Hi all.
I'm currently working on a small vignette set during the German advance into Russia during the summer of 1941. Three figures from the Dragon "Wehrmacht Infantry (Barbarossa 1941)" set are under construction, more or less O.O.B, and the actual mortar only, from the Italeri/Zvezda kit of the 120mm mortar, also O.O.B.
The intention is to practice with some groundwork effects and techniques, as well as to model as sensitively as possible, two dead Russians, both heavily converted from various kit parts and putty. The idea is to show them laid in the undergrowth, close to their mortar, with their packs and pockets searched, contents scattered at some earlier time, and the three weary Germans passing by, too tired or too accustomed to care.
As I've been away from modelling for a few years, does anyone have any ideas on how to depict long, lush green summer grass, and also cracked, sunbaked earth. The rest of it I think I'm on top of, but those two areas have me stumped.
Thanks in advance.
Richard.

OOOOPS! Title should read old DOG.

For cracked earth you could use some sort of plaster? Perhaps even mould the cracks with clay?

As for grass you can't go wrong with Woodland Scenics Field Grass:





Fredericus Rex are also pretty good for various types of grasses:
http://www.fredericus-rex.de/shop2010/Green-Line-scenery/

I hope this helps a bit.
Be sure to post up some WIP shots of your work!

-Karl187-

Hi Richard,

there may be somthing useful from the following companies

Polák
http://www.polakmodel.com/en/
Fredericus Rex
http://www.fredericus-rex.de/shop2010/Green-Line-scenery/

Good luck with your project! Sounds very interesting

Cheers

Romain

Thanks for those tips guys, I'm liking the look of the Woodland Scenics product at the moment.
The stage I'm at now is what I call the "first fix" of the figures and main equipment (just the mortar in this case) so that I can start to play around with composition etc. The three Germans all went together quite well, with just minimal filling, except for the number two of the MG team, who had a bad sink mark and whos right arm had to be slightly modified to clear the equipment on his belt. This last problem was most likely caused by my positioning of his equipment, and not a fault of the kit.
I've had an idea for the crazed, dry earth, which I'll test soon, and post the results.
I wasn't intending to make this thread a build blog, as to be honest, I'm new to the site and am out of touch with todays techniques. Also, I seem to be having problems with getting photos to display. I can get them into the gallery, but can't seem to be able to transfer them to the thread. Doh!
That said, I've taken some photos, so I'll give it a go.
My employer has first call on my time, so please don't think I'm ignoring any posts/comments etc.
Happy Modelling.

I worked it out how to post photos at last!

Not the best photos in the world, but at least they're there now!
I wasn't going to bother posting the last two, of the Russian bodies, since there's nothing much to see as yet, just some anatomical positioning. I have a good idea as to how they will look once some of the details have been removed and re-worked though.
As mentioned earlier, the three Germans are more or less stock, the next job being to clean up the filler, then spray on a thin basecoat to check for flaws before painting.

totally agree with you Karl ,,the stuff is brilliant ,,another one i found works very nicely is a camel hair house paint brush ,,even the synthetic brushes work to and you can get them in many different colours .

Just a quick update, I didn't seem to get much done this weekend.
Apart from sanding the filler on the German troops and adding the last few details to their kit, the rest of my time was spent on the Russians, as these involve the most work. I think (hope?) that all the figures are now ready for paint and I'll spray an undercoat in the next session. Once I'm happy there are no flaws, I'll post some more pics.
Happy Modelling.
Richard.