Wallace & Gromit – “A Close Shave”

OK, OK… so this doesn’t exactly fit the description of “Fine Scale Motor Racing”! However, this has been my latest project and is pretty much complete.

This is an Airfix plastic kit that I picked-up on eBay. I hadn’t built an Airfix plastic kit since I was a kid, so it was a nice stroll down memory lane in more than one way. Wallace & Gromit remain very popular characaters; I can remember enjoying their adventures as a child, and it’s now something that I am able to share with my own daughter who very much enjoys all of the films.

So it was with my daughter in mind that I set-out on building this model. The model itself was a fairly straightforward build, constructed using Humbrol poly cement. The figures were the most challenging part here, built as they are from multiple parts. Lots of filling with Humbrol model putty and sanding with fine grade sand paper seemed to do the trick.

It’s time to varnish some Diorama bases!

My first attempt at building Wallace, without building the motorbike first, resulted in both his arms being set too low for the handlebars.

Second attempt, arms now set in the correct position. Now to fill the big joins between his body and his arms on both sides.

The motorbike itself is a very pleasing model kit. It was a real stroll down memory lane to build an Airfix kit.

The diorama is built on an oak display base from www.displayplinths.co.uk. On top of this I glued a piece of black Perspex in order to create a shallow “stage” for the scene itself. This was scored with a craft knife to create a “key” for the Das modelling clay to adhere to when I made the path.

The path, made of Das, now dry and ready to be scored with the path pattern.

As per the above picture, the I rolled-out some Das onto the base and left this to dry for a couple of days. Once dry, I was able to score the path into the dry clay using a small nail held in a pin vice. This was painted with some Halfords grey primer, and again left to dry.

Once dry, this was painted with a selection of the Humbrol enamel washes range (along with my now trusty Mig neutral wash).

Pathway now painted, washes being added to achieve the correct finish.

Once painting was finished, I used some Tamiya flat varnish to reduce the sheen from the enamel washes. To either side of the path, I added a coat of Tamiya textured diorama paint:

Once this was dry, I then applied a coating of Nock static grass. I prefer to use the soil effect beneath static grass when I use it, as it replicates the real-world Effect of being able to seee the soil beneath the blades of grass. I used longer grass than I normally use on 1/43 models, as this was appropriate for the much larger scale of this model.

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