Hello Chaps. Ive been working on a base for my T34, and thought Id show the progress here as well, as it may be missed in the Russian Armor forum. Each brick was layed individually (more than 1000). More images and info can be found on my blog on The Assembly . Comments and critic welcome.







The full thread can be seen HERE

Wow, Franck, you have really been infected with the cork virus here!

This looks gorgeous! Hopefully you can paint this one to the same standard and it will be a masterpiece then!

But don't think that i will deplore you for a miserable 1000 pieces


Cheers
Claude

Nice start to the base. Really well done technically and creativly too. It lets your mind wander with how the rest of the building looks.

Thanks very much for your kind comments Claude and Scott. They are appreciated very much.


Well ... there is 1000 more done as well for the cobblestones! Took some time but I´m happy with the result. I tried to get an eastern European/WW2 Russia feel with the brickwork. To be honest, I must thank Carlos Elias for this .... all the inspiration and ideas, I owe him. Have been admiring his work for many years, and have wanted to attempt something like this. I had originally planned to use a MiniArt dio base, but those I have at home didn´t suit, so there was no other choice. I wanted a background and a detail that wouldn´t be hidden by the T34.

So much for me saying it was a great deal of time I didn't see any of your work, hey it's great bit of wall.. can't wait to see the rest -and to see it painted too!

forget about miniart, the plastic medium is just plainly wrong to figure bricks, those look soft , you can spot those in a diorama from miles.

1,000 - holy cow man. Sounds like one of my 'honey-do' projects.
It looks good though. Nice work

Thanks JB and Greg. Your kind comments are appreciated very much.


Yeah, thats the downside to those buildings. I have an idea in my head, to build a street scene with a few of them, but I plan to mix them up a bit and alter the details, to give it some originality. This wall is my first real attempt at a building, and I definatly want to take this a step further. Im grouting between the bricks at the moment. More to follow.

Hello again guys. Another update of the base. Even more cork cut and placed!
The second crew member arrived during the week as well from Ebay. Now its time for figures!!
Comments and critic welcome as usual. More images and info are included in my blog on the Assembly ... see link HERE

Hi Frank! what I can say? congratulations! I suposse that you will "kill" the corner of bricks with a bit of sand paper and afther a layr of spackle.. and you will have a " professional look " ruin

cheers
Carlos Elias

Yeah, as far as softening the edges of the bricks so they're not so knife-edge sharp, has anyone ever tried using something like a rock-tumbler? Add your bricks and maybe some course sand or gravel, let it run for a few hours, and it would probably give the bricks a nice aged wear.

This is just speculation though, curious if anyone has every done that.

Terrific Frank. This is shaping up to be a really great scene.

Congratulations for the nice work

I admire your patience with the cork

Thank you guys for your very kind comments. They are appreciated very much.
Carlos ... thanks for all the inspiration over the years ... this one is as much yours as it is mines!! I didn´t sand the bricks .... but they will be grouted. Im hoping the paniting stages will remove the sharpness.

It will not Frank! That's for the next time then.
I have another comment. Hope i can explain it.

Your bordering of the street cobbles with the gate isn't looking very good IMO.
The gutter area shoud run against the direction of the road cobbles (In your case it's ok only under the gate). For better explanation i show you the ony pic of mine in my portfolio i coud find to explain better what i mean


You can see the gutter area and the right and left of the road. That's what i mean.

You have to manage to get a nice turn in it to go under the gate.
My peference would be to let run your cobble road straight parallel to the gate (no turn to the right under the gate) and fill the little part under the gate with plain groundwork, as if there would be another road surface or perhaps a Inner court yard of something.

See what i mean?

Claude

Yo Frank,

Very empressive work on the cork! Nice setting to...good lines.

The cork will be a pleasure to paint and weather...looking forward to that.

Greetz Nico

Hej Claude. Sorry it has taken me so long to answer .... been very busy at work this week.
One could argue that not every brick is old and rounded, and in fact many still have their square appearance ... but I know what you mean. Asthetically it does look much better when finished. To be honest, I may have taken that step if I had more time. I originally planned on using one of the MiniArt dio bases to save time, but when opening the box, it just did not suit. I had to build something to suit. I agree, sanding the cork does give a lot to the model, but I had to compromise because of time constraints.



Yes Claude, I know what you mean by the gutter. I actually thought of this, and because if the bricks ran perpendicular with the outside of the wall, this problem would have presented itself again under the arch. As I was caught in this twist, I added a brickwork pattern around the wall, as can be seen better in the image below. I could have had a change in ground cover ... but wanted to keep it ... very "city centre or within the main town area".



Im happy enough with this option. Not every wall built had to have a gutter running along it. In fact, a city wall like this with a flat top, only needs to have the rain run off on one side as there is no apex, so it would be the outside, or facing away from the main area.
Thanks for your input .... and thanks for questioning what is shown. To keep pushing the limits, small details need to be questioned and reasoned.

Thanks very much Nico. There will be another update this weekend sometime. Then the base is complete, and painting starts. Can´t wait myself. have enjoyed this build and recommend more attempt it. Cheers.

Very very very impressive. I gotta try the blockhaus method sometime.

Hi Angela. Definatly do .... this is as much an experiment for me, as building an actual base. Its something Id like to take further as well.

Hi Guys and Gals
Third and final part of the base build. Some intense painting left to do now with the T34, figures and base. Comments and critic welcome as usual.





More info and images can be found on my Blog at The Assembly

Looks good , good luck with the apinting!


@Angela!? You are back! i remember you from a long time ago. Nice to see you again

Claude

Yo Franck,

Good job on the wall, looks very realistic!

Greetz Nico

Wow!, very impressive work!.

Do a cast and sell it to us!

Regards, Alvaro

Wow Frank, realy nice work I like this one..

impressive work the whole Frank -the last picture of your scene shows an impressive balance, the size of the diorama compared to what you want to put in it is spot on