Well the M-18 is pretty much done, but I am wondering about the pile of ammo and boxes on the street...Too much? These are the three amigos that will be with the tank and I am pretty limited to this stuff or nothing in the corner. SO what do you think? Oh yeah post the image.. snuggles would tell me that I think..

Easy8,
I can see this one coming together nicely. I like the ammo pile. Just remind that Tank Jockey not to run over it!

Suggestions:

Tear up that pristine cobblestone street a bit. If this is a MiniArt kit, then Pegasus 'Small Grey Bricks' are perfect for this. And like Matt mentioned, add some rubble to the building area.

I also like the barrel rider. However, the other two figures look a bit static -- not sure what they're doing -- slackers! Maybe an animated gesture or a shrug (like "What?!") from the one on the bottle cap could help. And turning the turret guy ("Left Face!") to engage in the conversation. However, they are already painted (and looking good) and I don't mean to have you do unnecessary toil.

--mike

Matt, there is rubble in the works, just took me awhile to find plaster... I took a job in taiwan and am now living out of a hotel room. Sounds nice but it is not really all that great for modeling. So when I asked people where I could buy plaster I was told every drug store carries plaster. I looked and no luck and would ask again.. lather rinse repeat. Took forever but I figured out they call band aids plasters here. So long story long I found some the other day at a paint store. Thanks to android and thier translator. So well I guess I am saying I am making rubble. I am shocked you have not read about the secret super bottle rockets the use had developed late in the war to help breach the siegfried line... hmmm seems some research is needed on your end :-)-<

Mike, yep it is a miniart kit and the figures are miniart as well. I agree with the two guys looking a little off but as you said they are done so they are probably going to stay that way. I have yet to find a shop that carries any good extras for this type of dio but I am still looking.

Amen to commitment!
I like the positioning of all the subjects, and as mentioned, some rubble to tie it all in will do wonders. All I might be able to suggest would be something to bring the TC in the turret back into the action, possible another fig gesturing towards the other two figs, or the ammo pile, as in: "Snap out of it and help load ammo".

That is an idea, would have to do some massive figure converting. Local shops do not ha e much and shipping to here is nasty. I miss the US sometimes.
Let me get the rubble done and some weathering on the buildings first then we will see if the itch to build the Panzer sitting in the drawer will let me put another guy in the mix.

Update time... In an attempt to appease the feline masters that lurk this forum the M 18 called in an airstrike with a few of the new milk bombs.. These are pretty nasty and messy things so the pretty hellcat scampered off to hide less it get dirty.



As you can see I am playing with the color of the plaster and still have to come back and repaint some of the bricks with the same color of the ones on the wall.

and the back



Same story here, need to break out the paint and touch up some things.You will have to forgive my backgrounds in the pics. Hotel rooms do not really work well to take pictures in unless they are adult in nature and then who cares what is in the back ground. More to follow... this one is getting close.. well it has to be getting close, I keep looking at that PZ III auf H.. and it screams to me to let it out of the dark scary box.. poor little fellow.

Hi Easy8,
Coming along very nicely. Hotel room -- wow!

A suggestion: Pile some of the rubble a bit higher into concentrated peaks; include some chunks. Also, do some work on the building's broken edges; attach a few bricks, mortar, etc. The 'Rubble Police' seem to like this method and they are out there, lurking, just waiting to pounce!

What did you use for the bricks?

--mike

I have added some more bricks to the piles and I am currently working on painting them all to match closer. The bricks are made from a mold from diorama debris, one of the suppliers reviewed here. The plaster was colored with poster paint (pentel) from a local store.

Mum's the word ... I am agent from KAOS. LOL!

--Mikhail

I do plan on weathering the front of them, but with the walls being plastic I am going to have to pass on the bullet holes. Too much of a pain to make them look right. I like the idea of the door in the street, will do that on the right side. There is not enough room for the one on the left.
I am one for some what mass destruction but I am limited with what I can do over here. If I had any brains I would have bough a picture frame, slapped the cat in some mud with some grass and called it done. Because now I have to figure out how to get this back home......
I will post some pics of the painted rubble when I get home from work tonight.

As promised here are the shots of the rubble post paint. I have just set the door there and will have to make a few more chunks of bricks to put on it to make it look right. I am now working on some weathering of the faces of the buildings so they do not look so new. The ammo pile is just a test to see if it looks right so the final positions of the things may move a little.
I also included the brick mold I used as a few of the bricks that are still left. This is the first time I have used that mold and I will say it is a good way to get bricks for rubble. I have a bit of trouble getting all of them to fill with out bubbles but that does not matter for what I am doing.



Sorry about the back, came out a bit fuzzy but you get the idea. I am not sweating the back all that much since the viewing angle is from the front



Going to take a few days to get the fronts weathered.. I use oils and they like to be slow.

Edit... am I posting images that are to high of a resolution?? Those things get BIG on photobucket if you zoom them...

Hey now the cobblestones already have color variation. They need more dirt and weathering but that is to come. The panzer in the drawer will not allow this to go on for months. It will simply not stand for it, and you know what happens when you make the Germans angry.

Ach! ... Ka-boom! ... Kaput!!!

--mike

I will take a shot of the street with out the mold on it tonight, I did not get too crazy with the colors on the cobblestones since most of the street is covered by the tank. I have been working on the windows and the front of the buildings this week. Ended up buying a kids toy car for the clear package so I could make glass or the windows.

I was trying to explain to Snuggles that the brick mould is not an ice cube tray, the conversation didn't go well...

Sorry the 1 to 1 wife had other plans last night so I did not get the picture put up. I did manage to get the weathering pretty much done so I will post that tonight. I may just have to try some ice in that mold... Might be a little nasty tasting with all the left over red paint and plaster.

Here is a pic taken just after a dull coat to seal stuff in and get rid of the nasty sheen. Have just a bit that I want to get done before the pzbeowwg gets too antsy and causes me trouble... I has escaped the drawer already

I like the weathering, rubble, all gives it a nice, believable look.
I'm kinda thinking you may not need or want the ammo pile, unless you can work something in there to make it part of the story, or at least a little less random. Make sense?