Just a quick update: base-coat and pre-shading done on my IS-3. I will add more color modulation and highlights, but it is starting to look like something.
Yeah!
While I was pre-shading and basecoating my IS-3 tank this weekend (a post coming about that soon), I decided to pre-shade and basecoat an old model I had lying around: a Sturmpanzer IV “Brummbar” from Tamiya (a model almost 30 years old!).
Of course models made in the 80’s had fewer details than those made today. I could spend countless hours trying to improve my Brummbar and make it close to today’s standards (I was tempted to do so for a while, of course…). But in the end, I just decided to keep it like that, “out-of-the-box assembly” and concentrate on the paint job, weathering, and diorama.
I’m not a big fan of the camo pattern I used, but it seems appropriate for the time and location (Italy!).
I’m planning to use some foliage and branches to hide the most annoying details.
I’m pleased with the result so far.
Done with the details. It’s down to that weird mixed feeling of accomplishment and resignation (I guess modellers are never satisfied).
I had a hard time creating the details of the hoses on top of the external fuel tanks. The wire I was using was a bit too “springy” and I was difficult to bend it into shape. I’m not 100% ok with the final result, but… close enough…
A cool step at this stage is applying the primer. I like that nice uniform colouring, blending together plastic, photo-etched details, putty and all.
Enjoy the pics!
A quick project for the gaming table: desert rocks with crystal formations.
I glued pieces of gardening cedar bark to small masonite bases with the glue gun. With the same hot glue, I placed plastic “gems” bought at the dollar store. For painting, it was easy: a basecoat of rusty brown, dry brush of ochre on the sand and dry brush of sand beige on the rocks and sand for the highlights. I also built an altar from a larger piece of bark, to which I added some of my homemade resin skulls.
Easy, and a cool addition to my terrain pieces.
Yeah!
My new tank project: a 1/35 soviet IS-3 heavy tank from Tamiya.
It is a nice kit, quite easy to put together. But it is an “old” kit (released in 1998, or something like that) and as such, it offer fewer details and options than more recent kits. And the kit has vinyl tracks :-(. So I had to do some detailing work, added some wires, handles made from strips of thin metal, plasticard bits, etc. I’m not 100% done, but quite close.
Overall, it is a tank with an impressive look, even more so when you consider that it was developed near the end of WWII (1944). It seems it was not used in combats in WWII, but it was part of the victory parade in Berlin on September 7 1945.
More to come; stay tuned.
Увидимся! (see you!)
Recently, I’ve built some desert terrain for tabletop use. Simple pieces, mostly made from foamcore boards and stryrofoam.
The interesting thing here, is the use of cake decorations, namely wedding cake plastic columns, to create terrain. I used my trusty Dremel rotary tool to damage them and carve some grooves to suggest individual blocks. I used a piece of plasticard to close the top part, and used scrap parts of metal figures embed in putty to add weight to the bottom (so the columns would be less prone to fall once on the gaming table). The painting was kept to a minimum: yellow-ochre basecoat, followed by a wash of dark brown, then a drybrushing of sand beige.
Boom! Quick and simple!
Enjoy the pics!
An old piece today.
A diorama I made ages ago for a contest at a local gaming store (I won second place btw). Most of the temple is etched plaster covering a wood base.
For the sculpture on the wall, I pressed various figures on a clay sheet and poured plaster of Paris, then etched the brick patterns on it after it was dried. The columns are also made of plaster, poured in… cardboard toilet paper rolls. Yep.
The paint job is ok, but as for most of my older pieces, it consists mainly of layering and drybrushing.
It think the diorama should be viewed as a whole, telling a story: Mama dragon, protecting her eggs, wants to get a free meal from superstitious orcs, who are about to get attacked by a brave halfling thief and a (hopefully) powerful mage.
Yeah! I’m finally done with my Hetzer Diorama. Like all dioramas projects, there’s still a few little details that bug me, but overall I’m pleased with the diorama. And I can move on to other stuff. My workbench is full of unfinished pieces just waiting some loving care…
Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures:
Wow! I’ve been away from this blog for a while: sorry folks! But I am back, and I will start posting cool stuff again!
Beginning with this update on my Hetzer diorama. I’m almost done with the ground work!
I’ll be ready to apply some pigments as soon as the glue will be completely set. So this diorama is close to be finished! It took quite a lot of time to do the detailing on the terrain (vegetation) but in the end, I am pleased with the result.
In case anyone is wondering, I used Oregano to simulate dead leaves. The smell of spices mixed with white glue is a bit weird, but the effect is quite cool. I did a couple of washes (different shades of brown) to give some depth to the soil and blend it better with leaves and twigs.
Cool! More posts coming very soon!