Kharkov, 1943: "Backhand Blow" *UPDATE 5-21: new pics*

Wow, thanks a bunch, Dougums, doog, panzerguy and tigerman. I am pretty excited about the figs for this one as well. I believe I have 11 for this dio already painted.  I believe that does it for the Germans in this particular dio; might add one Russian corpse if I can pull it off tastefully...and of course the DML Mk IVG is actually gonna be the centerpiece of the dio...

I have been taking the Forum feedback and trying to improve my figs, particularly w/ the eyes. Thanks for the looking. Doog, I agree; the one in the fur coat may be one of my best, although I also really like the guy in the white coveralls with the black garrison cap (not the one holding the binocs) earlier in the thread as well... 

"Hey, look!!! It looks like Manny is making some more progress on this dio!!!"

Here is the dio base contoured out with tongue depressors (girlfriend is a nurse--lol) and using scrap sprue for re-bar so the celluclay will stick better...

Here are a few teasers of the Mk IV and commander (about 10 more figs will go into the dio...

...more to come soon!!!

Hey Manny--wow, that panzer teaser is looking swwweeeeet!!!!

WHat? Is That WEATHERING AND CHIPPPING?!?! LOL!

Seriously--that looks fabulous! Good to see you expanding your horizons and going for a bit of a "beater"! I'll be very interested in seeing what you do with it!

That TC looks appropriately grim and menacing too!

Sure is coming along! I can't believe you fill up your base with all that "rebar" though! Usually, I never had a problem with the Celluclay lifting if I just put it down over a thin layer of white glue...I would think that all the space you need to fill there would increase the amount of it you have to use, wouldn't it? Hey, whatever works, I guess--the proof's in the pudding, and you make some tasty pudding! ...............

Nice! What's that old saying? "I may know nothing about art/armor/etc., But I know what I like!

I enjoy peakin' in on the armor and dio threads to see what your up to. Excellent stuff!

I'm taking notes on your figure painting BTW. I am doing one, my first serious try, and really like the way you pose and paint yours!    I'll be watching for the next update.

The use of sprue as rebar is very inventive. I also like the stacking of tongue depressors. One thought would be to coat them with shellac so that they don't move around and warp too much if they get wet with celluclay/plaster.

 I almost never comment on military vehicles, but I have to say that I really like the weathering on the Panzer IV. Nice work.

Thanks for all the comments guys! I always am experimenting with different things to form the contours of my dios...the tongue depressors were just handy to get different heights on this one...I wanted to depict a hasty Russian MG dugout that had just been overrun and abandoned as the Mk IV rolls up...

The re-bar is something I have been doing for awhile...not really necessary but gives me a warm fuzzy making me think I am recyclying sprue I would otherwise throw away...LOL...although I do believe it gives the celluclay something to "bite" into...I use Humbrol enamels for the figs w/ some oils for the flesh...nothing comes out flatter than a Humbrol matte!!!

The ground is still curing but here are some more teasers of how the base is shaping up---whaddya think so far???

Superb!

If I could get a smll amount of that level of detail on my 1:72 figures, I would be VERY happy.

As an aside. I am currently painting a 1939 era 1:72 Wehrmacht officer from a Matchbox 1:76 kit. This particular gentleman has a officers tunic open to the sternum revealing the shirt underneath.Is the shirt colour field grey or the more normal white and what colour would then be the high collar? I have not seen this type of tunic before in my small reference library and the officer is plainly not a tanker.

Anyone?

Cheers

Mike

   Manny PLEASE stop you'r teasing me more than the ninteen year old that live's acrossed the street LOL.

   Just one favor, when this is done please post a boat load of pic's

biffa wrote:

That is some nice looking frozen ground right there and the figs and IV G look top notch Manny, this one will look great when it all comes together  i will be checking back.

Awesome groundwork. Looking forward to all the parts coming together.

Steve

Manny, I love it!

but a question about celluclay... compared to plaster, when it dries, how hard is it?  And how much like plaster is it anyways?

Huxy wrote:

Manny, I love it!   but a question about celluclay... compared to plaster, when it dries, how hard is it?  And how much like plaster is it anyways?

Well, guys, the dio is nearing completion: the Mk IVG is complete, the figgies are painted and the base is almost dry. That means one thing: composition time. This crucial step is a "make or break" for any good dio. The figs have to draw the viewer into the scene and then guide the eyes of the viewer pleasingly around the entire dio while telling a story...

This is where you come in...here is the cast of characters:

Yes, the dog is part of the cast.

Here is the base (imagine a Mk IVG in whitewash sitting where the tracks are embossed onto the base w/ a commander in the cupola--work with me; I can't show you everything yet!):

Now...where would you place each figure??? To help identify the figs just number them 1 thru 10, left to right (dude in cool coat would be number 1; ground-pounder w/ rifle leaning against him would be number 10)...

Help me out guys, pimp my dio!!!

Stunning cast of characters there, Manny--really, that's a line-up of really exquisite figures there!

It's to late for me to think that hard yet, but I know that this will be a stunning piece of work when you get it together!

Oh, and uh................."HEY DOOG!!!!!" LOL!

Manny -

Your figures are beyound reproach. As usual you blow my mind.

Nice ground work....can't wait to see everything togeather

Rounds Complete!!

Mansteins revenge wrote:

Here is the base (imagine a Mk IVG in whitewash sitting where the tracks are embossed onto the base w/ a commander in the cupola--work with me; I can't show you everything yet!):

Since I am building the aforementioned whitewashed Pz IV G as we speak... the best thing for you to do is send the base to me and then you don't have to worry about what to do with the figures.

But since that seems a bit less than likely…

I see a couple of possibilities for the guys.  #2 can be telling the tale of their last encounter with the enemy or how the Red Army guys that were manning the machine gun took off and pointing in that direction. The other 5 in the line can be listening.

Or, #2 can be yelling at a group, 3-6 with #1 standing of to the side listening in to hear what’s going on. In that case the dog could be at #2’s side face who ever he is pointing to since he is in a somewhat aggressive stance.

The 3 grounder pounders may just be standing around the machine gun muttering something like, “Shut up already, I’m as cold as the Kaiser… let’s get going.”

I suggest putting guy 2 and 4 at the maxim looking over it and back to where they came from...

And how quickly does Celluclay dry?