~ FIGURES ~ for ~ ! Clash in Tunisia ! ~ COMPLETE ~

tigerman

That's great animation with the Brit figures charging in. Awesome work on the vehicles as well.

Thanks Eric--nice to hear from you. People keep asking me how I'm going to top 'Clash'. I don't think I'll try to top it in epic-ness or blog-thoroughness---I'll just try to top it a little in quality and by way of venue, color richness.

That's great animation with the Brit figures charging in. Awesome work on the vehicles as well.

~Yup Huge Andy!

I'm working out the final pictures now

I'll have them up soon--stay tuned!

Your diomara is huge... looks like you need a camera with wide-angle len!  Looking forward to see more pictures...

Project Complete~
~~I've continued on to finish everything up, but of course I don;t have lamps enough to evenly light something of this size on the bench--also, it was my intention to photo this build outdoors in the sun, just as the scene takes place, and was painted with that end in mind all along.

 

 

 

 
     The British figures we're always the real subject of this Dio    

 

"

   The basic idea.......... is a direct infantry attack on a German fieldgun position, quickly dug into the terrain, ringed by a few transport vehicles, parked nearby at the ready. The gun I have chosen is the Dragon 7.5cmPAK40, a new item for the time..... 

~Brian~ That's hugely appreciated man--thanks for dropping in.

~Anti-Tank Gun Emplacement Complete!

~~I have finalized placement and installed the guncrew and gear using musicwire pins & C/A

The commander, who will be played by Ron Pearlman in the film (it's now confirmed)  has recieved his Afrika Corp issue binocs (Swinging ont he foil strap) and Luger on his right hip (just his style---maybe he likes American Westerns?)

Most of the gear is fixed with the Gel C/A, as it stays put where I want it and doesn't run into visable spots--but also bulks up to fill areas in uneven surfaces really well and bond.(In the old days, old school 'contact cement' would have done the job, but was a bit more messy and sometimes unreliable used in small amounts.

I have used pins on some items you may not expect, because sometimes it's difficult to get a positive 'seat' and be sure not to have visable glue. The ammo stowage tubes  above we're already pinned anyways, from painting,  and here I'm showing how I arrive at proper orientation by turning the part 180 degrees and using the pin itself to guide my micro-drill to the desired pin travel path.

Indy, things are looking pretty damn fine my friend!  You have been putting your hours in on this build and it shows in spades!

Brian

~Bob~     He will be featured in the update post after this one

~~Final Assembly~~

 

~I have begun final assembly with the gun emplacement. I know it's not very much the norm, even on detailed builds,  to  show this chapter in much detail.      It's a bit anti-climactic to see everthing without the complete scene to reference everything by, but as this has already been an unusaully complete and thorough blog--I intend to show some of the Dio in parts as it comes together....ahead of showing the completed scene. I think this will let the modelers following this build in to my process (one possible way of doing things) at a really pivital yet enjoyable part of the build.

 

~~Working back to front, I began assembling the Diorama by installing the fieldgun in it's position on it's desert parapet. Oversized holes had been left in the groundwork for the trailing arm spades to dig in, but they needed some filling in after placement, using the same Elmer's Woodfiller used in the base construction. This both filled the excess space in the holes and cemented in the spades. Small dollops of Locktight Gel Superglue we're used under each wheel to permenantly attach the Pak40 . Some colouring was done to the areas near the spades using pigment powders, to simulate the colours of  the surrounding rocks, not the sand scattered around by the wind .  A small bit of discarded earth was portayed the same way.

The gunner figure (nearly) went right into place, but  the the gun sat slightly lower in the dirt  than I'd calculated on the bench. To get him seated right on the trailing arm I straighted out his right leg, by cutting under his knee with a micro-saw, and warming the styrene with my butane soldering iron, that also acts as a heat blower. Obviously some care is needed, particularly on a finished figure! I got success and needed  the smallest touch-up, and ended up with a far more natural position of his leg than I had!

 

 

 

 

~~My loader finally "takes a knee" (forever) in my scene. This was just a matter of pulling the pin(saving his spot in the earth), testfitting, removing, adding some C/A along the length of his already attached fit-pin, and seating the figure home.

~Well, here it is--a start! (a finish?) either way--it's been a long time coming to put together, and soon these two will have the command and logistics structure they require in place  These two figures represent the most involved of the figure conversions on the build, and I think they're pretty effective in thier roles, but certainly need the others to complete even this part of the Diorama.

 

 

~~Back soon with more as it happens Gents,, thanks for your patience !.......

Hey! Adam....where is Mr Pearlman????                 LOL

Bob

Boomer~ Ehya---Cheers for that.. They are gett'in pretty close now....all the little details.

Check back soon--almost finished!!

!

  Hey INDY, just catching up here. Your figures are looking great. They look nice and dirty and gritty, just right for putting into an action diorama. The pic you have with all the figures posing for a group shot is cool. They are all looking like mates right now, but they will soon be having a go at each other...

  You have some good poses going too. Once it's all put together the dio should really tell a story.

  Look foward to seeing it come together....

Boomer...

~Jim~ Thanks Jim!~

~Bob~ Thanks Bob! I know you could if you practiced at it--pointy brushes--references close---match the colors and mix enough of each to get through he job.

Adam - WOW! looking freaking awesome brother, wish I could do German camo like that.

Bob

Nice work on those dudes!

~~Well maybe it was too much contrast on those trousers after all.   

