WIP: "War And Peace" - A WW I diorama in 1/35 scale

[tigrazor]

Hi there...

yes, me again. Yeah, theres some projects going on and you can call me nuts The thing is, I need some kind of distraction sometimes, otherwise It would get boring somehow - and nothings worse than boredom when your modelling!


Project OJOS is almost complete, Amelia Steam needs a new base and the Ju52 Diorama was planned to be as best as it can get - and that takes a while. Hopefully it REALLY turns out well. Gonna give my best, guys...

Heres another side project I had in mind for a Long time now. Somehow ist a classic theme. Imho wars, wherever and whenever, are useless and of course they cause loads of casualties. I mean ist easy to build an action-lasting vignette or Diorama that Shows all facettes of those cruelties of mankind.

The Vignette will be divided in two almost similar halves:

one side shows a WWI trench scene - since I build the Mk. IV Im in a mood to build another WWI related scene. And the other half is above the trench so to say, with green grass and a wooden cross. In front of the cross theres supposed to stand a women, thats grieving for her lost husband, brother, or whatsoever.


Im not sure atm if I will use a sheet of acrylic glass to divide the two fictional halves.


ICMs Austro-Hungarian set of infantry weapons (Art.No. 35671) is a good start.

www.model-making.eu/zdjecia/2/9/3/3246_2-auto_downl.jpg



Does anyone have some more information about the MG of this set? Theres two, theyre called "Schwarzlose 1908 and 1912". Just asking because Im pretty new in this area and dont want to make mistakes from the start. Especially the flash suppressor - how is it drilled?! Any help is welcome!



Regards


Lucas.



 

[tigrazor]

Ah yes... that was what I was looking for!

www.landships.info/landships/model_articles.html#

Pictures of the actual state of the dio tomorrow!

[deafpanzer]

Whatever you are building... you will ALWAYS have my attention.

[tigrazor]

Ehm... okay?! Why?

[tigrazor]

As promised... The first pictures:

[deafpanzer]

Great start! Did you create those sand bags?

[tigrazor]

Yep. All 31 pieces

Theyre made from Patafix, a sticky putty.





Worked very fine in Braille scale:




If you use that putty, dont forget to spray haispray over it, otherwise it will stay sticky. The sandbags were a learning-by-doing-thing. I dont want to call it "my invention" or something, Im pretty sure theres some other modellers around that tried that before, but I have to say I never read about it. Once youre used to it, its pretty simple to do some sandbags:

>make an oval-shaped ball out of the putty
>press it
>shape it (square with round edges)
>use your thumb and forefinger to create corners
>then make a point with a pen(cil) or toothpick in the front end
>use the same tool to work the details around the corner

>and last but not least use a file or some sandpaper etc to give those some texture


Place them on the dio in a natural looking way - ready!

[tigrazor]

Sorry guys...

My camera is down atm, but there had been loads of progress here.

>Trench completely modeled, that means:

>>loads of wooden boards (McDonalds coffee stirrers - always a good idea!)
>> MG nest had been covered with plastic foil and boards - its gonna be a winter scenery
>> ICM ammo boxes are painted
>> ICM helmet ("fake soldier" - means helmet on a stick partially scratchbuild and painted)
>> boots drilled and placed backwards (is that the right word?!) - they have to "dry"
>> base edges are puttied
>> theres a dinner set on the wooden box
>> and the figure got a bit of painting


and last but not least I ordered the purr-fect figures for that WW1 winter Scene:

www.dersockelshop.de/media/image/thumbnail/mcf35175_528x440.jpg


Pics as soon as the camera is available


Cheerio

[deafpanzer]

Looking forward to the pics. Again thanks for great tip how to create sandbags! Always wanted to try that on tanks as extra armor... q

[tigrazor]

Actually a tank modeller gave me that hint Dont forget to seal them (except you use clay). DRY HARD! is the key.

Ist really about the time for some pictures.

[tigrazor]

Camera is available again Here are the pics:

























Thanks for watching

[remarc777]

Hi there Tigrazor,

This looks cool! Can't wait to see some paint on those sandbags. I think you should put SOME kind of border between the two sections as to point out the past and the present.

An other idea is painting the trench section in black and white colors and the woman's side in color. The idea is done before on a Sturmtiger with great results/effects.

Greetings, Richard.

[tigrazor]

Thanks Richard.

Had exactly those two ideas in mind B/W painting is very difficult, but a border, eg made from transparent acryl is a good Thing.

[tigrazor]

Whoa... Two months paused? Okay, I had to wait for the beautiful ICM figures, to be honest. I decided to take these, cause they cost only 8€ and are 4 figures with all the equipment instead of 2 resine figures for almost 30€ plus shipping. Naaaah. Those will work, too.

