Maybe you can get the cathedral as a background photo drop and do some photoshop. I don't know how people do it, but it looks cool when done.

Hey Andrzej and everyone,

Nice to see the progress, gentlemen.

Greg, your project seems to be coming along nicely. Tom, I am also impressed by your attention to detail and knowledge. I am going to be learning a lot from all of you I can tell.

Andrzej, I was going to say that I would be willing to do some headbanging myself at any time. Good to hear that you did not back down from this indulgence.

I am been trying to prioritize this project now that we are coming down to the end. I started putting in the landscaping to my house. Just a little bit longer and I can probably start painting the ground, but since I used to be a landscaper by trade, and still like working in the garden in real life, this part is pretty fun. Gotta build the fence up as you can see, but the flagstone came out ok. Too bad it will be at least partially covered in snow.











Still not sure about including the Germans, maybe in the next scene! We will see about that!

Hey I have an idea for a MEGA-DIO. Have any inclination to ask for an extension at all? just thought i´d put that out there.

billy

Here's a taste of what will be on mine. Still some decisions to make in regards to what goes where. Thanks, "Q"

@ Tom, Greg, Billy, Matthew - great progress, I feel ashamed (I've managed to paint bayonettes and helmets...).

Matthew, your roasted turret is perfect! Since your second figure is a priest I asume that the guy with the shovel is undertaker?

Andrzej

Haven't fully decided how I am going to use them as yet. Thanks for the kudos on the turret. It has darkened up a lot since I shot the picture. Going to seal it to prevent any further oxidation. Thankks again, "Q"

If you want to show funky-fresh rust it should be light - oxide rust is light and orange, but as it gets old and inhibits more hydroxide from atmosphere it gets darkers, more brownish.

A.

During my x-mas shopping today, I stopped at the art store and got some wood and Home Depot for a hanging plant basket material. So, I started throwing together a barn.

Finally getting around to the ground work on my entry. Hopefully the ground work will be dried tomorrow so I can continue with the work. In the meantime I will keep working on my What if Flakpanther. Thanks, for looking. "Q"

Excellent work so far on your structure, Greg. I was thinking about going the same route myself as my German Shed needs a roof. Probably going to use some wood like you have to construct the rafters, and then try to weather them. Not sure what I will go with for the roofing material.

I like where you are going with your dio though.

Great stuff guys! Seing your progress is very motivating.
@Greg - there should be a beam on the top of the roof. In any other way the house is very nice.
@Matthew - did you took the paint away from figures? Nice base, I like the composition.

I've managed to do some figure painting during the weekend. Here are results:





I'm also disecting the Panther's parts to give it sunken look without pouring 6 liters of resin... Nothing to show yet though...

More comming soon.

Andrzej

Thanks Billy & Andrzej, I still have more details to add to my barn for sure.

@Andrzej the figures are going well
@ Q - that's a good idea you have. The digger's shovel handle may need shortening.

.

No. The pics I posted before were the box art for the figures. They haven't been painted as yet. Thanks, "Q"

@Q, silly me... who would strip paint from well painted figures .
Yesterday I've spent some more time painting the leather parts of equipment. Somehow I cannot resist building more than one kit at the time so my desk is a mess... I have to finish these figures ASAP and put the project away untill the humvee is done... I simply have not enough place on the desk to start building diorama...
A.

Some really neat modelling is turning up here! Andrzej, the figures look great!

As for me, my Panther is starting to take shape, and is growing a diorama...

The beast takes shape. Two of the kill-shots can be seen in this pic (the second is just in front of the turret), but the third is below the sponson, above the third road wheel.


The tracks, showing sag:


It needed a crude interior to be seen through the hatches:


The basic diorama layout, with a Jeep "stolen" from the Mighty Wheels campaign:


(Don't worry, its place was taken by a GPA...)
And another angle:



I'm not sure about the standing figure - he's supposed to be looking into the hidden shell hole under the sponson, but I might replace him with a standing figure looking in the big hole in the side. Any opinions?

