Thomas Valle
Pottsville, Pennsylvania
Thomas writes: “A friend of mine sent me a 1/35 scale Mig Productions Bronekater resin kit and asked me if I could build it into a diorama depicting a World War II scene at the Volga River. So, this is what I came up with using a Tamiya 1/35 scale T34/85 and a building from MiniArt. The dock is half Italeri, half scratchbuilt.” Thomas mustered figures from Verlinden, Mig Productions, and Dragon; the crane comes from Dnepro Model. For the water, he poured polyester resin from Castin’ Craft three times over the course of a week. He says, “The diorama shows a Soviet T-34 tank with a disabled gun barrel and the tankers, dockworkers, and Soviet soldiers attempting to salvage the same style turret from a half-sunken Soviet Bronekater gunship. The diorama took about three weeks to complete.” Thomas used Vallejo acrylics and Vallejo Model Air as well as Mig Abteilung 502 oils for shading and outlining.