Global Scale Modeller

Okay people, with the worldwide lockdown I've found a little time on my hands to produce a different variety of updates to Evie Air Base.

It's been over 3 years since my last update. Evie Air Base since then has received a major upgrade and a lot of work went into its redesign but my usual unique 'Supermodelnation' presentational style has pretty much remained the same! This time, I have created several short stories that accompany each update. The short stories are not always linked together but each provides an imaginative view of activities on the Base and hopefully breathe life into an otherwise inanimate creation. The remaining posts will all be images converted into short 'films'. Feel free to enjoy the videos and follow the stories.

Whilst the stories were created some time ago the video compilations are all brand new.

I appreciate these may not be every model enthusiasts cup of tea, so if not please look away now.

I hope you appreciate the different form of creativity this brings to this forum (as well as the back breaking hours that were taken to create).

Part 1- Evie Air Base 2.0: A Royal Re-opening

It is 2017... Construction work is now complete and the long awaited opening day has arrived. The re-opening of Evie Air Base promises to be a grand affair. All the arrangements on the base are set. British regal pomp and pageantry is about to roll in and excitement filled the air. It is around mid-morning when sirens suddenly echo all around the base.

Part 2- Evie Air Base 2.0: Hurricane Relief

We are still in 2017 and in the months of August and September when untold havoc and destruction was wrought upon the Caribbean Islands and parts of the USA by three major hurricane systems- Harvey, Irma and Maria. Millions are left homeless. Thousands have died. Evie Air Base is part of the global humanitarian relief effort underway to provide help and support for those that desperately need it.

Part 3- Evie Air Base 2.0: Syrian Strike

Yep this series is still very much alive . It is now 2018 and at the time Bashar Al Assad was reported to have dropped chemical weapons on his own citizens. The Western condemnation was swift and definitive. This was backed with a decision for a short, sharp military response to send a clear message to the Syrian regime on what was and was not acceptable cause. Of course Evie Air Base was part of the military operation.

Very fun. Thank you!

BigWall wrote: Sun May 02, 2021 3:23 am Very fun. Thank you!

Thanks very much for the comment Joe. Greatly appreciated.

Part 4- Evie Air Base 2.0 Farewell Tornado

Back here for more?
The year is 2019. After almost 40 years of continuous UK military air service on both peacetime and combat missions the RAF Tornado return home to the UK for the very last time. Evie Air Base saw the arrival of the last three Tornado jets and they were arriving in true style flying a close formation approach and landing for the very last time on UK soil. It was a day of mixed emotions. With this we pay tribute.

Fantastic

What a project !

Nice!

Loved it. I appreciate how much video editing you've done.

Twokidsnosleep wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 10:49 pm Fantastic

Thanks Scott. I really do appreciate every response comment received.

digger303 wrote: Sat Oct 16, 2021 12:54 am What a project !

Your comments and applause are humbling digger303. Thank you.

cor wrote: Sat Oct 16, 2021 4:34 am Loved it. I appreciate how much video editing you've done.

Yes sometimes the effort behind each post is sometimes lost and so thanks cor for noting the time and effort taken to create these.

Okay so whilst I acknowledge my content is slightly 'left field' and somewhat dissimilar to most of the work found on here, I hope a few are intrigued enough to stop and have a look. This particular post some may argue is even more 'out there' than usual and is quite unlike anything you'll ever see on an airport diorama.

Part 5- Evie Air Base 2.0: NATO 70th Anniversary Special

We are still back in April 2019 and it's NATO's 70th anniversary of the alliance. NATO bases globally mark the occasion with various special events and ceremonies. At Evie the first of its kind event on the base was being organised. The event was a tribute to the 70 years of service for all the men and women that have served the Alliance with valour and honour. Here's a look back at how they marked it.

I don't know how I missed this before but I've spent a really enjoyable half-hour catching up from the start.

That's really creative and wonderful story-telling!

Brilliant - looking forward to seeing the next instalment

Another nice chapter to the base's story! Nice work!

