Congratulations, Lewis. I hope everything will work out right. A lot can be accomplished with modern medicine and faith.

Andrzej, so there is the little new general. What a nice boy, you must be very proud. We have not seen him on the forum before, but he might as well get used to it. I trust there is a little new modeller coming along in some years

Gentlemen, thank you! We'll see how grandchild works out... both my boy and his g/f are very artistic, but neither of them are modellers... yet! Actually, my boy hasn't seen any of my models, since I got back into it after he moved away. I'll bring a couple with me for him to see, since I'm using his airbrush. Only fair for him to see what it's up to, right?

Andrzej, he's cute! Whoops... guys don't say that word... right! He's... a good-lookin' dude, man! You've got to be some happy... and tired!

Yes, modern medicine is good, and has come a long way, even in just the last few years. But the biggest risk is that mom has to go off things like anti-seizure medicine. Good thing the ER and ambulance is close by down there!

Later, gents!

Lewis,
I dont know the feeling of being a grandpa, but I know the feeling of becoming a bigbrother 4 times. I am the oldest (14) of five and it is always a joy watching them learn. That may seem weird for a 14 to be saying but it is the way my parents taught me.
Congradulations!!!


By the way, I may be entering this Campaign, sounds like fun.
thxs,
John

Well... at long last, I actually get to enjoy my favorite hobby again!! No pics of the WIPs yet, but give me a couple of days to finish getting things straightened out. Just this week, I've been able to finish construction of my PaK-40 (Thank you, Mike, the Dragon is far superior to Tamiya's!) and my PaK-38, as well as primary construction of my German soldiers. Next, I'll be finishing up the painting and beginning on my US figures and the M4A3E8 Sherman with the 105mm gun that should be coming soon... C'mon, other hobbyshop!

On a sadder note, my earlier post about becoming a grandpa... didn't happen. My daughter-in-law lost the baby maybe a month after we found out, and it's been pretty tough for them. Heartbreaking for us, but worse for them.

Anyhoo... I'm back in the modelling chair with fingers re-stained that peculiar color that's a mix of all colors military, and bouncing along with that little glue-fume induced buzz that we all suffer from (but never admit! ) and ready and rocking to re-kickstart this campaign we've got on the go, here. Not much time left!

Hi Lewis
It's really sorry to hear about the baby... I cannot imagine anything like that... Man, I'm really sorry...

And now from the brighter side of life - I've found out that my diorama is still not finished... so I've done some work yesterday, some pictures today and here is current status of my work (still needs some more brush-job - if you see something that in your opinion needs to be done - please let me know: I'm bit out of this world these days so I could have missed some details):




I hope you like it so far!

Andrzej

Sorry to hear about your loss, Lewis. I hope everybody will feel better in time.

Andrzej, Very cool diorama. Excellent camo on the King Tiger.

The snow looks a little "soft". A little like whipped cream or foam It does not really have a snow feel over it, but it might just be the pictures or me not having seen snow in a long time

Great layout and tree in the background. Did you make the tree yourself? It looks very realistic and very "Ardennes"

Jesper,

Thanks for comments!
Concerning the snow... First of all it's more grainy than on the pics... my hands are a little shaking so it looks more smooth on the pics. Unfortunately you're somehow right about the foamy look - I wanted to get "wet" look of melting snow but the mixture of water, white glue and soda was bit too thick... Lesson learned for next diorama with snow .

I still have some details to finish, but I hope it will not take another month...

Tree is hand-made: bunch of wires, white glue, sand and sponge I've stolen from kitchen . Some painting, some snow, and voila!

Andrzej

Nice method for the tree. I am of to steal a sponge from the kitchen

Looking forward to see more

Hell, yeah... we buy sponges in bulk! Gotta remember that one... cheaper than buying them pre-made! About the snow, though, I've heard some things about soda that makes me a little leery of using it. (Don't need it for this dio, though. I'll save that question for the next dio I build... going to be a winter scene of a PaK-40. Planning ahead! )

Fellas, thank you. Things are sort of progressing... the D-I-L has it the worst, and she is still fairly easily moved to tears, but she's managing. We try and look at it as though there is a reason for everything... and maybe it's for the best. When the time is right, I don't think there will be any problems. What will be will be.

I'll try and post pics tomorrow of my progress... too much to do today. But tomorrow... I should get my glue-fix in spades!

This threads been quite a while, but good to see everyone's back. heres the base for my KT. All scratchbuilt with balsa, foamboard, plastic sheet and cork.

Anirudh, it's looking good! I also saw this in the Dioramas forum with the KT in place... Makes a statement, man.

So, folks, as promised, here's pics of my WIP. First of all, the base it will all go onto:


It measures roughly two feet by four feet. (For those of you who understand Metric better, that's roughly 60 cm by 120 cm)

Now, on this base is going to be a large selection of these figures, plus a couple of others that aren't yet built. (Looking forwards to those ones... my first Dragon figures!) The PaK 38, the PaK 40, and the Dodge truck are also going to appear in this dio.


And what are those guys in the upper portion wearing? My first attempt at camo smocks...


I'm so happy with them that I did four others in a different pattern:


In a day or two, I should actually have my Shermie that I ordered... several times! But now, it's really on it's way. At last! In the next couple of weeks I should be able to begin plastering the base. Had to hold off on that until the Shermie was here so I could position its track-marks properly.

