Rob I've always found your comments and advise helpful and thats why I'm here.  We all learn from others who have more knowledge and different methods, and in the end we become better and more informative builders ourselves. Just saying, thanks. Terry

Spartan, thanks. can't beat a bit of PE.

Rob, thanks, and ye, I completely agree. Green is so boring.

Well I have been doing some work on my build, just not on the Hotchkiss yet. I decided to build my first diorama for it so been building that up. Have a look at the picture to see how far I've got, as always comments suggestions welcome

Phil

Phil, nice start on the base. Just one comment I would make, something to keep in mind for the future. There are a number of rules in doing Dio's, not my rules and I don't agree with them all. But one of the big ones is that nothing should be parallel to the edge of the base. This is one of the rules I don't agree with, but, on saying that, putting everything at only a slight angle does look better, and its been a long time since I broke the rule.

Where did you get that wall from.

Bish

I take your point but as its going to have to stand on a shelf I'm fine with it being all level (plus I have no issue going against the rules!)

I picked it up from Fields of Glory www.fieldsofglorymodels.co.uk/.../en for all of £9.99 plus a bit of postage

Phil

No worries, just thought I would let you know in case one of the diorama police pull you up. Forewarned is forearmed and all that.

I thought it looked familiar. I have bought from them a few times. I got the temple ruin for my Pz III from there and I was going to get the wooden fence for the Su 85 from them as well, but they had run out of the one I wanted. I have always had good service from them.

Very cool Phil, trying to do some cobblestones for my Sherman Jumbo and hope it comes out right since I've never seen it in real life! Very cool so far!

Bish - Great work!

Phil - I already like where this is headed.

Chuck, Conky, Jibber, Gamera - Good to see your progress.

OK, it's time for me to get in the game. Just so you know, Aaron's returned to Australia for a couple of weeks. So, he will be on here only intermittently for a little while. That means you're left exclusively with me--WOE!

I'll get the vlog out this week, and I'll start serious work on the Matilda.

I gotta say, everyone is doing awesome in here. Keep it up!

Excellent work, all!

Mine's still in the wrapper....    

BTW: I need to put up more photos... I've gotten all the visible pins installed, I left out the ones under the fenders and on the insides of the track runs on the bottom which allowed me to hold onto some semblance of my sanity.  Putting teeny annoying PE parts on now...

Bish

Now, this is better, some Dark Yellow. Now its looking like a proper AFV. I masked with white tac, but after it was removed, the finish was to hard edged for my liking, so I went back over it free hand.

WOW!,  Bish, starting to look real nice!, you are almost done.

The detaisl are very sharp and the tracks already look weathered.

Good job.

P mitch

 decided to build my first diorama for it so been building that up.

Nice to see some setting in the make, not sure if everybody else will be doing a dio, but definitely this will enhance the finish look.

Dont worry, first dio is a killer, but going on this one, should be easy and a lot of learning experience.

Thanks guys. And to answer your remark to Phil garzonh, that 2 dio's. I build all my 35th armour as diorama's, just can't bear to have them free standing. The Su 85 is a nice simple one, simple enough that its now done so just going to set up and get the final pics taken.

After the last update, I added the markings. I did try making a stencil for the numbers but that didn't work out so I bite the bullet and did them free hand and was pretty pleased with them. Same goes for the cross. Then it was just a case of how to finish it. I have never done a model with the aim of getting a freshly painted look. I know it seems obvious, just paint it, but things are never that simple. So after some thought, I simply applied a light raw umber oil wash to create some shadow and left it at that.

To finish off the dio, I used a figure from the Tamiya 251/9 kit, wooden fence and a few items out of the spares box.

So here are the finished pics.

As always, comments, suggestions, anything you think I have missed, always welcome.

Tim, Aaron, thanks again for another great GB idea. I have had this kit for years and it was always going to be built in German markings. It just wasn't on the radar to be built any time soon. So it was nice to be able to pull this one out of the pile.

I look forward to seeing the progress and completed builds of you all. 

Edit: Following jack's suggestion, I have added some highlights and replaced most of the pics. The difference is very subtle, I just didn't want to over do it. The new close up pics were to poor to post, so the last two photo's are the original ones.

Thanks again jack.

Awesome...simply bloody awesome!  Your builds are always spot on Bish!  You still make some rockin bases!  Great work my friend!

Eagle90

WOW BISH!!

This is truly goood!

The setting and everything looks very nice, I like very much how the actual painting of the markings is being done with a brush.

It has a lot of details and you can imagine any story you want. Quick diorama but really good., sometimes less is more.

You are the 1st one to finish the build.

Congratulations, now, everybody will have to really do a great effort......thanks.... you have set the bar very high... just kiddin.

Again, my most sincere admiration.

OK, so now...heres my update..

I have to make BIG decisions... I have to decide how to approach the painting and detailing...hmmm...  I know that if a glue everything right now, I will have a lot of trouble painting details. If I paint details separately and then glue them. I might ruin the paint....

For now, Im building it in separate assemblies, probably will paint them separately so I can have access to all the details.

