this diorama will be an experiment in two different styles of winter whitewash applications as well as a scratchbuilt factory setting chock full of some of the great accessories available on the market. it will also feature some customizing of figures which will include sculpting new clothing and changing poses to suit the scene. a focus on making snow patched groundwork will also come later.

first model for this diorama will be:


more to come soon...

bd

Great news Bruce!

I'll follow this your new project

Cheers

I am really glad that you have already decided to start a new project. It sounds good and I am sure that it will be great!

Regards,

brilliant! i have been following your previous builds, but just not thought of what i could say. this one will, from your description, be able to provide many options for me to comment and ask questions.
stan

Looking forward to following this.

All the best............Willy

Looks like fun. Can't wait to see more.

Hi Bruce,

Looking forward to another of your fine builds.

Look out Bruce is at it again !!!!!!
Can't wait to see this one keep us posted
Dave

KING TIGER CONSTRUCTION

hi everyone,
here is the King Tiger which i finally finished building over the weekend. items which are not glued so they can be painted separately are the sideskirts (not shown), roadwheels, tracks and turret track armour.

some errors in the instructions made this build a slow one but there was always time to add the little extras such as track pins for the track armour, battle damage to the zim and the such:









next i will begin painting the base camo for the King, giving it a light primer to check it over for problems first. i have been seeing lots of other modelers who have this machine on their workbench and have enjoyed watching all their posts and discussions as i plugged away at my attempt at this kit.

some of the figures for this diorama have been undelivered due to extreme weather but hopefully the postman will have luck tracking my parcel down this week... fingers crossed.

cheers for now, bd.

Yo Bruce,

I'am hooked up! Nice start... a need build of the King!

Greetz Nico

Bruce - Great looking model. I look forward to watching you finish it. I'm about to start this one and was contemplating a build log, but you're right that there are a lot of King Tigers out and about at the moment.

Looking forward to this as always Bruce

bruce d build = instant subscription.
Looking forward to it : )

thanks everyone for the great encouragement on this project.

Bill, you should still consider doing a build blog as this kit has its share of instruction mysteries and errors. i get too engrossed during the building stage to remember to take pics. for me, the construction puts me in a good place mentally... lots of great memories of kits put together.

lots more to come, cheers bd.

A fantastic start Bruce!

I like a lot (and envy... ) your build cleanliness...

Now I'm waiting for the sequel...

Cheers

Bruce - I'm undecided about a build log but leaning that way because I like the steady input. Did you use any AM items? I attempted the earlier non-zimmerited version of this kit and mangled the three-part tool clamps. I'll be using a set from Griffon this time because I've heard the clamps are easier to assemble. Also, will you be building a base or buying and finishing one? I was thinking about the corner wall base from Monroe Perdu or the new one from Tiger Productions.

Bruce - Disregard that last part ... I just re-read your original post.

hi Bill,
you saw that i plan on scratchbuilding an industrial scene but i have heard good things about Perdu products. you may want to check out the now-closed Miniart campaign thread to see if you want to take a crack at vacuum formed buildings as there are some nice choices if that is something you want to try.

as for the AM question, i used the PE brass that came with the Dragon Premium kit for the King Tiger. i have used the Griffon AM set for the Jagdpanther i built previously and the tool clamps are pretty much the same (three parts) as found in the KT kit, though i think the Griffon clamps are just a bit smaller.

the method i use for those tool clamps that worked for me was this:
1) bend the base/lower part of the clamp first;
2) glue this lower part on the model (check your references now to make sure you have them in the right direction);
3) glue the tool onto the clamp lower part;
4) bend the curved upper part of the clamp and place it over the tool gluing only at the front half (the end that is bent down that catches, not the end that has the third piece that is the ratchet tightening handle);
5) bend the last clamp piece, the ratchet handle, but not all the way... leave this piece spread open just a bit;
6) place the ratchet handle lining up the holes it has over the twin pins of the clamp;
7) squeeze the ratchet handle closed and the swivel it to the correct position and then glue it with thin super glue.

this way i use the least amount of glue keeping the assembly as clean as possible. step 7 will also be putting glue on the back half of the first two pieces of the clamp making that a solid finished piece. FYI, i use tweezers from the pharmacy for almost all my PE work.

both the Dragon PE and the Griffon AM give you a few extra clamp parts for those of us that have hungry carpets. also, don't over bend that ratchet handle... they have a tendency to break apart at the bend joint if you crank them back and forth more than once.

hope this helps. cheers, bd.