In the meantime, it's details, details. Paint the uniforms... oh crap, I covered up the suspenders... retouch... nuts! Black from the suspenders onto the combat smock... retouch! You know, it's a good thing nobody's paying me to do this... but I'm enjoying it!

Until later, everybody!

This sure is going to be a huge dio... about 3 times bigger than mine bigest dio.
BTW: because of the metric system I don't even know what quarter-pounder with cheese is... I call it Royal with cheese (sorry, Quentin)
Taking under consideration number of figures and vehicles you are planning to place on the diorama I'm not surprised with it's size.
I have to paint few additional details, make some better pisc and post them .

Andrzej

Wow Lewis, thats huge. I can't wait to see it finished. good luck with the dio. is it going to be an ambush scene or a full on battle scene?

Thanks for the interest on the KT dio. I hope to have it finished along with all the small touches in a couple of weeks time.

Arun, great loooking base. Very nice result - especially considering it is scratchbuild.

Lewis, huge looking diorama. Looks like you have a small army to start fighting for it

Looking forward to see more

I see there is a renewed surge on the campaign now that the deadline is approaching!

As usual my project, despite almost being completed from a building perspective has been put on the back-burner, and so I unfortunately have nothing new to report.

I will endevour to get it done in time for the deadline though!

James

Andrzej, it's a monster! I think after it's completed, I'll have to get a little bit of plexi and sheild it in.

Anirudh, It's a full-on battle in progress. All the troops are going to be in place, but I'm also going to incorporate a little ambush portion.

Jesper, Oooh, yeah! And as I said, there's going to be four, and probably eight more figures to do. (Dragon's US Anti-tank team, and then the figures that are coming with Tamiya's M4A3 105mm.) Definitely a fought-over piece of property!

James, I can relate! It's almost time for a "Now hear this" post as we come closer to six weeks remaining. And it's funny how our hobbies get pushed back in favor of life, eh?

Gentlepeople, we are beginning to run short on time in this campaign and there are only a few submissions to the BOTF gallery so far.

Therefore, I ask, do people need more time to complete their dioramas? It would be better to ask Mark about extensions well before the deadline, rather than as a last minute request. If we can, let's make his work a hair easier.

On a different note, my figures are nearly finished, my Shermie is mostly built, and I can start my scenery fairly soon. Pics to follow, hopefully with some of my scenery done!

I am still working away on my German machine gun bunker that I am building for this campaign. I still have some construction and painting to complete.

I have finally came up with a scene that I want to depict. All this time and I couldn't come up with anything. I finally decided to show two German soldiers placing some land mines along the barbed wire barricade out in front of the bunker. I found a couple of old Esci figures in my stash that should work out fine for this.

I had painted the turret and other metal parts a basic panzer gray and I thought they were too dark. However I just spent some time researching and found out that this should be an accurate color to use.

So hopefully I will be able to show my completed entry in about two weeks or less. I don't plan on asking for an extension as I like to have my entries entered by the original date.

Thanks.

HARV

Well its my own fault.

I have hit a small snag but I hope to get it corrected by this coming weekend. I broke one of the first rules of model construction. I did not test fit something first. I went to see how well the door to the Verlinden bunker that I am working on would fit and there is no way it will go where it is intended to. So I will have to do a bunch of sanding and some plaster removal to make the door fit. Oh well, like I said, its my own fault. Needless to say, I tested all of the other pieces after discovering the problem with the door. They all seem to be fine.

That will teach me to paint something before I make sure it will fit where it is supposed to.

Oh well, I am hoping to still get it completed on time.

HARV

Well, folks... I am embarrassed.

Embarrassed in that, as the campaign leader, I am finding myself unable to finish by the deadline. And looking at what's coming up, neither am I able to finish in a reasonable timeframe. But, hey, spilled milk, right? I'm still going to carry on and do what I can, because I still love the idea!

And no worries, I'll still be around to award the ribbons to those of you who have completed your projects. I've seen some really cool dios and vignettes posted, here. Oh, and I would like to ask you folks, if you haven't already done so, to please post the pictures of your completed projects into the BOTF Gallery. (I know... the rules don't require it for the ribbon, but it would be nice to be able to look afterwards in the gallery and scroll through all of the projects.

With apologies, and regards,
Lewis

hey boys
sorry i have not posted any of my pics yet, but i am burrning the midnight oil to get this one done. I'll see if i can post a pic in the next couple of days...
cheers

-ziggy

Well after some trimming and some wet sanding, the door to my Verlinden machine gun bunker fits now. It would have been a lot easier to have done that in the first place but oh well.

I was able to sit down today and get a bunch of work done on my project. I should have an in-progress photo or two to share in a couple of days. I am hoping to be able to have it finished by next weekend.





Don't worry about it Lewis. You can always grant an extension. I hope that everything is alright due to the fact that you are not able to work on anything.

HARV

Harv, thank you for the concern, but strangely it's that things are right that I'm not getting the time... I'm very nearly finished the process of becoming certified as a First Aid Instructor. And once that's done, then things go nuts. (St. John's Ambulance has a big contract to train a couple of hundred people locally in the very near future, and there's really only one other instructor here. And that's not counting the General First Aid courses.)

So, as I said, with schedules being totally fubarred (is that a word? Should be! ) I have no idea when I'll actually get to finish my dio. Such is life. But I'm still looking forwards to seeing what everybody else does.

I have finished my KT diorama, but my digital camera packed up so unable to take any pics of the final thing.
I was thinking i could post the older pics in this campaigns folder? if this is ok?