I also weathered the emblem slightly that I'd afixed to his helmet with a touch of the sand-coloured pigment mix for the Dio---I used this on  his boots & the boots of some of the others too (not pictured) That Emblem is from  Eduard by the way and is coloured P.E.

Having these tiny detail items stuck-down not only makes painting a breeze, but  attachment and painting of small straps like this FAR easier too--that is some small fiddlely stuff!  I added the chipped-up sand-coloured paint to the grenades with a very pointy brush.

*INDY

You got me there Doc--you are technically correct--I was going for somthing a slight bit slang and just calling it a machinegun, as every submachinegun is indeed a machinegun .....but yes, in practice I didn't use the correct word.

The borders between terms are a bit vague, but the general rule-of-thumb goes something like:

• If the thing fires pistol ammo it's a 'machinepistole'
• If the thing fires rifle ammo it's a 'machinegwehr'
• If the thing is too large for one man to move and handle (even under severe pressure), it's a 'mitrallieuse'

So the Tommygun (.45), Schmeisser, Stengun and MP5 (9mm) are all 'machinepistole', while AK47, M16 and MG42 would be 'machinegewhere' (with 'sturmgewehr' as a sub-class of 'machiengewehr'), while the Maxim and M2 would be  'mitrallieusen'.

DoC

You got me there Doc--you are technically correct--I was going for somthing a slight bit slang and just calling it a machinegun, as every submachinegun is indeed a machinegun .....but yes, in practice I didn't use the correct word.

*INDY

Got this man  a better looking Maschinengewehr (from the spares box ) with a sling 

The German 'gewehr' is 'rifle' in English. 'Machinegewehr' is 'machine gun' in English. The weapon in the above image is a sub machine gun, which in German is 'machinepistole.'

DoC 

Thanks DOC ~ I appreciate that. !

 

*INDY

 

 

 

This guy still has his additude problems but is close to finished

I like that one. Seems to me like one of those seen-it-all, done-it-all 20-year veteran seargants. Don't remember where he fits in the big picture, but in isolation like above, he seems to be diciplining some of the lesser qualified / experienced replacements he is bogged down with. I find his body language a bit more assertive than a Tom Waits'ish do-no-good'er...

DoC

   lots more reference

 

I'm finding the metal figures are fantastic when you go to finish all the little fittments--instead of needing to paint those harness-rings a bit of gentle scratching shows the bright metal under the paint and has the real look to it.

 

Some collector got a nice haul for Chrismas! A bit of good reference for gas mask, ammo & fuelcan for us too.

This guy still has his additude problems but is close to finished

 

Here's what I mean about a production line. To speed things up some, you may as well handle the field kits all at once--each canteen, each breadbag should all be about the same anyway so layer by layer, I move from one to the next, though the DAK Sentry was basically finished alone as I was concentrating efforts then, but I'm checking to make sure everything is consistaint, though not nessessarily matching.

 

 

 

 ~~With this last figure started, they have all recieved alot of work  and soon as I have those guys above done I'll get back to the British figures and finish them.

Buddho~

Buddho

That has got to be one of the best collection of painted figures I have seen in awhile!

Thanks so much Buddy--Yes they are starting to get there now.

              Just a couple of questions:           Anytime-go ahead          

Do you use acrylics exclusively?          I use acylics,+tube artist acrylics+tamiya(what ever they are ) enamels,oils, inks and pigment powders for my figures--but if you mean do I sometimes use mostly oils, the answer's no, I haven't been able to deal witht the slow drying time too well Most of the work on this project is done with Vallejo and the inks and oils are for effects  mostly.

Do you use oil washes?       Not for figures, no. I use oil washes for bodywork on vehicles sometimes if I can't make an enamel do the job(usually it can)    For washes over Vallejo, use a darker version of that Vallejo color--it wont  desolve like other paints--same with artist acrylics in a tube--they dry to a plastic colored shell basically and wet color flows right over it.

How did you get so darn good at this?????? LOL!          I've been working as one kind of artist or another for 30 years, but I've been doing scale models for only 2 .  I have alot of years experience with acrylics so getting ahold of these great model paints and searching out the best tutorials from the worlds best modelers set me on the path--I have a long way to go to get where I want but studying the work and reading books, blogs, and articles from Steve Zagola, Calvin Tan , Jaume Ortiz Forns, Bob Letterman, and Douglas Lee, and Mark Bannerman, to name a few,  all gave me a boost in building and painting Figures & Dioramas     --& thanks for the question!

(and as for the smoking styles, I've seen photos of German troops using all sorts of fingers to smoke their cigarettes!)

Thanks--no doubt

Stick with---more up soon!

~deadhead~ Again no problem .....Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

~Andy~  That's awsome!!  You really made me happy showing me that--I'm so glad it worked well for you---pretty easy to handle that way--huh?---looks like it will work great....keep me posted!

Oops!  I think I screwed up... I thought those German cigarettes were much longer.  Actually I wanted to say thanks for your toot because I used to add cigarettes to my two figures over the weekend.  Of course I had to cut metal wires a lot shorter after the CA dried like you suggested.  Thought it was funny... sword fighting perhaps?

I bow to your research! I was going by hearsay and an old movie. Now I feel like a dope

That has got to be one of the best collection of painted figures I have seen in awhile!

Just a couple of questions:

Do you use acrylics exclusively?

Do you use oil washes?

How did you get so darn good at this?????? LOL!

(and as for the smoking styles, I've seen photos of German troops using all sorts of fingers to smoke their cigarettes!)