How long does an episode take to build and film?

Tomcat64 wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 10:01 am I don't know how I missed this before but I've spent a really enjoyable half-hour catching up from the start.

That's really creative and wonderful story-telling!

Brilliant - looking forward to seeing the next instalment

Thanks Tomcat64, really nice to know the effort is appreciated. A good binge watch is always entertaining. Thanks for the comments

BigWall wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 1:43 am Another nice chapter to the base's story! Nice work!

How long does an episode take to build and film?

Thanks BigWall for the kind comment. Each episode from start to finish from setting the scenes, photography, video/sound effects editing could take up to 3-5 days to complete The personal joy upon each creation is however priceless

Part 6 - Evie Air Base 2.0: A Day in the Life of
We pause here in light of current global events at the start of 2022 to consider the daily activities on NATO Bases. Personnel at Evie work round the clock to remain busy and ready for action. This short episode just provides a brief glimpse of the comings and goings on the base.

Part 7 - Evie Air Base 2.0: The Russians Are Here...
Okay so this particular post truly dares to be different. I'd say this has never been done before- Full scale active dogfight scenes using multiple models. Each dogfight pic was physically set up and as it involved multiple aircraft "in flight" it was a real painstaking challenge to get them all to align for this to work visually. Hopefully the arrangement conveys the action intended.

With ever increasing tension between Russia and the West this storyline plays out nicely against the real life events we are all witnessing. The next few posts will be a continuation of the same and yes...it gets more interesting! Enjoy.

Two more great additions

The airborne sequence with the C-17 & Migs is an awesome piece of work - and I love the scheme on that aggressor F-15.

Fabulous work mate

Tomcat64 wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:01 am Two more great additions

The airborne sequence with the C-17 & Migs is an awesome piece of work - and I love the scheme on that aggressor F-15.

Fabulous work mate

Thank you Tomcat64. Your comments are greatly appreciated. Yes the dogfight sequence was a pleasure to create. It took a lot of time and patience to set up each shot.

Of the two aggressor F-15s schemes, The blue scheme is really cool, but my favourite has to be the green scheme referred to as "Charcoal lizard".

For those that were wondering about that 'Charcoal Lizard' Camo F-15, it actually was a real Test proto used by McDonnell Douglas for development of its future variants. It featured in the UK back in 1980 as seen here...that was before its reassignment to Evie of course .... Here it is




see...its all real!

The next two posts to follow promise to be equally exciting so keep watching out.

Another nice installment! Thank you for sharing!

BigWall wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:18 am Another nice installment! Thank you for sharing!

Thanks BigWall I do appreciate every comment left and knowing others, even if just a few, are enjoying my work.

Part 8 - Evie Air Base 2.0: The Russians Are Back Pt.1
So with the heightened real-life tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine, the previous post and the next two really reflect the current global mood. Russia is continually testing western capabilities and in this episode we see the radar detection and defence capability put to the test. The QRA sites in the UK - Coningsby and Lossiemouth are supported by a third QRA location at Evie (obviously) and here we get to see up close and first hand what that response activity looks like when triggered. These next two posts will be issued in quick succession as this is a two part episode so sit back and enjoy

An exciting day at Evie! I can't wait to see what happens next!

BigWall wrote: Sat Jan 22, 2022 12:53 am An exciting day at Evie! I can't wait to see what happens next!

Wait no more BigWall, I did say these would be in quick succession and so here's the next. Enjoy and thanks for the comment

Part 9 - Evie Air Base 2.0: The Russians Are Back Pt.2
In my personal opinion, this post happens to be my very best work to date!

The scenes were tedious to set up but the results were very satisfying and enjoyable to create. I hope you enjoy it too.

So far we saw the deployment of 2 QRA jets from Evie to seek and intercept the rogue Russian MiG tracked on Radar. With real world events between NATO and Russia mounting, the next few posts could not be more timely. We join the scene as the Eurofighter Typhoon jets catch up with the MiG-25

Two more excellent episodes - the lighting effects you've got into the flares and the explosion are great!

