Hi Olivier! Actually so far there's very little actual build. I just came back from a local hardware (DIY) store and got myself a sheet of wooden chipboard, some beading strips, a sheet of plasterboard, and some plaster/plasterboard primer.

I will be away tomorrow at a sporting event, but I hope to be able to crack into constructing the buildings tomorrow night or Sunday. I should be able to also start constructing the main diorama board base from the chipboard and wood beading for the edges.

I've been working on some template ideas for the ruined apartments based on my reference photos and I think the plasterboard sheet will work a treat, it's just the right thickness and crumbles nicely on the edges when broken or shaped.

S!
Great project. You will have a lot of work.
I saw a lot of Model Color bottles in your workbench. Did you airbrush it? If positive, what's thinner do you use and what is the paint:thinner proportion that you use?
Thanks.

Hi Sam, yes I use Model Colour in my airbrush. I also use Tamiya as well, but to be honest I probably use more model colour these days.

As for Thinner I use Vallejo's own brand Thinner, I picked up a big bottle of it awhile ago cheap in a local model store. I find actually that it's easy to use as the bottle design can let me pour directly into the built in paint hopper without making a mess! As to ratio it varies, I try to follow the old maxim of the consistency of milk. It's not really an exact science but usually I end up with a 1:2 ratio of paint to Thinner. I tend to just test it on a piece of paper till I'm happy with the flow and consistency.

For the Tamiya paints I use the Tamiya Thinner as it has very different qualities to Vallejo's Thinner.

I have to admit that I've never used Model Air, but would like to try one day.

S!
Thanks for the info.
Cheers

Hello Jon, Love the idea and the figs. This has great potential.

One thing I must tell you as a former native Soviet though.

T-90 is a Ferrari of the Russian military. Mostly an export item actually. They have a few for the parades and shows and some training, but they would be very cautious letting it into combat. Russia is not like the US and UK where the best, most expensive tools get sent to Iraq and A-stan. Unlike the Western countries they want to save money on expensive equipment and unlike the Western countries they still care very little about survivability of the conscript crew. They get more bang for their buck with 100 1970 T-62's that one T-90. The T-62s are rusting away in storage anyway.

Just be careful about this in laying out you dio. It will look cool, but really loose historical credibility if the surrounding desperation is coupled with a crown jewel of "Russian Armored Might." I think a modernized T-62 or T-72A would be much more fitting to this story.

HTH,
Dmitry

Hi Dmitry,

I thought this too at first, I know that older tanks were the backbone, however I found during my research that T-90's were used in the 1999 Chechen invasion of Dagestan, According to Moscow Defense Brief, one T-90 was hit by seven RPG anti-tank rockets but remained in action!

From what I could gather from sources while a large number of T-90 are exported to India, some 31 new T-90 tanks were expected to enter service in 2007, and 60 in 2008 for Russian forces. It's logical to assume therefore following the invasion of Dagestan that some T-90's were also used during the main part of the second Chechen War that ended this year, in smaller numbers for sure, as you say older tanks like T-72's and T-80's were used heavily.

Other sources have also reported that T-90's were also used in the recent Georgian conflict, being posted on the borders in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

I wonder if anyone has any further info on this and could maybe expand it at all?

Wow Jon, you seem to have good info. You're probably OK then. Just wanted to make sure you consider this as I am probably not the only one who whould think about this. I did see one TV freeze frame of a T-72BM there (looks a lot like T-90). They could have very well had other late models there too.

On a different note, I think this is going to be awesome. I have the kit too but a little affraid to start it, due to the massive volumes of resin Miniarm makes nice stuff though!

Will follow with excitement!

DK

Hi Dmitry!

It's certainly tough to get a clear answer. I have found evidence that supports T-90 involvement in parts of the Chechnya conflict, but I have also found reports that contradict this. In addition to the Moscow Defence Brief, there are also reports from the Chechen fighters claiming T-90 kills. However the huge problem of identification between T-72BM and T-90's is a real issue. Also the development of these tanks into becoming basically the same thing also confuses the topic.

I think that in the case of Chechen fighters reports of T-90 kills are likely down to vehicle misidentification, however this seems much more unlikely with the Moscow Defence Brief, who specifically highlight T-90 involvement and also list their source for this as correspondence/interview with Tankers and personnel.

I can understand a rebel fighter making a mistake, but a Russian Tanker not knowing his own AFV would strike me as odd. Also in addition the articles that say no T-90's were involved seem early, near the end of the first Chechen war, and don't seem to cover the second.

What with such a long conflict running until just recently, and taking into account the confirmed reports of T-90 involvement in Georgia it would seem like a possibility for the second Chechen War. Perhaps in limited numbers for sure, if I remember correctly Moscow Defence Brief reports 8- 12 units used in Dagestan. These apparently were intended for export to India but were sent to Chechnya under special circumstances.

