At last!
I had a bit of time available to complete my IS-3 diorama!
I scratch builded the furniture for the barricade from plasticard. The cobblestone road is made from a sheet of foamcore. I also printed small newspapers to add to the debris on the street. The miniature is from Mini Art (kit 35027).
Enjoy!
Right after Christmas, the urge to build a new model was really strong for me, but I wanted to build something simple and quick for a change.
On my shelves stood an old Panzerkampfwagen II Ausf. F/G from Tamiya. A kit produced in… 1971! The kit includes 5 figures. I only intend to use the tank commander figure.
Just to give you an idea of the simplistic, toy like nature of the kit: There’s almost as many miniatures parts in the box than actual tank parts…
Vinyl tracks (without details on the inside), molded on suspension, tool clamps that are just plain rectangles, no hole in the barrel, etc… The kit is way under modern standards and would require a tremendous amount of work to make it really accurate.
But I really didn’t want to put all the efforts (and after market products) required: I just wanted a fun build.
I decided to build and paint that little monster as is, OOB. No fuss. The only modifications I did were to drill holes in the main gun and machine-gun barrels and fill the gaps at the bottom of the hull with plasticard.
The decals gave me serious headaches: They were very thick, yellowish and did not stick well to the model. A huge chunk of the big letter R on one side of the turret even broke of during weathering. I made a Nazi flag from epoxy putty to hide this.
The diorama was pretty basic and quick to make. Again: no fuss.
The whole thing, diorama included, was built in little less than 2 weeks.
It’s not 100% done:
Overall, it was a fun project. And in the end, it doesn’t look so bad for such an old kit.
Enjoy the pics!
Almost done! Some minor details to fix: add an antenna, add some mud on the mud scrapers near the drive wheels and glue the tracks to the wheels.
I don’t think I will be able to create sag in the tracks since they are too tight… I should have known better not to glue the front wheels, wich act as track tensioners. Once the tracks will be glued to the wheels, at least they will stop “levitating”…
Small diorama coming soon! Yeah!
Done!
My little E-10 diorama is done! I added a figure of a tank driver (Tamiya) and a rusty barrel to complete the composition and add a touch of color.
Enjoy the pictures!
I decided to finish the IS-3 tank from Tamiya I built a while ago.
As soon as it was on my workbench again, I thought it was too dark and not “yellowish” enough. I was afraid further weathering would make it even darker and conceal the details. So I decided to do a bit more highlights.
I think its color will be much more suited now for weathering and washes.
I also decided to go for a small Budapest 1956 Diorama instead of the original Berlin Victory Parade 1945 I was planning to do, so I will be able to put the model amongst debris and barricades (also this gives me more latitude for heavier weathering, since the tank would have been in service for 11 more years by 1956). The Hungarian insurrection of 1956 was pretty violent, the streets of Budapest were a mess and a number of JS-3 were involved (event destroyed!).
The small diorama for my E-10 tank is almost completed. Yeah!
I took some photographs during the build.
I got inspired by some pictures I saw of the Reichsautobahn and a tutorial from AK Interactive on Youtube.
I don’t have any AK’s modelling products, but I thought I could replicate the same effects with my own stuff.
In case you’re wondering, this project was super-quick! It tooked only 2 days to build this little diorama. I think that without the overnight required for the drying of the ground material, it could have been completed in a single day. Which is sad, in a way: I love building dioramas. This one was too quick to build… 😦
I added a description for each picture, to explain the process.
Enjoy the pictures!
Almost done!
Just some minor details to fix. I am quite pleased with the result.
I’m currently working on the machine gun and the figure (tank driver).
I will make a very simple (and small) diorama base for this one.
Expect more pics really soon.
Enjoy!
This summer, I am pretty busy doing some 1:1 crafting (renovation of the family room in the basement). So, I haven’t done much progress on my dioramas and tanks. I have still managed to put together a nice kit by trumpeter; the Entwicklungsfahrzeug E-10.
This is a so-called “paper tank”, like my E-50 and E-100. It never entered production (only a wooden mockup was built). It is reminiscent of the Hetzer, a small mobile tank destroyer, but with a key special feature: A “kneeling” suspension, meaning that the tank could lower its profile while in shooting position (from 176cm to 140cm according to Wikipedia).
A nice kit overall, which is quick to put together (if you go with the rubber band tracks, instead of the individual link ones like I did…)
I haven’t decided yet if I am going to use the photo-etched schürzen provided in the kit (I feel it would be a shame to hide those nice looking tracks).
The jack and machine gun are missing in the pictures: I will paint these separately. You will also notice some blue tack holding the tracks together. The tracks are glued in 2 “strips” per side, so they can be removed for painting. The wheels aren’t glued either for now.
I kept the scratch building to a minimum on this model. I added some numbers on the gun mantlet, replaced the 2 parts main gun with a 1 part Hetzer gun (no seams!) I had around and repaired one of the tow cables I accidentally broke with a spare one. I also drilled the hole in the machine-gun barrel.
Enjoy the pics!
Yeah! I am done with my E-50 diorama. I’m quite pleased with the base (rubbles, sandbags and all).
It just needs a miniature or two. I have them on the way (stay tuned for future posts).
Wait… there are still some little things to complete… Like adding antennas to the tank… and some barbwiresin the rubbles.
Let’s call this one 99% done, ok?
Anyway, enjoy the pics!
A couple of months ago, I picked up a panzer 35(t) kit (Academy #13313).
These small Czech tanks were captured by the germans in mars 1939. They were used during the invasion of Poland and France at the start of WWII. They saw combats up until 1941, being by then totally outmatched by more recent enemy tanks (especially on the eastern front).
I find that this tank has an “old school” look to it, due mainly to the countless protruding rivets, small size and small gun. It looks a bit WWI-ish to me.
Anyway.
I am sorry for not posting the first steps of this (simple) build. I am already done with priming, pre-shading, base coat, decals and main details (like tools and exhaust).
This little fellow is varnished and ready for weathering (chipping, oils washes and pigments).
Fun time!
MINIONVAULT 