Tensions are really mounting

Tomcat64 wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 11:28 am Two more excellent episodes - the lighting effects you've got into the flares and the explosion are great!

Tensions are really mounting

Thanks for the comments Tomcat. Yes tensions are very high.

For the flares I used spherical wireless LED micro lights (soft white) with tiny cotton streaks attached to each "flare". For the missile smoke stream, I used 2mm styrene tube strips and using PVA rolled these around in loose cotton fibres. I used mini pyrotechnics for the initial contact missile blast shot, but for that one I had to douse the cotton wool "smoke" in water to prevent an actual inferno! Sparks on dry wool...very bad!! Look carefully and you'll see the smoke there is slightly "clumped" as it is still wet. For the huge fireball I embedded the same micro lights within cotton wool, which I shredded and spray painted with a combination of blacks and ash greys to create the black smoke plumes arounds the fireball.

I was quite pleased with the results so thanks.

Part 10 - Evie Air Base 2.0: News Headlines
So we are trying to stay aligned with real life events but the situation on the ground is very fluid and changing at pace! As diplomacy is being exhausted between Western Allies and Russia, tensions continue to mount and no one knows where this is headed.

At Evie Air Base following the recent air incursion, leading to NATO jets opening fire on a Russian MiG, we see in this episode, the fall out of that incident played out in online, print and news media reports. This perspective puts you at the heart of the events and brings the latest activities at Evie more to life. And now...the News Headlines...

Part 11 - Evie Air Base 2.0: Ground Assets 
Clearly there are no signs of diplomatic breakthrough as both sides continue to ratchet up the tension. Russia are determined to prove a point. The West are trying to make a stand. NATO assets are now fully mobilised and equipment continues to be deployed to support Ukraine. It is unclear how this will play out. the situation is one of increasing concern. At Evie Air Base, hardware from several mechanical divisions arrive on base. 

​LAST EPISODE IN THE CURRENT SERIES

Part 12 - Evie Air Base 2.0: Air Assets
Alas, I have come to the end of this project. I tried to run these later episodes in line with real life events and that has made their creations all the more interesting. We do hope that whatever prevails on the Ukraine/Russian border we hope to see de-escalation and a peaceful outcome (though I somehow doubt that). I aim to be back with new creations later in the year when Evie Air Base gets a serious upgrade and expansion - under Evie 3.0.

In real life events this week, a Naval Strike Group has been handed over to direct NATO command.


Enjoy this last one. Here NATO step up the global effort. Evie finds itself front and centre of these developments.


I hope you have enjoyed watching these videos as much as I have creating them. My approach does dare to be different and admittedly may not suit everyone's tastes but this hobby is about pushing boundaries and being different. Could I spend weeks and months on a single static diorama scene with superb results...sure. But I choose to adopt a different route appealing to creativity, imagination and best of all just plain fun with my model collection (most of which I built myself!). Thanks for watching. ​

Thanks for sharing these - I've really enjoyed them.

The Carrier task-force section of the final video was a great surprise and it was good to see the A-10s deployed as well!

Great, creative work - hope we get to see a series 3

Wow! I'm out sick and come back to 4 new videos!

I agree with you, episode 9 is a true masterpiece! I also see that your story telling improves with every episode as well.

Thank you for sharing with us!

Tomcat64 wrote: Fri Feb 11, 2022 10:06 am Thanks for sharing these - I've really enjoyed them.

The Carrier task-force section of the final video was a great surprise and it was good to see the A-10s deployed as well!

Great, creative work - hope we get to see a series 3

Thanks Tomcat64 and Bigwall for your comments. I've been away for a while so did not see the responses. So glad these were enjoyed. In light of the real life events on the ground in Ukraine, these stories were very timely. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Ukraine as they struggle and fight for their survival. I hope to return with new Evie content sometime in the future.