Howdy Tim

I like the Alpine figures although I must admit I haven't built any yet. Is this a Heer or SS vehicle? Alpine has some other good sets to consider; "German Heer Panzer Crew", WSS Panzer Crew", Late War Waffen SS Panzer NCO" and "German Officer Set". You might even mix some of the sets or put the extra heads on other figures you already have.

I forgot about how much green stuff like moss and vines would grow on the trunk. I guess I'm a product of the dry Southwest desert. That even opens up more possibilities for detailing. You're onto something awesome here. I even dug out some Gen 2 figures I was saving for my own early war vignette. You' giving me inspiration for my own building. Keep up the good work.

Take Care,
Don "Lakota"

thanks guys for all your input. I didnt actually plan the tree as it is..I just went with where my memories of big trees took me. Living in the country of southern US (North Georgia) you see plenty of examples of trees.as klinker stated , there are just as many tree styles as there are snow flakes..none are alike. The broken limb wasnt a planned route, but once I had the clay on, that area looked naked ,so It needed something.. and I think once the tree is done , it'll give it some 'story' in itself. I wish I had taken some in progress photos, sometimes when I get a spark of an idea I cant stop long enough to snap a pic..but Id be happy to make another ,perhaps a smaller version ,to show how I did it for a feature.

ive got an odd question for ya... are there squirrels in europe? I thought perhaps a bit of wildlife added would be nice.. a squirrel running up the tree..or perhaps a birds nest?

ahh..good ol google..shouldve tried that first..apparently its the red squirrel is most common there? here its the grey, but they look the same, other than color.. wow..thats way off topic isnt it?

Tim

The Red Squiriel is native of the UK but has been more or less eradicated by the Grey which was introduced from Europe in the early 1900's, if my memory serves me correct. There has been several "Save our Red Squirrel " campaigns in the UK. They have made a comeback in some areas. I find mixed reaction to these creatures here. Everything from "Ah, Cute little thing" to "Bl**dy tree rats, vermin, let me get my gun"

What we don't have in Europe, please note Mr Disney and others, is Raccoons of any description other than perhaps captive ones brought over. Squirrels, hedgehogs, badgers, deer, otters and even wild pigs, but no raccoons.

Wow, that is off topic.

Alan

Keeping off topic on the base but on topic of the squirrels I thought you might like this shown on our British television some years ago.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY9GBl7UmVs&feature=related

Alan

P.S.
Carling Black label if you don't have the stuff in your country is supposed to be beer, some agree some don't

Yup, we have squirrels by the thousands over here.
Concerning the base, perhaps you could develop the storyline further by concealing the tank in the undergrowth. Having it hidden slighly so that it is not immediately noticed could be really effective.

I like it, my first thought when I saw thr tree was that it looked like an old tree that had lost the top in a storm as they always come off on an angle. Good luck with the leaves, if it's in full foliage I think you'll find 200 doesn't even do one branch. But the result would be well worth the effort.

My only suggestion would be to align the vehicle bum-in to the tree. Depending on how skilled the commander ( think Whittman et al ) they quickly learnt that the best way to use a tree was to be behind it or in front of it to hide the shape of their vehicle and that good tank commanders learnt to look at the base of trees for hidden AT guns etc commanded by people who thought being beside a tree was a good idea ( even today you're taught to look at the bases of trees for the tell tale out of place lump ). No-one digs in at the base of a tree unless they have to, too many roots.

If I were doing it I'd bring the full side of the tree around to the front left corner, angle the Hetzer out to the right with its bum in to the tree, curl the broken half of the tree around the offside of the vehicle and then use cut branches leant against the hull front.

That would leave you a dead spot in the front left under the tree to fill which could be done with something like an MG crew or maybe a mortar team behind piles up rocks and branches, or even just crouching/prone using the rise in terrain as cover.

lol, thanks alan.,so Im good to use a raccoon

Your memory is playing up Alan, the grey is native to North America and was introduced from there to the UK They don't have them in Europe except in Italy.

BTW Tim I think the tree is great.

Hi Pat

Yes, now you say I seem to remember it coming from the US not Europe. I'm surprised the Greys are only in Italy, they've spread like crazy in the Uk, water being there only barrier it seems.

Tim

I seem to remember a company did a small mould/die you filled with whatever you wanted, Milliput, modelling clay etc and it did some leaf shapes. That way you could produce your own if the ones available started to work out expensive.

Having said that at least buying from Plus Model etc. gives you a ready supply. Making your own in this quantity is going to take some time. You can see now why Winter with Deciduous trees are popular diorama subjects

Alan

lol, yup,, at $5.99 for only 100 ..thatll turn into an expensive tree. I havent spent that much on trees for my lawn. and thats not including the leaves I need for the ground

Hi Tim

wish I could remember name of mould that I spoke of. It came in a little square section metal bar if my memory serves me correctly.

As an alternative you could try looking a paper punches. Card crafting shops do these individual cutters for creating designs in paper. You may be lucky and get a suitable shaped and sized one. Of course they'll all be the same size.

Also check out Calvin Tan's blog site. He's the very talented figure painter (in case you didn't know) who does a lot of Alpine Miniatures figures for their boxart. He experimented with a gel product painted over PE leaves. Have a read through the various posts. Might be another consideration.

http://zyclyon.blogspot.com/search/label/Groundwork

Got to go. Work to do.

Alan

thanks alan,,thats a handy dandy technique for the leaves I'll have to remember that. Ive been considering how I should handle the foliage, and considering the timeline, this JP being with the 7th PzDiv wouldve placed it somewhere in the early parts of 1945...so I would guess the tree would have very few leaves if any on it..and brown/tan at that.. also, I guess I shouldve just made one thread..since this is a dio, I placed it in the diorama DG

CMOT, I suggest you get out to the many ancient woodlands and forest in the south west, where you live, and you will see many disfigured oaks. There are many reasons as to why trees become disfigured and some of these reasons are disease, storm damage and sheer weight of the boughs.

Tim I think that the tree should work quite well, but you should remember that only low level scrub would survive under a tree, perhaps some bramble or bracken would work, or a small shrub, there would also be a lot of leaf litter no matter what time of the year. As far as I'm aware it's similar to the states really though obviously the scrub plants are a bit different. And that's where google comes in, there must be some photo reference on google somewhere. Same goes for the critters. All in all though keep up the good work.