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hold on...hold on...

Conclusion "Final Details"

Always the best part of the construction. You have to think about everything in total, not just the individual tanks or building. Does it blend together well? Does everything sit as it should? Does everything move and flow together? As I go over this some things will over lap on the explanations.

The House

From 752nd Tank Battalion Web Site;
"The two tanks momentarily lost sight of each other in the dust that had been raised by the firing and movement of the tanks. Tiger 221's crew was further handicapped by the loss of their infantry spotter. Lieutenant Cox ordered his driver, Sergeant Raymond Holt, to back Sherman 11 into the dust, and then turn left through a small garden and position the tank tightly against the wall of a two-story home midway between Via Manzoni and Via Marrucci. In this position, the front of the Sherman was facing Via Trieste, and the rear was facing Via Montanara, where the Tiger remained. Lieutenant Cox then traversed the turret to the rear of his tank, with the main gun at the 5 o'clock position. Lieutenant Cox positioned his tank in that fashion to allow for a more rapid escape in the event that the Tiger approached from their rear and could not be successfully disabled. He had taken a calculated risk that the Tiger 221 would continue along its original path, and cross in front of their traversed main gun.

Sherman 11 maintained this position for several minutes, while the German armor (or perhaps U.S. artillery) shelled the surrounding buildings. When the shelling stopped, Tiger 221 slowly lumbered down Via Montanara, unaware of the position of Cox's Sherman. In recent interviews, Tiger 221's crew members say that they believed the Sherman was in some brush to their 11 o'clock position"

I have constructed the damage to the roof, walls, windows and door as part of the initial construction. Needed to add is the missing chunks of boards, plaster, bricks, shingles and gutter. Also missing is the dust from that damage and just the general wear and tear and dust from just being in Italy.

To place the debris I actually used the cut out section of roof broken up and counted out the missing bricks, broke and crushed most of them in a bowl, broke up the remaining section of gutter, and cut up some clear plastic for glass. For the broken stucco/plaster I saved the shavings and excess pieces from when I made the wall.

Applying those to the diorama took a little thought. I tried to apply them as how they might have fallen off the house and in the right order. And to finish this off I mixed up a large quantity of powder to act as my over all Italian dust and applied liberally.

Photos 0038, 0038a and 0038b

#11 M4A1

The model had progressed to the final washes and dry-brushing before I made my first once over with the master powder mix.

Photos 0039 and 0039a

Turning the powder mix into a flowing paste and using small amounts of paint thinner, I painted the entire model and mounted it on the base using my favorite method, dry wall screw. Anyone owning a home knows how important these things are. Once attached and dried I could then lightly brush some off in places which produces that nice heavy/thin dusty look. I also added a little black for that one gas stain area. I then added some debris as described earlier.

Photos 0040, 0040a and 0040b

#221 Tiger

As with #11, this model also had progressed to the final washes and drybrushing before I made my first once over with the master powder mix.

Photos 0041, 0041a and 0041b

Using the same method I painted the entire model with the thinner/powder mix. After drying I also brushed some off to achieve that heavy/thin dusty look. I also dry dusted the entire model base with the left over powder.

Photos 0042 and 0042a

The following are Photos of the finished diorama. The entire Diorama measures 58 inches in total length; Photos grouped Dio 0043 to 0043o, M4A1 0044 to 0044h and Tiger 0045 to 0045h

Excerpt from email by Mr. Holt;
"My dad's tank was stationary with the main gun pointing toward the street the Tiger was on. They hoped it would return down that street, and they figured it would be blinded by the house they were hiding behind, and even if the Tiger's TC saw the Sherman as it passed by, it would take them precious seconds to rotate the turret to fire at my dad's tank. So basically they sat there waiting. The gunner says the TC told him to "Hold on...Hold on..." "