Thank you!!! I spent a whole night making the sandbags out of modeling clay, then painted them, and finally applied a wash. i could have spent forever making them more alike in size, and didn't have any success in applying texture (using a knurled knob or piece of material) and I tried painting a few a different color, gray or brownish, but it just did not look right. i went a little overboard on making the  bags, and ended up removing about 1/4 of them to make them fit on the base.

i LOVE bish's diorama, especially the antenna. One of my other hobbies (just in the last 2-3 years) is Ham radio, and home-made antennas are a big part of it.... 

 

Rudy

Oh gee, somehow I missed the finished photos there. Nice work and fantastic job for your first diorama. The gun looks good, nice work on the figures and placing them, and I like those sandbags. 

You might want to check out Bish's 251 diorama over on the armour section for ideas on your next one. I know I've been studying it. 

Thanks for the tips and input Cap'n.. I will put them to use on the next one. What do you guys think?!? Rudy

One of the significant differences in Army kit during Korea versus WWII was that it was somewhat more uniform. During WWII web gear was in several shades, from WWI mustard khaki, to 1941 khaki, to any one of several shades of OD. Which also included 1943 issue where the bodies of the items were in khaki, and the seams in OD. During WWII, the uniforms were a mix of cotton and wool, and in a mix of khaki, green, and brown. By Korea, combat uniforms had stabilized to herringbone twill OD fatigues, with web gear on OD. Leather items were russet leather (note, some items, like binocular cases would be a darker brown). Note, EE-8 field phone cases run from a medium green to an olive brown.

Thank you for that Input Gino, I always appreciate your help. You are a wonderful source. I will see what I can find! Gamera, Ok, thank you for the tips about the eyes and color usage! I will pick up some Ivory paint tomorrow. Ive been mostly mixing my own colors using the cheapo wall-mart craft paints, they come in handy when you need to mix and create colors. I have never tried to airbrush them, however.Just a side note, Before I ever attempt that, I might try a new brand of airbrush, like a Badger or an Iwata. I have a Paasche Talon, and even with my second one (out of pocket) I am still not really happy with it. Paint always seems to leak back out of the airbrush body and into the air valve under the trigger, and the only way to un-stick that is to completely disassemble and soak the valve. I can spray Model master enamels ok, but have issues with anything else. Even using enamels, I still have the issue. I hear these stories of guys using the same badger AND needle (!!!) for 30 years(!!!!) I really would prefer to spray acrylics, as they are not so damn stinky in the house (even using my little booth) but seem to have issues every time. Thanks! Rudy

Actually I've been using a 000 brush for eyes etc. And try 'ivory' or else mix a little pink or brown into white paint, straight white is way too stark. Then I use a pen with a good sharp point to put in the eyeballs.

And no worries, if you muff it up, you can always just paint over it.  

Looking good so far.  I would get rid of the walkie-talkie radio though.  Artillery, up to as late as the mid-'90s, used wire line for communication between the guns and the FDC (HQ).  The standard in WWII would have been a wire to a field telephone (EE-8, EE-8A, or late-war EE-8B).  These can be pretty easily scratched or one can be found in one of the old Italeri acessories sets.

 

Thanks guys!I really want to paint the eyes and lips and such, but I'm scared I'll screw it up bad! My finest brush is a "0000" is that the finest?! That's what I used for the "detail" painting and intersecting areas.... Rudy

Good to see you making progress on this Rudy, we hadn't heard from you and I was wondering if you'd scrapped the progress.

Figures are a pain, I've been doing them twenty years now and still am not totally happy with mine. And my first ones, well they could've been rejects from 'White Zombie'...

Rudy - 

Coming along nicely....My hat's off to you for taking on figures. Not much of a fan of figures but we have to have them to complete a successful dio. Keep up the great work, and keep posting the photos.

See 4/11/16 Update above to original post... Thank you for the heads up On those figures Gamera and Hunter! Figures I already had the verlinden ones by then :(

 

  Rudy

Thanks Hunter! I coulda looked it up but I was feeling lazy at the moment... 

 

Gamera

Masterbox or MiniArt, I forget which makes this set, but it's the early/middle Second World War uniform which is incorrect for the Korean War.

Hello Cliff ..... MasterBox makes this kit, and you are correct about the uniforms pictured

Hey Rudy I was looking for a set of figures to go with my Korean War M40 SPG and couldn't find any either.

Masterbox or MiniArt, I forget which makes this set, but it's the early/middle Second World War uniform which is incorrect for the Korean War.

Dragon does make these three sets which are correct with the late Second World War uniform. US troops in Korea as well as the South Korean Army were given these.

I was going to kitbash the upper set with the lower ones to try to get what I want. Maybe you could do something like this? Hope it helps some. The Advance to the Rhine set is really useful, I've got about three boxes now and have used one for kitbashing different projects.

As to groundwork I've been using Durham's water putty. I find it stronger than plaster and doesn't chip. But if you're looking to put footprints or tire tracks etc in it do it while it's wet. They advertise it as setting up as rock hard and they ain't kidding!

Hello!

I like to paint very complicated assemblies with Gunze Mr. Color paint - something dark, maybe black, maybe dark brown. This way I don't have to scrape the paint off when I use lacquer thinner for welding the parts together - which I usually do. The lacquer thinner just automatically strips the paint and everything works like a charm. I also get the "shadows" this way, and everything on the outside gets painted later. The darker areas inside look good, and form natural "shadows".

As for olive drab, it is said, that it shouldn't be to green - it's a "drab" colour. My best tip is Humbrol 66 - matches my old machine gun ammo box almost perfectly.

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Thanks guys! I was pretty sure it was used through Vietnam, but didnt want to catch crap from the rivet-counters. As far as the uniforms go, you are correct. There seems to be nearly zero  field artillery crew figures, and even less Korean-War Era figures of ANY sort. I usually build, sand/file and clean up stuff and THEN paint it, but I decided to do things differently on this kit. I can tell there will be very hard to access places when trying to paint AFTER the Gun is built, so I decided to prime and paint everything, assemble, then go back and re-coat with paint after everything is assembled.  I only had a few drops of Olive Drab green paint, so I had to use some "Italian Army Green" instead. It is definitely "more green" than the "more olive" of the olive drab, but It gets it done for a base coat. Quick useless pic after I was done stinking up the house with Model Master Enamels:

What do you guys reccomend using for ground work? Plaster? Cellu-clay? or ?

 

Thanks! Rudy

 

Yeap as Pawel said the gun was in use from the Second World War up to Vietnam. Some of the details did change as it was upgraded but I think it should be ok for Korea. Gino and Stikpusher would know. 

The figures are I believe the wrong uniforms though, that's an early Second World War uniform with the leggings on the boots. There was a late WW2 version that was used though Korea. Again Stikpusher and Gino would know way more than me here. 

Good luck, this will make a fantastic gift for your uncle! 

Hello!

Well, then, good luck with your project! I believe this 155mm howitzer was used all the way from WWII to Vietnam, and then probably some. Pity this is not going to be a Vietnam dio! Keep 'em pictures comin' and have a nice day!

Paweł