees the Steam locomotive station at the foothills.

Me at the gates of the Corfe. It was 5.35 when we arrived in the evening and the castle was closed.

The cathedral at Corfe made with the stones from the castle after the castle was blown up.

Me on the bridge of Corfe Castle.

Short drive away was this house. Its in Coom Bissett,just south of Salisbury, beautiful isn't.

Russell Crowe

2010-03-05T06:22:00.000-08:00

Phew, I was away for a good year! A lot has happened, the economic crisis, the restructuring of the company from research to production, new investments, jumping right back right now to pick up the work on the Elite Waffen SS trooper that I left off some 2 years ago after painting the face.

Almost done after 2 weeks of work, camouflage done and attaching the arms and repatching up the joints, repainting it back and having to work on the straps of the MP44 is a killer with super glue stiffened paper....now with +2 near sighted glasses.....decided to take a short break from the killer in winter autumn pea type camouflage!

But to prevent me from dying off, I finally went to visit Bernard! To my surprise, he stock almost the whole range of the Young B Song's great range of resin cast figurines.

I pickup up one that depicted Russell Crowe in the movie Officer and Commander. The paintwork photo on the box art is superb, but I would try to depict it with a little bit of my own experimental styling using Vallegio Acrylics for multiple layer glazing.

Can't contain my excitement, sprayed the whole thing with Gunze Surfacer 1000, let it cure for 2 days and over coated the whole thing with Tamiya black spray can ever so lightly.

Once its cured 24 hours, I started the drybrushing, washing with sepia ink, multiple layers of glazes which I suggest every one out there to buy a copy of Osprey's Modelling Waffen SS by Calvin Tan, superb book that will lay your foundations in solid reinforced concrete!

Well, almost done on the head, here is how the two pictures depict my progress.

Body showed the initial process. Black spray, dry brushed white, then dry brush over with base colour as of the bust body.....not before you allow 3 days for the paint to cure properly before the washes and glazes begin. The face is almost done in the forground with some small touch ups needed to smoothen the face. The unshaven look is done by grey mixed with green and dot matrixed down like we would with small chips...the hair is painted black, drybrushed in white, then ochre, yellow, buff and sunny skin tones to get a 3D feel of tonal variations to it. Dilute black and sepia is used to tone down the disparity.

Hope you guys like this update, will get back to it in a few days before I head to the English Isles for some hectic work! Cheers brothers....don't give up, never give in.

IDF ERA Centurion Part 3

2009-01-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

There had been some emails to me.....thanks guys for seeing that I have material to share.....however, for those who are serious about improving the model making skills, and are living in Singapore, I strongly encourage you guys to take up a course with Bernard Cher of M Workshop....that will cover the whole spectrum and lay a good foundation for you guys.

Next, if you can, I strongly encourage you to have a nice and properly organised work bench....all it takes is a few chest of drawers like what I have, and IKEA full wooden table, make sure its stable type, as I saw, hacks and even hammer the punches on this desk.... Silair compressor below, vice at the left side to hold the airbrush, all solvents on my left, what ever I needed, I organise it into compartments, I also have a chest of drawers table at the left side that is not shown, all in, about US$4,000, Waldron punches, Mission Models Etch Mates, 4 airbrushes, about 25 different types of brushes, wires, cutters, diamond files, dremel below the bench, grainder, small lathe, all sorts of paints and solvents, oils, enamels, acrylics, lacquers, water colour, pastels, pigments, gels, solgel matts, awls, scribers, scratch building materials, butyl acetate glues, acetone, thinners, tarps, filters, metallic buffing materials etc...... one time pain, but you can also grow with the hobby. It took me 36 years to get here. So, don't give up. And my wife married me without knowing that I am this freakish about it! Now she enjoys watching me in action, sometimes criticizing my work!!!!

Now, back to the Centurion, enough of bragging hag.....ok, whose the wise crack shouting back there?!!! Show your face! Lots of critics on the internet, but mostly from people who can't have anything to show for it...now, the stowage, I have done up except that the rope is still waiting to be dried from its brown wash of Acrylic Gel Resin from MIG Productions. I rusted and dusted the tin in the basket. I also 4 tones the tarps and added in the rops and the black shadow edges advocated by Calvin Tan. The basket Tarp and the Ali Baba bag has not been touched up yet, just the black, white drybrush and a few layers of glaze. More work there cut out.

The view from the top. Can see the stowage clearly, the front mantlet canvas still has not recieved the shadows yet. However, for chipping, its completed. Next up, once the mantlet is done and the rope has been dry brushed, we have to paint the antenna base white, then wash and tone it with dust and chips like the rest of the turret. Then, I have to assemble in the 50 Cal Machine gun with the remote firing mechanism. This thing has to scratch as the Legend part is a sham. I have to put in 2 Academy sorted Browning 303 machine guns for the two cupolas.

Another view of the completed chipped turret. The straps and the stowage still needed some work.

I also weathered the top of the barrel too, just for some effect.

IDF ERA Centurion Part 2

2009-01-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

After the long break where I took time to do the colour modulations and pre chipping, time was at hand to put in the real chips, which took really long with my favourite JR productions triangular stock Sable O brushes and my favourite German C. Black from Vallejo.Dot by dot, I added, 5 days of 2 to 3 hour sessions, this is what I get. This is before we unite the whole thing with further filtering and some rain marks.

At long last, chipping is 90% completed.....the pre chipping followed by the actual, after 15 man hours, we are still not finished! Not a way to make money to sell on Ebay man....good thing I am keeping my models....otherwise, hungry siah!!!!!

IDF 1982 Centurion Part 1

2008-12-31T19:32:00.000-08:00

Painting it at long last......2 years on the shelf as yellow, brass, white plastic and green. This Tamiya converted Legend kit bashing is finally about to take on a coat of nice bruised paint.

I painted the whole thing black epoxy to give it a tough undercoat, as always.

I mist it with Mr. Colour, red brown, yellow, white and 123 green mixture and dust it 20%

I mixed the base with 30% 123, 10% Desert Yellow to build the solid colour

I lighted 10% sail colour to form the highlights and concentrate on the top surfaces

I panzer filtered it

I sand filtered it

I flat brown filtered it

I green filtered it

then I modulated a Vallejo Camo Green with Desert yellow, white, flat brown and yellow to form the pre chip patches

Here, you see that the colour has been modulated, and the filters and spluttering colours are blended with Tamiya Enamel thinners to get a patchy and yet, gravity modulated colouring. This gives the base model a interesting depth look to the colours.

The pre chip chipping with the very light green allows me to create some interesting patch work to break up the monotony of the body work.

Then I started to add in the small chips with my favourite Vallejo German C Black. This done dot by dot, 0.1mm dia at a time and not patches like the green.

The end result of the chipping modulated by the under pre-chipping. Expand the photo to have a clearer picture.

T55 Part 3

2008-12-25T01:01:00.001-08:00

<<<<T55 Project Finally Completed>>>>

I must tell you what a relief this is to me as the T55 has always been a favourite amongst collectors world wide, no wonder, its the most produced tank in history of modern warfare.

The project wasn't as smooth sailing since a lot of the Marmite mask did not dissolve in the hot water, and it being a partial resin kit, it is very susceptible to hot water distortions. So, it took a lot of brushing with the toothbrush and things break off, particularly, the hopelessly fragile Aber detailed lights. I have since discarded and replaced some of them. I have also painted the IR light black after this photos are taken.

The tank in its final finish, albeit with rain marks, chips and sand etc.

The track area, where the earlier CA glue formed the lumps and simply washed with Vallejo and pigments. The tension, since this tank is mainly used in urban combat, was set a little higher, touching only 3 road wheels, from here you can see the tires all battered.

I did put in a lot of parts into this MG. Can't believe that there were actually 27 parts added and it took me 3 days just to assemble the MG and paint it! Sometimes, working with Aber PE parts are a real chore! I also added the anchor points for the wire, two "u" shaped parts and a lot otheres. The mantlet is a resin part from Blast and I reinforced the rear with wires and a whole tube of CA glue just to make sure it does not crack and buckle under heavy stress.

The magazine box alone is about 10 parts of PE. I hand painted it then weather it and chipped it along with orange yellow wash to show new rust. Bolts and nuts also accentuated this way plus a little of oily sheen to make it a little more metallic in look.

Another look of the finished tank. The right fender is left off to create a point of interest in the model.

The turret has been textured heavily and I added in a hand built epoxy sandbag to increase the interest and variation to an uninteresting front. I also added the PE part and put in the power cable to the lights in front.

The traffic sign is from the Aber kit and the track is weathered and bolted on with Sprue. It is alsp painted in black, brown, orange, yellow and green to give it a weathered look without looking too crusty, as you would in a very old weathered abandon tank. For this look, I refrained from using pigments, but only Vallejo paints. To break the monotony, I also weathered the decals on the stowage box.

I added in some stowage at the anchor points. These are resin parts I took from my spare box of Legend Stowage materials. For the exhaust, as per my last portions, we roughened it with CA and then Tamiya putty diluted. Then its painted the same way as the track.

This photo shows the mantlet, painted with my black, white and wash method which is described in my earlier article on the GRANT CDL.

To further distract the point of attention, I added a Russian Oil tank colours and one Shell drum colours behind. They are painted on with Vallejo by hand using colour wheel modulation and damp glazing. Once it has dried after 20 coats, which took 4 days, its left to dry for 2 more days to cure the paint. Then I added in the chips and colour toning in various harmony colours.

Another look at the sandbag that I made with Tamiya Epoxy Putty. Note the wiring for the driver's periscopes, which are real gems from BLAST of Rue Chateron in Paris.

One good view of the Tarp I made using the same putty as the sandbag, the clips were made with Aber parts and steel wires to hold the tow cable lug. Care must be taken as the small 1 sq mm of CA will not hold the tension in my brass wire tow cable, so, I have to glue the tlug onto the body as well. I also glued on the chain from a Gundam shop.

A good look at the removed fender showing mud stuck at the release mechanism area. The cable is weathered and chipped to resemble a little more neglect.

Aber's excellent barrel

T55 Project Part 3

2008-12-14T02:53:00.001-08:00

At Long Last....some paint. I painted the whole tank in Ferrari Red with 2% to 3% of yellow added to give it the Ferric Oxide undercoat.

Then I dabbed on the Marmite.

Then I over coated it with Gunze 123 with 5% black added. Then lightened the green with Gunze 123 with 10% Sail colour.

To get back the red, I scratched the bubbles with the craft knife and toothbrushed it with some hot water to dissolve the Marmite.

Then went on the Microset for the decals, which were pressed in with cotton bud and then dabbed on with some MicroSol to conform them to the details. As I roughened the surface with Tamiya Putty diluted with Tamiya thin cement earlier to simulate the sand casting, the decal conformed very nicely onto the tank surface with this age old process. When it has dried for 24 hours, I took the knife and with its point, gently scrape away the carrier film and break up the numbers. This not only eliminated the sheen, it also gave the decal a little battle damage.

