(Late) Spring 1945 or "mopping up the fringes"?

[Mike]

Not much of a creative title for this one, but I've been working on it off and on again for a good while now. Most of it is stuff from the back yard and I finally made some pine trees for it I mentioned in my other thread. I just need more supplies for some larger trees for the background and to replace that weird tree that is looking more and more out of place now.

Anyways, its still very much a work in progress as I improve things as I go. One thing I had to do was to freshen up the "ferns" which have dried up and become brown. A simple washed-down transparent green and yellow mix was airbrushed over some of it. I heavily watered the mix down so I didn't just paint over the natural tonal transitions that were already there. 

Spring 1945 by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

Spring 1945 by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

Spring 1945 by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

Spring 1945 by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

Spring 1945 by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

One of these days I'll have to get better at taking pictures. But it is what it is for now. Sorry about that.

If anyone is wondering about the environment I'm trying to mimic in this scene I know it isn't looking like Germany. See, I live in Washington State and we happen to have two of the northern hemisphere's only rain forests that I live by and I see this environment every day around here. This is what I know. This is very much my world. I know Germany wouldn't have so much ground cover and should be a bit more sparse with the ferns and such, but I've grown up in this lol. It looks fantastic to me. It looks like my back yard. 

But criticism is still welcome as I work to improve this scene.

[keavdog]

Great foliage!

[lyle]

Well done

[vw8243]

Hi Mike
I see no prob with the vegetation on this for anywhere in central Europe ,the tank and stowage look great also .
Ferns Will die at the end a summer and new ones will appear out of the brown last season ferns ,so that brown can be left alone
The one thing if its possible is the tree colors ,the fir trees to the front of the dio should I think be the color of the tree in the background and vice versa ,or the dark green tree in the background lightened and fir trees darker ,if this makes sence ?

      Leo,

[Mike]

May 12, 2024 16:50:06 GMT -5 vw8243 said:

Hi Mike
I see no prob with the vegetation on this for anywhere in central Europe ,the tank and stowage look great also .
Ferns Will die at the end of summer and new ones will appear out of the brown last season ferns ,so that brown can be left alone
The one thing if its possible is the tree colors ,the fir trees to the front of the dio should I think be the color of the tree in the background and vice versa ,or the dark green tree in the background lightened and fir trees darker ,if this makes sense ?

      Leo,

oh, yeah. I hear what you're saying. I think I can fix the Firs. The tree in the background is scheduled to be replaced by a larger Fir in the future. That thing hasn't done anything I've tried to make it do.

[vw8243]

Mike
That tree in the background looks ok ,you will get that mix of trees in any area its just the color, in fact its very convincing ,wat did ya use for trunk and leaves?

[sharp]

Very nicely done.

[Mike]

May 12, 2024 18:20:21 GMT -5 vw8243 said:

Mike
That tree in the background looks ok ,you will get that mix of trees in any area its just the color, in fact its very convincing ,wat did ya use for trunk and leaves?

Thanks. I did go ahead and darken the pines and they do look better.

The tree in the background is a piece of a bush I found out by the ocean years ago. The problem with it has always been that it's naturally dark brown and I've been trying to layer light greens over it for almost as long as I've had it. That's why up close you can see that I've overstayed the upper branches green too. It just won't lighten up. That's part of why I want to replace it. I may use the base branches for a better tree in the future, but the natural foliage on it is a b*tch and always has been. Looks okay from afar but up close it looks alien.

[reserve]

The Hurtgen and Ardennes look like that in places, leastways according to some pictures I've seen. Fine looking diorama sir.

If I may be so bold I'd suggest some dirt/mud/dust on the Sherman itself, it appears a bit too clean

[Mike]

May 12, 2024 21:53:35 GMT -5 reserve said:

The Hurtgen and Ardennes look like that in places, leastways according to some pictures I've seen. Fine looking diorama sir.

If I may be so bold I'd suggest some dirt/mud/dust on the Sherman itself, it appears a bit too clean

That advice with the Pines was on point. My mother was over for dinner this evening and she thought they were real. So that's impressive. Thank you for that.

Happy Little Trees by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

The Sherman is dirtied up below the sponsons as if it's been on a road march and splashed through a few puddles along the way, but otherwise it's definitely clean. I modeled this one as if it was fresh in the theatre. No one really does that and the translation doesn't present itself as such, I know. But the dirt is definitely on the bottom and there are some mud splashes and dirt built up in a few select places. Lots of dried splashes on the back though. I will get better pictures of that later.

Funny part is that this base was never made for this tank at all. It was finished before the other models that were intended to and it fits on the road lol. I still need to tie down the stowage. I'm sure someone will point that out eventually lol. The original idea was as an art project first, and then as a display for taking photos so there are no track marks in the road at all so I could pose anything in either direction. It's supposed to blend into my backyard on purpose so I could use my yard as a back drop. And I've seen a few pictures of the German countryside. I was advised that it should more closely resemble northern Idaho if I want to be more accurate to the areas this tank should be in for Spring of 1945.