So for the argument of logic I am going to stick with the T-90 for now. I agree that its a tricky question to answer, but I think given the conflicting reports I can pull it off.

You're right Jon..

That Evolutions Tank Crewman is beautiful !!

I've just bought one on evil bay

I can't wait until it arrives !

Cheers

Paul

Hi Paul

Yeah it sure is a special. I also recieved my masterclub figures yesterday and will post some photos of those. Again even more great quality resin casts and sculpts. The work coming out of Russia at the moment is really spot on!

Yesterday I spent alot of time working on the scenic base for the Diorama, as well as starting the construction of the apartment buildings. I will post some photos tonight after work. I had fun experiementing with the plasterboard/drywall and actually got some really good affects that I was pleased with. They don't look like much at the moment as they havent been detailed much, but they are sure starting to shape up well.

Heres a quick update on the ruins. Still a lot of work to do, but the basic shape and some surface texture and damage scribing has been covered already, as well as a few reinforced concrete metal bars and a damaged window pane.

Heres the reference image of the section of the ruin apartment that I've been basing the ruin on:



And here is the current WIP











Here's a scale comparison with one of the seated Masterclub figures to give a rough idea of size:



It's my first attempt at proper scenery scratch building, and so far I'm actually very pleased with how its turning out. Using the Plasterboard/drywall worked really well. The surface has been soft enough to scribe detail onto easily and it holds the detail well, cutting the windows out was a bit tricky as the board is quite weak (especially after you remove one side of the paper backing that holds it together). I'm looking forward to adding more detail and painting it up however, and trying to recreate the reference photo was really fun.

Good morning Jon,

Nice project, superbe ( strange expression for pictures from bombed out towns) references.

The building is a good start. I see from the refererence pics that is iare typical "Plattenbauten", walls, floors all the same size, put quickly together.

I think that the drywall you used is to thick. It works for the outer walls, but the inner walls look out of scale. The drywall is 2 cm i think? that would be 70 cm! Your reference shows walls of max. 25cm (that's not 1 cm in our scale).

My choice would be 1 cm foamboard for everything , it would be a good compormise.
I admit, the destroyed parts are more difficult to make then.

Alternatively i would make my own plaster wall of 1 cm.

That's my opinion

Have fun
Claude

Hi Jon!. This is a fasanating diorama I am really looking foward to seeing this come alive mate. You couldn't by any chance share some of the links where you got your reference from please>? . Nice staret on the building section the damage is looking pritty authentic and not over done!. I can see what claude is coming from but It should look cool when you have added all of the detail onto the building section.

Great job Jon!

As well as the one with the T-55!

The building is superb, but I the walls seem to be a little too thick.

Cheers,
Adam

I don´t know about England, but in Scandinavia plasterboard is normally 12 mm thick - including the paper. You can sand it down a bit if its too thick.

What I like the most about using plasterboard is the texture and how it reacts with paint - use diluted paint and wash more than paint and you can achive some grand effects.

Save the primer, it will only work aginst the textures.

You can drill small hole in the ends and ad reinforcement steel.

So far it looks really great!

Cheers/Jan

Thanks for the comments everyone. It's certainly been an interesting new challenge to scratchbuild a large ruin.

Thanks for the feedback Claude, much appreciated. I really wasn't sure about guides for scale comparisons when scratchbuilding. To be honest I had to just judge by eye, by holding it up against a 1:35 standing figure. I wonder is there any resource online that has specifications or a graph for example of what equivalent scales should be for model buildings? Is there any specific formula for calculating this?

I bought the thinnest plasterboard I could find, but as you say it maybe could do with a little thinning down. Actually out of interest I measured the thickness of the walls and they are actually just a tiny bit under 1cm thick already. I didn't thin them anymore as I wasn't sure if removing both sides of the paper on the plasterboard would compromise the stability too much.

This morning I did a little experiement on a small piece to see if it would hold its shape and stand up to further sanding with all the paper removed. I was actually suprised that the plaster kept its shape and sanded down well without falling apart and crumbling totally. I then repeated this test on a large piece of plasterboard that is roughly the size the building wall and I found that again it was able to withstand further sanding to make it thinner. I now have managed to get the test pieces down to just over 0.5 cm thick.

I think I agree with Jan, in the respect that I would like to stick with plaster instead of foam board because I really like the texture and effects it can give you.

So I have decided to very carefully take the building apart, removing all the wall sections with a sharp scalpel blade and a little gentle pressure (it is only held together with PVA glue so should not be too much problem), I will then remove the backing paper from the insides and sand down the inside of all the walls to make them a little thinner. I think sanding it down to 0.5cm should address the problems and correct things. I'll then stick it all back together again!

