Hey bruce
So far, as usual, is a stunning work.
Can you show us some diorama preview or you prefere keep the suspense?

I'm too curious to see the dio finished

cheers

Jeremy: i would have to agree with your idea of doing the bulk of the washes in mid tone grays and maybe use a brown wash only as a pin wash around edges and panel lines. to me, it all became way too colourful and unrealistic. i would watch out for adding too much blue as the white of the whitewash really shows off any colour added. i used Lamp Black with Titanium White to make a cool gray.

as for the tracks, yes, they are Magic Tracks provided in the Dragon kit. i use Testors Liquid Glue and divided the tracks into four lengths clicking them together, spreading testors glue on the inside of the tracks, waiting 15 minutes and then forming them around the roadwheels. i leave them like this for 2 hours to set fully and then pop the whole track length off ready for painting.

Mauro: though i have a clear idea of the structures i plan to build i like to have the finished models built before actually designing them. this way i get to see the size of the vehicles and can work out what proportions would be best to make a satisfactory composition. it will be quite soon so i hope you can just hang in a bit longer. cheers, bd.

i will have to just and see too then!

you have skill that are excellent , and beautiful , I am surprised you paints , very much truthfully.

adisak.

once again stunning work! if only i could whitewash like that. i shall be using your painting method on the tracks as it seems really simple and looks fantastic when finished. can't wait for the next post.
stan

I like what you did with the tracks, they turned out really well with what seems to be a quick process. Are these tracks Magic Track? If so I am curious as to how you successfully assemble them in such a way that they keep their shape after you remove them from the wheels for painting...

Looking forward to that tidalwave of pics master jedi [/quote]

one thing ive noticed, when it comes to tracks anyway, is being completely random with the application of color. tracks seem to be kinda hard to get the hang of, but once you find your niche, its pretty easy. i follow the way that bruce does it.. for my current set of tracks, ive been using enamels only. alot harder and takes alot more to get the desired look that you would want. pigments and pencils are probably the best way to go for realisms' sake IMO

thanks everyone for the kind words of encouragement.

yes, Jesse, i too used to do the track painting in enamels starting with a near black base colour and working from there. i found that i was going back and forth with the painting and wondered if there was a simpler way that would achieve an even better look.

since getting a few projects done using Mig pigments i figured i was confident enough to try a whole new approach... and that is the step-by-step above. i found not only mixing two or three colours of pigment important but changing the thickness as well to create a bit of variety.

also, don't worry if you have to go back and add some more pigments here and there, it's all part of the process. cheers for now, bd.

KING TIGER: APPLYING SNOW TO TRACKS AND ROADWHEELS

i'm almost finished painting the King Tiger so in preparation for final assembly it's time to apply snow to the tracks and roadwheels. using what i learned from my Flak 88 Snow Diorama i started with a better idea of how i'd go about this. text is for the pic above as per my usual musings:


tools of the trade: white glue, water and Woodland Scenics Soft Flakes. wood tool for mixing and a toothpick.

i mix the water and white glue in a small container first getting it well diluted and thoroughly blended. then i mix in the snow flakes getting this to a lumpy thick viscosity.

using a toothpick, i start placing the wet snow paste onto the tracks. this is a great opportunity to use your artistic eye to create patterns that are both realistic and pleasing.

the paste will stay uncured for well over an hour if it stays in the container. once put on the tracks it dries within minutes so work an area and then come back to rework anything you don't like.

i find it more likely that only a portion of the tracks get any snow that sticks but it's up to you how far you want to cover them.

the roadwheels only get snow on the outer edge as per my reference pics.

just as the tracks, the roadwheels get snow applied with a toothpick and then reworked to smooth out the snow and avoid clumps that are out of scale.

roadwheels done. not all the roadwheels got snow, only the outer row and a few of the inner row.

i will wait for this to dry and may decide to touch up some spots as the snow settles when fully cured. hope this may help those who are working on a snow scene. this process is really user-friendly and is great fun as i get a chance to "paint" with an unusual medium.

comments are always welcomed as usual. cheers, bd.

Looking really good Bruce!!! Thanks for sharing your experimentation on the tracks and snow. Both methods look good to me and hopefully I will try them soon.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Thanks for the explanation on your technique for assembling Magic Track, I'll make sure to try that out on my KT as well!

I had picked up a couple of the different snow types from WS as they are the only non-food products I've seen that looked convincing, but I've been wondering how to apply it effectively. Can't wait to try out the water and glue "paste" method! Just out of curiosity, how would you go about laying down WS snow on a large area for a diorama? I'm guessing that the application method you used for the tracks would probably be unrealistic in this situation.

the principle will be the same Jeremy, just that i will use a palette knife to smear the snow paste over the groundwork. i will also build it up in layers so that it has the look of drifted snow breaking into bare ground for a touch of variation.

i will touch base on that when i get to that stage but in the meantime it will be the same consistency paste which is the important factor. cheers for now, bd.