The base will be A4-sized (about 8 1/2 x 12") since I can pick up a cheap picture frame that size, and will be textured as the cobbled platz in front of Cologne cathedral, complete with tram lines. I'm thinking hard about how to model the ash from the burnt wheels - anyone have experience with it? My thoughts are mixing paint with sand to get something lumpy...

Tom

Made a little progress on my entry since finishing my What If Panther. Added the ground color and some grass to the setting. Once dry I'll paint it to tie everything together and then remove the extra from the tank turret. Thanks for looking, "Q"

I just finished mine up a few minutes ago. Will get a pic posted to the gallery as soon as I finish here. I decided to remove the one figure as it got a little crowded once I added the crosses. The working title so far is "Nobody wins in war". I decided to add both German and US helmets to help convey the message. Thanks for looking. "Q"

Congrats Q on finishing - looks nice

The Panther scene is coming along well

@ Tom - I used the Mig Pigments: Panzer Grey, smoke, ash on my burned out JS-2 dio if that's any help (see below)




I need to get back to work on this campaign

Greg,

Thanks for the tip - I hadn't even thought about Mig pigments! (Then again, I haven't tried them yet, so it'd be a learning curve!) First I need to get through all this Christmas food & gift-giving - if only to dig down to a useable modelling work surface by end of Saturday!

By the way, great job on that Russky tank!

Tom

PS: Matthew, good choice to leave off the second figure - the scene is really thought-provoking with only the priest! Excellent work.

I really like what you have done here. As for a title, how about "Only the dead have seen the end of war" Plato wrote that over 2000 years ago.

Andrzej -

Apologies for not being more involed or updating. Thought I'd have more time after Baseball season and coaching was done, but other things got in the way. However, with Christmas and my Holiday break about to happen, I've finally got some time and should have something done by deadline. I'm still working on the knocked out Pz III for Afrika Korp idea and might try a Vignette with some old figures I found in my stash. They are a Jaguar set that would work well into a 'Winter Battle of Bulge' theme. With a little luck, I might get both done. Will update after Holiday. Merry Christmas all,


Blade48mrd

Nice work greg. Definitley has the "Lived in" look about it.
Thanks for the kudos all. Much appreciated. I have some more small vignettes like this planned so I can use some of the derelict parts and pieces I seem to have tons of (Three large bins worth) I have a contest coming up in a few days that I plan on entering this in. Interested to see how it stacks up. Guess I'll find out soon enough. Thanks again for the compliments. "Q"

Matthew -

Wonderfully done 'Vignette' and very touching scene. I especially like how you've brought both sides into it; American / German with the graves and a little Life / Death with the addition of the flowers. A very poignant scene and outstandingly executed.
Hey, as a former resident of Colorado Springs and knowing the wonderful 'Winter' weather you've been and do get, maybe a 'Winter' theme for your next Vignette? Thanks for sharing,

Blade48mrd

Thanks for the kudos Mike. I was tossing the idea around for a winter scene. I have some material here from a buddy of mine who is marketing his own brand of dio accessories under the label Maus Werx. I used some of it for the grass on that last vignette and liked the way it worked. He has some snow in his product line so I plan on giving that stuff a test run to see how it performs. Another vignette would be a good motivator to do so. We just got hit with snow day before yesterday so it looks like we will have a white Christmas after all. It has already started to melt off, but not near fast enough. Good reason to stay indoors and build in my book. Thanks again for the kudos, much appreciated. Merry Christmas everybody. "Q"

Although I decided not to use this 1/48 dio for this campaign any longer, I still figure I should continue posting progress pics of it here
Just need to finish up the figures mainly, then I'll continue with the KV farmhouse for this campaign.


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Thanks

Here's where I am at with my dio for this campaign, titled "Homecoming". As it is my first attempt at an urban setting, I was pretty cautious in my approach. I'm basically at the point of finishing up the details of the landscape so that it all "looks right", trashing up the Brummbar a bit more, then painting the figures. Sorry if the picture quality isn't the greatest...I need to work on my chops there a bit