{"id":1194,"date":"2013-11-24T09:32:42","date_gmt":"2013-11-24T17:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/?p=1194"},"modified":"2015-03-18T14:44:38","modified_gmt":"2015-03-18T21:44:38","slug":"burden-of-sorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/2013\/11\/24\/burden-of-sorrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Burden of Sorrow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Modeling, specifically military modeling is generally content on building all of the various machines and weapons of war.\u00a0 We take great care in our quest to build accurate, small scale representations of the tools of the trade and in some cases we combine these with figures to create small scenes.\u00a0\u00a0 These vignettes and dioramas often portray a certain historical event – a roadside meeting or front line engagement.\u00a0 However, if we are honest with ourselves we must come to the realization that even our most accurate depictions of the tools of war only tell a limited part of a greater story that is warfare.\u00a0 Rarely do we touch upon scenes which depict the horror, tragedy and loss that war causes on the human level.<\/p>\n

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Is there a reason for this?\u00a0 Probably, but this is not the time or place for such a conversation.\u00a0 Rather, I am simply a modeler who has chosen as his subject the portrayal of a human tragedy of epic proportions.<\/p>\n

The genesis of this idea took hold while visiting the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.\u00a0 This was my second visit to the museum, but the first time that I had taken advantage of the full tour.\u00a0 My tour began by being personally shown some of the museum artifacts by a Holocaust Survivor, his narrative intertwined with the descriptions of the museum pieces.\u00a0 His Story – Their Story; had a profound impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Among the symbols of the associated with the Holocaust, the German Rail Transport car, G-10, came to symbolize the forced “relocation” of millions of people during the Nazi reign.\u00a0 Until recently, 1\/35th scale rail stock has been nearly non-existent.\u00a0 Fortunately a new entry into the model community, L.Z.Models, has filled this void with absolutely stunning rail car kits.\u00a0 The kit contains superbly cast resin parts, along with 180 photo etched bits and an extensive decal sheet.<\/p>\n

Construction of the car begins with the underside supports and the car bed itself.\u00a0 The wheels and brakes are provided as resin parts, while a number of the fittings are presented as photo etched parts.\u00a0 Most of these photo etched parts are meant to be “double thick” – that is two pieces together to give the proper scale thickness to the part.\u00a0 I soldered all of the photo etched connections for added strength. If, like me, you have never really paid attention to the underside of a rail car you are in for a surprise.\u00a0 I had no idea that there was so much “stuff” tucked away down there.\u00a0 All of the various brake lines, cables, and plumbing are dutifully called for.\u00a0\u00a0 A combination of plastic rod and brass wire are used for these components.\u00a0\u00a0 Calipers and wire cutters came in very handy during this stage!<\/p>\n

Moving to the upper side of the car, construction of the side panels is next.\u00a0 Once again the attention to detail is evident in the parts.\u00a0 Each panel is flawlessly cast with very realistic wood grain texture on both the outer and inner sides.\u00a0 The end pieces have small channels which make alignment of the corners a breeze.\u00a0 The only thing to watch for is that the panels have a definite top\/bottom orientation – it’s easy to mix this up.\u00a0 Pay attention to the “metal” strip and place this edge up towards the roof line.\u00a0\u00a0 I found this out the hard way, after I cut my window openings.\u00a0 The window for one side was at the floor…oops!\u00a0 Once I had realized my mistake I had two choices; either replace the side boards and blend them into the body, or, simply put a train yard patch on the side.\u00a0 Being a somewhat lazy modeler I choose to make a metal patch from plastic card.\u00a0 One section at a time the sides are attached to the bed of the car and for the first time I really get some perspective as to the size of this kit.\u00a0\u00a0 Even at scale, trains are surprisingly big.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The one area construction that presented me with some difficulty were the sliding door brackets.\u00a0 These are presented as photo etched parts in the kit.\u00a0 And although the instructions show this assembly from a number of perspectives I had a tough time making sense of exactly how some of the parts were to be shaped.\u00a0 Unfortunately though the trial and error process I made somewhat a mess of the photo etched parts.\u00a0 Taking a step back, I decided that it might just be easier to recreate the door tracks from styrene strip.\u00a0 This approach turned out to be quite a bit easier with good results.<\/p>\n

