The 5DR mech diorama: step by step

[kmbt]

Following the MILVUS-62 diorama walkthrough it's time to quickly show 5DR diorama before moving on to other topics.

 

I had the 5DR assembled and light painted long before. During various shows, it had to stay on a piece of PVC, with legs immobilized to it with a white tack. That was tricky to maintain and unsafe, so this diorama was needed not just for the aesthetic reasons 🙂

 

First I used plates of resin made earlier for no obvious reason; this is a primed result. I also added some pipes and rocks.

A foot placement test:

And a test for the "mechanic":

 

 

Shading and highlighting:

Oil paints, lots of them, and glossy protection on top:

 

Oil weathering over a glossy lacquer. Most of this will be rubbed off. Another day it got a protective glossy coat.

Legs got pins made of a strong copper wire:

The mech looks like stable. No glue was used because it will be traveling reclined away from the diorama.

 

Enter the "mechanic" miniature. Bottom shadow coat of dark Mr. Surfacer, and top coat of white one:

 

Basic paint using Tamiya acrylics, some shading:

 

Like in the case of the MILVUS operator, this miniature also got its pins. It won't travel with this diorama base.

 

Everything's already in place: 

 

The entire mech again:

 

PS: The mech felt stronger but it already broke its leg last weekend with this new diorama. 😲 Now it enjoys two additional small pin reinforcements made with a 1mm steel wire inside of the resin "bones". The reason for the break was probably fatigue in one of the joints caused by me during drilling the holes or so. 

 

PS2: all the mech is glued with a 10 min epoxy glue because:
1. I believe it should -- due to the glue's elastic nature (expensive Loctite cyanoacrylates might work but never has to try), 
2. its slow binding and "unlimited number of undos" is a dream (it can be peeled off at any time), 
3.  health: I, like ~10% of the population, can't breathe the cyanoacrylates without severe rhinitis 😉 

 

Thanks!
JARED