Completed M4A4 Firefly VC and Diorama No. 8

zokissima/J-hulk/mike: Thank you again for such kind words.

Warren:
Here are the list of Materials:
Base - Styrofoam (carved with a knife) and topped with wall putty
Tree - Wire wrapped in masking tape with leaves from scotchbrite pads and Woodland Scenic Turf Material
Tall Grass - Wide Chinese brush
Turfing - Woodland Scenics Turfing MaterialMaterials:


Buff:

Chinese brush is a pointed soft brush with a bamboo handle used by Chinese in writing (calligraphy) and drawing. Although there are very wide types such as the ones I used for the grasses, these brushes from writing often come in bulb shaped brush tips that taper into a thin wire at the end.

Here is a pictures of a variety of chinese brushes. You can see the pointed ones inside those porcelain containers at the upper right corner of the picture. Many believe that the chinese brush is more refined than other brushes available.

http://www.chinapictures.org/photo/china/chinese-calligraphy/40615090103099/

What can one say when work such as yours graces the pages of the armor forum? I've just plain run out of ways to say how great your work, and contributions are to the rest of us. It's a very moving dio Dwight. semper fi, mike

Thanks for the tips, Dwight. By the way, what is a chinese brush?

Great looking kit and diorama, Dwight. You obviously put a lot of work into it, and it paid off big time. What did you use for the vegitation?

QUOTE: Originally posted by buff As far as I know, the stars where for aerial recognition. I'm pretty sure canadian vehicles had them too.

Yup, Canadian vehicles had the white star as well. Some Canadian units painted their stars on an an angle, to visually differentiate themselves from American units.

Super sweet job, Dwight!
Very realistic finish and weathering on the vehicle, and the dio is very natural-looking, too.

Very nice work Dwight. The contrast on the ground between the foliage and dry earth really brings the dio into light.

Edog: Thank you. Actually I am quite proud for having my work praised by great modelers such as yourself.

Phroosh: Well what can I say? It is one of those ocassions where you have to be "so dirty" to get good marks. LOL. Thanks.

Excellent job on the firefly Dwight, it all came together really well. The mud effects are great!

Nice work.

Dwight,

Excellent job!! I love the weathering you have done and the tracks are especially good. I like how the diorama tells a story. Overall, a very clean looking build, you should be proud of the job you have done!!

Thanks, Jim.

Wayne...no I don't think I am a master of anything yet. Still just another ordinary modeler like anybody else trying hard to improve everytime something is on the workbench. Thanks.

Dwight I must to a master.

Excellent work on both the Tank and Diorama.

Thanks for sharing

Nice job, Dwight !


Looks great !

That's Ed. I really appreciate it.

Dwight, another superlative effort from you. My hat's off to you.

Thanks, Joe and Dan. Well, I am learning a lot from this forum day by day.

Excellent job on another fine diorama, Dwight.

Regards, Dan

dwight that is incredible. thanks for sharing your skills.

joe

Thanks, that makes some sense, sort of like the D-Day markings on the planes I guess.

Buff:
For the fine dust: I airbrushed a little thinned Tamiya Buff (no offense intended) acrylic paint to the areas shown.
For random splatters: I used a very fine chinese brush to randomly apply small dots of unthinned Buff paint.

Thanks for the nice words on my work.

Awesome build Dwight. How did you get the dusted effect on the front of the hull and just above the tracks? What about the splatters? The whole effect is seems really random, and more realistic for it.
As far as I know, the stars where for aerial recognition. I'm pretty sure canadian vehicles had them too.

Tigerman: Thanks for the comments. I actually wondered about it, too. I seems that the French also used the same markings (White Star) on their M4's. One site said that Lend-Lease Vehicles were oftentimes kept in their original colors and markings by the Leasee until such time that changing them is necessary. Also my guess is that the "White Star" would be a good and familiar distinguishing marking that will identify the vehicle "from the air" as being "allied" to avoid "freindly fire" from allied aircrafts.

Another awesome build. Can you or anyone explain why certain vehicles such as your Firelfly and the Universal Carrier have American stars with British crews? I'm not knocking your build in any way, it's just that I have seen it before and it puzzles me. I think the Firefly would also have looked cool in a Bocage dio also. Keep up the great work Dwight.

Thanks, Bob. I appreciate it very much.

looks supurb dwight

Thanks kaleu. Glad you like it.

Wow!! Outstanding work Dwight. Congratulations on the great build.