King tiger in tall grass

What King Tiger kit would y'all recommend ? I've been looking at takom and Mengs kits

Pawel

Now those willow trees have an amazing "will of life" - you just cut them plain off

In Central Texas we have a semi-invasive tree species, the hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) that emulates the willow.  Cut flush to the ground, the stump will raise new shoots in a "crown" around the stump.

You have to be careful disposing of bits of the stump, and they will re-root.

They are supple trees not prone to wind damage, but the limbs are weak, and will break.  The tree with then grow two (or mmore) new limbs at the break, and the stump branch, if it reaches the ground, will root.  (Broken branches will root in the crotch of other trees, becoming parasites that kill the host tree.)

The wood is soft, does not cut well, dries horribly, and burns bady.  So, not much use for the things, excpet back in the 40s & 50s as a fast-growing tree to fill up subdivisions.

And, it would be terrible panzer camouflage as the leave turn brown and curl up after the branches are cut.

Wheat gets bundled into "sheaves," if I recall th eterminology right.  And it's cut and bundled at the same time.  So, it's sycthed down in a batch, and the bundles carted off to be winnowed.  Wheat only gets to perhaos a mmeter tall, and the bundles scarce taller than that.

Hay on the other hand is cut grass, and once cut it has to be "ricked" into bundles quickly, as it will loose nutritional value if left cut too long (and it can mildew in the field, too--not a good thing).  And, the hay is ruined if rained upo, after being cut.  This is where the expression of "Making Hay while the Sun Shines" comes from.  You don't want to cut more hay than you can rick and stack. 

Ok, why bother with the Agriculture lesson?  Well, grass for hay, which can get to 1.3 meters tall, might be standing in a field next to a cut area with 2 or 3 meter haystacks about.  Which gives considerable options for the diorama builder.  Like nosing into uncut hay grass past nice tall haystacks.

Wheat would want planting is rows about 30cm apart, if bushy and overflowing rows.  But, wheat will be all or nothing, either standing or sythed.

Which ought give some good options for a king tiger.

Pawel

Armornut - thanks a lot, like you say, never say never!

Tankluver - now the farmer would surely kill you for riding through his field, armor or not!

Now more seriously, those haystacks pinpoint the time of year pretty exactly and would be a nice feature on a dio.

Good luck with it and have a nice day!

Paweł

 

Thank you you've given me a better understanding for this idea of mine  

Armornut - thanks a lot, like you say, never say never!

Tankluver - now the farmer would surely kill you for riding through his field, armor or not!

Now more seriously, those haystacks pinpoint the time of year pretty exactly and would be a nice feature on a dio.

Good luck with it and have a nice day!

Paweł

stikpusher

Images fixed. I moved them to my postimage account. Those are farm fields south of Budapest area, taken in early May.

 

Thank you That gives me a better understanding now. This actually looks doable. I'm thinking of the wheat stacked in those hit shapes that Pawel posted, then maybe next to the stacks there's a field that still needs to be tended too but in it is emerging a king tiger.

Images fixed. I moved them to my postimage account. Those are farm fields south of Budapest area, taken in early May.

    Thank you Pawel, I believe I would enjoy a tour of your surroundings. Likewise if you ever get to the Pacific NorthWest, Eastern Washington North Idaho I extend the same offer to you. 

   My brother was in the Army in southern Germany and says our territory is similar...only our mountians are rounded off LOL.  Again thank you for your generous offer....never say never

Yes, willow is rather tenacious.  They are used as a stabilizing plant on restoration of riparian areas, and stabilization of stream banks.  They plant shoots without root system and in a couple of years are well established and slowing winter flows.

Stumping, hee, hee - even I can appreciate it and English isn't my native language!

Now those willow trees have an amazing "will of life" - you just cut them plain off at two meters height or so and they spring new branches and keep on living. But that's nothing - sometimes you see a seemengly dry peace of wood thrown on the ground or driven into it to make a fence or post a sign on - and if that was willow wood it sometimes develops roots and springs new branches and starts growing as a new tree! Amazing!

Have a nice day

Paweł

You go NE from Budapest, towards Halvan or Boldag, and there copious farm country.  Around Tura, it's broad plains broken by the occasional brook or stream which creates a bocage-like line of trees along the waterway.  Very much reminded me of heading east out of Colorado, mountains to the one side and plains stretching out before over the western end of the Platte river watershed.

I have always hear Poland was beautiful, and Pawel's photos prove that an understatement.

(And, yes, at least in Texas, 300km is a mild day trip, a mere three hours' driving )

And I'm still trying to decide how I would model a willow tree . . . to say it's stumping me would be a horrible pun, if apt.

Tankluver

 

 

stikpusher

Another area I can suggest is the part of Hungary around Budapest. That area was fought over until early 1945 and King Tigers we’re there...

 

I

 

 

 

 

hey stik i can't see what you've posted, it may be my phone acting up. Wasn't the battle for hungary primarily in a colder climate? 

