Hi peter,

Nice work on the small dio.

Hi Kevin,

Excellent stuff, lots going on and a good interaction with the figures. Nice one. Not an easy thing to do to mix things up - nice sense of movement too.

Hats off to you.

You might try some pics not in dircet suinlight, but it does add a sense of reality.

Cheers

Al

Hi Al, thanks for that. As you know from my previous dios I always try to have lots of little things happening at the same time in the big picture so to speak. Some bits were really tedious like cutting the individual spent cases for the Bren gunner downstairs and making the individual books to go in the bookcase but it seemed to pay off in the end.
I always seem to struggle with the photography aspect. I took these underneath a window so I got plenty of light so I will experiment with taking pics for my next one which I'm not sure what that'll be, I will have to consult the stash and see what I can come up with or which Campaigns take my fancy. Glad you like it...Karl

Bravo Karl!
Well Done!

Cheers Rob.

Hi Karl,

yes, lots of interesting thing to look at, graet work all round. A story within a story.

Cheers

Al

Hi Karl just checked out your build as not been on for a couple of days. Super work, really fulfills the spirit of this campaign and tells the story of what happened superbly.
Very well done mate.


Pete

Hi all,

As much as I hate to do this I will be removing myself from the campaign. between real life interuptions and overall aggrevation with the kit (and my lack of skill) it has become too much and I will not be able to finish by the deadline.

My hats off to all the great buildrs participating in the campaign, your Panther's look great. Good luck.

RollTide

It has been some time since my last update, but now the M4 Sherman is finished, with all of its gear on it.
1/35 M4 Sherman Early version by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

1/35 M4 Sherman Early version by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

1/35 M4 Sherman Early version by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

1/35 M4 Sherman Early version by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

1/35 M4 Sherman Early version by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

1/35 M4 Sherman Early version by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

1/35 M4 Sherman Early version by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

1/35 M4 Sherman Early version by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

This was a fun campaign to participate in, a lot of great entries and dioramas.

Nice clean OOTB Sherman build. I've built a couple of that kit and it's an enjoyable build. The aftermarket bits however cost me more than the kit...lol. I like the mud effect on the tracks, is that a pigment job?

One thing I hate to point out though...There were no American armoured units involved in Market Garden. The ground push was by British XXX corps so unless I've missed something in all the books I've read on the Operation ...

Hi Tommy,

Nice Sherman, wrong campaign

Cheers

Al

Way to go Karl!
Nice diorama and story. I like all the work that went into it.
Take care,
Don "Lakota"

The US Ninth Army was sent to protect the eastern flank of the corridor at the very end of the operation (Sept 25th). I don't think they were on scene during the actual operation though. I'm assuming this is a tank from the US 7th Armored Division.

It's a nice looking Sherman.

David.....sorry to hear you have to pull out of the campaign, but thanks for your interest and comments.


Tommy
That is a very nice Sherman my friend, but as has been commented it was XXX Corp that were involved in the ground offensive, so I can't accept your build I am afraid.


Pete

Thanks for the compliments chaps. I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do next having spent so long on this one...lol. Having said that I got an unbelievable bargain on ebay last week. 40 boxes of DML figures including 17 Gen2 boxes for £210. Looks like the guy just bought one of everything when it was released and never touched them. Mainly German stuff but I suppose I could model the bad guys killing Russians for a bit...lol

Hi Karl,

That will kieep you busy.

Al

Karl you plan on building the Reich again lol


Pete

Pete the amount of Jerries I've got it could be a possibility...lol. I didn't think before I bought them as to where I was going to keep my latest additions to the stash. It's a bit of a logistical nightmare lol. I have a feeling it's going to be an afternoon moving things from under the stairs to the cupboard next to the bedroom and also in reverse so I can keep track of what I've got. Having said that I did find some stuff I don't even remember buying

Howdy Y'all
I was able to get a little modeling time in this Memorial Day weekend. I'm working on a vignette, using a resin base of a street/sidewalk and a couple of Dragon Panzer Grenadiers.

I'm not usually a fan of the "round eye" technique and prefer the dark wash "squinting" when painting eyes. I don't know how I'm going to fix these, or if I'll fix them.
The third figure, "Panzerfaust Guy" is for the "Improve Your Figures" campaign. I haven't decided if I'm going to add him or not.

I've still got lots of work, since I'm such a slow builder.
Take care,
Don "Lakota"

Nice work Don I have these Dragon figs in my stash...............
Speaking of which......Karl I had a tidy in my man cave and sorted all my kits out, over 200 NOT including figs lol. Need to build instead of buy I think.


