Yo Claude,

Yes mate that's what i wanted to now about the wall...thanks!

Greetz Nico

Claude - bravo!! Absolutely breathtaking and to think you're adding to it... amazing

I am a subscriber of AFVModeller and they havent given me anything that appeals to my tastes in a while, I will devour your article !!

Great stuff

Cheers
BigJon

Claude,
I simply don't know what to say.... I'll simply quote Luke Skywalker "Look at the size of this thing....".
I'm amazed - taking under consideration the scale (as I understand it's 1/35) and the size of whole place you're showing on your diorama I don't think it would fit into the room where I make my models...
Hope I'll see it finished soon - I'd like to see it not only on pictures, but I doubt if I would have an oportunity...

Andrzej

Claude,

I know I am just another voice adding to the chorus, but I have to chime in...WOW.

I know Clervaux - have been there many times and have walked through the village with men from both sides who fought there...seeing your photos took me back as I walked down the street...there are simply NO WORDS to describe your work. Would love to buy you a beer next time I am in Luxembourg.

IMHO, Some of the finest large diorama work I have seen since Bob Letterman.

S/F

Pat

Thank yo all,

I am really happy that you like the progress and the original Castle.
I can only repeat how important such a support is. I am also happy that some new faces are joining in from allover the world.

Cheers
and thanks
Claude

the castle will probably be in Nürnberg (D) in May at the German ModelMasters.
perhaps some of you can make it there

Very, very good! It´s a wonderful work. You should write a complete feature for us, please!

great work joachim!

hope to see some of it on the benelux-forum!!

greetings

koen

wow !! hey thats wonderful that afv picked you up,you do awesome work, looking forward to seeing more of it.....

Claude,

What reference material (books, articles, etc) did you use for your Clervaux scene? I've been interested in the battle since I visit Clervaux in May 2007 but I've only found brief accounts of the battle.

Hopefully I'll be back to Clervaux in June 2008. :-)

Tom C.
Columbus, Ohio, USA

Thank you everyone for the cheering comments. I really appreciate it

@Tom, How was your time in Luxembourg ?

As reference material i am using following books. Basically in this order they are always more precise about the Clervaux battle. While a Time for Trumpets is the must have book for the whole Battle of the Bulge, "to save Bastogne " is the reference book for the northern Luxembourg part including Clervaux.

Very new is the Alamo book. I just read it and can only recommend it. The autor cites really more smaller clashes and goes into details about individual soldiers storys. The Clervaux battle is descriped in every detail. It is more narrative while Philips book is more dry. I can recommand both.
If you want to have covered the BoB part around Diekirch you need to have both volumes of the Luxembourg autor Roland Gaul, curator of the museum in Diekirch. (you can buy those on Amazon too)
I don't know if you have done so, but i can only recommand the visit of the Nat. Military Museum in Diekirch, no , not recommand, it is a must!


A Time for Trumpets” – Ch. B. MacDonald
To Save Bastogne - Robert Philips
Alamo in the Ardennes - John McManus


Hope this helps

Claude

very inspiring ... no other words for it!

Jens.

Claude,

Luxembourg was fabulous, no doubt about it. My brother in law lives on Rue de Neudorf in Luxembourg City so we used his home as our base and drove all over.

We visited the museum in Diekirch and you're right it's a MUST. It's gotta be one of Luxembourg's best kept secrets. I wouldn't even have known about it if my brother IL hadn't told me. Will definitely be going back.

This June my plans are to visit Bastogne and Clervaux again, plus the northern Bulge battlefields. Also want to visit Huertgen near Aachen.

Thanks for the book titles. I'll take a look at them straight away.

regards
Tom

Hi Claude - where's the updates ?, it's been almost a week since the original post, l.o.l. ................. just kidding. I had to look at the whole thing again including the pics. of the castle you e - maild me , simply beautiful !!!! i want more.
Glenn

Thank you guys,

Tom, i'm glad you like it here, it changes a bit from the States

Glenn, you know, if i would do an update everytime i add something to the dio, i would monopolize the whole board!
I recently made 18 windows, individually, no copies this time. The houses are glued together, a wall has been done also, but nothing really worth showing. Ok, it's a Blog, but let's not overdo it.

End of the week,i will do an update, i promise :-)

Cheers
Claude

I promised to show something at the end of the week, uff, i made it.

I did a lot of window work . As i am doing 3 houses now i have nearly 20 windows and 7 doors to scratch As i did not want to play with rersin copies this time, i scratched them all.

You can also see on this picture my start for a prototyp of a window shutter.

I started to spray the houses with a black spray before remembring that i had to take pictures.
That's why you have a this black and white mic here.



The last house needs some stairs to reach the first habitation level.
Planning

and execution



Some more work also on the walls, based on original pictures as far as possible



As i will have to lay the slates on three houses and also put down 3 feet of cobblestones, there is some work to do before some serious update can happen again.
See you there
Thanks
Claude

Claude....
I said it once before and I'm saying it again...You Are A Madman!

Great work! How do you keep your sanity while scratch building 20 windows! And they look very good by the way.
This thing looks absolutely fabulous. I love the wall! Keep up the terrific work.

Cheers BillK.

Claude, great progress.
Aren't windows and stairs fun, in a tediuos sort of way l.o.l.
Making sure they are all the same, all even and architecturaly and anatomically correct.
The windows look great, better than the warped and often broken manufactured, resin and plaster ones.
This is starting to take more form and will be a pleasure to follow.
Oh and by the way do you have any ideas on terra cotta roof tiles [ half rounds ]. The straw idea will work but the straw thickness is way under sized. To make half broken ones just won't look right. Paper straws are the ticket but I can't find any anywhere. I think they stopped making them when I was a lad.
Glenn

Bill, Glenn, thank you for your comments, i prefered making the windows individualy this time instead of making one original and resin copies.

Glenn, yeah, the terracotta tiles !?
The guy on the other thread (with the italian sub)made them with straws, cut in half, but i always wondered how it would be possible to cut that straight and evenly.

Here is the method used by Roy Porter in his Model Building Masterclasss book


Here is a very good building posted on ML a while ago with a superb roof made of Styrene.
styrene_roof


I contacted the builder to get more infos on his method for the tiles, but he never replied.
Perhaps that's the way to go, bending heated styrene?

I will probably not need it in Clervaux, so it is not my first priority to find out the best way to do it.

Hope it helps

Cheers
Claude

Good Work Claude! I know that you know it :-)
I enjoy every time that you put new photos here.
congratulations

Claude thanks for the tip, I'll have to experiment with that.
Glenn

thank you Carlos
and glad i could help Glenn

Cheers
Claude

Claude

Those books are great. I'm halfway through the McManus book. It's one of the best books of the genre I've ever read. Absolutely outstanding. It will definitely be in my backpack when I revisit Marnach, Clervaux, etc this summer.

Thanks again. Looking forward to your AFV article.

Tom
Columbus, Ohio, USA

Wow Claude, another superb diorama is coming alive, what a project ! I'll follow this one, thank you for all the time you also put in updating this thread regularly ! G.

Hi Claude,

More excellent work on the village, great stuff.

Al

Claude,
I do not know what else to say that everyone hasn't said already. Great work!