Hey!

       I walk alongside you Drums- My fireproof box and my landladys were stolen while we were out.They made a mess. All my documents and hers have to be replaced. At least we had our wallets with usI My Birth and Adoption certificates are gone though, and so far $600.00 bucks and difficulty in finding some. Remember, I just turned 81

      Those items are important. So I hold your hand as we walk through and pray. Okay? You are not alone friend! Oh, I had my Regimental coin put in a key fob. Whew! I imagine you feel like we do,  The feelinng is like being raped and left for dead!

OMG Ben, I'm so sorry to hear that! 

My hopes and prayers you get this mess straightened out ASAP... 

I'm really sorry, Ben.

S.H.

Sorry everyone for the lack of updates, but it seems that life got in the way for awhile. Jarrod and I don't have very much to show but I did want to add something.

Here is the resin terrain along with the wood base we are adding under it. I like the detail provided in the resin including the water puddles.



Another thing we have been working on is the camouflage technique for the WW2 German fall oak leaves pattern. There is still more camouflage detailing to do and then finish up on the rest of the figure, but you get an idea as to where we are going with it. 





Hope to be able to show work on the motorcycle very soon. Till then....

Ben and Jarrod: That looks great! Love the camo! Hope things are a little more stable considering all the chaos you've went though... 

Hi, Ben and Jarrod, thanks for the update! This is really good looking, excpecially the water!

S.H.

Sorry for not updating this earlier, and thanks for the kind remarks concerning the figure. I was practicing on it at 1/16 before I tried doing it in 1/35. Then I noticed the rider is not wearing any kind of smock / over garment and all he was wearing was the normal uniform. Still it was good practice for the 1/16 figures I got for the half track. 

I think it is time for an actual update on the kit, lets start with the base and motorcycle. I wanted to do more but my skills must be diminishing in smaller scales. I finally got the paint mix to what I wanted which was a mixture of desert sand, German ochre, and Kaki; 2 ochre, 1 sand, 1 kaki. The the very light washes did the rest. 

After spraying the desired parts I then began picking out the details starting in the most recessed like the engine gray/silver and working my way out eventually to the cables and wires. After spraying the hard bag I created it brought the hinge down to scale (IMHO). I still have some fine detail painting to finish on the motorcycle, but it is mostly complete. 

One of the bigger challenges was to match the tires to the painted mud base. You would've thought it should be easy, and perhaps it would've if I had painted them each time I added a layer to the base. Now I'm trying to begin the tires at step one after finishing the base after step twenty. Part of the challenge is to show rubber tire just a little near the mewl wheels and progressively moist mud as it reaches the tread of the tire. When done the mud nearer to the wheels should look dryer than the recent mud at the base of the tire. That too is still a work-in-progress. 

The decal for the speedometer was sources from spares as was the data plate on the left fork and the tire pressure on the fenders. Well enough flapping my jaws, here is where its at right now. Before you beat it up too much, keep in mind that this is only 1/24 scale....  









So how's the figure going you ask? Working in a similar manner (from the deepest most recessed parts outward, I got his base uniform painted to include shading and some dirt / mud on the front of the lower pant legs. 





Right now the gaiters are looking too close to the color of the trousers. The picture below will be what they will look like when done (not sure if the leather straps will be black or tan/brown as both were used). 



Thats it for now, more updates soon, sooner than this last time. I believe Jarrod and I are getting back into the modeling swing (and it feels good!). Thanks for looking and as always, comments welcome.

Ben and Jarrod

Nice work!

S.H.

Very naice.  I like how the mud is "in" the tread, and "rubbed off" the contract area.

Jarrod says "Thank you" for your repliues. 

Believe it or not Jarrod and I have another update; this time with the soldier / rider. Last update we provided a picture with the muddy boots and lower trousers. We are happy to say we have gotten most all of the base coats on the various load bearing equipment and are ready for fine detail painting and washes. 

Here are some of the photos we were using for examples:









And this is where we are at the moment: (some minor color changes still WIP)





Not sure what I'm gong to do for the detail / decals on the potato masher and Panzerfaust. Now it's time to bring out the small brushes and pick out the details. Likewise, we hope to have some fun with the shoulder boards, buttons, belt, and collar of the uniform. I am a little surprised to see that he does not have a watch (?). 

The bike including the tires have been touched up and blended to the base so we are on the home stretch to get this rider mounted on his iron steed. 

Till next time, and thanks for following.....

Ben and Jarrod

Great to see you and Jarrod still at work on this. The figure and bike are coming along beautifully! 

Thanks Gamera... Since last update I've managed to finalize the detail painting. We were running into some issues, being in 1/25 scale, for the rank, shoulder board, collar, Waffenfarbe (piping on the collar and shoulder boards). It seems that it is just to far for either 1/16 or 1/35 decals to work properly. 

My solution is to scan in the 1/16 decals in my PC then scale them down and print them on decal paper. That goes for the grenade and Panzerfaust too (I hope). It looks as though the goggle strap on the helmet obscures the shield decals on either side so that will be a non-issue.

Wish me luck! 

DRUMS01

Here are some of the photos we were using for examples:

From personal observation, there are few things as varied in appearance as Wehrmacht gas mask cans and the German mess tins.  Everything from a blackgreen to medium metalic gray (for either component).

So, you have some leeway in what you want to commit to.

The surviving examples are typically 80-something years old, so you get a range of appearances.  None of which is helped by how the East Germans kept producing the mess tins--although I think those are a touch more blue-green than the Wehrmacht examples.

This project is moving right along, and it keeps looking outstanding.

Yeah, I tried matching German paint from photos back when I started modeling and it gave me massive headaches. Now as long as it's ballpark it's close enough. 

Good luck with the decals, hadn't thought about the figure being 1/25th.