Above is a pic of Lt. Colonel James Galbraith, Regimental Colour in hand, alongside Bobbie the regimental dog and some of the other "Last Eleven" survivors of the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment, making their last stand in one of the walled gardens just South of Khig village, a few miles West of the Afghan town of Maiwand.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Agitation of Kabul River & Khairabad Swamp goes green

I poured a third layer of resin onto the Kabul River board and "agitated" it to give the surface some current.  Overall I think it turned out pretty good.  To be totally honest I think I added a little too much color tint to the resin, resulting in a more solid as opposed to somewhat translucent finish, but the color itself is okay and I'm very happy with the "current" resulting from me dragging a popsicle stick through it late in the curing process.  The current I ended up with on the pair of Logar River boards is not as active.

Anyway, herre's a few pics...






Next I added a third layer of resin to the Khairabad Swamp board, which had only received clear pours until now.  I'm pretty happy with the color tint here also.  I considered slightly "agitating" the larger areas of open water within the basin but in the end decided it would be better to leave the entire swamp perfectly still, since pretty much all the swamp water I've ever seen in my life looks that way...




Now I am faced with a perpelexing question: am I done...?

On the one hand, the 4 River and Swamp boards all look pretty good.

On the other hand, I'd prefer for the color tint to be slightly lighter (adding a bit more yellow ochre ink to the mix should get me that result) and I'd like the two Logar River boards to have more "agitated" current visible (I stopped dragging my popsicle through them probably 15 minutes to half-an-hour too soon, allowing them to cure with only slightly uneven surfaces), and lastly... there are a couple of slight imperfections on the Logar River boards -- one little spot on the river surface and some slight shortfalls at the edges where they are meant to seamlessly join with other River boards.  These are not horribly bad but I think they are fixable.  However, if I try to fix without adding a full-blown additional layer of resin but just adding a tiny amount of resin to the spots in question, I may end up causing more harm than good, depending on how closely the color tint matches what's already there.

Anyhow, after more than a year of work getting to this point, I confess the answer to this question of how best to now proceed is eluding me, at least for the moment!

I'm thinking about possibly moving my desk and setting the full layout up again, to see how it looks with the "water-boards" in their current state.  I have a feeling it will look pretty good, but course as always the devil will be in the details. The down-side of doing this will be having to change my office from "workshop" mode to "gaming table" mode, and then -- if it turns out I still need to pour more resin (which is very possible) -- change it back again. All of which requires more time and effort.

One way or another I'll figure it out and if I do set up the full table again I will definitely take a bunch of pics and post them here.

I guess all I can say now is STAY TUNED!!! (and to all those readers of this blog who have been leaving comments on these seemingly endless river-related posts, THANKS VERY MUCH for the support!!!)


6 comments:

  1. My goodness they do look good, but reading between the lines, I feel that you are not completely happy with them. If truth be told you could stop now, populate the boards with mountains and troops and we would all go wow! That said if you are still intent on adding more 'current' and colour then I suppose the only way to go is 'all the way', guaranteeing an even approach without the worry of patches. What ever you decide, it will remain a fabulous undertaking and a project of significant inspirational value to me.

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  2. Firstly, WOW! They are looking fantastic. Secondly, I have to agree with Michael's comments. From personal experience, if I'm not completely happy with a projects result them more tinkering is usually involoved.

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  3. They look great! Personally I'd leave them as-is. The temptation to tinker is a powerful one, but I've found to my cost it doesn't always pay off.

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  4. They look wonderful sir! If you think about it, a faster current might stir up more sediment meaning the water should be murkier...

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  5. Thanks very much for taking the time and effort to leave your very positive comments, guys!

    Funny -- Michael Awdry and Mark suggest doing another resin pour to improve the shortcomings I outlined above, while AJ and Michael Mills suggest leaving well-enough alone, and Phil suffices with a pure and simple enthusiastic compliment!

    So it's two to two with one abstention, so to speak!

    Each of your comments makes perfect sense and deserves to be taken to heart... bur of course, in the end, unfortunately I can't take them all to heart simultaneously!

    My own sentiments actually followed the flow of comments, starting with wanting to wade back in and "perfect" the water boards... then shifting to a more accepting approach and leaving well-enough alone... then shifting back and deciding to take one more shot at improving the final result, which is what I'm probably going to do. Earlier tonight I did a 4th resin pour on the swamp board that I'm happy with and think will lighten the color tint a bit. Tomorrow night I hope to do the same with the two Logar River boards and possibly also the Kabul River board. I'll keep you posted as things progress, and THANKS AGAIN for taking the time to wade in and give me the benefit of your opinions -- I really appreciate it!

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