Richard de Florennes

Belgien/Belgium, Region Namur, 2010-10-14:

Ernte von Zichorien (kleine "Rüben" für die Gewinnung von Zuckerersatzstoffen) / harvesting chicorees with the Gilles system ...

Looking very good its nice to see models in an environment that does them justice where do you get all your coffee "soil" from? and do you have to do anything to it before you put it on your displays?

Regards Nick

regarding the coffee powder - just drink and collect. Then in the oven and drying at 50° Celsius ...

regarding the real soil - go to a real field just after plowing/harrowing (in the winter after frost - then there are no small animals in the upper soil) and collect some clods of rather clean, homogen soil. Breaking the soil in smaller pieces and have a look that there are no living things in the soil at home and in the oven, drying at 200° Celsius to make sure that no bacteria, microscopic animals and so on can live in the soil. Then webbing the soil and take apart different sizes of little soild clods. And then rins the soil on the diorama ecactly in the right size according to what is happening on the diorama. Finally spraying some brown colour on the areas which have to look like soil which has just been worked on (looking darker due to moisture). That's it.

Coffee powder dioramas take around one hour to create, real soil dioramas a whole long winter evening ...

thanks for your positive feedback - but I am not satisfied with the "realism" of coffee-powder as "soil". Therefore, I began working with real soil recently and here are some first results:

Hi everybody, there MIGHT be the chance that a UK model supplier MIGHT produce a limited series of the GILLES RB310T sugar beet tanker loader (see pictures below). The production of this series WOULD be based on one single order by me. Now I have a bad conscience, as the supplier is investing much time for this single model. His efforts MIGHT of course be better rewarded if there might be some orders from your side. Therefore I would just like to ask the following open question (please answer via pm or in this topic - there will be no obligation to buy, it is just kind of a poll).

- In general: Although the Gilles two phase-system is not too familiar in the UK (but at least one or two systems are running in Southern England/East Anglia as far as I know) would you general but such a hand-made model or at least be interested?

- How much detail must this model have for your demands? Would you be satisfied with Britains/SIKU style detail?

- How much functionality must this moel have for your demands? Would you be satisfied with a pure display model?

- Finally, one difficult question, what do you think is the maximum price you would pay for such a model or asked in another way: How much would the model version of this mashine be worth in case it would be to your standards?

Please feel free to answer honestly. Thanks for your help.

And here are the pictures of the original version:

Hi everybody, there MIGHT be the chance that a UK model supplier MIGHT produce a limited series of the GILLES RB310T sugar beet tanker loader (see pics below). The production of this series WOULD be based on one single order by me. Now I have a bad conscience, as the supplier is investing much time for this single model. His efforts MIGHT of course be better rewarded if there might be some orders from your side. Therefore I would just like to ask the following open question (please answer via pm or in this topic - there will be no obligation to buy, it is just kind of a poll).

- In general: Although the Gilles two phase-system is not too familiar in the UK (but at least one or two systems are running in Southern England/East Anglia as far as I know) would you general but such a hand-made model or at least be interested?

- How much detail must this model have for your demands? Would you be satisfied with Britains/SIKU style detail?

- How much functionality must this moel have for your demands? Would you be satisfied with a pure display model?

- Finally, one difficult question, what do you think is the maximum price you would pay for such a model or asked in another way: How much would the model version of this mashine be worth in case it would be to your standards?

Please feel free to answer honestly. Thanks for your help.

And here are the pictures of the original version:

spring time field work with the new MF from UH:

some details representing the "Schaad" junction system for the dual row crop wheels of this tractor:

another slightly changed Fendt set:

thanks for the encouraging feedback.

Here are some updates:

1st) have ordered in a Lemken "6 meter" front press fitting to the six meter seed drill:

having harvested all the row crops in my dioramas it is time now for ploughing and seeding winter wheat/labour et semis de cereales ...

here is also some older kit ...

same day, same region, harvesting sugar beet again ...

same day, same region, harvesting potatos ...

Kleine one-row sugarbeet harvester ...

and a load full of fodder beet stopped by police and parked on the road due to overloading 

Germany, region Jülich, 13th of October 2010: loading sugar beets ...

... and harvesting potos just a yard away ...

Back to the chicoree roots:

some potato equipment passing by ...

same day, same region just a mile away: seeding wheat big style ...

two days later, region Namur, just 50 miles from the French border: harvesting chicoree roots by three brothers who share some 400 hectares of best farm land ...

foraging of maize was going on just on the next field ...