All quiet on the Western Front.. or so you think..

6.20am, November 20, 1917. It's a very cold morning on the Western Front. But it's not quiet at all... The Battle of Cambrai has just begun. While a thousand guns of the British Third Army's artillery is 'softening' the German defences, the infantry and anywhere between 300 to 500 British tanks are making their way towards the German trenches, the famed Hindenburg Line.



Never have so many tanks been used at the same time... The gains are impressive: 3 miles by the end of the day, the Hindenburg Line, with its very wide trenches, pierced. But many tanks have been lost and the assault falters. Over the next few days, the German Second Army counter attacks, gaining back 3 miles of territory by the 27th of November. The Germans could have done better but their infantry, undernourished, often stops to loot the British stores. By the 3rd of December, when the blizzard strikes, it's a virtual draw that has cost each belligerent about 45,000 men (still, not too bad considering previous engagements..!), the bRitish still holding a little bit of previously German territory, while the Germans are now in control of some previously British-held ground... But the massive use of tanks to support the infantry has showed that the era of trench warfare is coming to an end...


Here's the 1/72 Emhar kit with its base coats of colour. One shade of green airbrushed all over, followed by two ligher shades over the edges and in the middle of the panels. A dirty rusty red has been applied onto the tracks. The markings have been painted over with thinned down white and black.


Two coats of washes are applied next. A mix of artist watercolours (sepia and black), vinegar and dishwashing detergent. The model is left to dry under a spotlight after each application. This stage will accentuate recesses.


Drybrushing with artist oils (yellow ochre and white in various lighter mixes) bring out the details. Burnt Sienna is used to replicate rusty spots. A touch of silver Rub'n'Buff is applied onto the tracks.


A mix of plaster, water, brown acrylic paint will replicate the ground. The model is embedded into the wet plaster (metal rods have been inserted in the base and in the model), and so are the grass (crushed tea leaves) and metal poles (plastic rod). The latter will be part of the Hindenburg Line barbed wire defences...


A little plaster is applied onto the tracks and 'strategic' areas of the tank. The weather was dry and the soil frozen on the 20th of November 1917, but the tracks and the hull will still show a little bit of dirt from the vehicle's previous movements.


The completed model with its machine guns. The barbed wire was first added... An idea I got from someone on those forums... thin wire dipped into superglue then dipped into metal shavings. Fantastic! A thin coat, here and there, of Tamiya's flat base will give the 'diorama' and the soil their frosty look. The tank must have been covered overnight as it has not got any frost on its surface... Finally, a bit of Future onto the frosted areas give a little crystaline shine...