Awesome Bruce, and don't mean to jump ahead on you there, just a bit excited and curious is all. Cheers

KING TIGER READY FOR DEPLOYMENT

here are pics of the completed King Tiger ready for the diorama:









learned lots on this first attempt at a whitewashed vehicle and look forward to taking another whack at this scheme but this time a Soviet tank. cheers, bd.

turned out better than i expected after seeing the trouble you were having with the whitewash. i would have hated to see this go to such a waste. but, definately turned out to be somethig that will look good on a dio.
the power of well placed washes and other effects will do wonders

thanks Jesse, there was definitely a "head scratching moment" during the paint process but i never am one to give up. doing new things may not be that easy but i find it more fun than just doing the same ol' same ol'.

this model is one to see in person as the pics don't seem to capture the final piece that well. i've seen better whitewashes but i'm satisfied with my attempt. cheers for now, bd.

Stunning Bruce really stunning!

Great work Bruce, really nice work. The only sad thing is that we can’t see much of the original camouflage.

Regards,

Yo Bruce,

Nice SBS on the snow mather... and the King is really good...nice cold feeling you brought into it.

Keep up, on to the diorama

Greetz Nico

wonderful work
You finally gave him the gray wash and subsequent treatment in brown?
How you did it?

Domi

thanks guys for the kind words. to Domi, i gave the zimmerit a mid gray oil wash to simulate shadow which worked well. i then added a brown oil wash which made the model look like a toy as this wash also tinted the highlights of the zim and pretty much stained the white no matter how much i tried to wipe it away.

so i went over the model with white oil paints in a drybrush method to tone the colours down and make it look a touch more like the pics i have as a reference which show a fairly bright white treatment.

from my learned experience on the KT i will use acrylic washes on the second model's whitewash to see if this is perhaps a better medium rather than oil washes. i have never used acrylic washes but i think they may hold the key to doing a more subtle effect on such a stark base.

PS: it's hard to tell in the pics, but the original camo pattern can just barely be seen in some areas and gives the whitewash the right colours underneath. now you can see why i didn't worry too much about painting the camo patterns too exact... just had to have some tan, green and brown as a starting point.

cheers everyone, bd.

whoah!
i love it!

Artistically, it's awesome. Great. I really need to try a winter scheme here soon...


Realistically, a couple of questions pop into my head... these are more questions rather than true criticisms.

1. Why would the ends of the tow cables be painted in whitewash, but not the cables themselves?

2. Why would they have painted the cable ends, but not the other tools?

3. Since the spare tracks have obviously been sitting on the turret long enough to rust fairly significantly, why wouldn't the crew have hit those with the whitewash as well?

Again, I'm a big fan of your work you've shown here, and artistically, it looks awesome, as it adds some nice contrast. But maybe the continuity of those items is a little 'off'.

Jesse, those are some good questions. i think i will add a touch of white to the cables, in some of my reference pics it seems the whitewash doesn't stay on well to the cable portion, just the ends (maybe due to use or because it was because they're bare metal or they're flexible?). this is a great suggestion.

my reference pics show all tools were removed for the whitewashing, other pics show some tools whitewashed and some left un-whitened (were they replacements?) and some pics show everything whitewashed, tools and all. i could see how a crew wouldn't want excessive paint getting all over useful tools and i could see some crews needing to just get the job done. my choice was to leave the tools unpainted and the cables whitewashed (seems these were whitewashed in most of my pics) and i think i will need to add a few streaks of white to the cables for realism as you suggested.

for the turret track armour most of my pics show these whitewashed but i thought the contrast of the rusty tracks broke up the monotony of the whitewash. i know i should at least add some streaks of whitewash to a few of them, i just love their rustiness though. the idea i had was the track armour was used and these are replacements that were rusting at the supply depot, not on the tank, and put on after the most recent whitewashing. by adding white to some of them this idea may be better told. i think they need most dust on them too as the dusting i added is overpowered by the rust effects.

i really want to thank you for the helpful feedback. i get used to seeing the model for so long it is great to have input from fresh eyes who have seen it for the first time. i will post some pics once i try to address these changes.

cheers, bd.

Eager to see the updates, and eventual dio.

here is something to ponder on the other jesse's comment.
when it comes to parts that rust. for paint to adhere in a real world situation, rust would have to be removed before painting. otherwise, you will have paint flaking off. same thing with the tow cables. problem with tow cables, they are flexible. so, even if they were sandblasted, primed, and painted white, the paint would start flaking due to bending of the cable. this isnt even getting into driving through brush which would have removed a good amount as well. once one small spot of bare metal is exposed, rust grows like wildfire.

at most, i would only do a very spotty drybrush on the cables