a next planned project is this fw 190 only found in the 1990's in a remote fussian forrest

it was braught down by rags blocking the engine oilways , placed in the engine at the factory by jewish slave labour

interesting because the trees were only sapplings when it landed ( hence little damage ) and grew round it over the decades that followed

this is now in the middle of being restored , i think to flying order !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jueDXiuU6aM

Nice finish Paul. The figures look great. Congrats on the finish

cheers greg , i'm only just starting on figures realy , did some very basic 1/72 ones in the 70's
so it's all a learning curve i'm quickly learning that i no longer stick to just my humbrol enamels , but use all maners of enamels , acrylics , artists oils , artists acrylics etc etc

also new to dio building although to be honnest i learned on model railways

when moving to bigger scales you can fit quite a bit more detail in

so hopefully i will improve providing my eyesight doesn't go first as i advance in years !!

"The Last Winter" shows retreating German Soldiers passing over the same ground they had won years before. They pass by a destroyed Russian stongpoint with a knocked out AT gun and MG rusting in place.

Nice one Frank! What are you using for snow? Nicely balanced scene. Congrats

Frank, great dio! I really like the idea of soldiers that have to retreat to the place of their previous victory.
Would you be so kind and post some pictures from different angles and in 800x600 resolution?

Andrzej

nice dio frank , snow effects are great !!

Thanks for the complements.

The Snow is from Woodland Scenic. I applied using gloss medium (not white glue). I mixed the snow in with it and applied it to the terrain, Wespe, wrecked gun, etc.

1/48 AFV 251/1 C. Lots of little parts in this kit. I built in all together with two halves as shown. Also, with a tip from Nik on Track48, I cut the rear door post bracket ends and re-glued, so I could leave them in the open position for the troops to run out. I learned to cut the parts off the sprues with clippers - always cutting the weakest portions first and working down. I still had about 2-3 broken thin pieces but not that bad to build.

Greg, nice one. I'd even say it's 1/35 and not 1/48. A lot of small details indeed...
I want to finish few figures I'm working on right now and I'm going to start buiding my entry within let's say two weeks...

Andrzej

yes, really good work for 1/48, a farily well amount of details.
Nice to see the progress of each of us.
for me I a little slowed by another project of full figure sculpting
best,

Julien

Thanks guys. Good luck with your figures. I wasted 2 hours yesterday trying to unclog my airbrush, so I have the nozzle soaking now, and will need to find some small brushes today . Chhers

nice work greg !!

Good luck with the campiagn guys. Some very nice ideas coming through already. Its a great idea for a campaign, but I simply don´t have the time to join in ... although my heart is in it!!

Thanks Paul for your comment.

I finally got my airbrush unscrewby today and have the base yellow down. I usually use Vallejo but decided to try Tamiya to see if it will stick throughout my weathering this time. The Vallejo seems to dry too quick and clogs the airbrush every time and the Vallejo thinner just made things worse. The tamiya paint was no fuss except it stinks like crazy. I'm hoping the Mig washes, etc won't cause the Tamiya paint to come off like my past experiences with it.

Ok, I've finally started painting faces of figures for this campaing... I'm affraid that it may take a while... (as everything I'm doing right now...)

A.

The title will be, "It's Not Enough!" as this separated group try to refuel to get going again back to their lines. (Stug and Panzer IV included as shown before).

hi Greg,
Sorry about your airbrush issues, however I really like your progress. The figures are coming along nicely.

Here is what works for me:I use almost 100% Tamiya paints with the Single Action Badger I got this summer. The guy at the hobby store said to use alcohol for thinner, and never water. So I do, and haven't had any problems so far with the paint. Just thought I would throw you what little knowledge I do have...

oh yeah, I recently started using Model Master Enamels, and I discovered that even though it is a pain to clean the airbrush afterwards, the thinner also gets the acrylic gunk that sort of gets built up right off! so that is my new thing but so far the results have not been bad.

I have been making progress on this campaign, ladies and gents, but since the Market Garden campaign is wrapping up, I was trying to get my work finished and posted there.

