Has anyone seen this before? I haven't and thought it was quite a concept, besides being done very well.

http://www.archertransfers.com/Bracketed.html

Very cool indeed. That takes real skill in shading I bet.

I assume that rear air recognition star is historically accurate, but I had never seen one that size on a Sherman before. Must have been used in PTO only.

Jim

You're right, I'd never seen one that big either.

WOW...Now that took some time and talent. I would love to see a how to on that subject.

Ditto - ummmm - I've never seen one that large either - even in the PTO...

Gunnie

Beto

I thought it was quite an idea to turn a b&w pic into a dio. I too would like to see a how-to on how it was done.

Wow, I missed this post yesterday!
Quite intense to say the least.

Now that was "Breathtaking" I loved it. There is some time put into that one. I had to look at it real close to see that it wasn't taken with black and white film. Superb. "Everyone stay down, this snipers got talent". :-) Chris.

Greetings guys,

Jin Starkweather e-mailed me about the discussion going-on about my little b&w diorama called "Bracketed". I'd be happy to answer any questions I can. From the posts I saw, there was some question about the 60" star on the engine deck. I don't have the book in front of me, but Concord's book on Pacific tank battles has a shot of an Army M4 composite during the P.I. campaign taken from above, and that big star is on the deck. I think that was probably more common than we might think, but very few photos of an in-theater Sherman were taken from above, so we'd never see it. Just a guess.

Regards,
Barry

Great job Barry and welcome to Armorama. Like many of us here, I 'd love to read an article on how you painted it.

Barry,
That is some great work, I also have seen the large US star on the rear deck of shermans before. Was this the first time that you did a black & white dio? I never seen anything like that before.

WOW! That's simply amazing!
Hmmm, an awesome black and white dio that was painted that way , and we hear 'that star looks a little big...' I guess I'm not too picky about all the details.

YodaMan

Yo, BC

Would it be ok if I went through the thing here? It's probably not worth a separate article.

First, the idea was to do a piece centered on the U.S. Army in the Pacific. For some reason, those guys are pretty much ignored in the modelling community. I decided to try doing it in b&w, something I'd been thinking about for quite awhile. I also thought that combining the b&w thing with a setting in the tropics would heighten the contrast.

I used the DML firefly kit for the M4 composite. All the usual stuff was added - PE, MV lenses etc. I scratch-built the .30 mount with styrene. I also like Collector's Brass tools. Hudson and Allen tow cable was used.

The infantry are DML Pusan Perimeter guys, the only figures I'm aware of that can be used for WW2 Pacific army troops. I re-sculpted some guys with wire and epoxy putty, and on a couple used epoxy putty to show their trousers unbloused (is that a word?). Warriors heads were used.

The tank crew are Warriors guys, again reworked. The toughest one was the guy closing the hatch. Figuring-out how to do that made my head hurt, but he's in there.

The bridge was made with balsa.

The exploding mortar shell was copper wire to which pieces of styrene cut to shape were epoxied. Epoxy putty - a LOT of epoxy putty - was added to give it bulk. The final coating was acrylic gel.

The palm trees are Preiser items. They're plastic.

The paints were Tamiya acrylics, Testor's enamels, and Winsor & Newton oils. The Sherman started with a base of Tamiya German Gray. Then I mixed-in some white and airbrushed that over the dark gray. After that, it was the normal washing and weathering process, the only difference being everything was mixed to get the various shades of gray that looked right. There was some re-doing if the contrast didn't look right but eventually it started to come together. Dry brushing with a light shade of gray helped tie it all together. All the markings are Archer Transfers.

The figures were done basically the same way except of course the base color was lighter. I use oils for the skin parts, so it was a dab of black and a dab of white on the palette then mix 'em up.

The plants were stuff I got at a craft store. They were airbrushed a dark gray then misted with a light gray to give them depth. The river is simply sheet styrene with acrylic gel for some water-looking ripples and stuff. It was brush painted German Gray with some straight white oil paint on top. a coat of clear satin on the river and clear gloss on the explosion finished it .

All in all an interesting exercise. Bugger took me 8 months. Oh well, it was fun in a twisted sort of way.

Hope this answers your questions, and thanks to all you guys who were interested. If any of you are going to AMPS next week, I'll be taking this this along all the way from Michigan. Plus the one I finished a couple weeks ago. It's a beautiful olive drab color - ha ha.

Regards,
Barry

So, how many times did you have to repaint to get the right effect? I think the explosion in the water gives the scene a feeling of action, less static (if I'm thinking of the right word). But I mean really, wow!

YodaMan

Again a great job Barry. So many gray paints I've seen have a blue or green tint to them, it was amazing how real your diorama looks.

Yes, thanks Barry. I had to look twice to see that it was a color picture. Awesome job!!!
And thanks for the how-to also.

Barry,
Thanks for coming by and answering some questions. I have a feeling more people will be asking for an article or more detail about your amazing project. As I said via email I am really excited about seeing it in person. Be careful with the transport!

If there is some way I can persuade you to write up something more formal for the site, please let me know. It would make a great feature article for the homepage. I don't suppose you took and in-progress pics while you were building her?

See you at AMPS!

Jim

really impressive...thanks for sharing
best regards
Engin

One hell of a damn nice artwork....

I love it man.. an article would be a very interesting read!

Jim and everyone,

I know, I know, I should be documenting these things as I do them. Quite frankly, it never occurred to me that anyone would be interested. Also, I haven't figured-out how to keep all the photo stuff setup so the pics can be done as the project moves along. My wife Cindy has been telling me I should be doing this, but I guess I'm just lazy. Maybe after AMPS is over I'll try and put together a more structured write-up about "Bracketed" if you think that would be ok. I also have to warn you I am still analog, not digital. I have a digital camera somewhere but I haven't even read the directions.

Now, I've already started gathering all the stuff for the next piece, which will center around the 761st Tank Battalion, the first black tankers fielded by the U.S. , and I have promised Cindy that I will take in-progress pictures. Your prodding might be just what I need to get off my butt and do it. This one could take me a year to finish. Gonna try snow for the first time - yikes.

Regards,
Barry

Hi Barry - just wanted to add my 2 cents.
Great job and execution of using your painting
skill's to achieve the "black & white" effect of that era.
Even though newly discovered documentaries
and colored pic'c are surfacing from 1939 -1945,
your dio represents an excellent depiction of how
many of us see W.W.II as a "black & white war".
I think you were very smart and effective in using this idea.
SEE YOU AT AMPS !
- ralph

Yo,

All you guys who are going to AMPS - I'll be sporting a nametag so if you spot a short middle-aged guy with a blonde (my wife - now don't get me in trouble!) it's probably me, so please stop and introduce yourself. Looking forward to meeting you guys.

Regards,
Barry

Barry,
Lol...I will be the middle aged average height guy with 2 blonds (my wife and child).

I know what you mean about documenting the project. It almost would make it two jobs at once. I will be trying to document some future work (when I motivate myself to actually get started on something - I have been on a 14 year modelmaking vacation). Since my modeling skills are probably a little rusty I am going to try to add my knowledge of digital imaging and photography. So maybe those articles will help you out on the digi-camera front. They are great though. Nice to be able to delete what you "know" didn't come out the way you were wanting it to.

Oh and a post-project article on "Bracketed" would be most appriciated. I am sure it would be well read!

Cheers,
Jim

Barry,

"Simply amazing" is the only thing I can say about your dio!!! I showed the dio to a non-modelling deadbeat, who has chided me for playing with plastic made him look a time or two...oh btw welcome to the site!!