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T-34/85 in the Mud

At the end of last year I did a build review of the Dragon Models Orange box T-34/85 here on Armorama; a link to that review is at the end of this feature. I had wanted to put the T-34/85 into some type of a diorama that featured a bit of mud. The setting is supposed to be early spring, sometime between the fall of Budapest and the Vienna Offensive.

As it turns out the best place to go for a bit of mud is John Hoenig’s Scenic Factory. John makes a nice little set he calls “scenic mud” that includes a mud product, five different forms of forest litter (pine boughs, pine log sections, twigs, moss, and dead branches all preserved with a glycerin compound) and a small tub of acrylic clear. I used the mud and other included products following John’s simple instructions and couldn’t be happier. The mud is easy to work and looks good; it holds its wet look better than anything I have ever used. The acrylic clear does a great job of adding that wet squishy mud look. I definitely will be using it again (I still have quite a bit left over).

The figures that I have included are from Dragon and Tamiya. The infantry figures are from Dragon’s Infantry Tank Riders (included in the Orange box) with the exception of the caped Tamiya figure. Soviet troops may not have been using the capes during the last few months of the war but I liked the way he looked so I included him. Both of the tankers are from the parts bin and I honestly have no idea who kitted them.

I liked the way the initial photos for the review turned out using the old Soviet flag as a backdrop so I thought I would replicate it with the base in red. The base itself is an old arts and crafts decoupage project that I picked up at a garage sale with MDF sides added. The ground under the mud was Styrofoam covered with plaster cloth, the rocks are plaster moldings I added to help define the limits of the roadway.

After all that the only task remaining is to find a bit of shelf space!

Orange box T-34/85 Review Live links