I then chipped in the Vallejo German C. Black for the chips, this will be out lined later with Red Vallejo paint to give it a good miltiple depth chipping on the paint.

The surface was also Panzer Grey filtered and Sand Filtered and it recieved a layer of brown wash. Here you see the Calibre 35 engine set. I would have preferred to use the Verlinden set, which has a splendid wealth of details over this simple set. I detailed the set with some parts from scratchbuilding evergreen cards. All the fuel lines did not come as a photo etched part as in the Verlinden kit. The hatch top isn't very detailed, just a 100% knock off of the Tamiya part.

To make things interesting, I used the Aber clip for one of the magazines, there are two boxes with the Tamiya part and the final one, I used a part from Blast with associated fabric sock. I also added in an 18 litre tin, a wooden top box from Academy accessories set, added two fabrics made from Tamiya Epoxy Putty.

I also added a tow cable made from brass wires that had been twisted to form the cable. I put in a brass chain as well.

See the brass chain and the cable in their pre-weathered stage.

My favourite part of the T55 had always been the exhaust area. Here I painted it basic with German C black, dust some PVA added with MIG Rust, dab in some Andreas Orange, then when all things are dried, draw in the lines with black Vallejo that has been heavily dilute.

This portion still needed some drybrushing of soot using charcoal chalk.

Next up the red chips and green surface fading and bit mapping varitones.

T55 Kosovo Part 2

2008-11-22T08:54:00.001-08:00

Here is part 2 of the Kosovo project. The work around the Aber kit is really taking its toll on my eyes.....I got so fed up with trying to bend them with my two expensive Tamiya PE bending pliers, I went over to M Workshop and bought myself an Etchmate 3C! No more gripes, now for my project proper.

The Engine bay needed some work on the exhaust area....and I wanted to depict rust later on, so I danced two drops of the cheap CA on the cover and used Butyl Acetate to roughen the exhaust pipe. So that later, I can just use my EAA glue and dance the reds and oranges on the surface and when dry, give some Vallego washes and later dance a little black oil paint on the edges to get the effect I normally do for exhaust pipes. Having danced CA on the surface with a tooth pick will really help. For the under carriage, I danced some CA and used the acelerator to deform it to form uneven lumps below, I used 2 tubes of CA to form this mountainous terrain below the surfaces so that I can easily pigment it to depict dried and wet mud or dirt later with EAA and pigments, washes and patch painting glazing. I hate to use the putty and sand method as grains of 1mm in size here in this scale will mean a 2 pound stone, ever seen any 2 pounder sticking on tank wheels and undercarriage before? I rest my case.

The cupolas are a headache.....no two pictures covering the war had the same system....looked like a large variation of tanks versions were used for the conflict. So, I took some liberty to splice in some Blast options. The fit needed some modifications to the base area and the cover hatch as they will not fit! Then I added melted sprue and chiselled in the weld lines with my trusty Olfa knife.

I did the same for the other side and I am quite pleased with the way it looked. Next, I danced Butyl Acetate, hereafter called BA, all over the front glacis to form the cast look. Added in the clips to the fuel lines etc.

For the mantlet cover, I used the Blast unit, which is a modified Tamiya kit part, but at least it had the side stitches which were missing on the plastic kit part. To get the gun to stick and be strong, I put in 1/2 tube worth of CA and acelerated them layer by layer till it formed a large 8mm circular block to overcome the weight problem and also the infamous character of CA cracking under stress.

Then there is the 8 part crap from Aber to form this wiring and another 8 part crap to form a box 1mm thick! Isn't it crazy? All that crap to try to hype up value? I just cut a piece of styrene and put that in for the box, and used the Blast set, which featured great resin that did not break easily. I cut that into 3 parts and position glued them around the periscopes of the driver. Then with one sprue, I put in the anchor wiring.

T55 Kosovo Project

2008-11-22T08:30:00.001-08:00

The Project started as a commission project. The customer in EU sent me a T55 kit, Aber 2 photo etch sets, which are 70% useless being that its redundant, have you ever try to fold a flower cut into a nut? I just cut one from a Wave set and that settled it, after all, I still have 4 sets of Verlinden Nuts still sitting pretty around too.

The customer also sent me a CMK interior detail kit for keeps, thanks a million! Then I have an Abel metal barrel, a Blast update kit plus a 35 Calibre Rear Engine kit.

To begin, I started with the engine parts, which had the covers open. However, there are no details on the inside unfortunately, on the cover, that is, looked like a knock off of the Tamiya actual kit part!!!! The resin used in this kit is a shame! All the small parts like hinges are all broken! I have to cut them clean and build my own in sheet styrene. Then, I put in the Aber rear engine meshes, which breaks to the touch, it being too thin! Talking about saving money on acid and metal! Way too thin. The mesh breaks and had to be glued properly in place, however, it presents a nice break from monotony.....hmmm....

We can see the hinges doing their disappearing act here. Sigh...but the Aber mesh, though too thin, looked very good above the vents...the fit of the resin wasn't too snug, so we need some serious diluted putty of Butyl Acetate (which is Tamiya Liquid Cement but in bulk...like in barrels in my workshop) and cellulose putty to build up the sides and sanded to a sheen!

The engine is not really a walk in the park. It does not centre easily and all the fuel lines had to be added, there were also missing parts in the non existing instructions (basically useless). I created them when refering to my T54/55/62 book from Verlinden.

Then, after some struggling, I managed to mask the parts that were painted primer surfacer 1000. Left to cure for 4 days to harden, then sprayed the silver parts on the block, then weather it with Vallego colours to get the metallic semi sooted rusty looks.

Then, there was a huge discussion in a flurry of emails of where the lines of the fuel are supposed to be located. Ee Keok Lye, Sgt Ee of M Workshop told me that the lines are as per his drawings below. The customer told me to follow the diagram in the Soviet Bloc Aber kit. Both have serious flaws in them. The Kit Sgt Ee followed is not too bad, quite close but the lines have to travel a short distance on the top. Aber has a serious flaw asking us to link the rear tank forward to the engine.....which is not the case.

This diagram was sent to assist me from Sgt Ee...thanks...but TEHHHHHH.....wrong....so much guessing in the model world...so, to settle the fight before someone shed blood, I scan this picture of the actual Latrun Museum and sent it out to settle the dust.......

Thank God that everything settled then!

Zaku For BAKUC 2008

2008-11-22T07:58:00.000-08:00

Many at M Con 2008 asked about my whereabouts.....well, deep in work...also, waiting for the Grant CDL to be published in Model Military International in Issue 34, namely, January 2009.

Be sure to get one copy from M Workshop or Storm, I will sign them in blood for you....not mine though.....

Well, Was hard at work trying out my new chipping technique....and I did it with my first Gundam entry into BAKUC 2008. All along, I am coaching Dominique with his Gundams using my own tank techniques. This is the first time I have taken part.....

I chose the BAKUC over the M Con, not a political issue, but the prizes are attractive....mainly for mercenary reasons...and also the gang there are a bunch of surprises....as usual, master LEON will blow us all away....with his newspaper featured SCRATCH BUILT....Sangoku Den Horse Rider.....man....talking about planning and engineering...this guy is on his own world....can match the guy from Hong Kong that took the world title last year.

Here is my entry:-

The model was modified heavily, being the first MG kit from Bandai for the Zaku, this was bought years ago when police were still running around in shorts....in a dream world S$13.00 !!!!!
I had added alot of additional armour panels and loads of bolts and nuts, some nozzles, modified the feet etc. You can tell including the front Viffing vents. The amount I spent on Wave parts are 4 times the price of the actual money my brother paid for the model....

I also decided to paint the bazuka in two tone and weather age it. The model was first painted silver, then protected, then painted black and then scapelled to get all the chips!

I also thin sprayed the torso in silver and thin coated the surface with the pink to form a metallic transparent sheen...then chip it. You can see the effects on this picture.

In this picture, you can tell the additional armour panels, the nozzles, the chips, the metal cable lines, the magazine for the gun was first painted in silver, then in grey and then polished to reveal the silver a little to make it look like wear and tear.

Here is the rear view with the modified jet packs, tail wedge armours, the 4 tone pink colour scheme are especially exciting to me, I never weathered a pink model before....so this is a first for me and my brother. I also bought 2 decal sets at Sunshine hangout for this entry!!!

This is how it looked from the front. The chipping alone took 2 weeks of 3 hours per day!! Here you can see I added handles, knobs, viffing nozzles, additional armour for the pilot, two vector thrusters on the chest and nuts and bolts for the wast armour system with I also added reactive armour system as well as the croch area where I added a turning wheel. The body is painted in 3 tones, deep pink, metallic pink and gun metal as well as the body colour.

The complete model on the base.

Grant CDL Finished Model Pictures

2008-07-10T08:38:00.003-07:00

AS PROMISED, NO MORE ARTICLE SEQUENCE, ONLY FINISHED MODEL PICS. YOU CAN CLICK AND DOWNLOAD THEM IN GOOD SIZE.

Scratched and side doors, here we see rain marks, rust washes, scratches, chips, metalised edges and faded white washes.

Stowage, some from the Legend Firefly, some from Italeri and Verlinden, some, I created them myself.

Noticed the light and how its painted over raw plastic. Technique is in my article in the MMI magazine soon.

Scratches and paint chips. The browning is not done by airbrush but with hand painting.

Spluttering Effects. Wet and dry mud and some soot from the exhaust, which is also rust treated if you turn the model upside down to look at the pipes.

Spluttering effects. Winter tank with no mud is not possible. See also oil streaks, scratches, rush washes and metalised edges along with the stowage.

Wet, Dry mud and oil spills.

Grant CDL Part 5

2008-07-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

Now, back to work on the model. The white oils are blended into the multi coloured and layered paintwork to fade out the harsh contrasts and to sort of give the paintwork some depth. The in-depth discription will be printed in the up and coming Model Military Magazine....so, buy some, and I will do some demos at ARMIE in the month of August on techniques on tracks and winter camouflages. Unlike others, admission is free.

After blending. I added some pin points of rust coloured oils. I do not use moisten turps brushes, just good sables dry to create lines. However, do let it dry for about 4 days before handling the model. Here you see the 3D tones of the paintwork and the rust etc.

Another close up on how the paint work has taken on a 3D effect. Dept and perception is heightended with lighter colours on top and slowly deepened on its way downwards to emphasis depth. It also has a semi gloss sheen, which is like painted steel. Not matt finish, which is like a white washed wall. It may look nice for Ebay, but not realistic. Can't hold a candle in Europe.

The model then recieved a pinwash to accentuate the details in the rivets. Notice the depth of the paintwork and the chipping on areas on top of the turret showing the olive green paint underneath faintly? I wanted to depict a repainted worn out paint surface.

Thre rear recieved some attention but not too much as I planned to add stowage to the rear portion.

