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The Wall
I decided against the original idea of building a building or
warehouse corner as the background, and opted for a simple 8' wall
with metal gates. This would be less time consuming, and make for
a simpler scene that would not detract as much from the tank. The
wall was to look like old faded plaster that been painted many
years ago, and had seen no maintenance since.
The wall was built using sheet and strip styrene. The main wall
body is 3 sheets of .040 Evergreen Hill sheet stock laminated
together, then sanded even & square. The water-table
detail was then laminated on using .015 sheet (approx 1"
scale thickness). The top cap was made of .040 x strip styrene,
and overhung un the front side to match the water-table.
A #11 Xacto blade was then used to cut and gouge the nicks,
chips and scratches into the wall and at the edges. Care needed to
be taken to make these look "scale" rather than just like knife gouges.
The Texture on the wall was then created using a brush dipped
in Plastruct Liquid Cement (solvent), then quickly touched
to some Bragdon's Brown weathering powder. The brush is then
touched to the styrene surface allowing the solvent to flow out
and puddle in a small area, causing the styrene surface to soften.
The brush is then repeatedly vertically stippled/dabbed into the
softened surface, creating a random raised texture. The brown
Bragdon's powder will mix with the plastic and solvent,
causing a very uneven, and unattractive, blotchy appearance;
this is what one wants as it will be the "tonal
variation" in the final finish. This process needs to be
repeated, till the whole wall surface has been stippled.
Once the entire wall was done and had dried thoroughly, it was
given a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000 Primer from a can. Care was
taken to leave the coverage thin enough so that some of the
blotchy discoloration could still be seen through the primer. This
was then followed by numerous layers and mixtures of MIG and
Bragdon's powders, and ground Rembrandt pastels. Windsor Newton
Black artists oil was used to create wry thin washes that were
carefully run along the top of the water-table, and on the
underside of the cap. Small spot washes were also done in some of
the nicks and scratches.
Using a .013 bit, holes were drilled a 6" scale intervals
along the center of the wall cap, into which were inserted lengths
of .010 brass wire. These were then cut to an even length using a
single edge razor blade, and piece of strip styrene as a guide.
Lastly they were painted with Floquil 'Roof Brown', using a 0/15
brush.
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