You're making great progress there Steve, sounds like a plan! 

I'm waiting for a set of Fruils for my Morser so I'm taking this time to work on parts of the Diorama. I started on a Low Sided Trumpeter Gondola. So far this is going great, and I should have all the parts together and primed by tonight. It's nice taking a break from that monster and get to work on my board. The last photo shows almost all the subassemblies except for the side that'll be painted and assembled near the end. 

Steve whatever looks good in your eye, only you know what you want it to look like and whatever youre going to add. A general rule for Dio's is to create angles and dimentions, but that doesnt work so well with railroads. Just keep working with it, it'll come to you.  

More work on the gondola. The wheels are painted and grerased, I'm staining basswood for the ties and I've painted and stressed the wooden bed. Going along ok.

Those are coming along great guys! I really love the wood tones you've got on the bed there Terry. 

Only thing I've gotten done recently is painting the eyeballs on my gun crew.... (sigh)... 

Steve that looks great and the color is right too. Right from the factory they came almost exactly like Tamiya XF66 German Grey. Looks like you have some nice tones and weathering on there, any more close ups. 

Thanks Terry.
I can get some close-ups. I need to take some better pics for the wall anyway.

Terry, Steve, 

The builds are looking great! 

Sorry, I've been away so long. Finally got moved, then had three weeks of the "busyashell's" at work.

Anyway, I was able to shoot some primer on the tomahawk tonight! Getting close to finishing this one up.

Yeah, she looks great Steve! Would love to see some close-ups to see all that detail. 

Here you go guys.
I have new pics here. I decided to go ahead and drape a tarp over the muzzle. I love doing
tarps.

 

Steve it looks fantastic but I'm not seeing the loading tray, is it hidden behind the supports.

Terry

jibber

I'm not seeing the loading tray, is it hidden behind the supports.

Steve, looking good on both your photos here and the armour forum! No idea where the AA halftrack should go though though I'd slightly lean to the front left unless you do decide to lop off the excess material in the front. 

Sorry, not much to report here, I'm still in this but things have been so crazy I haven't gotten much of anything done... 

Steve I've made a lot of progress this past week while waiting for my Fruils. Lets see, heres a list of things that are almost completed: oil drums, gondola is 99% done, rails and cleats are ready to be laid, I built a rack to hold the raming charger and support to be hauled on the gondola, the watchtower is almost done, the buffer is 90%. I've built a Tamiya Flak 38 but i think that'll be changed, I need something really cool to protect that monster of a gun. I still have figures and smaller parts, ground cover and vegitation along with some other stuff. Getting there...

Oh, I think I said that the Morser is a new piece of equipment so the loading ramp and charger are veing hauled separate from the gun.

Here are a few pics. 

Terry

I think I'm going to add a Gebirgsflak 38 by CustomScale instead of the $10 Tamiya..This is a very cool gun, complete resin with loads of detail.

Terry,

That is looking so great, and that gun, how cool is that!

Wow Terry, I love the wood and rust tones you've got going on there! 

Just laying some rails and set in the bumper that I filled with small pebbles.  I also tried placing almost everything in place to see how its all going to look. The square in the back is a 2 man guard tower and I'm adding a little stone wall for effect. I can see a lot of ground cover in the near future too, plus figures? Anyway its starting to look like something and with the Morser at 33 inches, my options on a diorama are limited unless I wanted something that was so large I wouldnt have room for it. 

Looking fantastic Terry,

I don't think you would want that beauty anywhere near my build. Mine would bring down the value of yours. . Just kidding, that would make for an interesting photo. 

Terry: The ties and the bumpers look great!

Anyway, here I am. I suppose the gun itself is done, I'm been making slow progress on the figures. I haven't even started the diorama base as yet.

Gam,

That looks beauty. Great weathering . Putting it in a dio will really bring it to life.

Thanks Steve! She could use more rust I suppose but I didn't want to take it too far, easier to add more than to paint over it if I add too much. 

Going to try to get the base up and running when the figures are closer to being done but I'm making slow progress there. 

Gam I think the weathering and especially the paint looks great. From the photos it looks like you've modulated the color a bit but it looks cool. Thats a real interesting piece and will look nice on a board. 

Terry

Thanks Terry! Yeah, I modulated the krap outta it because other than the tracks and tires the whole darn thing is the same Soviet green. I had to do something to try to add a little 'visual interest'- I think that's what the artist types call it. 

I think it looks great and boring or not the color too. Terry

Fruils are assembled and primed, and in the interim I've worked on several other things. The ties, cleats and rails are installed, the watchtowers built, the gondola is ready for decals and the Morser is ready for final assembly and paint. I've set the major pieces in place to get a feel for the layout but nothing so far is 100% complete. I set in a Tamiya Flak 38 but it'll be replaced with another AA piece with a lot more detail. To the rear I'm  cutting in a foam rock wall and a lot of ground cover. I still have figures and several other pieces to get together but things are moving along.

Terry

Dang, that's looking nice Terry. What are the tracks for? It looks like you have the same type gun protecting you mortar as I do.