Andy's Pulp misadventures...

[Andy in Germany]

This is all tin shed gamer's fault for showing all those pictures of his rather spiffy Fokker Trimotor from cereal packets, cocktail sticks and assorted random odds and ends. This appeals to me, mainly because I am a tree-hugging bicycle riding hippy, and also because, being a tree-hugging bicycle riding hippy I’m generally short on money to fund any model making. I got all enthusiastic about trying something like it.



Lacking the space for something as huge as an aeroplane, I decided to go for a 1930’s styled three-wheeled sports car loosely based on this one http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=102092.0;attach=77304;image (Which on reflection is also by tin shed gamer) to see how closely I could replicate a resin model with scrap materials.



So far the ‘chassis’ is a cereal box card, with a piece of loo roll pretending to be a canvas radiator cover. The headlights gave me some trouble before I found that Middle Son had a bottle full of air gun pellets he thankfully wasn’t going to use, and was happy for me to take a handful. I drilled a hole in the pellets, superglued a pin in them, and sanded down the other side to make passable main lights. The sidelights are from round-headed dressmakers pins, treated the same way.

The wheels are made by sandwiching lots of bits of wire between several pieces of card, filing the result round and gluing a spliced piece of electrical wire insulation around it.

I know you can buy white metal castings for wheels. And having made two using my method I can see why…

[Dr DeAth]

It's a promising start, interested in seeing how it develops

[OSHIROmodels]

Looks good so far 

[tin shed gamer]

Why is it always my fault

Looking good - just don't make it too good otherwise I won't be making things out of cereal packet I'll be living in one

Andy if you rub a little superglue on the edges of the card it won't delaminate and feather when you paint.(can be an issue when you make smaller models such as cars with this type of card.)

Mark.

[Andy in Germany]

Many thankfor the encouraging comments...

Why is it always my fault

Looking good - just don't make it too good otherwise I won't be making things out of cereal packet I'll be living in one

Andy if you rub a little superglue on the edges of the card it won't delaminate and feather when you paint.(can be an issue when you make smaller models such as cars with this type of card.)

Mark.

I don't think you have anything to worry about Mark.

Thanks for the tip.I'd started using it this way as preparation for sanding and filing, but not just on single thickness card.I'm wondering if Shellac would have the same effect...

[Codsticker]

That is some inspired work.

[Andy in Germany]

That is some inspired work.

Thanks. It's proving an interesting experiment. I have a couple of extra days of work this week (the joys of living in a semi-traditional catholic influenced state) so I have energy and time to keep going...

[d phipps]

Very clever idea! I hope we get to see more. 

[Andy in Germany]

More frivolity on the model making front as the dashing racing car takes shape. I changed material from corn flake packets to milk cartons, mainly because we don’t eat that many cornflakes as a family, but we seem to have an astonishing appetite for milk. German milk cartons have a sort of plastic film mixed with the card which gives them a good texture as well.




Once again I’ve been making life difficult for myself with funny angles and curved body on the back end of the car. I’m sure there’s someone out there with a mathematical sort of brain that can do a few sums and come up with the best possible shape, but I just stuck a scrap piece of paper over the body and traced the shape of the bonnet on it.



Meanwhile, I decided the front end needed sorting, not least lowering to a sensible distance off the ground to make the vehicle more “sports car” and less “Landrover”, while the mudguards would be useless perched on top of the wheel as before so I moved them to a slightly more sensible position.

It would have usual been easier if I’d thought this through and added the ‘springs’ (Strips of milk carton and bits of Chinese takeaway box) before gluing the ‘axle’ back on to the body of the car, but still…

[OSHIROmodels]

Looking very good 

[Andy in Germany]

The focus has returned to the Cardboard Rocket, especially as I’d already come to the fun part where I get to add all kinds of bits and pieces which somehow make it look less like a few bits of milk carton gobbed together with superglue and more like a car. At least I think it does. Don’t mess up my reality.



So far the model has cost a grand total of nothing, unless you count superglue. Even the figure is recycled from a 1:48 scale kit, after your correspondent finally realised that the difference between 1:48 and 1:55 is so small that for the most part it’s invisible. The head is nominally 1:55 and white metal, a leftover from a pack of statuesque ‘female veteran heads’.



Other ‘detail parts’ consist of old guitar strings, handles from a Chinese takeaway, brass offcuts (the over large buckle on the ‘strap’ wouldn’t have worked with steel), dressmakers pins, (side and rear lights), electrical wire, a filed down nail head, (radiator cap), a cut off picture nail head (fuel cap) and an exhaust from copier paper wrapped around some metal of unknown origin that’s been kicking about the workbench for years.

The general idea is that after painting this will all somehow fit together and look like it’s made of metal and leather instead of cardboard and oddments. We shall see…

[levied troop]

At first glance I thought it was painted 

Very clever piece of work, it looks the business.

[Andy in Germany]

At first glance I thought it was painted 

Very clever piece of work, it looks the business.

Thanks. I must admit I do like it like this, but needs must...

[DavyJones]

cool stuff. 

[Andy in Germany]

Back to making things out of cardboard this week. To pain the racing car I've decided to use a variation of the ‘hair spray‘ method, using silver as an undercoat instead of dark brown ‘rust’.  Normally I’d apply light coloured highlights by dry brushing, but the point of this model is to just try things without getting all precious about it.



In theory the top coat will come off on exposed corners showing slight variations in the silver, which will increase the illusion of a vehicle made of metal and slightly battered in use. We shall see…