The doors themselves are a simply elegant with their fine resin detail and photo etched fittings.\u00a0 The doors are fixed, but can be placed in the open or closed position.\u00a0 Again, alignment of the doors to the frame was very good with very little fiddling needed for the doors to fit onto the tracks.\u00a0 Each door has a header made from photo etch which spans the gap the width of the door.\u00a0 I found that I needed a little extra support on the open door side to maintain the alignment of the car’s walls.\u00a0 I did this by adding a section of square brass rod behind the open door header – out of view.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>With the bulk of the car completed the remainder of the construction centers around adding the myriad of smaller fittings and details which really bring the car to life.\u00a0\u00a0 The roof comes in 4 sections that are glued together end to end to make up the length of the car. The joins were covered (inside and out) using plastic strip – small rivets were added using heads created from a punch and die.<\/p>\n

The painting.\u00a0 I actually thought quite a bit on how I would approach the painting of the car and the entire scene.\u00a0 I thought about muted colors, heavy shadows; I even considered painting everything in grey tones as if it were a period black and white photograph.\u00a0 In the end, however, I decided that this was no time to get tricky and I would simply paint in My Style<\/i> – whatever that is!\u00a0 As always, the process begins with a layer of primer.\u00a0 Next, I gave the car an additional “primer” of flat black. This is actually an important step in the overall finish of this car for a couple of reasons: First, I want to increase the depth of the shadows, especially between the planking and in the interior, and Second, for the overall exterior finish<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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I am going to depend upon a certain level of the Black to show through the color. I’ll explain later when I get to that point.\u00a0 Working my way from the bottom up, I first added colors to the underside of the car, wheels and trucks. I probably got a little fancier here than I really needed to be. I first painted the metal areas using Model Master Metalizer (Burnt Metal. Aluminum & Magnesium) and then sealed with a light layer of Future. Over this I applied a layer of hairspray and then Tamiya’s Nato Brown color. Once the brown had dried I removed patches of the brown color to reveal the steel colors underneath. In retrospect all of the fancy hairspray layers proved to be unnecessary as they were eventually covered by subsequent weathering.<\/p>\n

Next, the base color(s). Since this was a rail car I figured why not use “real” railroad colors. So I went over to my Local Train Store and picked up a few bottle of POLLY Scale colors. Ok…remember how I painted a black undercoating? Well, here is when it comes into play. IF (big IF) I have developed a technique or “style” over the past years I think that can be traced to how I paint my base color(s) layer. In this case, I want a worn, somewhat transparent finish. I also try NOT to create a homogenous, or uniformed base color. I know from experience that the effects of the subsequent weathering will “play off” these inconsistencies.\u00a0\u00a0 The technique is quick and somewhat organic – I welcome the “happy mistake”.\u00a0 If I can create a base color layer that is somewhat interesting – then I am confident that the later weathering will only enhance the visual interest.<\/p>\n

Make sense? Probably not…but! Here’s what I did…..<\/p>\n

Over the black I sprayed an inconsistent layer of POLLY Scale ATSF Red.\u00a0 Notice how the black color still shows through?\u00a0 These are the “happy mistakes”.\u00a0\u00a0 From this point forward these inconsistencies will influence the final finish.\u00a0 Next, in order to enhance the planks and further enhance the visual interest of the base layer, I lightly sprayed UN-even applications of POLLY Scale Freight Car Red (a brownish color) using a piece of card stock as a quick mask along the planks.\u00a0 Again, the coverage is not intended to be a uniformed coverage but only enough to shift some of the color and tones. Looking at the base colors I am happy with the progress so far.\u00a0 I can see subtle shifts of colors, from brighter reds to darker browns, by using the card mask the wooden planking has some definition, and by adding a few drops of CSX Tan into my paint colors I have begun the weathering process with a little color fade.<\/p>\n

If the base layer adds visual interest, then weathering certainly adds character to the piece.\u00a0 By the time I reach this stage, my mind – or mood – is certainly wrapped in the emotions of the setting; I am feel a certain sense of sobriety, or reverence toward the work.\u00a0 I want the rail car (and the entire scene) to reflect these emotions.\u00a0 I want the rail car to reflect the harshness of the events.<\/p>\n