So that's kinda been in the back of my head for the present and why I made a point to explain it as I did. 

I can tell you that modern armor doesn't fit and the Sherman is almost too wide for the road, so it's not going to work for most of my models anyways. I'm learning as I go with this one and getting ideas for another one. So keep the tips going.

[Leon]

This is looking good Mike!

[cheyenne]

Looks great man !!
I agree with dusting up the Sherman a bit .
The vegetation is cool . The eyes focus on the Sherman first , at least mine did , then the surrounds .
Photos of a finished build should be taken solo with a backdrop of solid color or an enlarged scenic backdrop .
Your photos are too " busy ". as far as the background goes . The viewers eyes try to take everything in and it takes away from the primary subject .
The photos , .......... taking photos of in progress work can be taken on the bench with no problem cuz it's " not done yet " .
Try isolating the dio with a solid color [ black , grey ] backdrop or a colored sheet , not white , white will mess with the cameras " white balance " function and the builds colors won't be true . The colors will have different hues than when seeing them in person .
All in all tho it's a cool build man , and the advice I gave you is just my opinion , people that usually take my advice wind up with their picture on the Post Office wall in the lobby .

[kyledehart5]

Really a super cool dio you’ve built up here Mike. I like the foliage and ground cover you have. Nicely done on making it look the part!!

[stikpusher]

Thats a mighty fine looking scene. Having been to Germany a few times myself courtesy of Uncle Sam, and having romped around the woods during those times, all I can suggest is more mud... When the woods there transition from bare to blossoming, it is usually quite muddy with the spring rains and snowmelt... one week the trees are bare and the grounds snowy... a few days later the green is amazing and all that snow melts into the dirt, turning it to mud...

[Mike]

I've added another Pine and took the tank out for now.

The road by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

The road by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

The road by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

.

[406 Silverado]

I can't tell you how much I enjoy looking at a well put together diorama Mike . I'm not a subject matter expert on the environment like some of these good folks are but you definitely got my attention with this build up. VERY impressive work fella.

[handiabled]

Very cool looking dio!

[Mike]

A HUGE Thank You ! To all of you. Diorama's have been another one of my weakest links for many, many years. I'm an immense admirer of anyone who can make a diorama and it's something 99% of my builds are missing.

I admire all of you who can make this look easy.

So, I'm not convinced I'm finished with it yet, as I never really seem to be 100% finished with anything, so I'll update when I change things as I go. Thank you for the valuable advice and tips. I will try to use them in furthering the realism with this base.

[Steve Zuleski]

That's a beauty, Mike, Excellent!

[Mike]

Okay now all I have to do it dust up the tank a bit more. I managed to make the oddball tree a bit lighter with a spraying of yellow under some thin green and that seemed to make the difference in how dark it was. It looks much better now and after painting the branches brown I think I'd like to keep it now. I also repainted and touched up the black around the base and it looks cleaner now.

Spring 1945 by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

Spring 1945 by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

Spring 1945 by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

I just have to make the Sherman match the environment now.

[project510]

Such a cool diorama. Great job on all that foliage.

[handiabled]

May 15, 2024 17:31:57 GMT -5 Mike said:

A HUGE Thank You ! To all of you. Diorama's have been another one of my weakest links for many, many years. I'm an immense admirer of anyone who can make a diorama and it's something 99% of my builds are missing.

I admire all of you who can make this look easy.

So, I'm not convinced I'm finished with it yet, as I never really seem to be 100% finished with anything, so I'll update when I change things as I go. Thank you for the valuable advice and tips. I will try to use them in furthering the realism with this base.

I'd be ecstatic if I could create a dio anything as nice as this. It looks fantastic!

[kyledehart5]

I agree. This is just a fantastic looking dio.

[Mike]

The outdoor shots are something else. Check these out.















I did start with an intention that this diorama would blend into my own yard and I think I nailed that.

And before anyone says it, I know, I know, it needs more dust on the tank lol. Let me know what else I can improve here. The dust will eventually find its way onto the model.

[cheyenne]

Beautiful work Mike , love it !!!

[kyledehart5]

Brilliant!! Fantastic photography. This is awesome.

[adrian29341]

I'm not an armor guy and I couldn't stop looking at this mate - it is fantastic!!

What an awesome job you did on the road creation - looks absolutely real as hell! The entire diorama 
looks so real - fabulous work mate.

I'm working on a Star Wars AT-ST Endor Forest diorama with Legion and so I dabbled in the scenery
creation and it's lots of fun but this is next level stuff mate - bravo!!

[handiabled]

Those are some fantastic shots Mike! The wooded background gives it a whole new perspective

[stuartv]

What a great Diorama, excellent work.

[Steve Zuleski]

Excellent close-ups, Mike!