Pete

Pete that's some serious stash there...lol. Mines nearly all figures but having said that I prefer building figures. I've made a start on some Germans for my next project which I've not really decided on the location or what's happening but they'll fit if that makes sense..lol. I think this one will be an admin type dio rather than combat. I've been trying out the Aber pre painted insignia etc. They're bloody good. I've used Archers decals in the past but they're a bit fiddly and the heat from fingers sometimes cause them to come off the sheet. I orginally bought these for the medals etc but I've been using the Wehrmacht infantry pack for collar tresses and epaulettes. Superb finish to the figure as I certainly can't paint that small or tidily.

Have we got a gallery so I can put a few pics up of my completed build or do you want to pick which ones you think should go in? I don't mind either way

I am sure there is a gallery Karl for this, and you chose buddy.

I have about 50-60 figure kits varying from 1/72 to 200mm. I make anything cars bikes military aero ships, but love making dios. Thats why I enjoyed this build. And a fitting tribute to the guys who never came back.
Staffords ....Gone but never forgotten.



Pete

It's been a while since I've posted anything for this campaign.

With the hull basically assembled I started on the turret. Assembly was good and required a little filler on the turret rear. Instructions being a bit vague didn't help...but a little patience and it went together fine. I left the antenna off for now because I'll break it off.




Now for the tracks. I'm not a fan of DS tracks, though I do think that they are perfect for some vehicles. I had read that this kit's set were too long and required the removal of a link or two per side. That's odd since the M4A4 has a longer chassis and requires longer track runs. I test fitted the tracks and found them spot on so either the review was wrong or CH has included the correct tracks.


I might be nitpicking here but Dragon has engineered the turret to where the slots and tabs line-up when it is in the 12 o'clock position. So there's no half turn to remove it and it essentially just sits atop the hull.


I'm not sure what was added here since the last hull shots...maybe the add-on armor. These pictures have been sitting on a memory card for a few months. It might just be a last look before paint. I think it could have been in regards to the change of paint colors. I had prepainted the running gear and lower hull.



A bit blurry but I went with a different green. So I repainted the running gear and lower hull.



And here is a good visual example for the paint change. The original paint was closer to the paint used for the LVTP-7 in the background. Anyway, repainted the black for the wheels and added the tracks.


At this point I was still planning on using the Sherman and the Universal Carrier for a diorama. So I started on the tank's crew. For the driver and hull-gunner I hit the spares and found a couple of British figures. Since the figures won't be seen below the tops of their shoulders I didn't want to use good figures. I'll probably use one or two of the Miniart British Tank Crew set for the the commander and maybe gunner...which I planned to have outside of the turret.


I test fitted and cut the driver and hull-gunner figures until I got them to sit like I wanted.


And with a bit of paint splashed on them.


As with the tank crew, I was still planning to do the diorama so I started on the infantry. I had two of Tamiya's sets sort of half-way done. I didn't want duplicates so I broke them down to start switching bits around, modifying arms, heads, etc. to try to make them look like individuals.


Here's an example of a modification. This duo were duplicates but I swapped out the legs. I'd actually go on the change one of the figure's arms so the rifle was not held in front like that.


Some more figure shots. I have about 10-12 planned to be used...the two sets and a few harvested from the spares.


And then there's this set for the Sherman. I have also since changed some of the figures for the Universal Carrier.


Anyway, the plan now is to focus on finishing the Sherman and Universal Carrier. Unfortunately, the diorama is out. I'll probably pick that one back up at some point and include another M4A4 and Universal Carrier that I have. I'll probably include the figures in that and go with a "column on the march" styled scene.

Nice work Alex. It has been a while since anyone posted mate. Like the figures that will be a nice dio once finished.


Cheers Pete

Well, it's happened again. I put my build on the back burner to get a couple short fused commission builds out of the way and figured I'd bang out the rest of the build in a week or two. Put the whole thing under a parts organizer I have in the shop just in case the furry wrecking crew (aka the cat) decided to use it as a toy. Worked great until I took it out this morning, I put a book up on the reference book shelf and managed to knock half the books off. Casualties were light two figures damaged, but the jeep is a write off. It got knocked off the bench and I stepped on it trying to catch one of the books teetering. So, back to square one, just got back from the hobby shop with a universal carrier which I am thinking of converting to a mk. III as I will be needing one for a future project anyway and I have a sheet of the Resicast British Airborne decals on the way. Hopefully it will go pretty fast and I'll squeak by under the wire... are you listening modeling gods?

Hey John that a tough one buddy. Hope the UNI carrier behaves and doesn't get under your feet.

Good luck buddy.

Pete

Offending book shelves have been removed and books have been relocated, but I can't do much about with my own clumsiness though. The two injured figures did survive and are recuperating in a safe place behind the lines; the jeep was put to rest Friday afternoon, didn't even see if there were any salvageable parts. I'm happy to report that the carrier now resides in a safe secure location on the bench nowhere near the edge and safe from marauding cats as well as my own two feet.