Finally, I added the chips with my Germany triangular Kolinsky number 1 brush that I bought in Azimut in Rue de Turenne, Paris. Channet said that it was good, I bet it was!

Here is the end of part 5. Next session is only the finished model.....for those who want to know more, buy the magazine and do write to Armie for dates for live demonstrations. Chao for now.

Gundam Expo Christmas 2007

2008-07-09T06:48:00.000-07:00

The Gundam Expo is a very exciting place. I was priviledged to be sponsored to go there in Hong Kong by the local agent Shing Tai Toys.

The expo is pretty big and there were a lot of bargains to be hunted. So, everyone grab ahhhh! Very cheap, almost 40% off from everything you can see. Some below half price.

We are there to also cover the competition. Which is very intense. However, there were some very good entries, all national champions in their own rights, that went home with only a medal and a good meal plus some presents. It is based on marketing budgets and also market penetrations.

A first time we saw even entry from EU and the USA. The Expo spread over two floors. So I snapped this from on the second floor exhibit.

This is Dominique's entry. Elementary stuff, no fanfare, no weathering, only washings and shading. That is why the lazy fellow did not win anything there in the world championship!

This is a senior entry Champion from China....very good scratchbuilding, but never kena anything. Also can't blame Bandai, since most of Gundam models sold in China are knock offs. Not really a real market for Gundam.

This is a very good entry in the Senior category from the Indonesian Champion. Also, a pity he did only won 3rd prize.

This Tamiya knock offs from Korea won 2nd prize without any Gundam on it!!!!!????? Not very good for a national champ if you ask me for senior category! The Thais were better, but, never kena....puzzles me.

This guy from HONG KONG deserves to the the world champion. The scratch building is enormous. Its a robot driving a bigger robot!

The Junior World Champion, nice story, recycling. Cocky guy, very snobbish ass hole. Enlarge to see. Win already still went around the whole place telling everyone why they didn't win or lost to him. This ten year old is crappy.....I believe his dad made it!

This is the junior world second. In Urban camouflage. Fence is from some Tomy toys. All toy cars from hot wheels.

World Junior 3rd winner. Model was not even painted! Still win....so...disappointed.

Singapore 2006 World CHAMPION....see, this is what good modelling is all about! But polictics man. Shitty, but it sticks.....I hope M-Con will not be another one of those political flicks to try to commercially control the market. There is enough con jobs now in the market, it has made the hobby something of politics rather than a group of enthusiasts enjoying what they do. After 35 years in this circle, its time to bow out and to just stay simple, so that I can retain my sanity and enjoy my hobby, ebay or not, don't need that small money anyway. If one is offended, then one does not fit into the fratenity of the hobbyist, but that of a commercial mercenary in disguise.

Grant CDL Part 5

2008-06-11T09:23:00.001-07:00

Then I put in some white artist oils. This is done a little at a time in middle of wide panels to give an effect of varying the toning of the whites.

The oils are blended into the paintwork with a flat nylon brush. This is done in a circular motion on horizontal surfaces and vertically on vertical surfaces to further enhance water rain marks and streaking. I also added little greys, little blues and browns to achieve a variable toning that I liked. This will give the model an overall white look with various hues. Making it more interesting and real.

Then I introduced oils of Raw Umber and Burnt Umber using a sharp cocktail toothpick and streaking them downwards with a dry nylon flat brush. Do not use thinners for this, it will blend in with the whites that are not fully cured to form light brown, what we want is a fading rust streaking and not more blotches of variable tones!

Back of tank with the rust streaking done. Next step is to put in the rust chips with Vallejo German Camou Black and Orange wash of Andrea to accentuate rust build up around some details which I will cover later. Now, its off to Paris for me for work and to ADV Azimuth and Blast Models for some serious shopping with Eunice my wife, and when I am back, we will pick up where we left off for now. End of week 3.

Grant CDL part 4 - Weathering

2008-06-11T09:12:00.001-07:00

Next up, we are dealing with weathering the model proper. Here in the picture below, the model was give a coat of Future floor wax to seal in the paintwork and further bitmapped with white and streaked with diluted Russian Green from Vallejo. Green chipping is done with firm sponge and Russian Green.

The process is to alternate between Russian Green and white bitmap till we get what we want, a high contrast. Then the whole model was given a filter of brownish black Tamiya Enamel paint diluted with 50 parts of Tamiya Enamel Thinner to prevent uneven drying by commercial turpentine. The picture below shows the whole thing being united by the filter. One layer of filter.

Then I added the sand filter and raw umber filter using oils with Tamiya enamel thinner.

The whole model after 4 nights of filters as seen below, with one of those filters being water based Vallejo Intermediate Blue with 20 parts water, 1 drop of soap water to make it good wettability on oily surface.

Then I pin washed in the details with Raw Umber and Tamiya enamel thinners.

Grant CDL Part 3

2008-06-11T08:50:00.001-07:00

Part three of this article, which has seven parts deals with the basic paint work on the model. The whole tank was painted with a spray of Mr. Surfacer 1000 and left to cure for the night. Then I returned and given it two coats of Tamiya Olive Green diluted 50% with GAIA thinners from Japan. These I got from the Gundam shop in Sunshine Plaza from Grace, its fantastic. Coats very well and smooth. Gone are the days of powdery stuff and rough surfaces.....Tamiya paints can spray very well indeed! Not with their own acrylic thinners though, but with Gunze or GAIA of for commercial model makers, Fujikura thinners, which comes in 40 litre tins and 230 litre drums albeit, at 20% the price! For lower life forms like us, GAIA is a cheaper alternative to the others and it comes in 1 lire containers. Basically, its Fujikura.

The I filled in the white with Tamiya XF series mixed with gloss Gunze white 50:50 and diluted 3 parts paint and 7 parts GAIA thinners.

Then I drybrushed in wet blending method of Vallejo Russian Green. I drybrush it first, then wet blended it with Vallejo thinners mixed with 5 parts water to get an uneven green tint.

I emphasised the edges with dry olive green from Tamiya enamel paint series.

Then I clouded it again with the white mixture, now, its further diluted with 50% GAIA thinners to form a glaze. See the difference between the treated body from the untreated turret? Wet Vallejo Russian Green is diluted 90% with water and streaked downwards to form rain mark wearing with a flat size 5 sable brush.
Then the tank is transparent glazed with the super diluted Tamiya/Gunze white paint to seal in all the tint works and to make it fainted.

Here is another look after the glaze clouding using the airbrush to faint out the high contrast streaks.

Then I streaked the edges with undiluted Russian Green to depict serious washing out of the white wash paints used on these tanks. Circular drybrushing with Olive Green Enamels from Tamiya were given to open areas. Some parts recieved wet sponging of Vallejo Russian Green to form chips. Then I dilute Vallejo white with 80% water and 1 drop of Winsor and Newton acrylic flow enhancer and dribbled the damp brush all over the place to fade out the high contrasts and to give uneven toning to the white airbrushing. This method is described by Miguel Jimenez as "Bitmapping".

Here is the final look after bitmapping the areas with super dilute white glaze. Three coats were needed to achieve the desired effect.
All in 3 nights of 2 hour sessions. Done. Next up is the weathering....here is only the painting!

Project Grant CDL part 2

2008-06-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

The fit problems are addressed in this post. Here we can see that the grab handle was replaced with a copper wire, the joint behind it had holes, so does the top plate with the rear armoured plate. The spring housings on every single HVSS assembly has problems. So, I decided to liquid putty the whole thing to add mud to it than to waste the whole night filling them and sanding them the second night! Its gonna be a winter tank, so, mud and straw is part of the story anyway!

The rear armour plates had its edges softened with liquid cement and I used the Olfa knife to draw out the cut lines.
Here you can see the drawn cut lines clearly and also see the bad fit on the fenders as well the the tool boxes that needed some sanding. Overall, it entails less work than the Tiger 1 tracks from AFV where I sanded more than 60 parts a side to remove ejection pin holes! You can see from the picture below that the fit of the fenders are quite off!

Here we see that the gaps are filled in with putty and later sanded. I also carved chunks of plastic off the fender and smoothened them with steel wool and liquid putty them to form dents. I also drilled out two holes on one fender and counter sunk them, smoothen the part later with the same procedure with wool and putty to get bullet holes in them.

Here is a picture showing the work needed to fill up the gap in the top plate. Even the turret ring armour plate had a gap that needed a plastic card. This one, however, I cannot sand, so I push in a small piece of plasticard halfway, melt it with liquid cement and then push in slowly and flush it with liquid putty. Even the main gun mantlet joint needed attention.

The tracks needed serious attention too. Even though I bought a Fruil track for this model, I felt that its a waste to put it on since I decided to use those fenders. However, when I had fender fit problems earlier on a dry fit run, I had to fit on the fenders before putting in the tracks for easy assembly reworking. The heat and stub method as suggested in the instructions is really not working well on this model as the track needed to be slided in lengthwise then joined. For fear of damaging plastic wheels and other parts with the soldering iron, I decided to use steel wires to punture the track and hold it together by twisting it and cutting it short. This area can then be turned upwards and hidden on the top of the drive wheel assembly hidden from view by the fenders.

Here we see the wire hidden from view even when we view the model from the bottom. Satisfied.

See also the dented fenders which I discribed earlier. End of week 2.

Project Grant CDL

2008-06-11T07:38:00.001-07:00

Project began when I was visiting ADV Azimuth in Paris. I was introduced to their wide range of in house resin conversions. I bought a Russian paratrooper tank that sits 3, small size, about 1.5" long model with individual tracks taken from an old Russian kit. ADV Azimuth makes good conversion kits out of badly molded ones as a background of odds and ends. This is a good thing, so options are wide open with modelers and can allow us the luxury never before made. They are also very specialised in special subjects like this Grant Tank, which was top secret weapon before the Shermans were widely deployed. It has a large search light focused in a thin channel of light in front and it dazzles any enemy tanks like today's direct energy weapons. With its long range gun, it can outrange the Panzers 1 to 3 at that time. Its called Canal Defense Light. This turret lighthouse was deployed on obsolete Grant and Mathildas.

The basic kit I used for the project is the cheapo old Tamiya kit as the Academy one had too many parts, even though their prices are not too far off given our super profiteering local distribution chain.

However, the kit is showing its age, I have some fit problems, even though, as a whole, its still a Tamiya, not some eastern European variety, however, compared to modern Tamiya and Dragon/Trumpeter standards, its showing its past its prime.

There are no assembly problems till we get to the point of assembling the two hulls together. For the above pic, I wanted to depict the rough cast steel front, so I massaged in the usual Tamiya putty and liquid cement mixture to form the texture. I call this henceforth, liquid putty. Here the gap about 2mm wide is discovered and filled in with a 2mm plasticard from Tamiya and puttied.

