Yo Boys,
For my latest work, the Sdkfz 223 i will make a dio...this dio will i share with you...step by step.


Staubige Grenzen...tell's a story about a Sdkfz crew on an early cold morning in the desert. On their way in the desert they come across an anti-tank ditch...not now wath to do now they take a little break. Maybe this will be their last stop in the desert...

This model will be the centerpiece of the dio.



I make a base of balsa wood and put some foam in it for filling up the base. The woodwork has already get a layer of woodpaint en a matt varnisch.

Some work on the layout tells me that its somtimes hard to find the right angle of the items i want to use. But i almost clear this problem.
As i want to use some corrugated iron sheet i place some I-profiles in the base so later the corrugated sheets will slide in easy.

Some pics.









Comments are welcome.

Greetz Nico

nice subject . by the way what kit is the sdkfz 223 i see some of the interior it looks great, what did u use a a reference
best of luck
calvin ng

Yo Calvin,

Thanks for the interest. Yhe kit is the old Tamiya one..the interior is sratchbuild using some reference photo's from the real thing.

Build blog over here...language will probabley a problem, butt photo's tells a lot more than words

Greetz Nico

edit: doh!! forgot the link, here it is.

http://benelux.kitmaker.net/forums/119043&page=1

Just copy en paste.

The 223 is very well done. The base so far is solid.
With the direction of the vehicle it looks as if it has come over the ditch. As you continue make sure there is room for it to come around the mound of rocks and the tracks in the sand show where it came from.

So far so good, keep us posted.

Wow. The vehicle is amazing in and of itself.

Hi Nico,

The Sdkfz 223 is really well done and i'm looking forward to your dio, but i think we have to talk a bit about your proposed title. "Staubige Grenzen".

You probably know that litteraly translated it means "dusty borders", and it can't really be used as such and i am not sure if you want to say that.

Cheers
Claude

Great looking model. I am looking forward to see what you get from your very good idea. The layout seems to work very fine.

Thanks for sharing

The 223 is fantastic, i will keep following your base developments.
great job
Pedro

Hoi Nico,
I like the work you have done on the Sdkfz 223, (heel mooi vent!) it looks like it's had plenty of wear and tear!
Good luck with your dio mate, I'll be keeping an extra eye on your progress
Greetz,
Shay

The car is impressive, if the ground is the same quality you going to get a job of high quality.
I look forward to more progress

Domi

wow really ice vehicle im jellous!

keep up the good build!

Yo Boys,

Thanks for the nice en kind words.

@ - Scott, the sdkfz stands on the photo's in the wrong direction, in the final position he will come with the tires under an angle against the tank ditch.

@ - Claude, i must say that the tittle in deutch sounds strange and wierd...i sounds better in Englisch and is mutch more reconisble...because the dio is an German subject i find it suitable and more correct if the tittle is in Deutch to.
The tittle reffers to that point where the axis become to a stop in the desert campaign and soon will be defeated. The anti - tank ditch symbolised it.

The next step is to fix the corrugated iron sheets with pigments, so they get an rusty look.

Thanks for the lookies.

Greetz Nico

Nico , so why you don't simply call it "Staubiges Ende", that sounds correct in german and means "dusty end".
Also i don't know if you want to call the desert "Staub" as dust at all.

Perhaps a title like "Ende im Sand", means " End in the sand" would do it?

Claude

Nice job with the 223, will look great in your scene. Base is coming along well, keep at it. Looking forward to your progress! Thanks for sharing!

Cheers -
Tim

Yo Boys,

@ - Claude, hmm...you've got strong points there. "Ende im Sand", sounds not bat at all ! The same for the "Staubiges Ende", title...i will think about it, "Staubiges Ende" will maybe be the best...thanks for you're advice

@ - Tim, Thanks for you're nice words, progress is on the way!

Greetz NIco

Nico,

Mighty fine job on the 223. Is it the old Tamiya stalwart that you've sexed up a little?

Just lately, there seems to have been something of a backlash in certain quarters here on Armorama against heavily weathered / scratched finishes.

Looking at your build here, I really can't understand why, because it really does look the part.

- Steve

Yo Steve,

Its indeed the old tamiya kit, withe some PE and a lot off scratchbuilding i turned him over. It was a big step for me, to do so mutch scratchbuilding...but i'am happy with the overall outcome.

What do you mean with a certain backlash here on armorama about heavely weathered finishes?

Thanks for the nice words

Greetz Nico

Hello Nico. Great work on the Sd.kfz. 223. The interior is perfect for what can be seen afterwards. I was glad to see you swapped out those terrible tamiya jerry cans on the nose, but felt you could have done more with the painting of the replacements. They appear to be the same colour and weathering as the 223 .... painting in a contrasting colour would have added a little extra. The base is shaping up nicely. Will be following this.

beautiful!!!

it really gives the impression of a veichle exposed under the african sun. and the metal is burning hot, nice

/thomas

Yo Boys,

Update time before we go on with the groundwork.

@ Frank - Thanks, you're right about the jerry's...the paint color is the same of the model...i had some leftover paint so...

@ Thomas, thanks fot the nice words.

The corrugated iron sheets recived a layer of texture, than an layer of paint and than i fixed it with pigments to get a rusted effect.









They been not so dark in real live...i think its the photo.



The rock formation has been 30 seconds in the micro wave to get all live out off it and than it get a layer of matt varnish to get it resistable to washes, filter, wearing...but that's for later.





Some test shots for the groundwork plaster with...yellow sand, to bright Dark sand, still to bright...Dark earth...looks beter with some texture on it.
What do you think?



All comments welkom.



Greetz Nico.

Grt Nico

I like the SY test batch with the sand on top. Once down use a lot of different oil washes in various shades of yellow/brown/tan and it'll really look good.

Yo Friends,

This afternoon i made some progress on my dio base.

With some plaster and a litlle color in iy I made the base ground work...for a more sand look I add some little stones, pebbles,roots and a mix of Mig pigments and earth from the backyard.
Also I used some products of the Joefix Studios range...

When this is dry it will receive a wash and a drybrush to bring all the details back.


I've only done the peice of ground on the other side of the anti-tank ditch...why? Well i used some plaster that dry's so fastn that its inpossible to do large pieces of ground...i will do it zone after zone.

Tonight another zone.

The photo's


















All comment welkom!

Greetz Nico

Yo Friends,

It's a long time ago i made progress on this one, some trouble shooting with my airbrush...now with a new noozle and a new needle we can go on with the base work.

Well...i wasn't happy with the layout off the vegetation in the first steps...so i take it all away to first start with a new layer off paint.

The vegetation will take place later...so it's easy to blend em in.

Some pics of the progress so far.
New layers of paint in different sand colours...and some rock formations....also added some barbered wire, some small rocks, drum...
Now i will paint all the details before i go to the wash steps...but's that's another story.

















Comments en tips are welcome.

Stay tuned!

Greetz Nico

Hey Nico, Really love your ground work, could you explain that a little deeper for me on how you did it? Would be greatly appreciated!! Nice Sdkfz. 223, awsome weathering!!!

keep up the good work.

John

Looks good Nico,

this splendid vehicle disserves your best groundwork.

Cheers
Claude