The MG nest has been continued with some old boards and a big box where the MG is supposed to stand on. Not so easy to find the correct position, but somehow I managed it. At this stage, I decided to remove the cover of the MG nest. That MG is so highly detailed, would be a true pity if you hide it.

[armorguy]

Looks nice tigrazor, the MG is a great addition to the trench.

[Leon]

That is looking fantastic Lucas.

[tigrazor]

So it begins... The AH figures are ready for some paint:

[tigrazor]

The base was primed with a red brown from a rattle can. Then the wooden boards, sticks etc. were painted with Testors "Earth", a dark brown washing and highlighting followed. Two signs from a Verlinden sheet for some more details in the trench - voilá!

[tigrazor]

Hi there...

The first figure came out pretty good imho. Basic color was Humbrol Azure Blue, followed by a Nuln Oil washing (GW), highlights were done with Tamiya XF-18. That color is pretty the same like the Humbrol one, but slightly brighter. Skin tones were painted with Testors "Earth", a tip from a good friend. Same washing here.

I dont know the exact scale of the large backpack. This and a scratchbuilt name plate followed. The lettering was painted by hand, sealed with a coat of clear.













Thanks for watching...

Lucas.

[deafpanzer]

Great update! Love the boots in the sticks!

[tigrazor]

Thanks Andy. Well, thats a pretty simple method to keep your spare shoes dry when its raining - tried that several times by myself in the army training camps. Nothings worse than wet insides of shoes on a rainy day.

[tigrazor]

Another day, another update....

[wbill76]

Adding a lot of individual touches to this one Lucas that are really making it interesting. Love it!

[tigrazor]

Thanks Bill. The signs on the right are a bit sarcastic - they say "sick bay" (on the bottom) and "room for rent". The sign on the left ("Wilhelmstrasse") comes from a Verlinden sheet. I guess you know who Wilhelm was.

[tigrazor]

I had a bit trouble with the Schwarzlose MG. Although the ICM MG is very detailed, the box and the instructions dont show how its "feeded" - from the lef or from the right? In most cases its from the right, but I wanted to make that sure! So I googled a bit and found these two pictures:






Perfect! The NCO came together very nicely, but needed some retouching at the end. Nothings impossible! I added some PlusModel rats for more realism, and an ammo box standing next to the Schwarzlose MG. The gren area was decorated with some colored birch seed.

[tigrazor]

I changed the positions of the two figures and the right hand of the gunner - looks better now, I guess.

[deafpanzer]

Nice work on the figures! Trying to figure out that part... yellow belt? nice touch on the rat! LOL

[tigrazor]

So welcome then Dicky.

Andy - thats what the instructions say. The cords on the sabre are yellow as well. Google says this:

2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-gllVag9Ww/SwRMVWS-v_I/AAAAAAAAFp8/TOVhneCO3Pw/s1600/Austro-Hungarian+Soldiers.JPG



also see "Pos. 30 - Gürtel" (= Belt):

jewishwebindex.com/austri13.jpg



the red pompons worn by the lower ranked soldier is a marksman badge btw. Looks pretty freaky, eh?!

[deafpanzer]

Way too cool... yeah little freaky like if they are screaming "LOOK AT ME! I GOT YELLOW! SHOOT ME CAUSE I AM AN OFFICER!"

Keep it coming buddy!

[tigrazor]

Thats why it was strictly forbidden to salute officers in the field normally (at least that was the cause when I served from 2000-2002 ). Well. Those Austrians.

NCO: "Oh, look at THAT guy! He seems to be very important with his sabre and the bling-bling!"
Private: "Grenade sir?!"
NCO: "No, just shoot him, should be enough!"




They cant play football. They have weird poltiticians, not only Franz Ferdinand... *ahem* - you guess who I mean. and they stumble into crevasses when theyre in the mountains:

www.google.de/imgres?biw=1680&bih=947&tbm=isch&tbnid=8zMDGfH6eiR69M%3A&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sueddeutsche.de%2Fwissen%2Foetzis-tod-begraebnis-unterm-gipfel-1.992745&docid=gW42uLedonyjNM&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpolpix.sueddeutsche.com%2Fbild%2F1.992753.1355807599%2F860x860%2Foetzis-tod.jpg&w=860&h=588&ei=A4HYUtisIKLV4gTuu4GICg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=199&page=2&start=38&ndsp=44&ved=0CM8BEK0DMCY

But... Theyre very cool people. At least these Austrians which I know personally.

Oh... there are two figures from the ICM set left. Should I make another one for the trench or not? Opinions please...