From this angle taken from the rear, you can see clearly the plastic card used to fill up the gap the front glacis had with the gun manlet assembly. The front glacis was also slightly warped and needed to be pressed in place, CA glued and acelerated with a CA acelerator spray then reinforced by melting the two parts together with liquid cement. The mess was later touched up with more liquid putty.

I also used liquid putty to roughen exhaust areas that are prone to flaking and serious rusting. Here I even puttied the rear pipes, which to my dismay later, was the discovery that these are totally hidden from view when we assemble to top hull to the bottom!

The resin part that came with the kit, the barrel was molded as part of the mantlet. This has no detail on it. So I cut it off and replaced it with the kit part with had the fitting of dust mantlet cover anchors. However, the kit part was long and had to be shortened. The stub which I will explain later, is hand shaven with a sharp new Olfa blade. The front of the barrel was also bored out.

The turret was moulded as one gaint piece of resin with minor parts like grab handles molded as separate parts. These I replaced with copper wires bent with Tamiya pliers. The bottom had a round stub and was also too large for the hole in the top hull from the original turret. I decided earlier on, with my lightning quick mind, on the method to bore a larger diameter on the top hull. I constructed the circle on it, having difficulties centering it, and after two hours, abandoned it as fast as I have concieved it with the preference of cutting the stub down with a pair of side cutters! It was done in 20 minutes, a fraction of how long it took for me to construct the circle on the hull! With only 2 hours every night when I am not working late for my hobby, and only 8 hours a week, the luxury of wasting 2 hours is a pain!

The turret, with its gun sawn off needed a fix. In order to make the fit strong, I curved the barrel of the kit part to reduce part of its diameter, as depicted in the picture above, so that we will eventually have a larger surface area applied with glue to make sure that it will securely fasten to the turret. Next, I bore the mantlet area with a drill to facilitate the fixture. I chose a small 1.5mm dia drill. This is to ensure a tight fit. I trim the plastic down slowly till it squeaks on its way in. Twisting it out, I wet it with CA and squeaked the thing back it with force before it dries up! Daunting task! Phew. The recesses were filled in naturally by the superfluous CA. Then the part was sanded and liquid puttied to smoothen out everything.

Then I went on to texture the whole turret with liquid putty. I left the Besa machine gun out till the model is near completion for the fear of it breaking en route. Here you see the joint with the gun filled out with CA and liquid putty and sanded.

End of week 1 of work.

Mercedes Museum Stuttgart

2008-06-10T00:37:00.001-07:00

If you wonder what this is, you are in good company! This is a MERCEDES BENZ car.....Far out eh? More of these in this place I visited for the second time.

The entrance of the new relocated Museum. The older one is just across the road under the flyover of the left of this picture. This is the home of the internal combustion engine that gave us the industrial revolution after the steam engine, enrich the Arabs and cause climate change that will ultimately wipe out the whole world! Burning life that existed 65 million years ago brings vengeance from those that died then, to claim back this world, now at an accelerated pace. Each civilization lasted thousands of years, only the ICT modern world will last less than 20 decades!

No matter, a motorhead couldn't care less anyway

The home of the silver arrow, the one that Kimi Raikkonen drives with ease above, and the original which was sanded down to bare metal to meet the weight requirement, therefore, the acronym, Silver Arrow!

The wall of the old rich and the young at heart, about almost 100 years ago! The one in front, the red and long one, do you believe that it was a sports car coupe for 2 people in its heyday?

The old dames with the candle light head lamps in solid polished brass! At 20 km/h, it was slower than a horse carriage then, but without the pee and the pooh though! No name nor does it wander off with the daisies.

True grit, former Mille Miglar drivers are of a different breed. They wore gloves that ripped their hands a part, bleed a bucket of blood and sweat in each race, have a car that has a mind of its own, put all that together coupled with little suspension, thin tires and no power steering at 200km/h with a 16 cylinder engine inches from your feet, what have you got? Balls of steel!

This is the original love affair, the lovely and still the most sought after Merc of them all, the 300 SEL Gullwing. Even the King of Thailand has one!And the Race Gullwing, albeit, in the usual suspect, Silver colour, made famous by Fangio and the Auto Union 16.

This is a single seat Le Mans type of racer with the aero back, an inspiration to Batmobile designers in the 50s. Not the direct exhaust at the side! No doors, just hatches and losts of arm power needed to pilot this car.

The most celebrated 280 SEL with the highest mileage one can drive it before it breaks apart....1.6 million kilometers!

Is this a Lamborghini or Lotus...nope, its got a three pointed steering wheel stuck to the front of it, it must be a Merc. They make exciting models at one time in history you know! An orange one too!

The fathers of Global Climate change, Diesel, Benz and Daimler. They wouldn't have imagined their impact on the world, nor the progress of the Arabs as a result of their work, neither the millions that would die more efficiently killed due to their work of genius. Evil has never been on the minds of great engineers and inventors like them, only applicators who had sinister intents.

The early days of automotive life on the fast lane. The Car is set to change humanity and the world forever.

The simple working prototype of the internal combustion engine.

Race car of years gone by, but nothing much has changed though, we still love large pipes protruding out from the engine bay, small aerodynamic mirrors, small windscreens, wind in the hair, bugs on face and in mouth, and people cursing enroute!

More of Paris than meets tourists eyes

2008-06-09T23:42:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the original Paris Stocks Exchange? This dome was the original exchange for the Paris Bourse. Still active today, just in front of a very old World Expo days market place made of the same wrought iron construction as the Eiffel Tower. Below is the twilight time in winter, about 4pm when this photo was taken at about 9 deg C. Windy day too. Suffering shark attacks from every cavity in the dressing....still must brave on to take good pictures.

When I had the only night out the second night, it was raining, but I did not fly 12 hours to be kept in my Grand Boulevard room...so, walked to Rue Rivoli, enroute, took a nice picture of the presidential palace. Slow shutter speed, so I lean hard my EOS onto a lamp post and too this 1/15 sec shot. Wet, wet, everywhere, even the camera was wet, had to hair dryer it back in my room.

Crossing the bridge over Rivoli, behind me is the Notre Dame and the building has my favourite coffee joint, I drink coffee here everytime I go to Paris, now, my 16th trip. Trick is, stand at the counter or bar, it cost 1.90 Euros, if you sit inside, it costs 2.60 and if you sit outside, it cost even more insanity for the albeit same cuppa....really no need to find out.

The old Parisian iron market. It has long been closed, but the structure is retained and is now a public park with lots of water fountains and of course bird droppings and inconsiderate dog pooh! Big Dalmatian and Great Dane variety is not rare here, on pile could weigh in easily more than a pound.

I take a lot of pictures of the Notre Dame, a work of architectural excellence even though it was build by hand, stones hewned from the mountains are brought to bear with artists working out the intricate details. Even though it has little resemblem to God, much of what is on it is mythology and satanic symbols, however, it still looked great from the stand point of man's creativity, not from God's stand point though.

For this shot, I ran across the bridge since the sun was heading up onto the eastern side. I like the low angle shadows of the early morning sun and the dark foreground shade. This shot is one of my fave.

French Castle Amboise

2008-05-06T03:05:00.000-07:00

I must say that driving to Tours is not a real breeze, however, we were soon greeted by this sight from the windscreen. If it had not been for the guide, I would have missed this abode for many of the French kings. It is a man made mountain and fortress. Amboise is its maiden name till today. On the TV watching the Tour De France, this place looked spectacular from the air, but little did I anticipate the air of excitement this place looms ahead of me till I reached out for the door and took in the view at surroundings and smelt the whimph of fresh spring blossom in this place.

At first glance, it did not look spectacular, nor does it look like a castle of any kind that we are familiar with. Till we turn off the A10 and inche towards its foot hills via a small off the beaten track type of cobble stoned trail for horse carriages. However, on entering pass the first row of shop houses that date back to the forteen century, the whole scene opened up to a wide expense.

This is the view from the A10, turn right into the corner now blocked by this Lavendar bush. And we will find a road with lots of payment carpark lots with the tiger machines on the sidewalks and a whole host of other "parang welding" shops!

Looking to the left from the place I took the Lavendar bush above, is this 8 arch bridge that marked the important river of Loire Valley, the river Loire of course.

Now, as I moved the van through this tight streets, I was astonished at the amount of people here. It looked deserted from the river bank! Streets here are extremely narrow and with iron bollards on the sides, one must not get too excited when met with an oncoming car, there is no going forward or backwards, only 1 lane! Someone has to give......being a die hard driver, it ain't gonna be me bro!

Finally, after much manuovre, I am out of the place and parked illegally! See, the white van. Some guy horned very loudly, so I went to shift the van into some spot when I saw the white lexus in the foreground moving off! Hahaha....just my day, praise the Lord!!!!!!

Getting off the van, I saw this nice cafe with all the front facade out grown with nice creepers. Very nice eh?

Went over to buy the tickets to enter. Can't figure where the rest went after I ran off to take this shot of the corner tower which is near the main entrance! Frantic, I ran like my tail was on fire, after all, the keys to the van was taken by the guide that we hired and I am 200 km from Paris where all my luggage was left....not a very nice place to get marooned!

Finally, found them at this entrance. Shouted for Hans and he came back with the ticket! I was about to be locked out after driving 200 km to Tours!

This is how it looked like on its way in. This is how the people of old, on horse backs rode into. Imagine from the scale of things, the thickness of this fortress!

The hallway where horses rode through spirally up to the main abode itself on top. This whole castle was carved out of the mountain or it was built with a 500 mega ton land fill! There is a story I was told in this hallway, one of the kings that rebuilt this place, Charles VIII, on eve of palm sunday, 1498, rode down this hallway with his queen after rebuilding this place in which he was born in 1470, after it lied in ruins resulting from war with Italy, at then, just 28 years of age, he hit his head on one of the lintel of his doorway on his way to bring the queen to watch players of tennis on the plains. The hallway was a filthy passage way, used as a lavatory, to the Hacquelebac gallery, then he fell ill, lost consiousness and died nine hours later on the straw mattress in the TOILET! Nobody dared to move him! KING DIED IN THE TOILET! ALAMAK! So the made a memorial GARGOGLE...or GARGLE...or GARRRR...oh, never mind, he still gargling his mouth till today with his hand over his forehead shouting ALAMAK.....KEPALA SAKIT LAH! See his expression?

Once out of the passage way, the thing opened up to a nice roof top garden...only 100 ft from the ground level.....it would have taken millions of man hours to do this landfill!

The rooms of the kings. Enjoy.....life, but never bath...I was told they were told water would be a vehicle of the devil to drown them, so, they usually towel themselves, and only bath once a year! The talcum and parfum themselves....that is the invention of the perfumes....the French and the English don't bathe! That is the truth!

