Welcome To My German Cable Layer Page 2.

For this page I am re-visiting my Cable Layer figure, because I recently bought the DiD cable reel backpack and I wanted to compare it to the original Dragon one I have. Which is shown below before I did any alterations to it.

The new DiD one I have is shown below, and I am quite impressed with it as it is made from metal, which will get the whole reel to sit better on the back of the figure due to the weight. Also I am hoping as well that I will be able to add some wear to the cable reel, by scraping some of the edges with my model knife.

Backpack Tool Pouch and Straps

1. 2. 3.

With this pouch I wanted to see if the colour could be changed on it, since to me it looked too new so I firstly used some Dark Tan shoe polish on it. Picture 1. is the original pouch colour, and picture 2. it after I have used the polish on it. The problem is that even after trying to re-colour the pouch, to me it still looked too new.

With picture 3. I have done the same to the pouch that I did to the briefcase for my Colonel figure. I used some fine sandpaper to thin down the top flap. Note: Be very careful doing this as the 'pleather' material is both thin and soft, and it can be easily torn if you rub too hard on it. I have then repainted it with some Daler Rowney Burnt Umber No 223 acrylic paint, this was then drybrushed with some Tamiya Light Sand weathering powder to bring out the edges and detail.

With the shoulder straps I again also wanted to change the colour slightly, so I gave these a covering of the shoe polish as well. In the picture on the right I have both straps laid next to each other, the one on the left has had the polish treatment done to it. Whereas the one on the right is still in the original colour. I then brushed over the straps with some Tamiya Light Sand weathering powder to bring out the edges and detail.

Back Support Pad

Like the Dragon version of the cable layer, the DiD one here also has the back support pad missing, so I will also have make one for this.

For this pad, rather than sew it as I did for the other one. I have made a 40mm x 30mm flat shape out of balsa wood as the centre of the pad, with the edges sanded to a round shape. I then cut out a slightly bigger square of the leather material I have with a slight overlap. So that when it is folded around the balsa wood shape, it has the round edges and not the horrible sewn one's as on my other cable carrier.

To make the leather material stick to the balsa wood, I covered both sides and edges of the wood with some double sided tape. So that when the wood is laid onto the material it sticks down, and when the material is folded over, it helps to make the material stick to the wood. Note: When I had finished I also pressed down on the edges and corners, to get the round shape to the material.

Picture 4. below is the pad made out of leather stuck onto a shaped piece of plastic sheet, Picture 5. shows the other side of the pad with the piece of plastic.

4.   5.  6.  7.

Picture 6. shows the leather pad after I have painted it with the Daler Rowney Burnt Umber No 223 acrylic paint, with the plastic sheet backing painted with a mix of acrylic paint to match the colour of the reel frame.

8.   9.

Pictures 7. 8. & 9. show different views of the pad in place on the cable reel backpack, to stick the pad in place I used some double sided tape on the plastic piece, which was then pressed down onto the material to keep it in place.

Cable Layer Alterations

The DiD cable layer back as shown above has had some wear detail added to it, by scraping it with my model knife on the cogs for the chain, the ends and edges of the frame, and also the edges of the reel. I then brushed over most of frame and reel with some Gunmetal weathering powder to lose the shine of the paint, after that I then used some of the Silver powder very lightly to get a slightly shiny worn edge to the reel, it's mounting points and the top parts of the chain. Then to add some dirt to it, I ground up some Brown pastel chalks and brushed it against the raised edge of the reel sides, this then left some of it along the inside of the raised edge.

The cloth part of the backpack was also taken off the frame and re-painted with a watery mix of Green acrylic paint, left to dry and then given a brush over with some Tamiya Light Sand weathering powder, making sure that I got it on the edges to add a slightly aged and lighter colour to it.