Small Scale Military Headquarters

Hi Everyone,

My report on the East Coast Hobby Show for those that are interested:

21st-21st had a nice display set up and it was the first time I got to see some of the newer offerings in person. They were letting kids play with the Stuart R/C tanks on display and they had several P-47's, Spits, FW-190's there at the show. They also had a small display of figures such as the Patton, Battle of the Bulge, pilot figures and Armor figures. What I did see that was new was the Sky Captian P-40 in the flesh. It's nice but black looking as in the movie. It is one of the nicest P-40's though even if it was for a flim. The 32X stuff also looked very good. I saw two new P-51 schemes BBD and another one, the 262's and 109's. They had some paperwork which I grabbed but have yet to look at. I couldn't tell if there items were sale. I wanted a Spitfire but when I was at the display there was no one to ask if I could buy one. I walked by another time and I overheard the guy say "We are trying to get these into the mainstream market" So that is good news I guess. I did see a F-104, but it was in oddly enough, a 190 box. There were some armor stuff there and the Command Car and the Dodge Troop Carrier (Forgive me, I don't follow armor) That was what I saw from 21st.

There were some independent offerings in the Model Power, Corgi, Dragonwings models. I did see one stand had a large offering of Forces of Valor and some great buildings in 1/32 scale. I think they are a new item and they were impressive but pricey from what I was able to gather. Also saw some CanDo figures as well some Conte stuff. I don't think it was anything new.

There were a great selection of diecast cars from Signature Models and AutoArt if you are into cars

I was impressed with the Bachman HO train display. It was very creative and interesting to look at from every angle. Very well done display in a space with minimal room. I also was impressed with the Woodland Scenics Company. I learned a few things including how to make effective water!!!! So I want to try that. I also bought a couple of there offerings as well.

I wish there had been more companies and a little less of the train displays. But I did see some quality stuff and talk with some nice people and learn some new things I want to try. A worthwhile trip for me, but then my trip was a mere 40 minutes to Fort Washington.

That's what I saw. Hopefully it helps some people and if you have any questions about anything there, post and I'll do my best to remember!!!

Corey

I've been thinking of doing a dio with water and was thinking of picking up a bottle of "Realistic Water" to experiment. Is this the product they had? Any tips you learned and can share would be most appreciated. I'm wondering how to give it a nice water color. I believe this product is actually clear.

Where were they? I did not see them, must have been in the closet.

In regards to realistic water:

The stuff they were using was the realistic water that you can get from Woodland Scenics, and they were the company demonstrating how to use it. It drew a lot of interest because everyone must have trouble making water, lol. I didn't catch all the presentation unfortunately and it was loud in the building but I will share what I did learn.

I learned that the realistic water stuff will not stick to a non stick baking pan or cookie sheet. Therefore if you want to make waterfalls or falling water or even a shallow pond you can form it on a cookie sheet, let the product harden and then get it off and attach it to your diorama. The guy demonstrating said that it was best to attach the waterfall or water with some more of the realistic water and let it harden because it will look more natural.

In terms of color, he did say for churing water the best bet was to use white paint, but not a lot at all. He said just enough to blend with the clear solution and give it some depth. As for water in a pond, Woodland Scenic makes special earth tones that go with this stuff that are used to replicate ground or water. I'd suggest using these at the hobby store and they are available.

Me personally if it is a small creek or stream bed I tend to go with browns and some black mixed in, especially around rocks or in the middle as it shows depth. Not a lot either. And don't be afraid to add sticks, stones under the realistic water. It makes it more realistic. For a pond or ocean I tend to go with dark blues and blacks with a touch of brown. For oceans sometimes greens work too, just blend the colors until it looks natural.

A tip when using Realistic Water, don't pour it thick, rather go in layers. And sometimes if you are making something extremely deep, use some color between the layers, it will look so much better. You can also convey the depth through color too. Like black in the middle of a stream shows it's deeper, etc.

The best tip is to pracitce and practice. The water probably won't look the best the first time, but the more you do it the better it looks. I ironically started making water by spreading tacky glue in long thick bands over "River paper" which was scrapbook paper. It didn't look that good but worked at the time. The Realistic Water stuff is so much better!!! It is a wonderful product.

Kudos to the whole Woodland Scenics line for matter. It is pricey, but the nicest stuff and big bang for the buck!!!

Corey

Thanks Coreyeagle48 for the info. This is going to be one of my next projects or should I say experiments.