Many of the royal family, to keep their blood "pure", they married their siblings. As a result, retarded and genetically deformed descendents appeared in succession! The piano is only symbolic, I am sure, not many who once lived here has enough intel to tell their toes from their elbows. They still don't nowadays. Airbus going bust, with thousands of jobs at stake, billions in the red, they protest to support some slave driving monks without understanding the underlying issues and risk China cancelling billions of orders, their largest on their books! Germany got it right this time! Don't do someone elses destabilisational efforts and pay the price for it. That is why BMW, Mercedes, EADS, Volkswagen, still tops in CHING CHONG LAND WHERE my dad came from! Kudos to the wise. With crackdown of their own in France on immigrants and youths just barely a ficker of time away, they want to tell the most powerful industrial power in Asia and 20% of the earth how to run their own country while Paris now soon becoming one of the most unfriendly cities on earth, with law enforcement issues, immigrant issues, employment issue, taxation issues, infrastructure overloading issues and with people turning right from the 4th lane on the left issues! Sometimes, I really wished they would not be accessory to a murder someone else plotted, simpletons with little deep perception, an education system gone really wrong, people easily hypnotised by lying media and manipulated by a force less saintly. French people are nice folks, sans those living in the capital city. Having been here 16 times over the last 20 years. I take pity on those scenes I see of protests, imported talents funded by seditious foreign elements seeking to control Asia's rise, inevitably, futile. Asia, the place where most of the world's best educate live, is a giant awaken, and never to be put to sleep again!

Back to the tour lah....long winded and self opinionated. Anyway, from the top garden, we see the carpark below. See how narrow the street was?

From the corner nearest to the river, I took this shot of the land fill top. Look at the cars below and you can appreciate how mammoth this construction must have been!

This is the Leonardo Da Vinci Chapel. Built by the king to invite the foreign talent to leave the ITALIANS and embrace the FRENCH.....they were at war with each other! But the chap rarely came! Busy on his back painting and making hot air balloons!
The entrance of the small chapel built for Da Vinci to have his devotionals.

Bust of Da Vinci and the BURST OF NORM'S TUMMY.....bursting at the seams, okay, okay....I have lost 6 kgs since then ok???? See, the guy in white, he is fatter than me ok, laugh at him, dead men don't bite!
Secret weapon of Da Vinci, world's first tank, problem is, the cannots generate so much smoke, the guy inside cannot breathe! Anyway, prototype and proof of concept!

The Armoury, corner building, furthest from the living quarters for obvious reasons.

The entrance to the living quarters. This is the top floor some many. The thing spans out and pans to many rooms and floors below this protective land fill, almost like living in a carved out mountain.

View of the number of floors of living space carved out to the sides. Shot was taken from the extreme far end tower from the entrance.

View from the Armoury Tower.

Another view of the main living quarters on the roof top.
Front view of the main living quarters with tea table in the garden.

Far view of the armoury tower

Some glimpse into new seaplane project

2008-05-05T03:05:00.001-07:00

Well Guys, its been sometime since a model appeared in these pages....well, I am back...only for a while, with Ascendent and FRAL companies opening up in Johannesburg, Lopburi, Fort Lauderdale and Singapore, its tough to have anytime for anything called hobby. To business partners, its maddening, but God has given us life to enjoy with length of days and long life to show us His salvation.

Well, the last bout on the Kyofu, somehow, DVD went missing at Tamiya Magazine, so I have to make a completely new seaplane along the lines of the same Zinc Chromate, Ferric Oxide primers and followed by dark IJN green and highlight it with Russian Green.

With this in mind, the model is first sprayed with Gunze Silver. Never use the metaliser, I made the mistake, and after 3 days I find myself staring at blank plastic and have to repaint the whole thing again! Use regular silver, Clear coat it in Pledge Future. Next the ZC layer, which I used a mixture of some Russian Green, Desert Yellow and white. Then I sprayed on the Fe2O3 with Ferrari red mixed with some orange and hull red.

For the tops, I can use the dark IJN green as the shadow, for the RLM lower parts, I have no choice but to spray preshades of IJN green on the panel lines before I build up my RLM Grey Blue.

This is a result of very much patience and the unnerving exercise that follows it with the rubbing it away with JIF rubbing compound!!!!!

Here we find the top fully coated with IJN Green and highlighted with Russian Green. Then comes the unnerving part!

Here is the bottom now with the leading edges already put in, the Catapillar yellow band.

The results of 2 hours of soft and water soaked rubbing....we get a 4 multi coloured won out float system of the Aichi Seiran. Remember to rub in the direction of the water and airflow in order not to make it look like a clown!

Here is how it looked like on the top surface of the flatation tank. Note the ZC and Fe2O3 showing through the paint and the deepest recess is silver?

And Finally, ready for the cockpit canopies and the wires for the antenna! Opps, forgotten to paint the props!~ needed it in Silver, Red and Hull Red. Rubbed of course. The canopies are painted white, then masked and painted green, then rubbed down with a stick blunted out so that it has an uneven painted look with a white lining, showing that it is oxidised aluminium. Also, some fogging of the canopy is welcomed even though I removed some fogging with Future to make the cockpit more apparent.

I switched the pitot tube with a telescopic metal variety which I scratched. See I even never let the decal off the hook. Since the Hiromaru is painted red on white, the rubbing it down shows a good effect.

Happy????? Now that I have done up another seaplane?

More Pics of Paris

2008-04-27T10:18:00.001-07:00

Paris, another few sets of photos I have taken. As low a commentary as possible, since most people know about Paris anyway. So, enjoy the pictures.

Norman

Well, hope you liked some of these unretouched photos.....appreciate the Arc D' Triumph please, I think I waited for a long time to get the twilight shots, compared to the earlier ones which I uploaded, these taken in 2001 with a small Olumpus semi pro with a tripod are actually quite good.

CHAMBORG - Loire Valley France

2008-04-27T09:04:00.001-07:00

Chambourg, this hunting castle built by Loius XIV is a love hate affair. It was used largely only 8 days a year for hunting where the King will arrive with his entourage of up to 200 men and 300 dogs of the beagle and bloodhound varieties, to empty the whole forest of almost 23 square kilometers of deers. While this is going on, others chopped down fire wood to fire up its 14 fire places to warm the cold castle up and others cook. This is while the whole country was living in poverty and in exile after the ancestorial kings of England forgotten their ties in the 12th Century where Richard the Lionheart was born of a French queen.

This is one castle designed during the Renaissance Period and with nice touches from the famed Italian multi talented man, Leonardo Da Vinci.

This is my favourite and I have longed for years to go there. Finally, with one of my trips to Paris, I have an opportunity, with 2 days free time to skip the Friday flight and to save a thousand dollars in ticket difference....yes...SIA charges up to 1100 dollars difference on the same flight if you fly a different day! So I joined a tour to the Liore Valley to visit 3 great castles out of the 66 there. Chamborg was the one that I really had read up about and was really looking forward to it. So I signed up for the tour for about 250 Euros and the bus was there to pick me up at Galleries Lafayette at 7 in the morning. It was a long ride, 2 hours out of the crazy traffic of Paris, then another hour later, we reached Tours, then hit to Chamborg just about lunch time.

The van had 8 tourists, was parked quite a distance a way, and the suspense builds as I was walking pass the shops and finally, the majestic piece of architecture looms in the distance! Being a photo bug, I got my spanking new EOS then and snapped away. Got 2 batts fully charged just to make sure. However, the fog was a great dampener of my spirits. No matter, shoot away!

Once out of the woods and hedge grows, the view opens up. I was aggaged, being a Chateau and Schloss freak......I snapped this shot with the two mounties who weren't happy that some ching chong took a shot of them, waved me over and warned me with a stern tone of whatever it was....don't give a hoot....Been to France 16 times, still don't give a hoot about their forsaken lingua.

Then I gave the innocent shrug, which works most of the time, gestured for them to take a picture back for revenge.....this was how this photo was taken, by the mountie! Not a bad composition, I must say. The photo was grossly under exposed as the chap did not understand compensation exposures, so, I have to do a lot of touching up. Plus, with all the excitement, I left my tunic folded and my white shirt below was showing.....so, after some touching up....wallah....here it looked the final pic.

The whole tour went into the castle by the right hand side, while the photo bug went left 200m outfield to have this shot taken. I then ran back to try to catch up with the tour and ticket into the chateau. Then the whole lot of explanation by the guide, who was himself quite a chateau and schloss lover himself, was most informative. He pours out volumes of history of the castle and the few designers, the years, the activities, what happened in WW1 and 2 where it was used as a storage and look out, where the Nazis preserved it for the love of its sheer beauty.

While running to try to catch up with the tour group, which you can see from the right corner of this picture, I stopped for 5 seconds for this shot, then ran like a mad goose again, panting as I go in the cold!

Then, I cannot resist, I took another shot a I got closer to the castle. This one showed that the windows and the whole structure was designed mainly for elegance and can never hold up to any attacks at all givens its large and easily assessible windows and wooden doors. Despite its non performance as a protection hole, its still easily one of the most loved. At least by me.

At the western gate, I took the shot of this corner tower. The main building has 4 large corner towers, about 15m diameter rooms inside. The two sides are long and large rows of administrative buildings.

This view shows the little protection provided by a deep Fjord surrounding the whole structure. However, bearing in mind, when this was built, firearms were already the order of the day, won't make a difference anyway compared with Medieval designs.

Once inside the side walls which contained the administration rooms, there we can find the rear of the main block with a large courtyard. There are two spiral staircases designed by Leonardo Da Vinci here. I was told that the guy going up the stair well and the chap coming down will never meet so as to facilitate fast movement of troops during insurgency periods. I tried it out, marked it with a plastic bag tied to one of the railings....its true, on my way down, I do not see it! Uncannily clever!

This is the rear view of the front facade block. It has the round about gravel layout for carriages to move and alight their party attending passengers.

Climbing up to the top of this block, there was an alleyway on the top floor before the steeples started, here was the balcony, I can imagine, where the king plus his yes men would have stood to behold the actions below.

Here is how it looked like close up on whose coming to the party from the alley way on top.

The rear of the front facade block also had an alleyway balcony where the king can see who is alighting in the courtyard round about below.

The front Balcony of the front facade block where there are 4 semi circular blocks of rooms holding up huge dinning and dance halls.

One of the corner room blocks that did not blend it nor seemed connected to the rest of the castle. Looked more like a chapel or something. It was off limits, so the tour did not visit it. I can imagine, this incest committing royal family of genetically degenerated people, having the last thing on their mind was the fear of God.

This was one of the two stair wells that Da Vinci designed, which I tried. The view in between the spiral is this skylight that light up part of the whole stairwell so that soldiers have a clear view of where they are heading. Seen here on the ground floor, in this photo below which I took a shot of it upwards.

This Chateau also has a high number of fireplaces, which I think if I did not remember wrongly, something like 14 places for the King and some others for the rest of the crew. The castle is normally bear and used 8 days of the year only for hunting. The entourage will bring along everything, including furniture! The rest of the time, the castle is empty! Here is one of those fireplaces used by the king.

Another fireplace and room used by the king.