Bruce - I haven't seen the MiniArt campaign thread, so I'll check it out for base ideas. And thanks for the SBS on making clamps! Great idea to bend and glue the base of the clamp to the vehicle before attaching the strap and handle. I'll have to try that with the spares I have from my previous build. Do you actually get the pins on the base and strap to fit into the tiny holes in the handle ... or does that not matter once you squeeze the handle into place with a bit of super glue?

Bill, both the Griffon and Dragon tool clamp handle's holes fit nicely onto the pins of the clamp base making it easy to keep them aligned and in position. with a squeeze the handle will pivot so you can get them just right before gluing.

if you find it too much bother you could also just clip the pins off and glue the handle just eyeballing them into the right position. you can't see the pins either method.

hope this helps. cheers, bd.

KING TIGER PAINTING STAGE: WHITEWASH ON WHITEWASH Part 1

hi everyone,
here's the first two stages of the King Tiger painting. this is my first attempt at whitewash ever, which is kind of odd since i have been building armour for decades on and off i never once finished a model in winter garb.

since the diorama will have two whitewashed tanks in the scene i would like to finish each in a different manner so they stand apart especially as they are on opposing sides of the conflict. for the King Tiger i am trying out something i'm calling "whitewash on whitewash." reference pics i've seen appear to show that tanks would have to apply a fresh coat of whitewash over a faded layer. i was impressed by some models shown at EuroMilitaire this year that i figured had this finish on German tanks.


the above pic shows the base camo layer. since this layer will be barely visible i didn't go too crazy matching the camo pattern perfectly, just had to get the wavy colours down as lightly as possible as this model will be receiving a few more layers of paint.

i also didn't get into lightening and darkening the camo colours again as this layer is basically an underpainting so that the right colours are under the whitewash layers.

i used Vallejo arcylics for the three tone: Green Ochre 914, Reflective Green 890 and Chocolate Brown 872. i left this to dry for several days to really cure and then sprayed Future, applied the decals and then sprayed Future again only over the decals.

i sprayed Humbrol enamel Satin White over the model following edges, recesses and the lower areas of vertical panels. i left this to dry for an hour.

above pic is a closeup of the hull.

above pic is a closeup of the turret.

after the hour was up i started removing the enamel. i used a flat brush dipped in paint thinner (i used Recordsol style thinner from the hardware store) and worked quickly to wipe the white enamel off in the direction it might have faded.

the above pic shows the hull with this stage completed. keep a tissue/rag close by to constantly clean your brush and work quickly as you have about an hour (which would be 2 hours from when it was sprayed) before the enamel simply starts stripping away in clumps rather than a smooth wash (though i discovered this produced a cool whitewash alternative to hairspray that had a great look to it).

closeup of the turret with this first whitewash stage completed.

since this is all an experiment and my first try at this i don't know yet how much of this will show through as i plan on now adding a completely new hairsprayed whitewash layer over this but the idea is that where the next layer is removed i will have a camo colour that is faded underneath rather than bare camo colours.

i'm always trying new techniques and this whitewash stuff is definitely new to me. i find it really fun to be painting the King Tiger not really knowing where it is going but intensely curious as to how it will turn out.

thanks for dropping by and comment are always welcome. cheers, bd.

Well it look's like your whitewash was a succes. Can't wait to see more!
And nice with the short but precise step by step.

Very nice build Bruce. Good start on the winter camo as well ...... interesting technique. Will be interesting to see this weathered.

Btw how did you thin the humbol 2:1?

Sorry for multible posts. Where is the edit button

thanks guys for the encouraging words... i too look forward to seeing this model fully weathered.

Frank, i'm curious as to how your Brummbar is coming along? did i miss the final posts with the brick wall diorama? i was keen to see how it was all going to turn out.

Simon, i thinned the Humbrol Satin White probably around 2:1 (2 parts thinner; 1 part paint), it was heavily thinned so i could slowly build up the white with multiple passes but not too thin that it sprayed all "watery." i used testors enamel thinner for airbrushing.

PS: the edit button only lasts for around an hour after the post to curb an tomfoolery is what i've read.

hope this helps. cheers, bd.