Here is a snippet. The rest of my photos are kind of blurry, but again, we are depicting action from the Ardennes Forest- the Battle of the Bulge. I think the scene is going to be a small hamlet where the Americans and the Germans are taking care of each others' wounded. I have been doing a bit of reading on the topic and it seems like there are several suitable possibilities for a scene of this nature.

The Miniart jeep is going to be depicted as out of commision, hit by a large round. American chaps in the house. Germans bearing down... some wounded on both side. Of course, the allies didn't actually lose the battle but there was enough death and destruction to make this a good contribution to this campaign.

Thanks for the thinner tip and comments Billy. Your scene looks like it will be well proportioned there with some nice action too.


Maybe your topic could focus on 1 wounded German surrounded by the Americans (Bitter Taste of Defeat for the German).


Just a thought I had to narrow your topic a little more - you have a great idea going there. Cheers

Hi Greg,
Thanks for the comments. I look forward to seeing how your dio progresses as well. You said that is 1/48? Cool, I have some projects going in that scale as well.

Let me know how it ends up going for you. I am curious about all those pigments and filters you have...they look nice, but I haven't been able to drop the $. I did pick up a little Tamiya weathering kit and I have started practicing with that.

One thing I thought of as I was going to bed last night. If you are having problems with your thinner, or thinned paint taking the paint off, then try a gloss or a dull coat underneath maybe. I have been reading on this topic up in the Painting forum I believe there is some good info up there.

I have a lot of photos and since I have been so inactive on this one so far I am going to post away here.

ps. regarding my dio. I have to be honest, I started the German figures before the campaign started, mostly as practice. If I am allowed to use them I will, if not the focus will have to be on the jeep. The set itself lends itself to the Ardennes, but I am too timid to try to do Malmedy or any of the other ruthless massecre scenes at this point. According to my source, Charles B. MacDonald in A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge, there were plenty of wooded hamlets where fierce fighting was going on. At times the fighting was stopped so that the wounded could be evacuated. Many troopers on both sides surrendered, some more than once in the same house basically, and thus in some cases, they ended up tending each other's wounded. So this is what I am going to try to capture. The Americans occupy the house. There are wounded Germans and Yanks. More Germans are coming with tanks and flamethrowers. The is not much ammo and the jeep is partially destroyed. Thus, the jeep itself will have to represent the defeat, as was my original idea for the dio. Everything sort of settled around the idea of the jeep with a blown out front tire sitting in front of the house. Of course the garden is destroyed as well!!! I will definitely be depicting that.

ok, good luck everyone and sorry for the lengthy words, but I appreciate your interest greatly.

Billy

ps the tanks are not going to be included in this one, just help to show scale and are my other works in progress. I just started them a few weeks ago so maybe I could include them but it wasn't my original plan.



some shoots I had from earlier. I just painted this little tank with its first coat of Model Master enamel. pretty happy with it. the house has been primed, basically.



The house with some ongoing shots of my Tiger support vehicle. The thing is huge! You can see my prepriming and undercoating. I spread CA around to texture the rear a bit. Hopefully I can chip some of that off later. (The Tiger is not part of the dio, sorry)



These are the main cast of characters so far.



And finally I found the digital zoom feature. I needed this SO bad.

cheers everyone

Here's what I have so far for my diorama titled "Homecoming" ...soldiers marching through their war ravaged country on their way back home. The first 2 pics show the general layout, and then there are a couple of pics of where I'm at now.....been having nozzle issues with my Aztek airbrush that have slowed things somewhat.

Nice to see progress here .
It seems we're going to have some nice, big dioramas.
I'm still painting faces of my soldiers. I've tried new technique and new color mix and I must say I'm not totally happy with final result. Now I have to correct them a little to make these guys a bit more life-like.

Andrzej

@Billy - I just collected a Mig item here and there. Started with Euro earth and dark mud pigments, and things added over the years. Your dio will be grand.

@Peter - nice looking dio and does show the final defeat well.

Keep building everyone

Pete, your dio is truly awesome. Is that a Verdelin (sic) building? My Miniart German Shed is my first, and I have another lined up. But I picked up Verdilin's Railroad Station and was amazed that I could get right to the painting...still need to start that project.

Greg, thanks for the comments and good luck with your project.