This is the Armoury Room where armour and weapons are brought here and stored during the week long hunting trip and emptied out when the King returns to Amboise.

This is the King's chambers, during the hunt, which is normally near winter, they people will heat up hot pans in the fireplace and put such plates below the bed to heat it up so that the deformed kid can sleep. However, can you imagine that when the hunt ends, all this carpet, upholstery the bed and frames are packed and shipped back to the palace at Amboise about 100km west of this place. No wonder the farmers wanted to chop of his head!

The Queen gets a piece of the action too. They bring the mirror the consoles, the beds etc, but she does not get to have a nice carpet from Persia though.

Guest room where the deers are served after the hunt as venison, the anters are hung in the trophy room and the meat are salted in barrels as jerkies to be brought back to Amboise.

Disneyland 50th Anniversary

2008-04-27T07:15:00.001-07:00

Going to Anaheim California is anything to go by without dropping by Disneyland. I have been here in LA and Anaheim in a few occassions in times past, but this is 2005, Disneyland's 50th anniversary, should never miss it for anything!Here we see the golden Mickey sovenir statues...everything here is about golden Mickey. Even at 50 years, Mickey is anything but old. The people arrive here by the tens of thousands everyday for this event!

Going through the gate is one big security affair. There were numerous tents built with armed security guards ramaging through your bags even though the signs and music were endearing, the overweight profiling guards aren't. They seemed to hate everything asian though....no matter...we are conquering the world by sheer size anyway.

Something I like about California, it is made up of overweight people who are largely too heavy for their own knees to carry them! I feel really slim here! Even though back home, my girl calls me a fat ass. The amount of people disabled here by their own gluttony is really appalling. This is next to Australia, whom I have been to on several occassions, a land of conmen and fat asses....well, I have been conned twice and all the people that I know that lived there had been conned before. It seemed that it may be in their genes or something, I am not sure if that has got to do with their limited economic prowess and the ability to connect to the real world economy. Sometimes I find it strange that a country with a population of Bangkok and Phuket put together talks like they want to lead the whole earth with an outdated airforce and small navy of largely antiquated vessels and with an army with no ability to project its power due to proximity. Sometimes, it is amazing how a land can be filled with people living in denial! Well, this is my own opinion.

Arriving here in fun wonderland makes a 40 year old feels 4 again. Small touches like this Pinochio sign goes a long way to stir imaginations even if it was the door of a toilet! It still looked great!

Disneyland cannot sustain its high overheads without other sources of income other than sovenirs and tickets. They created Downtown Disney and rented out the premises to many vendors and F&B outlets. See here is the Build A Bear Factory. There are others. Lego etc, which I will upload in a separate time. They also have a second theme park, two here in Anaheim, 3 in Tokyo, to keep people coming back. For those who think that they are overgrown ups, they can head sideways to the park next door called Disney Californian Adventure.

Arriving here is an affair of choice, there are many that took to drive and walk for miles to get there, there are others from Korea and Japan that took to arriving in style from limousine services to luxury coaches to stay in the nice hotel that they have been checked into to spend a night or two to savour the adventure, the fun and the shopping/dining experience.

The hotel is tip top. This is one view to take home to for to remember for a lifetime, the check in counter looks medievel!

Lighting is by a skylight and lots of overhanging candelabra and chanderliers. Reminscent of times past where butlers light the candles with 20 foot poles.
There are ample sitting areas while we wait to check in at a huge reading and resting area and a giant fireplace. Here you can see me, David and Paul. Enroute to Safariland of Armor Holdings to demonstrate some technology.

There are also some interesting dioramas on display like this one, which sits on about 10 square meters of table top space!

For the 50th Anniversay, there were many performances in the streets, even through Downtown Disney. Here, outside of the Savanna, animal handlers show the prowess of birds and small mammals and photo opportunity is aplenty.

Here we see theme shops with their nice sculptures to promote the various themes that marked the main merchandise of the outlet. Here we see the Simba and Tarzan theme shop.

Donald and the general 50s to 70s themes.

Kerbie, the revival of an old flame, a new movie then in 2005. Here I am with Kirby, carrying expensive 50th anniversay T shirts of the kids back home. Well, I was 10kg lighter then!

Here we see another theme, the fantasyland of Arabian Nights and Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinochio.

They even have Captain hook sticking out his infamous body part replacement with a trapped Tinkerbell in a candle holder, or this wicked and crooked hand of the Queen Mother with the famed toxin loaded apple for Snow White.

Then, there are also plenty of Golden Mickeys everywhere, this rendition is a 7 footer with Minnie in metallic finish.

This is the Disney's walk of fame. People pay and donate money to keep the park alive. There were some tiles that dated back to the 50s from here. I took some pictures of them and here is one of them.

Disneyland never cease to fascinate me. I first went to EuroDisney with Eunice, my wife back in 1993, then 3 times to Tokyo Disney, two more times to Paris Disney Park, once with my son Dominique to HongKong Disneyland, the smallest, and here, my second trip to the original Disneyland Anaheim. Still I am gonna come back for more!

Arc De Triumphe

2008-04-08T02:18:00.001-07:00

Leaving the Arc De La Defense, I proceeded to the Arc De Triumphe, why? The last time I took pictures of this Arc was in 2002. Then, I had 2 pieces of 128MB Smart Media cards that needed to be cleared out. So I went to the photo shop and burn them into CDs and carry on shooting......as with all things French, if it doesn't break down or have a glitch in the design, then its a fake. As with all things French, the CD was Kaput! So, we are back on square one again.Leaving the Grande Arc, I took this one last shot sitting on the road! 50 secs exposure. Glad that it worked out. Had glare on these photos as I was lazy to bring the lens hood, so, end up 4 hours of photoshop retouching! Phew....here they are.

Talking about walking into the sunset, isn't this scene beautiful? I am really happy that I made this trip. Was thinking of sleeping out the night because of the rain the in the afternoon and the cold. well, it is results like this that made the trip well worth it.

Near the Arc, there are a lot of exits from the Metro at Etoile. There is no telling even though its my 4th time here. Anyway, found this nice mansion, so might as well take a few shots.

Arc at the bend, here at this round about, its suicide. In the photo session that I was here, I had a funny feeling, with 5 rows of chaos, some accident was gonna happen and it did! 1 lady driving like a maniac in a Renault Clio Rear ended a Avantime! Rip off her own mirror and remodeled the rear right fender of the luxury sedan! Then there was a Skoda taxi that whacked another Renault Laguna! Average, I do not forsee anything less than 30 accidents on this spot, its lawless, everytime I drive here, I let people horn the hell out of themselves but never allow myself to be pressured to take risks. Normally takes 2 minutes to get to the right turning, then you are safe, especially if you can follow a truck or bus!

Arch top details at close up, 75mm. The battle scenes up there is like the battle scene next to me as 4 bus loads of Ano Nehs off loaded and jostled for camera positions. All trying to flash their way to oblivion but none with a tripod, so, I must have the best photos amongst the mayhem!

Slipped across Champs Elysee, grabbed 6 shots at different temperatures and times and chose this one.

Crossed over another 2 streets to take this shot of a out going corning to try to capture the car lights filtering into the mayhem. I was almost at prone position in order to grab this shot, sat on the floor on my Hugo Boss Pants! My wife will kill me if she found out! Doing it twice in a night on dusty ground after the rain and complete black must be mindless. But all photographers will risk their skins for a good shot. That is why its called a photo bug!

The finer details from that angle, now standing up and allowing to capture the Eiffel at the background. Too bad, the lighthouse isn't on the Eiffel that night. I hear that the Olympic chaos gonna happen the next morning and there was a huge Tibetan flag hanging on the tower that night! Good thing not there, otherwise, they would have mistaken me for a US funded dissident.

Finally, just to prove that I was there and the chap taking the photos.

Arc De La Defense Paris

2008-04-08T00:29:00.001-07:00

The Arc De La Defense is one of those monuments that are frequently not photographed when people visit Paris, which is a pity. It is a nice building however, the most pretty sights of it are best taken at about 9pm at night when the skies turned blue.

The only set back about this place, where we know, Paris lags behind in tourism planning, is the view of it from the top at night. However, the arc is closed at night, don't know who came up with such rules, he ought to be shot. Well, as we are all familiar with, Europeans are predominantly preoccuppied with themselves and the human rights issue. Having domestic problems which are a direct result of the lack of the rule of law due to social disintegration caused by irresponsible few individuals in the name of human dignity....sigh...

No matter, this the reason why I braved howling winds, and 6 deg C temperature and the big grave yard in the back ground to take some of the best night photos I have taken of Paris in the last decade. They are user friendly to download for royalty free use provided not being used for commercial exploitations. However, if highres versions are needed, do drop me a line.

The counters are opened, but no attendants are there. When I approached the guard, he says come back next day, they close at 1900hrs. Then he carried on reading his newspapers. You know, some of the most nasty people I have met on the planet are in Paris, particularly the north African immigrants. They behaved like the whole world owes them a living....it can be a result of tribe culture or their flight has forged such rough attitudes. Its most appalling. I have seen them and young east europeans squeeze through me in the train stations exploiting my paying the ticket so that they can enter free and squeeze the paying customer ou without the sense of human decency. Urinating in public against the walls in train stations and sleeping on chairs meant for commuters. If you can live with these, then you can probably look forward to navigating through the streets of dog pooh like mine fields, pigeon droppings everytime you go under a tree, or people turning left from the 4th lane on the right causing traffic jams. After 15 trips here in the past 20 years, I can observe Paris' rate od rapid deterioration, its sad, the city of love is now no more than a city of run down slump at most quarters due to lack of public funds and over taxed social schemes running the once mighty nation to the brink of bankruptcy if it has not already happened.

This is a picture of the grand arc that is a war monument remembering the people who died in the Nazi occupation.

The expensive Renaissance Hotel, this part of town is the financial nerve centre of the country, money slosh through here by the billions each day. You find the Societe Generale, KPMG, Ernst and Young all here.

The back of the Society Generale building fronted by the extension of the hotel that looked like the Grande Arc itself. The housing in the background has a nice three tone French Airforce camouflage painted on it.

France is a rugby nation, the only non commonwealth country that has a passion for this rough "gentleman" game. On the left of this photo, we see the dark portion, which is a road under construction, on the right, is the grave yard which the Arc is supposed to overlook. While the people play rugby after work.

The reverse angle, we look back at the arc from the platform some 30 ft suspended wooden planks and seeing the financial city on the left. It may look calm here, but the wind was howling and there are people with no regards for your photography, running across and shaking the planks. Most shots in this collection is a result of more than 100 shots, mostly taken repeatedly due to such inconsiderations causing the photos to blur out. As the light conditions were low, mostly were shot out of ISO400 at F22 over long exposures of 30 secs and above.

The Renaissance Hotel and its Grand Arc looking wing. The back portion is curved making this a very beautiful architecture looking like a bow from the air.