Thanks guys, much appreciated. I got the idea for the dio from several photo's. Two I found online show 2 Su 85's, including 213, in front of a wooden fence. 2 more are in Pz Colours 1. The first show a t-35 having the black German markings brushed on, the second shows Su 85 212, so the same platoon as mne, having the white out lines put on with a fine brush, with the guys holding a small tin of white paint, hence the tin of white paint on the fender. The final bit was remembering I had this figure. And it all came together.

garzonh, I know the feeling. I have the same issue with the Marder I started for the hunters GB. I decided to leave out anything I might want to paint behind and fit anything that doesn't. I only have one sid on at the moment and am thinking about leaving the other side off, that way it will be easier to egt inside to weather it. Would it be possible for you to paint the inside of the compartment and then add the other side afterwards.

Bish: excellent job on your SU-85. Great job on the numbers, too.

Bish what an original thought on your work, another really nice addition to your personal collection and to the build. The 85 looks fantastic and once again another cool base. Nice free hand work too, love it..

Hello Bish - wow, great job there.

 I like the animated figure you have added, fits in perfectly, and having him in the process of applying the black cross is brilliant.

With a clean paint job being illustrated here, there's not much more you can do without delving into the more artsy side of the hobby.   Yeah, the dreaded colour modulation, but I know where you stand on that. Did you use the oil dot and streak method on this one?  

Another idea might be to just add a highlight colour to items like the grab handles, and other raised details, but nothing too harsh.  

The only other thing  I noticed is the ground work is very close to the same colour as the vehicle, resulting in the main subject not being as pronounced.    Again, this is just another aesthetic element, and it could just be the photos, or even my eyes.

regards,

Jack

Thanks guys.

Greg, I went for 213 mainly because 212 seems to be completely Dark Yellow without any green showing through, which shows how vehicles within the same unit can vary. Also, the only pic I have of 212 is the close up of the crew man outlining the black numbers.

jibber, thanks. One of the trickiest things about dio's is trying to come up with scenes that are a bit different, but this one just seemed just seemed an obvious idea.

Jack. Highlights, bloody good idea. I normally dry brush highlights as part of the larger weathering process but hadn't thought of that for this build. I even have the MiG oil set for German colours. Missing the blinding obvious again, that's why I like sharing pics on here. Even though its secured to the base, I can go over that without to much trouble.

I see what you mean about the base. I think the setting on the camera make it look worse than it is, but even in the flesh, they are still close. I'll need to watch that in the future.

I will get the highlights done and replace the photo's. Thanks again jack.

Bish - Incredible work! And fast, too! Others are better qualified to give you critiques. For my part, I think having the figure painting the cross is a really elegant way of having some action in your vignette.

As for hosting the build, we're always happy (and surprised!) to have you guys come along. So, thank you for participating. I'll put an image of the Su-85 in the Hall of Orphaned Armor. Claim your badge!

Bish

Gamera

Rob: Sorry, no offence intended, just saying it's a hobby and I'm not going to get bent out of shape just because someone gives me advice I don't like.  

Bish: Nice, she's starting to look much more German now! Are you going with the huge oversized crosses on the sides of the fighting compartment?

Gamera

Rob: Sorry, no offence intended, just saying it's a hobby and I'm not going to get bent out of shape just because someone gives me advice I don't like.  

Bish: Nice, she's starting to look much more German now! Are you going with the huge oversized crosses on the sides of the fighting compartment?

sort of

AH HAH!!! 

Very cool idea Bish and brilliant execution of it. Sometimes simple dios are the best and it's just a neat idea and calls attention to her being a captured vehicle! IHMO she's not quite as pretty as emerald Soviet green and Stalin is angry but bravo sir!!!

Garzonh: Aaaaaggggghhhhhhh, you're crossing over the line where there is more PE on your model than the original plastic parts! Or as I call it - 'The Headache Zone...'   

Bish - glad to be able to help out.  I was thinking earlier about your ground work.  A quick adjustment you could do is mix up some sort of dark green wash, and liberally spread it across the grass surface.   Even if you apply it more intense around the vehicle, and thin it out as it extends to the perimeter of the base - it should be of some benefit.

regards,

Jack

Interesting. I am going to give that one some thought Jack. I might try it out on a small patch under the rear of the hull, see how it looks. Thanks again.

Bish as always your builds are stunning and this SU-85 is no exception. It is simple yet says so much, very well done sir.

I finished the basic build for my little Stug and have it primed.

The gun is just sitting there loosely until after painting. Going to paint it Russian green than give it a winter white wash. Now to start working on the Dio base.

Great work from everyone.

WOW!!!! Great job everyone!!! I just finished my dark yelloew painting yesterday, and I still have a ways to go. Since my Stug was painted for snow, I think I'll take my last picts with stug in the snow

Great Job!!

Conky

Shiv: Wow, she's so small you could almost paint her by dunking her in the paint bottle!

Conky: Sounds cool, looking forward to the photos!

If I may veer off subject a little bit- just got my copy of FSM today and very nice article on masking multi-colour camo patterns on AFVs Aaron- I've always used silly putty but will have to give tape a try sometime on these more hard-edge schemes!