I have the chance to work again on my Windmill!
I figure I'll be posting more in progress so I'll try this as a Blog.

This is based on this photo;
1st Polish Armoured Division passing by the “De Arend” windmill in the Dutch village of Terheijden.

I have received a lot of help to date and have started making some major changes when I found this photo belonging to Steven Zaloga;

This windmill still exists and has changed a little from the WWII photos I have found:

And this is some of the work to date;



Let me know what you think and thanks for looking,
Bob

Looks good so far, is that the Mike Bishop kit?

Outstanding Bob. Love the details .... except maybe for the roof tiles .... dont know if they right or wrong ... but the gaps between each row looks somewhat suspect! Maybe using some thinner media they would sit tighter? Are you planning to build the connecting buildings as well?

woah great job

Super job so far!

Thanks for sharing

Thanks for looking and the comments.
Dave, I'm not sure who Mike Bishop is but this is scratchbuilt with the exception of the door.
Frank, I know what you mean about the tiles, same thing happened to me on the 752nd Diorama, tiles to large, I don't like them much myself and have been thinking of replacing them with a little more reduced version.
Scales 1/35 and you can see by the photo it's pretty large. That photo from Steven Zaloga showed me that the building was attached, I had originally thought it was set back. So I'll build that attachment wall and the build on the other side, front walls only, main setting will be the road.

Thanks again,
Bob

Maybe asking a question in the Dutch forum for help might present some more images of this scene .. both original and modern. In the colour images, theres loads of contrast with the red window/door frames and the green of the climbing ivy! What a background for an armored column!!
The front of the building would be perfect .. as in your previous dio, but I can see from the images you supplied, there are connecting walls/building on both sides of the windmill. Looking forward tomore progress images!

Thanks for the idea Frank, but I beat you to that one. I have tons on what it looks like now, even a satellite view showing the old foundation of the attached building that’s no longer there. What I don't have are pictures from WWII. I only have 2 and have to rely on what any windmill would have had in that time frame. I emailed Steven Zaloga to see if he might have any additional views of the windmill but he hasn’t replied, I know he's real busy. But his picture has helped the most with the windless platform and that one side of the attached building. The building to the right of the windmill I am also adding and from the views it doesn't look like it has changed much, I was thinking of using those colors from the present view, but I'm not sure.
It's the sails that will be the main challange, the blades of the mill.
Slow but sure,
Thanks again,
Bob

Latest Update.
I've decided and have started construction on the final layout of the diorama and have started on the attached building, and the one to the right of the windmill.

The buildings are brick and the best way I know to do that is make a form, Frame in the doors and windows, use real thin plaster, dry and scribe the bricks.


And the ready to paint version;




Want it to dry real well. Still have to build the side walls for each and then mount it all on the base, which I am thinking of cutting down to show only the buildings and road.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to add more this week.
Thanks for looking, and if you ever see something that may need changing or updating let me know.
Thanks again for you time,
Bob

Superb!

About 50% of the buildings completed.
Used drywall for the side walls and will just close off the back of the buildings and not have them open. They have drop roofs, flat so I have to finish them up as such.
With the 2 Cromwells in there it shows how large it will eventually be.



After the walls have dryed I'll work on the back and roofs. The buildings next to the windmill should be real interesting.

Thanks for looking,
Bob

Nice work Bob. Love the windmill! And you got real nice results on the other two buildings. Don't know what my problem was but I never had very good results with the whole pouring the plaster method.
Please keep us posted on this one.

Heilige Poep!

This is looking wonderful! Very impressive looking diorama, ambitious!

I'm very interested in seeing the finished dio!

Looking extremely good!

Wow as Herbert says - very impressive. Will you add any civilians to the dio?

Amazing build.
But as a dutchman I am currious about the roof. I have never seen a tiled roof on a windmill, usually they are thached.
Have you got pictures of the roof, because from the pictures above suggest thached roof to me?

Keep us posted with the progress.

Regards,
Pascal

Hello and Thanks for the comments everyone.

Pat - I was think about adding 1 or 2 but wasn't sure, I wanted to wait untill I was getting near the end before deciding.

Pascal - I was reading that it was both. I wasn't very happy with it and when Frank also mentioned it I really began to try and find out which would have been used. I found this site The Dutch Windmill and it pretty much agreed with what you are saying. Sooooo, off with its head and change over to a thatched roof. I can just cut off the tiles with my trusty dremal and start picking up some really cheap brushes for the thatch. So I give you credit with making up my mind which way to go.

Thanks again to everyone for looking.
Bob

Bob,

Glad I could help, but I'm sorry it means even more work for you. But judging from what you have shown so far it will turn out beautifull.

To make it up to you may I suggest that you pay a visit to the local floris and get sisal fibres (not string). They use this stuff for flower arrangements (see link below). I have used it before on a thatched roof for a 1/72 house. It is actually a bit to big for this scale and probably better suited for 1/35. It looks more natural than brush hairs and is far cheaper (at least over here).
http://www.flower-arrangement-advisor.com/orchid-bouquet.html
Hope this is usefull.

By the way thanks for the link about the windmills, very interresting.

Regards,
Pascal

I does look exactly like the Mike Bishop kit

Man that's going to be big

Thanks for the comments and taking the time to look.

First off this is the Mark Bishop Kit;

And this is where you can read a little about it. Windmill
"The tower, including roof, stands 8" tall. The kit is heavy, weighing over 2 lbs. "
That would make it up to about the top railing on my stage,


Now if you honestly think the "De Arend" windmill looks exactly like this Bishop one, send me some of what ever you’re smoking. It has a vague similarity due to the stage other then that, read that link about windmills I supplied earlier, which is how Dutch Windmills are supposed to be.

Changed the top to reflect a thatched roof instead of tiles. Thanks go to Frank and Pascal for correcting that one.

I started painting the separate house and working on windows, door and trim.

On the windmill I cut in 2 missing windows and 2 doors, put details on the them and the window and door of the attached building.

Cut the base the way I wanted it and positioned some of the items to check the layout.



I have a couple other photos in my gallery;

Thanks for any comments and for taking the time to look.

New update.

Put another layer of thatch on the roof and tarred it down.
Painted the stage, supports, railing, attached buildings, and main struts for the roof.
Raised the road bed and graveled. Added grass.
Before my final weathering I'll finish the Cromwell's and tankers.
Still have to make the sails.

Looks like I'm just about ready to wrap it up. Not bad for starting this on the 31 July 05, at least that’s when my first picture is dated.







Let me know if you see anything off or out of place and thanks for taking the time to look,
Bob

Outstanding work Bob, and inspirational from a scratch building point of view. The windmill looks superb. One thing you are capturing very well about Dutch windmills is their height. That Mark Bishop kit look more like a Mediteranian windmill.


Cheers
Henk

Beautiful work Bob !!!! Right down to the birdhouse.
Bob how much larger will the sails make this beauty ?
Cheyenne

Really a wonderful and inspirational job. I followed it from the beginning and congratulate you on this build.

Well done
Claude

Thanks for looking and taking the time to comment. Still a ways to go. The sails, if pointing straight up, will add another 12 inches to the height.
Also have a long way to go for the Cromwell’s, just received some British storage items, and still haven’t figured out exactly what type of track is welded to the turret, might have to guess there and just add some spare Cromwell track.

Thanks again for you time,
Bob