The Grande Arc at the end of the floating platform. Its really cold here. This shot is the 5th and the most successful one as there was a jogger and two couples and a police patrol that shook the floating platform on the previous shots, given its 400m distance from the arc and a wide 17mm angle shot, it blurred the small details of the buildings. One look at the photo closely you can tell what is amiss, the graffiti, people who are no longer social become animals. I am glad that I live in Singapore where this is not so wide spread, however, with some smaller racial groups, they are responsible for many of such crimes to society, same here, Paris is not France, its just another city of a population gone awry by preoccupation with self.

The apartment building with the camouflage paint scheme I mentioned about above.

This is the KPMG building. The sculpture in front shows a man with his head hollowed out and some square paper clip looking things on his right cheek and throat, maybe it meant, decent man, gagged by office politics and backmailed by administration and brains sucked dry by the system!

Just to prove that I am the one who took the pictures, here is me in fat gear subdermal and optidermally! Haha! Got one, a pull over, a singlet, a T shirt and a woolie! Still cold due to wind chill factor. See the two smoochers, they are one of the 4 people who destroyed 4 of my shots from this angle. The one that I mentioned above.

Dresden 888 Anniversary

2008-03-26T17:48:00.001-07:00

Of all the cities in Germany I visited, Stuttgart, Strasborg (French Border), Sindelfingen, Burg, Leipzig, Bonn, Koln, Dusseldorf, Wolfsburg, Hannover, Frankfurt, Damstadt, Waldolf, Nassau, Munster, Wuppertal.....Dresden is one of the most interesting place after Berlin. Given a high contrast of architecture styles...Gothic, Renaissances, Industrial, Communists, modern all rolled into one small city.

Here is an example where you can see the lay out of our hotel in the suburbs of the city. Ultra modern.

Then we cross over the river, not sure if that is the Rhine. We see a completely different picture. However, the streets of Dresden are still having the reminiscence of the harshness of communism for the 4 decades of neglect. Tram lines are still operational but little care was given to the cobble stones and other ammenities like street lighting and junction lights. So, we arrived at the time of the big clean up. Dresden was like Paris at the height of its glory and 40 over years of coal pollution has turned the city into a place of black limestones. As you will be able see as you venture through this article, there are evidence of restoration.

City square centre where building are being cleaned up, by now, in 2008, it should be sparkling clean! City Hall building as a long street behind it where a long painting was done in old wood block printing style in black and white with the borders in yellow. It tells some daily operations in the life of the hall in times past. Interesting! See the two pics below. Click on them to download bigger pics.

Across the long multi span archer bridge, I took some pictures resting my EOS on the limestones. Here is how one looked at night!

Town halls are well lit at night, however, some of the coal stains are showing to await cleaning. Pity.
In this picture below you find the tram lines. I took the two pictures below from the bridge across the river that is about 30m wide and 200m long. Its almost midnight and the city centre is still abuzz with activity.

The view from Second Street behind the main facet facing the river. Street lighting used to the oil lamp but retained and wired for amber high discharge lamps which gives the city a beautiful hue. However, some buildings are given white Argon type HID. Colder look but the natural paintings display their colours. You find such an instance from the picture below.

Same building from the 3rd street from the river bank

Building adjacent to the Opera Theatre had a long string of offices but interestingly, the statue in front seemed to be the French Hero Joan d' Arc?

There is another metal bridge nearby that crosses the river that leads to a small mountain where the super rich lives. Here we also find some model train shops. They even have a tram system up the mount which looked like a cable car. See the pictures below the bridge and you know what I mean.

The other type of building in Dresden were Communist origin, can note their posture on those murals. Like this Theatre/sports hall.

Then there is the Renaissances type of building typifying the best of German artistic expression in construction like this one below.

The usual man powered taxis that sits 2. Never gotten down to asking the fare, not here, not in Berlin though! Must be one that one will maim a Kiam Ku Singaporean.

The streets behind the city hall facet is abuzz with pubs and retail outlets and numerous cafes and eateries too. Mainly Touristy type.

The Most exciting must be this place where Martin Luther and Guttenburg gave the bible back to the commoners printing them in huge quantities in Geneva and giving the word back to the people. His doctrine is all together pure, but what he did turned the tide against institutionalized religion, setting countless people free from the bondage of Rome. My kind of hero. To change the world, all God needs is only one man that will go with Him!

The building was bombed out in WW2 and flood took the rest of it. This is built at the site where the original building stood. You can see me with the Hero below.

Interestingly, horse carriages still ply the streets coming out from this place, never found out what it was.

Here we see the result of decades of coal burning. We can observe that they are staring to clean up, notice the yellow lime stones showing from the top of the building. They use chemical loaded high pressure water jets to dissolve the soot! Must have taken months to clean one building!

View from the City Hall front Veranda. We illegally parked the car below this building and disappeared for 2 hours taking pictures and eating Nutella Crepes!City Square, the Opera Theatre is behind me, here the cobblestones are relaid to retain the look of the city centre. Bad for tires though!

Then we headed out to the outskirts where I knew the place where the VW Phaeton was first show cased. This is a privately owned and maintained SCHLOSS! It has a river running alongside and a good 1km driveway in a two way carriage way lined with Maple and a garden in the middle to boot! The photo below is arriving at the left wing, it has 3 round abouts for carriages. The building in the middle is the dining hall of this very rich feudal lord of times past.

This is the right wind building below.

View from the left edge of the central roundabout for carriages showing the dining hall and the right wind building. There are a few other buildings behind the front reception area which is also the dining and entertainment arena.

This land mark lamp sculpture marks the 500m mark of the 1km drive way in. Picture taken from the centre garden. Left is the way in for 2 carriages to ride side by side, the right is the way out, symmetrical.

The one way carriage way for two carriages to ride side by side lined with trees of the first portion, the second portion is lines with maple trees.

Me in the middle for sense of scale.

Halfway point garden landmark

Right wing building, now an art gallery for rental for functions.

Then Finally, we went to the famous Volkswagen Glass Factory which had less than 10% workforce on as the people went for their famous month long summer holidays. Then, the home of the Bentley and Phaeton still looked good and prestigious.

Here you find the same glass parking towers of completed cars for delivery. If you order your Bentley or the Phaeton, you can visit the factory by appointment and see your car being build on grease free wooden floors. It was said that the flooring alone was about 200 million Euros!

As with all VW factories, it must have close proximity eating places to cater for management, crew and customers who visit the factory. After all, its Germany's national car company, a public icon.

Old Diorama

2008-03-25T01:53:00.001-07:00

It all started with this Diorama 2 years ago where I painted and built it within a rush time of 9 days for the First Tamiya competition. My return to model making after 15 years of break. That opened the way for me to enter into the hobby again. It was a scene where the French brokered the peace deal in the early eighties in Lebanon.

The Merkava was one I built in 1982 and weathered it all over again. The figures are Verlinden, Dragon, Tamiya and Academy.

House was Verlinden clay type I bought from Mok from Orchard Store in 1981 for $11.90 then. Which was huge money for plaster of paris parts.

Foreign Legionnaire is from Dragon kit. Arab is from Verlinden.

Stowage from scratchbuilt and Italarei.

Interlocking stones mat from Tamiya, the 106 gun is from AFV.

Table is from Sylvania House. Table cloth and curtains made of lead sheets. Stones and reinforced concrete made from epoxy putty and wires.

yawning tank crew is from Academy

RPG gunner from Dragon set modified

Tank Commander is from Verlinden

This tank commander is from Tamiya kit original

Stone driver is from Academy kit

Won one of the prizes, lost to the one with the Molotov cocktail of a scene in Iraq with the Japanese crew. Only thing, the guys there are Mujaheedin, which are Afghans not Iraqis.....so much for arm chair warrior accuracy....sometimes you lose because you are not a brother. That is why this year we boycott it. Call it sour grapes whatever, if you do not uphold justice and good standards, the competition will lose meaning, quality and lastly profitability.

Time For Modellers again

2008-03-25T01:13:00.000-07:00

Its been brought to my notice that the blog needs to get back to Model Making.....Okay, okay....On this trip, I came across a town in East Germany that had very old buildings and running on cobble stones. Its BURG.

You see here the cobble stones? The Medieval times steeples of an old church, survived the war, had some bullet holes in its walls still. Probably from the battles fought with the Ruskies.

Typical road round about and a road sign of stone in times past, her Panthers, Tigers met T28s and T34s. That is why some buildings are new, built during the soviet days.

Another old Medieval church, Gothic architecture for the diorama buffs. Make sure you see the green moss, from times of flooding and also different stone and brick tones.

This is what it would have looked like when new, bright orange in colour, so some dioramas should have new buildings too to make them more authentic.

Some pre-war old shop houses. This is typical of Germany. Especially those who wants action in the years 44 end to 45.

Old cobble stone roads. These are very different from the disorganised ones you will find in France or Italy. These were organised in a pattern. Germans are different from the rest of Europe. They pride themselves in hardwork and quality.

Here you can see the old meeting the new/ Cobble stones have various tones and the pavement sides are not as high as we all thought them to be, these are not Singapore pavements which punish old people, here, cars drive and knock down old people if desired! Hahaha! Maybe, in Germany, not so many CHEW CHENG Foreign Talent drivers! Kill someone then run away, how convenient.

Pre War buildings. See the slope and how they built their foundations? I saw a documentary once on a sherman sliding down the slope and knocking into soldiers and tanks in snow on cobble stone streets like these.

Typical Pre war fountain for drinking water. These you can get and paint those by Verlinden or Italarei. Note the slope and how the construction of the foundation is done to level out the slope! Details ....details bros....this year, I boycott the Tamiya competition because of crap judging. So, concentrate on own collection and magazine articles and promoting the hobby amongst the young and training my son to be one of the top model makers if he can be one. Basically, a kick ass modeller!

Rail and tram tracks, typical for WWII scenics. Make sure you see how they organise it.

Berlin Part 3 - 2006 World cup fever

2008-03-25T00:11:00.001-07:00

I visited Berlin in 2006 and visited the company that I just left, VW. It was a memorable trip as I embarked on this invention trip that made me a globetrotter over night. Sometimes I regretted it due to lack of resources, others, exhilarating due to high adventure of new discoveries.

Berlin Tower in the shape of a Football or FUSSBALL

To get to the exciting parts, you have to master the art of being an asshole and park in the carpark in the middle of the road and pretend that you are a construction worker. With our Touareg, there is little problem with that. Meaning, the asshole part!

This is where we parked, quite smart eh? Don't know and we don't care, just chuck and siam quickly. Simple! Ugly Singaporeans in action. Got enough practice from the Ponggol Nasi Lemak stall adventures training for 5 years, we can disappear and reappear quickly!

It was said once that the new Berlin was built on the back of women! True, with millions of their men dead from the war, the women built this city not on rock and roll, but rock on rock, one piece at a time, albeit, under the watchful eyes of the commies.