Jaymes, most of the photos are just from google image searches or various newsagencies etc. I hear that Missing Lynx also has a good gallery of various reference photos for modelling, although I've never used it myself.

rough guessing x common sense or so.. LOL
In all case , my own guessing let me down , because i never thought that your wall would only be 1cm.
I would then say, stick with it, while it looks thicker then the reference, it is probly ok to use.

I think i need specatcles

Cheers
Claude

Thanks Claude!

But actually I think even so you raised a good point. I think I will try to see how easy it is to remove the wall sections tonight, I will do a test on a small part. If I can get it off easily without damaging the structure I will remove them all and sand them down, becuase actually I think it would look even better a little thinner to make it match the reference a little more. Actually I read somewhere that PVA takes 1 week to fully cure? So since I only glued this yesterday it may still come apart easy enough if I am careful.

If I can't take it apart easily then I will stick with things how they are like your suggestion.



Jan I forgot to mention before about your suggestion for steel rods. Actually I put a few in already using plastic rod, but looking at the reference photos there doesn't seem to be much exposed in the damaged areas. I'm trying to hold back on the urge to go overkill with this and stick as closely to the reference image as possible. I plan to add more of that kind of thing is the loose rubble and debris that will be lying on the ground etc.

[quote]Heres a quick update on the ruins. Still a lot of work to do, but the basic shape and some surface texture and damage scribing has been covered already, as well as a few reinforced concrete metal bars and a damaged window pane.

Heres the reference image of the section of the ruin apartment that I've been basing the ruin on:



Great idea, and nice work so far. Very ambitious.

I would humbly suggest adding one floor to the ruin so as to include the rickety ladder from one balcony to the next that is just cropped out of your pic.

Excentuating the vertical element would add to the atmosphere of the aftermath of urban combat and juxtapose the domestic mealtime elements with the ruined dwellings.

Mike

Also, from this photo I feel that you might be able to show a little more re-bar, or what they use to reinforce concrete in buildings. That one piece doesnt seem like enough, but I really love the start. I am going to try my hand at scratchbuilding for the first time so I will be taking tips from you.

This is coming along really well, you've collected a good 'pool' of refrence to work from. Those figures look like a dream to paint too!

Stuart

Thanks for the feedback guys, some very good and helpful points as always. It's been great to share ideas and incorperate these into the build.

Mike, thats a good point and something I've been considering. At first when I was working with the plasterboard I wasn't sure how well it would hold up to cutting, sanding, detailing etc. So I was a bit hesistant when starting the build because I wasn't sure if it would even be able to support its weight, or compromise the stability. After cutting, sawing, sanding, scribing, and generally destroying large quantities of plasterboard I've now gotten a beter understanding of what it's strengths and weaknesses are, and whats possible.

I think that I'll try now to add an extra floor to the structure like you suggested. I agree that it needs more scale to have a bigger impact. From the start I was very aware that the power of these photos is in the sheer scale of the city and the amount of destruction. Although in a Diorama I was of course limited to a small area to try to portray this, so the options were either having lots of buildings (which wasn't helpful as I needed to keep the base relatively small) or as you say increase the height of one peice for more impact.

Sean, thanks I agree too, it's still early days yet but I would like to include some more steel rods in the concrete where possible. I will try to fight the urge to put them everywhere though!

Stuart, yes totally! I'm really looking forward to painting them myself!

Following the feedback from everyone so far I spent a lot of time last night thinning and sanding down the thickness of the walls. I managed to take the building apart without damaging any of the parts and striped the paper backing from the other side. I then sanded down gradually till I reached the thickness of my earlier test piece (around 0.5cm thick). It was certainly tricky but I had no damage to most of the parts, only the far side wall with the large explosion damage gave me trouble, this broke off in a few parts while sanding, but I was able to glue them back into place without any problem. Infact the fracture lines that were left just served to add to the dramatic damage effect!

The thinner walls look much better I think and I've just finished gluing the main structure back together. I will post some photos of the new revised ruin later tonight after work.

As a side note the wooden display base is now built and finished, and I've also started work on the T-90.

my first thought was that 'ladder' had to just be a bit of steel structure, but the more I looked at it, it seemed to be there intentionally. Back to the idea of life goes on even in the war zone..

I would not want to climb there, but if I HAD to... sort of thing.

keep up the good work and keep the pics coming.

Thats another good point, and I think it will be a nice little detail to add to the building. I totally agree about the ladder, I'd never climb it either!

Here are some update pics of the reworked ruin.

Still needs to have the upper floor added at this stage and also requires some filling work to correct the gaps and large cracks that occurred during the sanding and shaving of wall sections. The thickness is now at 0.5cm.