Various British Elements Between Caen & St. Lo France, Mid-July, 1944
As appearing in Fine Scale Modeler, July, Page 40 (CLICK PICTURE TO SEE ENTIRE IMAGE)
Various British Elements between Caen & St. Lo France, Mid-July, 1944
Model,Text, & Photos by Adam Kuller (Indy)
Let me begin by saying that after 30 years away from modeling, I was inspired to get into it again by reading Fine Scale Modeler(March '08) and seeing the amazing
state of the hobby, and the work of todays scale model builders. A life as an artist,custom picture framer, ski tech, and Tiki carver led me to a position in a professional model shop---doing rapid prototyping of parts & assemblies of all sorts of cutting-edge technologies---so it seemed natural that in my off-hours I would pursue my favorite subject(WWII armor & figures in 1/35th scale)
I wanted to start with a late war scene, in a still-lovely part of France, with a well-equiped group of Brits, showing some signs of having been in a few fights, and ready for the next one.
I started with alot of research----a few more issues of Fine Scale Modeler, and a few other model magazines, many internet model & reference sites, and began collecting books on WWII gear, soilders, battles, and history. This 1st scenic was to include many 1st's for me, including photo-etch parts,weathering powders, all the landscape stuff, scratchbuilding using styrene strip, copper wire, wood & thread, among other things!
Many Projects in One
Kits used included:
- Tamiya's excellent Cromwell
- Tamiya's British troops on patrol
- Master Box's British Commandos/Caen
- Verlinden's Bren gun team(just the spotter-converted to a sniper)
- MK35's beautiful village fountain(real plaster from France)
- Academy's Armor Vehical Stowage
- Many,many scratchbuilt items including most of the crates,cable spool, fuel racks,
lamp wire, hatch pulls, & ciggerettes,lamp brush gaurds of wire to show them beat & bent
The Base
1st thing,everyhting was completed separately and laid out on desk-top to determine the ideal over-all size.
Crude measurements were taken to determine the distance from corners to road, and hill sides,ect.
A shodowbox frame was made from some old well-used baseboard mouldings, the corners built from A+B epoxy putty, finely sanded to perfection,
along with all the dents & dings & then triple-coated with medium texture Rustoleum spray(the nice white specs on black)
A platform was made inside, from entirely scrap wood cut-offs I'd saved for some-days use! (just using what I had)---these were glued in and pin nailed together.
On top of the wood slats went florist-foam(cut into slabs, layered to make the landscape high-points & over that the earthwork began.
----Here's where I made the first of several distinct(and I think) superior improvements over other methods other modelers widely use------
To form the rounded, under-faces of the embankments, slabs of milliput where laid in position and grooved heavily, with a wetted penny, (held in a hemostat)--
a great tool for this. This was only my 2nd project with this fantastic modeling compound(the 1st was the tree-stump, which was made beforehand with
Milliput over an old paint jar lid.)
----I wanted this landscape to have detail exceeding what I gererally see in most builds, so sculpting these embankments before topping them with dirt, rock, and
grass gave a sharp platform to carefully overhang the grass, as I've observed happens, anywhere erosion goes to work, like along roadsides.
Groundwork
A foundation was formed with a 1/2 & 1/2 mixture of wall spackle & tan wood filler(instead of the usual celluclay, plaster, or paper mache, as I don't care
to work with any of these.) I found when repairing nail holes in walls( like from moving picture frames), mixing these two gives a very strong controlable filler,
that matched common wall paint much better than spackle alone(if you use this to patch walls--mix in the wood filler little by little till you get your homes particular shade of off-white.) ----Instead of pushing into this mix the large build items and working around them the whole rest of the project, a square of Sarahn Wrap was used
to keep the models clean, the impressions were formed, and then the items lifted away & put aside.I did cover the earth base mix with fine sifted beach sand and some small stones, After dying overnight, the road & other dirt areas recieved the same medium texture black spray the frame got, which gave lotsa fine pebble detail & provided foreshadowing for the dirt color-work. Next a finer texture spray tan was used(also Rustoleum) This alone was a great looking roadway,though a bit grey and muddier than I wanted. Tamaya acrylics we're airbrushed in to add warmer earth tones and shadows, completing the road & embankments.