The fountain of Neptune. This is between two large churches, it is amazing that the place where the Gospel Reformation first took place had mythology in their midst. By and large, Europe has not heard the Gospel, not at the way we know it today from New Creation Church.

Sat down and drink coffee. Here, inside and outside, same price, unlike Paris, which cost 1.90 Euros if you stand at the bar and 2.60 if you sit inside, and then almost 3 bucks if you sit outside.

Sculpture inside the Opera Theatre.

The Opera Theatre next to the river, the statue that I took with is at the arch entrance below the bronze statue.

One of those lost heroes of Germany's great past. If you ask me, who is it? I don't know, forgotten to write down. Moral of the story is, write down, it is more useful than you think. Some Federic something....see, now nobody believes you are there, see? Write down, won't take too much effort, but goes a long way.

Hall of the great people, I think this place is one of those Hitler places. Big open space in front to have a nice "SCARE YOUR PANTS OFF" Parades. The shout of a million soldiers here is good enough to turn anyone's blood cold with intimidation!

They are celebrating Germany, the land of great minds. Strange, at one time, people with the word STEIN and BURG at the back of their names where painted with stars of David and shuffled on to trains to places of no return! E=MC2 was Albert after he ran off to America to be in the Land of the Free and Brave.

JER SIAO, as always, tickling the fellow outside the Opera.

The Canal that runs through Berlin is a treat, asked about the boat ride and it said "26 Euros" gave us marching orders to think about alternative modes of transport. For the three of us 26 Euros each meant that we have to cough up almost 100 bucks just to sit in an old ferry. Fat hope....typical Singaporean in action and proud of our own legs! Ain't no kwai lowes gonna con our dough!

Views of the Supreme Court where many untold thousands were condemned to death in the Commie years I think. Not sure about the history though, but with all that coal marks on the court, I am not surprised.

Teach your children these and you will bet your last dollar that you will lose them and to God be a loss. The Laws of Moses were for God to sit on under His Mercy Seat, but to flaunt it begets rebellion! Cain killed Abel and left God, he was before the Law and he was not condemned, yet the first person who went out to collect fire wood on Sabbath after the Law is given was condemned to die! The Law is God's part, ours is reliance of His Mercy and Goodness which will hunt us down all the days of our lives.

Berliner Taxi anyone? We did not bother to ask the price, one look at the female rider, we know, the seat ain't for CHING CHONGS from Singapore, only the RING CHING CHONGS from China! You will be surprised, the biggest watch retailer here, CHRIST, had staff, GERMAN Ang Mors who spoke perfect Mandarins, not of any wonder, I was standing next to one and bought only a Maurice Lacroix for my wife, the guy next to me, the real CHING CHONG, bought an Austemeur Picquet (can't even spell it correctly....okay okay...AP) Off Shore Rose Gold and a Lange & Sonne Lange 1! No match, same skin, different wine skins!
They have this save the planet Bear Campaign, Frankly, the only one that can save it is the One that created it. Man, with all that talk cannot get over one thing, GREED. Now there are GREEN GREED marketing campaigns.

Berlin Part 2 - PORTSDAMER PLATZ

2008-03-24T22:02:00.000-07:00

Where the Berlin Wall separates, we find the line on the ground and the remnants of the actual wall. Here is a picture of me standing in front of a remnant and behind the wall is the place where this posting is about.

The place where we got off and parked our Touareg illegally! Never paid a cent....why? We are foreigners who knew not better! Hahaha....

Behind the building where we parked in Potsdamer Platz....the "in" place in Berlin. At the background is the Ritz Carlton hotel. This is the DB station.

Buildings at Potsdamer Platz is about who is who. The number on lights on after dark is also phenomenal. There was even a video wall that took the whole building as the screen! If you want green earth, you won't find it here, not in this part of Germany!

A shot I took of the HQ of Deutsch Barn, the train company, the lights are full on and a delight to watch. Not the electrical bills though.

The sexiest building of them all with the most power consumption has to be the Sony Centre.

At the back of the Sony Centre is this in build space with shops and restaurants even a cineplext with a parachute type of design for a roof! This is beautiful when it gets dark. It also has a basement where you can find shops of various retail lines.

Almost can get glimpse of the basement!

Two more detailed views of the roof

There is this shop that has the change of colour every few seconds, more of a gradual thing. Very intriguing to the eye. I don't know what it sells, the attraction is good, but you do not know where the entrance is! As with most parts of crazy germany, shops are closed when you get off work and opened when you work! Any wonder why they go bust?

Another view of the Sony Centre in all its splendour.

Birds also want a part of the action.

Berlin Part 1 - The Berlin Wall

2008-03-24T21:20:00.001-07:00

The Berlin wall is somewhat a oxymoron to me.....it is a wall set up by the turncoat, ex-Nazi ally Josef Stalin to keep people of the Imperialist Capitalism out....yet also to keep people from freedom. What was created to keep people out became a place where people longed to get out over to the other side.From this photo, you acan see the paradox. Here we see the western visitors, in sections of the walls not made to be robust looking to find out whats it like to be imprisoned over the other side, which the soviets had built solid concrete walls that can stand really a lot of beatings. From this picture, you can tell the difference in construction between the two sets of walls.

Nearby, there is a memorial on people who did not make it. It is sad to see that there are some who were shot just less than a week before the wall came down! The quest for freedom and its advent being so sudden kept the world intrigued and stunned at the same time.

This place where Hitler once stood to review the million troop march past enroute to conquest of Poland, a deal struck with Soviet Stalin. This is separated from the Hindenburg gate just meters apart behind this. This stood west Berlin, the side of the good guys.

The separation line between the west and the east, between progress and demonic oppression. Here I am standing on a section of the wall remaining on the eastern side, the western wall is easily removed, unlike this one. Behind, we find PORTSDAMER PLATZ, the new "in" of this glowing and growing Metropolis, called BERLIN.

Here we see a photo of the wall that separates riches from rags, sanity from madness. One side people are rewarded for their hard work, the other side, people get to live if the work hard, or find themselves on the wrong end of a Makarov of Kalashnikov. Up to today, the symbol of oppression - to those who are free, and of freedom - to those who are brainwashed and hypnotized, is one of the Kalashnikov.

Even in the free world, once too free, no one is free remaining. The freedom of some has taken its liberty to limit the freedom of the rest in society. This is weakness and polarisation of human rights. Some human has more rights than other right humans.....ironically, in a human rights arena a true reflection in a public voice speaking louder by this sign!

CHECKPOINT CHARLIE

Checkpoint Charlie has always been a place where James Bond movies gets its fuel of excitement from. Here we find that we turn back the clock where thousands lost thier lives looking for freedom.

Plague showing honour to Leonid Breshnev at the entrance of his house, the murderer of millions and the empowerment of the KGB.

Here we see a photo of President Ronald Reagan visiting Checkpoint Charlie during the 80s.

A typical watch tower, aptly, should be named the shredder, here we see a position where machine guns were mounted to shred all those who thought life is better off with freedom. I saw another photo in the midst where a soldier from the east jumped the barb wires in a dash to freedom even in uniform and full loaded gear!

This is what I am talking about. Even the guards needed to be guarded from escaping to freedom, the shooter risking being shot himself. The price of freedom we so easily taken for granted.

View from American side, entering the domain where freedom ends and the mission of 007 begins.

Street where the Jewish monument was placed. 6 million Jews perished under Hitler, but few people realised that many more perished under the Soviet tyranny.

The Jewish Memorial

Me at Checkpoint Charlie Museum where many lost their lives.

Check Point Charlie, the Soviet side, see the lights that shines into the cars so that none can escape, also the sand bag bunkers for firefights.

Stuttgart Winter Wine Market

2008-03-03T06:15:00.001-08:00

Stuttgart from the mountain top view. Snow capped and very cold. Drive like an idiot with no wheels in the snow on summer tyres all the way to the top only to find that they have a subway station there???? Duh????

This is the traditional place and event in winter for Germany, the Christmas Winter Wine Market. It is a world famous festival with traditional goods up to 4 km long!

Town Centre of Stuttgart, the concert hall in the background I think. Here we see people feeding ducks so that the animals will shit all over the place till it is ugly.....who does this, the TURKS....who live off the tax payers.

Me at the scenic view. Make no mistake, the lake is frozen, the matte finish is ice! Not snow. The background mountain is full of nice houses and there is a subway train all the way to the top.

The City Town Square. Here alot of students come here and lots of other street performances and pigeon feeding in summer time.

Rathaus, the city hall of Stuttgart. I chance upon the winter night market by chance, borne chaunce as the french calls it. In my walking, came along a long way and found it! Never thought it existed before that????Duh????

Goodies for the holidays, bought one enbedded candle here, purely transparent, like glass. Kena whack 14 Euros for it, but never mind, very nice.

When hungry, can get 14" sausage, almost 1 kg in weight.....until jelak! But always come with bun. Go for the curry wurst, best in the woollagum.

Nice flowers for the door, the $20 Euro whackers! But very nice handiwork and patience, like Calvin Tan on his leaves!

You call hobby....they call us sissy....look at their hobby! Machine a real super powered 1:10 scale steam powered train! That is what I call a good hobby....a million dollars of equipment anyone?

Nativity Scene. Real animals, but fake humans in the scene.

Eggs used as art craft!

Traditional Wood Carvings of Germany

Ginger Bread and smoked meat, bought some ginger bread for my kids.

Hungry and cold....but happy.

Visit to Porsche

2008-03-03T05:47:00.001-08:00

Me at the gate to spy on the production of the Cayman....jut came back from Leipzig where the main plant was. This is Stuttgart, home of Ferdinand Porsche and Ferdinand Piech, the chairman of VW and Porsche, the grandson of the founder of both brand, of which I worked for for some time.

Delivery gates

Me with the GT

The one who dominate the Le Mans series for some time.

My son's favourite car of choice for rallying in X Box, the Porsche 959 Gruppe B crazy series in WRC. This car also won the Paris to Dakar rally at one time. The most advanced 4X4 Porsche at one time! Millions a piece!

Lorraine and Champagne

2008-03-03T04:35:00.001-08:00

I moved on to Loraine. This is a very nice Northern France province, rich in agriculture.Here you see me with the early Barley. The fields stretches for square miles!

The map on top of the hill where a big statue stood, it belongs to the church here.

Me, at the back of the church on a windy 6 deg C day, hazed down with cool smock, thanks to pollution and still air.

View from the hill, really liked the air here, the valley a little smog, but up here, its really good bros.

At the valley where the grains traditionally were stored in fortified barns where the feudal lords keep for their armies.

Me at the entrance of the church, which is normally a refugee centre in Medieval times during war times.

An Arty Farty shot.....not bad eh? See car breaking the law? Get the composition...story....what I was getting at???....oh, never mind.....art is the good marketing for a bad mistake anyway.

The town where they sell produce from the caves....mainly, wine and cheese!

Wind shield and areal map for this look out.

The statue, don't know what he is point about?