Paint peels and chips are created “the old fashioned” way; no fancy techniques here, just paint and a fine brush.\u00a0 Using Vallejo paints I spend several evenings adding small (and not so small) areas where the paint is gone revealing the worn wooden planking.\u00a0 I work quickly, moving from one area to another to help prevent repeating brush patterns.\u00a0 Along the way I take numerous breaks in order to evaluate my progress.\u00a0\u00a0 My paint colors for the chips were based upon two colors:\u00a0 For newer chips I used a base of Iraqi Sand (819) to which I would add varying amounts of Field Blue (964) and Chocolate Brown (872).\u00a0 For older chips I used a base color of Deck Tan (988) to which I would add varying amounts of the Field Blue color and Black.<\/p>\n

The kit comes with an extensive set of decals, enough for 3 variants including post war markings.\u00a0 These were applied after I had finished with most of the chipping over a thin surface layer of Future floor polish, and then sealed with another thin layer of the polish.\u00a0 I then re-painted chips over the decals in those areas where the decal laid over a previously painted chip.\u00a0 The roof was painted at this time as well, again using acrylic paints.<\/p>\n

With the “basic” painting finished using acrylic colors, it’s now time to add some real richness and depth to the finish; for this I turn to artists oils. To the upper areas of the car (planking) I want to continue with the theme of enhancing the tonal interest. As you can see from this photo I chose a number of colors for this stage of the process; from reds, browns and yellow ochre.\u00a0 To begin, I first dab the oils \"\"<\/a>upon a small piece of scrap cardboard in order to leach out the oils – this helps quicken drying times and insures that the colors dry to a matte finish.\u00a0\u00a0 Grime and dirt stains were added to the lower edges of the car, again using oils. The primary colors for this stage were 502 Abteilung Light Mud, Starship Filth, and Shadow Brown. In all cases using oils it is a process of building effects – layer by layer.\u00a0 Finally, the wheels and trucks received a “special” treatment of oils and pigments. Here, rather than apply each separately – or in succession – I apply the oils and pigments in one step. First, I dab oil colors onto the surface (wheel) – generally a mix of Shadow Brown and Dark Rust – and then using a a larger, soft brush I stipple the pigment colors (Rail Rust, Track Brown, Standard Rust) directly onto the wet paints. The pigments “stain” the oils and produce some nice nuanced effects. Once the oils have dried this application is permanent.\u00a0 The interior floor boards were given a wash of MIG Productions Weathered Wood – a very nice product that gives a worn appearance to the planking.\u00a0 At this stage I have done about as much painting and weathering to the car as I care to do at this time.\u00a0 The final weathering will be done as I assemble the scene.<\/p>\n

I knew from the outset that it would be a challenge to successfully tell the story.\u00a0 The story is simple; the scene would depict the immediate time just after the passengers had been off loaded. \u00a0They were hurried off to their “destiny”, leaving whatever personal belongings that they had brought strewn about. \u00a0This particular inmate is charged with collecting their belongs and taking them over to the sorting sheds.\u00a0 I am hoping to convey the isolation,\u00a0despair and loneliness that this fellow must feel……he has no choice but to go about doing his task – day after day, train after train.<\/p>\n

In order to convey this story I would need to pull out all of the stops when it came to the focal point – the prisoner figure.\u00a0 I built the small hand cart, but there was no doubt in my mind that I would need a custom figure, one specifically sculpted for this scene.\u00a0\u00a0 For the figure I turned to a talented sculptor friend who was able to provide me with the ideal figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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However, the story of the figure doesn’t stop there.\u00a0 As this project began to unfold I posted my work on some of the modeling forums.\u00a0 My good friend and excellent modeler Markus Lack saw these posts and sent me an email asking me about the project.\u00a0 The project was still in the early stages, but Markus had guessed the theme and sent me an email expressing his thoughts and asked if he could become involved.\u00a0 Markus (who is German) explained that in Germany it is still difficult to talk openly about such events that took place during World War II.\u00a0\u00a0 Certainly the Holocaust is difficult subject to discuss, let alone represent in scale in any country, but particularly in Germany.\u00a0 It was an easy decision on my part to ask Markus to paint the lone figure.<\/p>\n

As of this writing (9\/11\/11) Markus has just received my package containing the figure and is set to begin his work.\u00a0 I will include his update information and photos as his work proceeds.<\/p>\n

Well, as we can see from this next set of photos about a week has passed and Markus and has begun working with the figure.<\/p>\n

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