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Monte Casino, 1944, completed

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  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Newport News VA
Monte Casino, 1944, completed
Posted by Buddho on Wednesday, September 5, 2007 9:35 PM

I am presently working on a setting from the battle for Monte Cassino and the town named for it. Part of the monastary's facade is showing with a beat up statue...all yellow material is 10lb density foam, which is equal to balsa in working conditions. I am using various Dragon fallschirmjager but havent definitely pinned down positions yet. I am thinking of having a MG42 up on top where the railing is...

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Somewhere over the rainbow
Posted by m1garand on Wednesday, September 5, 2007 10:44 PM
Looks good so far.  Especially camo job on uniforms
  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by IYAAYAS on Thursday, September 6, 2007 4:58 AM
great start here...I'd say maybe not on the mg position,there isn't enough room to balance one up there!
  • Member since
    June 2006
  • From: AusTx, Live Music Capitol of the World
Posted by SteveM on Thursday, September 6, 2007 9:27 AM
Looks great, Buddho. You've got two other dios on the first page of this forum, paint still curing and picking up kudos... what- are you on vacation, man?!!Big Smile [:D]Thumbs Up [tup]

Steve M.

On the workbench: ginormous Kharkov dio

 

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Thursday, September 6, 2007 9:58 AM
Your stuff is just all really tremendous, Buddho! That ruin looks fabulous! Your figures are just superb too! Can't wait to see it finished!
  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: The Green "Mountains", Vermont
Posted by IanIsBored2000 on Thursday, September 6, 2007 2:25 PM
Man, you are just cranking these things out!  Love the guy sitting up top, gives it a new spin on the classic and IMO overused "3-5 soldiers walking through some rubble in a town".
"Scanlon: work your knobby hands on the table in front of you, constructing a make-beleive bomb to blow up a make-beleive world."
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Newport News VA
Posted by Buddho on Friday, September 7, 2007 8:31 PM

Thank you everybody!

Here is the latest pic:

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by Boomerang on Friday, September 7, 2007 11:06 PM

   

     WOW!!!!........ That is fantastic.Bow [bow] I was dubious about how the foam would turn out. I didn't think it would look this spectacular!! And the sand bags are really something special. You will get lot's of oooo's and ahhhh's over this one i am sure. Make a Toast [#toast]

    But really Buddho, you are not telling us the whole truth. What is your secret man? Do you have a basement full of little aliens or elves maybe. You sure push out the work fast, but at a high quality too........tell us!!! Maybe you really are a machine like some of members of this forum believe. I know i am starting to believe.......Laugh [(-D]

    Boomer...

  • Member since
    June 2006
  • From: AusTx, Live Music Capitol of the World
Posted by SteveM on Saturday, September 8, 2007 8:30 AM
Is that the stuff they call 'balsa foam'?

Steve M.

On the workbench: ginormous Kharkov dio

 

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Newport News VA
Posted by Buddho on Sunday, September 9, 2007 3:35 AM

Thank You Boomerang.

Steve, it has the working consistency of balso foam, but isnt.

Here are the finished photos:


 

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by Boomerang on Sunday, September 9, 2007 4:41 AM

   A fanatastic diorama. I love small dioramas. That stonework is a real head turner. I have only one small point that stands out to me. You should sink the statue into the ground. It is just sitting on top. Other than that i give it..Thumbs Up [tup]Thumbs Up [tup]Thumbs Up [tup]Thumbs Up [tup]..

   What's the next project.......huh, huh?

    Boomer...

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Newport News VA
Posted by Buddho on Sunday, September 9, 2007 11:09 AM

Thanks Boomer

 You are spot on about the statue...I painted a square around it to make it look buried, then added some rubble and it looks 100% better.

As for the next one, Ill have to ask the basement gremlins what they are going to get their green lil hands on!

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by Boomerang on Sunday, September 9, 2007 4:41 PM
 Buddho wrote:

 Ill have to ask the basement gremlins..................

    Hmmmm.....so you do have little helpers.....knew it!!!

   Boomer...

 

  • Member since
    March 2007
  • From: Alberta
Posted by frangkly on Sunday, September 9, 2007 8:08 PM
looks great... small but so powerfullll...............
  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Monday, September 10, 2007 11:37 AM

Excellent, but I would add just a bit more wall debris/pebbles, etc on the path there. It looks a bit clean for all the destruction.

I have to say that the figures and walls are really superb! 