Foilage
---Now, the next major departure from common modeling practice, as I do not like working with white glue,diluted or not, wondering if it's the right mixture, if it's going to be strong enough to hold, and wet when I get to that area, 3M #77 spray was used instead to fix the static grass from Woodland Scenics. This product is something I was very familiar with from doing picture frame work,as it can be used to mount artwork cheap & fast, laid on in a light, even coat, or a thick even gooey
trap almost anything will stick to(careful to keep your fingers out of it!)
I used blue painters tape & Parafilm(flexable mask from Micromark) to mask all the areas of dirt & rock I'd gotten finished, leaving all the areas I wanted grass.
All my different landscaping materials we're handy in an organizer, so I could pick them as I went. I applied a thick even coat of 77 spray to exposed areas & began tweezing in the static grass in small clumps, teasing it upward with my tweezers as it stuck in the glue. This stuff will stay very sticky for a long session if laid out in a thick coating, but a thin layer will dry quickly, and adding more may put a fog on already worked areas, so get it all on in one shot.
The tall grass(also from Woodland Scenics) was placed a few peices together in small uneven bunches, by 1st dipping a grouped end in thick CA glue and gently landing in just the right spot. Once completed and the glue cured, all of the grasses we're carefully airbrushed in various mixes of Tamiya acrylics. Next the masks were removed, and the few spots of paint bleedthrough were easily touched up with a small round brush & leftover paint. Some color variations were given to the scattered rocks and a few more added on top of the grass. One little secret, some of the tiny rocks I sifted were glued on top of the static grass in places & painted along with it. These little green rocks tend to look like clover or small green leaves and add variety to the wild grass.
The Models
---Now the worlds stage is set, and I could begin placing all my projects into their final destinations, starting with the fountain & stump( glued in with Locktight Gel SuperGlue, a great product in a dispenser pen-tip bottle that stays ready to use with a little squeeze.) Next was the log(a nice hollow driftwood stick found on the beach and lightly stained with thinned emamel) Then the small details of the fountain---pails & scratchbuilt tray and a few paper maple leaves(pre-airbrushed) from Hudson&Allen, delibertly attached with thin Zap to look like they just blew in. To attach the Cromwell, it was put in place, turret removed, and two pilot holes drilled straight through the inner fighting compartment floor, through the road and into the wood strips underneath. Two appropriate wood screws with washers hold it very secure.
Marching Order
---All that was left besides many small details, was the the figure placement. Though I'd worked this out at the start, a few small improvments accured to me, and I
adjusted for optimal balance. This was one of the funnest parts of the project(getting to toy with different possibilities. but also the hardest to decide.) Once I was
satisfied I had the best solution, I attached music-wire pins to each boot-bottom, and made a corrosponding hole in the base-work with my Dremel & a closely sized
bit. If you do this right, no glue is even needed, and no mess is made on the grass ect., or your well-detailed combat boots.
The figures where all completed beforehand, painted with Tamiya and Liquitex artist's acylics, as was the Cromwell tank, though on the tank, was heavy use of pigment powders, both dry and wetted with alcohol.(my first time ever using these, I got an amazing set from Micro-mark called Doc O'brian's Weathering Powders,
12 colors for under $20!! They worked great. Since then, I bought some of the famous Mig Produtions Pigment Powders, and though are excellent, are very similar
and much more expensive.) Dirt & dust colored pigments were added to the roadway, tank running gear, and the boots and legs of the soilders walking the road.
Water was added to the fountain and bucket beside it using another great product, called Still Water. My tank was complete after adding guitar string antennas,
Hundson & Allen tow chain, a few items from Academy's Tank Supplies set II, scratchbuilt tarps made from kitchen foil & thread, and many totally scratchbuilt boxes and crates made ffom various sized styrene strip( with woodgrain scribed in with a knife-tip), joined with Zap CA glue. Time consuming work, but I wanted the stowage to look real & natural, & really be tied in place for travel. ( I've noticed on many terrific models this is a weakpoint, where it doesn't seem everthing is really secured)
I used a heavy black nylon thread, dry-brushed with deck tan acrylic, and pulled down tight to the scratchbuilt wire deck grab handles & fuel tank rack
To Conclude
--- I was very happy with my first scenic diarama, and have heard alot of nice comments from those that have seen it. Any kind of imput might be interesting, as I know I have some learning to do before I'm painting the sort of figures I want, and some historical aspects I'm sure could be picked at, but as far as the two major
things I wanted to improve on I believe I really nailed--namely well sculpted landscape and realistic secure AFV stowage. Hope you enjoy the efforts.............!
The finished base-before placement of models
~~~My 1st ever Dio- as I had envisioned it !~~~