YEAH!
It’s done! After multiple retouching and a lot of work with pigments and washes, I can finally show the final result.
Enjoy the pics!
An update on my JS-2 diorama: Here are some photos of the first stages of painting for the base.
I started by painting the individual details with plain colors (no shadows or highlights). I also worked a bit on the rust effects. The corrugated panel in the center of the diorama is more a test than anything, since it will be entirely hidden underneath the tank.
Then I used the airbrush to start simulating brick dust and give some hints of shading.
Next step will be the washes and pigments.
Coming soon!…
Just a quick post to show the results of my recent column building frenzy…
I followed this excellent tutorial from Black Magic Craft on youtube: A great Youtube channel by the way.
The main material is foam board. They were relatively quick to make and I like the fact that the bricks appear uneven: perfect for a dungeon or ancient ruin.
Good!
I started to work on the diorama for my JS-2 tank. I wanted to keep it small and simple, but as always I got carried away a bit, adding lots of details in the rubbles. The scene is supposed to take place right after the fall of Berlin.
I had a white plastic wedding cake column in my parts bin (leftover from some wargaming terrain I did a while ago). I decided to use this in the diorama as a way to suggest the destruction of fine german classical architecture. A library? A bank? Who knows…
Still, something was missing to really coin it. This small diorama had to evoque the fall or Berlin (and I didn’t want to use another nazi flag, as I did in this other diorama). So I sculpted a nazi eagle emblem, the kind of wich was afixed to many building facades in large german cities during the 3rd Reich. I used Apoxy sculpt and fine tools (including a needle) to sculpt, and did it while listening to an audio book of H.P. Lovecraft novels.
I know. No link. But somehow the combination of sculpting and listening to cosmic horror stories is really relaxing for the brain 🙂
Anyway, enjoy the pics for now: I’ll be painting all this and posting the results in early 2019.
Happy New Year to all of you!
Strips of cork. I cut them in small “bricks”, sanded the edges and glued them one by one. I took A LONG TIME! But the end result is very good.
The plastic column was butchered with a rotary tool…
I used epoxy putty to fill the hollow parts. With a saw, I also scribed the horizontal lines, to add a touch of realism.
More expoxy putty work.
The cock pavement is completed. I test fit the elements…
Work is started on the nazi eagle (Apoxy Sculpt).
The cobblestone is grouted with drywall compound.
With a heated needle, I made some holes on the column. I then used my X-Acto to carve around the holes to simulate bullet impacts on the stone.
Various debris are then glued to the base using white glue and wood filler.
The debris, from another angle.
The finished eagle. When it will be painted, I plan to but a chain near it to suggest that it might have being torn from the facade…
Again , the rubbles: bits of cork, styrofoam, pieces of wood, a some plastic bits.
Top view.
Test fitting the JS-2. The miniatures are to be repainted (I don’t like the green of their uniforms)
Test fitting: Another angle.
Just a quick update on my Panzerkampfwagen II from Tamiya: I finally painted the commander figure.
Enjoy!
Wow! I’ve been really busy at work lately, so I had no time to complete my projects and post updates…
Still, I managed to find some time to work on this bad boy: a 1/35 JS-2 by Tamiya (kit number: 35289).
There’s not much to say: the kit went together beautifully. I made minimal modifications: bending fenders a bit, and replacing the handles of the fuel tanks with thinner metal strips.
As for painting, nothing special there too: same colors and techniques as my ISU-152
I am not done yet: some streaks and pigments need to be added to the upper part, and a few touch ups are still required.
I am currently painting the miniatures, so stay tuned!
Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures…
I needed a break from painting tanks. And I wanted to work on something simple…
So I dug up an old model from the “maybe-I’ll-finish-it-someday” stack: A 1:100 AT-AT from MPC. This model was produced in 1989 and is quite decent, even straight out of the box.
The kit was slightly damaged (missing a piece on a leg and some other bits) and the barrels of the two slim canons were broken. I had to dot a little bit of scratch building to fix all this, but nothing serious.
The model was painted in pale grey then heavily weathered with oil paints and washes.
The large rocks on the base are made from bark and cork, while smaller rocks are just real pebbles and coarse sand.
The snowspeeder that came with the kit (in fact, there was 2) is not very detailed by modern standards, but with a good paint job and weathering it looks ok.
The snow was made by mixing Woodland Scenic Snow with Matt Mod Podge in a “peanut butter like” consistency. It was then applied onto the base with a small spatula. The models were pressed on the mix. Once the surface began to dry, I used a hobby knife and a tooth pick to shape the snow around the models and near the rocks.
Once the snow was completely cured, I sprayed small amounts of white paint (just a mist, really) on the whole scene to tie up the different tones in that “frosty” winter feel…
The smoke for the snowspeeder crash is simply a small ball of synthetic pillow stuffing material, lightly painted with the airbrush. The fibers are a bit coarse to my taste, so I might replace that little detail one day.
As for now, I consider this project done. I’m satisfied with the overall look of the scene.
Enjoy the pictures!