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 10, 2007 12:12 PM
...overall, great presentation...not many people still scratch their buildings...your camo painting is getting better each time...the ruins look great, but the pile in the foreground, IMO, does not look like it is as heavy as it is supposed to be...looks like it is made out of a different material than the rest of the structure: still looks like foam...and it looks as though you missed some areas when painting it...but despite that, great work...
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Newport News VA
Posted by Buddho on Monday, September 10, 2007 7:32 PM

Thanks everyone!

I added debris and took some new photos:

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 10, 2007 9:46 PM
...looks great...where do you purchase the 10lb density foam? Also, what paint can you use on it?
  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Monday, September 10, 2007 10:50 PM

YUP! That's what it needed! It adds more balance and realism!

A truly excellent job! 4 STARS!!!!!Big Smile [:D]Thumbs Up [tup]Thumbs Up [tup]Thumbs Up [tup]Thumbs Up [tup]

  • Member since
    March 2007
  • From: Carmel, CA
Posted by bondoman on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 12:55 AM

This is an incredible dio. The composition as a vertical element, the range of materials, the craftsmanship and most of all the, well, emotional content of the famous battle story works really well.

The gunners in the choir are great all by themselves, and the troops on the ground look very purposeful.

What is that weapon they are dragging?

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 7:45 AM
It is a recoiless rocket launcher, very much like the US 106mm of Vietnam-era fame...those Germans seemed to always be ahead of the game w/ weapons technology...
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Newport News VA
Posted by Buddho on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 10:07 AM

Thanks again everyone.

Ill have to look at work to see how much this foam is.

More info on the Puppchen:

"The Püppchen ("Dolly"), a carriage-mounted rocket launcher with breechblock, fires the same 88-mm rocket that is used with the Ofenrohr. The breech prevents any flash to the rear while firing is in progress. To lower the Püppchen's silhouette, the wheels may be removed and the piece left standing on two sled-like rests. In preliminary positions the ground is dug out so that the horizontal section of the lower carriage and trail will lie below the surface. For an all-around prepared position, circular trenches with an inner radius of about 2 feet are prepared. The barrel is left just clear of cover, as is done in the case of the preliminary positions. The lower carriage is dug in and the trail wedged, so that the piece can be fired at an angle of 180 degrees. Positions are prepared in defilade or on reverse slopes, and are well camouflaged. In general, enemy doctrine governing the preparation of positions and the conduct of fire is similar to that for the Ofenrohr, except that only two projectors of the Püppchen type are considered necessary for satisfactory interlocking fire.

The maximum effective range of the Püppchen is considered to be 220 yards, although badly dispersed fire up to 275 yards is possible. For this reason the Püppchen, like the Ofenrohr, is employed in the foremost infantry positions. For added protection from artillery fire, the launcher may be detached from its carriage and removed to a shelter some distance away from the prepared position. Alternate positions are prepared only when the terrain restricts the field of fire and provides good cover for the maneuvering piece. In such terrain each position is constructed so that the Püppchen can be run in and out on wheels. Since the Püppchen is harder to conceal than the Ofenrohr, the Germans believe that it is necessary to furnish the larger weapon with antitank protection in the form of obstacles, natural or artificial, supplemented by mines. Because the Püppchen's carriage is not strong enough to stand up under motor towing at high speed, and since horse-draft sacrifices valuable time and involves the problem of replacing animal casualties, the Püppchen generally is transported on trucks and is used only in positional warfare.
The Püppchen is a recoilless weapon firing the same ammunition as the Ofenrohr. It has no rearward flash and has a greater range than the Ofenrohr.

The 88-mm rocket used in both the Ofenrohr and the Püppchen is heavy enough to cause ammunition-supply difficulties in battle. (A box of three rounds weighs 24 pounds.) This is why the Germans try to build up supplies in all main and alternate positions.

Although the German bazooka, the Panzerfaüste, and the Püppchen have a very definite military value, they and the larger rocket weapons are now employed on such a large scale because shortages of materials, labor, and industrial facilities prevent the Germans from producing the requisite number of conventional artillery and antitank weapons. For instance, the average antitank company, which formerly was armed with from 9 to 12 guns, now has either around 3 guns and 36 bazookas, or no guns and about 54 bazookas. Probably the Panzerfaust is the most useful of these weapons, enabling the infantry squad and comparable units to stop Allied tanks."

  • Member since
    May 2004
  • From: Portugal
Posted by madspaniard on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 1:13 PM

Fantastic work,is really amazing.

Congratulations

Pedro

Fw 190 A-3 Richtofen JG
  • Member since
    March 2007
  • From: Carmel, CA
Posted by bondoman on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 1:22 AM

Thanks for the information. It would seem to me that most infantry carried anti-armor weapons still are a product of WW2 engineering. Not TOW, but who's going to carry that?

 

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