 

Sorry about that. The photos are hosted on Shutterfly, and I guess they have some sort of “lifespan” for posting. 

The 1945 winter/spring battles in Hungary were in the Lake Balaton and Budapest areas. Low rolling hills and farmland. Not mountainous area as much as a cold time of year.

Tankluver - I'm glad I could be of assistance! Looking forward to some WIP pictures, maybe I can help you some more with the vegetation on the dio.

And the funny thing is the picture Stik posted was visible some time ago, now its gone :-(

And Hungary has a lot warmer climate than Poland - they grow grapes and make wine there, in Poland it's too cold for that - but the battles were in 1945, so April, May - it's just starting to get warm around that time of year.

armornut, M1GarandFan - thank you very much and I'm glad you like what you see. This is not really my area of Poland, I live about 300 km west from there - which might be just a short trip in the USA, but it's half of Poland away. But I can say Poland can definitely be beautiful, especially where people don't mess too much with the nature. I live in the suburbs of Poznań, surounded by strings of residential buildings, but can find a similar view if I take my bike and I don't even have to cycle further than about two clicks. Like I wrote - glad you like 'em and I hope you'll visit - let me know if you're around, maybe I can arrange a guided tour for you!

Have a nice day

Paweł

stikpusher

Another area I can suggest is the part of Hungary around Budapest. That area was fought over until early 1945 and King Tigers we’re there...

 

I

 

hey stik i can't see what you've posted, it may be my phone acting up. Wasn't the battle for hungary primarily in a colder climate? 

Another area I can suggest is the part of Hungary around Budapest. That area was fought over until early 1945 and King Tigers we’re there...

I fully agree with armornut. Beautiful countryside and great photos. I think we can all appreciate those pictures.

    Not hijacking just commenting on how beautiful your part of Poland is Pawel, I have never been to Europe but WOW...not what I expected.

Pawel

Hello!

Here are a few - those are contemporary, not from the 1940's - but they should give you a better idea about the colours:

A bunch of trees - if you take a good look I think you can make out an old tank obstacle (dragon teeth) here. The vincinity of Vistula river doesn't have a lot of forests:

A good example of road typical for the '40s - please note the willow trees:

This one is about May:

Here's one if you want grass:

Here's a good one for August, when the harvest is already done - it must have looked the sami in the '40s - maybe it could be even more typical if the house was made out of wood:

In summer the plants tend to turn yellow:

OK - let me take a break now :-) - tell me what you think and have a nice day

Paweł

 

Thlanky you Pawel, the last three photographs give me some great ideas. These are exactly what i needed!

Hello!

Here are a few - those are contemporary, not from the 1940's - but they should give you a better idea about the colours:

A bunch of trees - if you take a good look I think you can make out an old tank obstacle (dragon teeth) here. The vincinity of Vistula river doesn't have a lot of forests:

A good example of road typical for the '40s - please note the willow trees:

This one is about May:

Here's one if you want grass:

Here's a good one for August, when the harvest is already done - it must have looked the sami in the '40s - maybe it could be even more typical if the house was made out of wood:

In summer the plants tend to turn yellow:

OK - let me take a break now :-) - tell me what you think and have a nice day

Paweł

I like the idea of Poland better. I'm still gathering everything and want the right setting before i jump into this. Thank you, I'd love some pictures of the Polish country side !

Hello!

If you like vegetation, Poland in summer of 44 would be a better bet than Germany in April 45. Plus, the Ruhrgebiet is really densely populated with lots of industrial infrastructure - and in eastern Poland you mainly have agriculture and the big, wild river - Vistula.

The choice is yours, if you like some help with picture of Polish countryside I'd be glad to assist.

Good luck with your projects and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

Hello!

Why not do a pretty dio of a King Tiger in Poland? The vincinity of Vistula river in summer ('44) can be quite pretty, you know...

https://forum.odkrywca.pl/topic/534068-przycz%C3%B3%C5%82ek-sandomierski---zdj%C4%99cia/

Good luck with your project and have a nice day

Paweł

 

Thank you for the pictures! i liked someone of what i saw, a lot of mud but also some what appears to be grass and shrubbery which could work. Ideally I'd like to get it up to about track height. The steppe isn't exactly what i meant but maybe a big field is some sorts.

would the Ruhr pocket have had enough green shrubbery, i know that it was a little cold but also that battle went into the beginning of April?

Hello!

Why not do a pretty dio of a King Tiger in Poland? The vincinity of Vistula river in summer ('44) can be quite pretty, you know...

https://forum.odkrywca.pl/topic/534068-przycz%C3%B3%C5%82ek-sandomierski---zdj%C4%99cia/

Good luck with your project and have a nice day

Paweł

By the summer of 44, the Soviets were already in Poland, so the Tiger II would not have seen service on the Steppe. Seeing as you want to do the Octopus scheme, you could do a What If, summer 45.