Thanks for the kinds comments and support guys!

Paul that DVD sounds interesting I'll have to check it out. I've hinted at a few Modelling DVD's to my wife as a possible valentines gift so maybe I might get it sooner than I think!

Mike thanks, yes the camo was done free hand with my Iwata airbrush. I went back and tidied up any overspray with the airbrush and correct any errors or mistakes/spills by hand brush painting with Vallejo Model Colour. It was quick tricky to do free hand with the airbrush as the shapes and patterns were a lot smaller than those I did on my T-55 but I think in the end it gave a good result, especially on a bumpy surface like a T-90 with so many parts and details sticking out masking it with tape would have been tricky too!

Dave, Guy, Edson - thanks all, It's been a real pleasure painting these figures actually. They are such great sculpts.

Sorry for the lack of updates all! Sadly I can't do anywork on the project for the next week and a half as I'm overseas in Minsk! ARGH! Getting withdrawl symptoms already! And it's minus 20 outside so I'm stuck in the house all day .

Although on a positive note I found a model store here in Minsk thats dead cheap that stock Zvezda kits... hehe

My in-laws also gave me a great christmas present, A Russian book on armour, weapons, and planes. It has loads of cool illustrations of WW2 and Modern Russian AFV's as well as some great cross sections. Plus theres a big chapter on small arms, with some great technical drawings of different models of AK's.

I also have a book that just arrived before I left on Soviet and Modern Russian army uniforms and camo. I'm sure it will be a real help when it comes to painting the figures uniforms, and I'm looking forward to seeing that when I get back.

Should be updating sometime in early Feb

"buen viaje"

Any more movement Jon ?

Edit: just realised the next update is early Feb

Finally home and time for an update!

Waiting at home for me where these two little boxes, the Royal Model Diorama accessories that I was waiting for:



I also found this on my doorstep, Dennis Desmond's excellent book on Russian and Soviet Camouflage Uniforms that I ordered before I went away.



This really is a fantastic book and I plan to write a review on it for Armorama. It's a treasure trove of information and is full of fantastic photos. Here's some examples of the reference images from the book that I will be working from on my figures, finally having a decent resource on Russian camo is a god send. No more looking at blurry or black and white photos on the internet!































I've also been reading through this Russian Language book that my in-laws gave me as a present, it's got some great diagrams:



And here's where we are with the build so far. Finally finished the base, ground work, and building. Adding the Royal Model parts really helped give the ruined building some more character and added some more detail.

welcome back, that new stuff look very nice in your diorama , little things make great details

Really nice work Jon, good to see this going again!

Ah!

Now its all coming together. VERY nice work. Now I am very excited for the conclusion of your piece

You're a devil for posting images of that Book Jon !!

I had to buy it

Paul

Thanks for the kind comments guys, it really was nice to be able to get back to it after a 2 week break.

I plan to start painting the scenery and ground work today. I've already done a lot more work on the T-90, washes, weathering, and work with pigments. It's nearly finished now.

Paul, you won't regret it! It really is a fantastic book and hard back also. On another note I searched the book shops in Minsk to try and find some copies of that Russian book on Chechnya, no luck I'm afraid! Those specialist books are very hard to find, best bet is going to Moscow I guess!

Yo Jon,

Very nice details you added...that will sure upgrade your detail in the setting! Nice job...the radiators are spot on!!

The overall setting looks good to me...a bit large ( open space ) but you're working to a ref pic...looking forward to see te progress.

Greetz Nico

This is getting very interesting, painting will be fun!

I have one observation: My very first impression was that the table was to big, out of scale
- compared to the building and also compared to the sofas.
The table legs are also , compared to the chair, double size.
You are nearer then me so you may confirm "normal" table meaures, but that was the impression i had.

Cheers
Claude

Great work with this... and I like the accessoires!
That will bring some realism to the scene.

greetings...
Soeren

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Nico, yes its a bit open but that space gets filled by the T-90 and the crew.

Claude thanks for posting, it's always nice to get your feedback. The Table is supposed to be a large kitchen table, so I used that as a guide when I built it next to the figures. In the reference photo the table is actually a large one but the picture is taken at an angle. Once the figures are next to it it looks okay size wise. As for the legs of the table I based these on the table of my house! the wooden chair legs here are about half the thickness of the wooden table legs (that are much thicker).

I'll post some photos in a minute to show the scenery with figures etc.

Jon, this is looking really good so far! Can't wait to see it start to come together with the figures and the tank!
Good luck painting that Russian camo...
I don't envy that job!

those are very good bits of detail and will certainly add some focus to your dio, especially if most of your figs will stan near the table instead of being scattered all over the place!
Love the heaters..

Coming along nicely Jon, I really like that camo book too! I have a set of that "Red Dawn" Camo. - Bought it years back at a surplus store.... made in California!

That is coming together great!! Can't wait for it all to be done, I have watched this from day one and what a cool build.

Thanks for the kind comments guys.

JB, I think your right, it's funny how little things can really help to bring life to a scene! Dave, funny what you can find huh? I found some Russian Army Ushanka in a collectables store in Hastings on the English coast (its a small seaside town)!

I added some more ruined scenery to the ground work yesterday and did some more work on the building (added some extra rebar and have been playing with the idea of adding a roof to the structure. Still can't make my mind up on that). I also added the small ruined pillar by the table. After studying the reference photo again there was this ruined pillar whit some sheets of metal stacked up against it. This isn't quite finished yet as I need to add some rebar to this column.





Heres a few photos with a rough mock up of the layout of the scene with the T-90 and figures:



And some shots with the figures by the table for size comparison.





Plus model actually made their arm chairs quite small. Of course you can't get a correct position for the figure as the cushions are solid and not cast to show the natural indent of someone seating, but this gives an idea. These will be left empty for this reason:



Here are some photos of the weathering on the T-90













I hope to start painting the scenery and ground work this week.

Jon,

My first thought was the upholstered chairs looks a bit small for the figure. The table legs "could" be realistic, but those chairs seem to me to be about 20% smaller than they should be, almost 1/48 scale or something...

Hi Jon,

excellent work so far! I really like the details and the table scene. What I can infer from the images from the book, those uniforms seem difficult to paint. Looking forward to see more progress.



Jelger

Yeah I agree that Plus model made them quite small. They are from their 1:35 set, trouble is they are the only sofa chairs I have. Actually they could work, size wise they are smallish but I've seen chairs that aren't so padded before. Also once you take into account the way that the cushions would sag in real life with someone sitting on them they would make the figures sink a lot more. They are going to be left empty as in the reference photo anyway. Still it's given me food for thought for future with regard to Plus model scenery sets. I wonder if all their stuff is on the small side like this?

Jelger thanks! I'm looking forward to the challenge of painting them! Should be fun

Hey Jon !

The mud splatter on the T-90 =

Did you do the old brush splatter trick ? ie: pull back the wet bristles and let em go ?

you hold an airbrush up to the wet brush an blow plain air over it. lol workz like a charm