Reality in Scale have been around since 2006, but I'll confess to not having used many of their products myself. This is mainly because I haven't delved too deeply into diorama building and so they haven't popped up on my modelling radar. However...... having heard about their products from fellow modellers and having been given a number of their items to review, I'm looking forward to stretching my own abilities further and also to give the RiS products a good try out.
A fairly recent addition to the RiS range has been #35239, a set of resin Unditching Logs. To call them this is a bit limiting, as they were used not only for unditching purposes but also for stand-off armour, as seen on US and Canadian Shermans in North-West Europe, US Shermans in the Pacific and Soviet tanks such as T-34's.
What you get in the set are six different logs, a length of brass chain and a length of scale rope, which is a handy rope-colour. The casting of the resin is excellent, but what struck me immediately was the visual quality of the logs. Olav Smeets, owner of Reality in Scale, mastered the logs and did a really great job. The texture is just right, and once painted, the bark, the little knobs and lumps you get on a tree trunk, and the cut edges are spot on. One of the logs has a length of moulded on rope, which is extremely finely cast and realistic. It's important to note at this stage that here are no casting or pour plugs to remove, which is a big factor to some modellers who may be put off by using resin for this reason.
The logs didn't need any prep, so I base-coated them with a spray of Tamiya acrylics - a 50/50 mix of flat black and hull red. Next, they were sprayed with a mix of Tamiya earth and wooden tones. I did each one differently for variety. One was given a spray of off-white as it looked to me like a silver birch tree. An oil based wash with burnt umber followed, finishing off with a dry-brush of Humbrol 74 Linen and a few spots of Vallejo acrylic brown tones applied with a piece of ripped up scotchbrite to represent dirt and stains.
I was really happy with the way they turned out. They almost painted themselves as the casting was so good. I've stashed them away ready for use in future projects - maybe on the side of a tank, or maybe to be used as an improvised barricade in a diorama. Or just stacked as felled trees by the road.
Highly recommended.
A fairly recent addition to the RiS range has been #35239, a set of resin Unditching Logs. To call them this is a bit limiting, as they were used not only for unditching purposes but also for stand-off armour, as seen on US and Canadian Shermans in North-West Europe, US Shermans in the Pacific and Soviet tanks such as T-34's.
What you get in the set are six different logs, a length of brass chain and a length of scale rope, which is a handy rope-colour. The casting of the resin is excellent, but what struck me immediately was the visual quality of the logs. Olav Smeets, owner of Reality in Scale, mastered the logs and did a really great job. The texture is just right, and once painted, the bark, the little knobs and lumps you get on a tree trunk, and the cut edges are spot on. One of the logs has a length of moulded on rope, which is extremely finely cast and realistic. It's important to note at this stage that here are no casting or pour plugs to remove, which is a big factor to some modellers who may be put off by using resin for this reason.
The logs didn't need any prep, so I base-coated them with a spray of Tamiya acrylics - a 50/50 mix of flat black and hull red. Next, they were sprayed with a mix of Tamiya earth and wooden tones. I did each one differently for variety. One was given a spray of off-white as it looked to me like a silver birch tree. An oil based wash with burnt umber followed, finishing off with a dry-brush of Humbrol 74 Linen and a few spots of Vallejo acrylic brown tones applied with a piece of ripped up scotchbrite to represent dirt and stains.
I was really happy with the way they turned out. They almost painted themselves as the casting was so good. I've stashed them away ready for use in future projects - maybe on the side of a tank, or maybe to be used as an improvised barricade in a diorama. Or just stacked as felled trees by the road.
Highly recommended.
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