Progress...slow yes, I know! I've got myself into a bit of a cycle- sculpt and sand, cut, sculpt and sand...and so on. My work bench looks like it has been flour-bombed there's that much white dust all over it. I must have removed and re-sculpted the arms about four times now and then I realised I had over-sculpted!

What does that mean? It means I forgot the waterline on this small scene. It'll be dark, dirty canal water and you won't see much below a certain point. Baring this in mind I had to get the 'sit' of the figure correct. I thought I had it sorted...but no, modeller's law right?

So I ended up figuring out exactly where the water-line would be- right on the waist-belt of the figure. Then I also had to factor in the cable that will 'hold' him in the scene- it will be wrapped around his neck, chest and right arm- pinning it to his side and I had to make this look right while trying not to have the arm step outside the very tight confines of the base. This meant a massive sanding and re-sculpting job.





As you can see I've sanded away most of my work beneath the waist which was rather annoying considering the time I'd taken to sculpt it. His chest, right arm and neck have been sanded down with a round file and chisel to accomodate the cable. His left arm looks quite big right now compared to the right because it is still curing prior to being sanded down a bit.

I am really chomping at the bit now to get the paint started on this figure!

Last week I got some very useful constructive criticism from a friend. The most obvious result of this on the base is the bullet marks on the masonry.





The bullet strikes are not yet finished, they've just been drilled and roughened up. I have some work to do on them yet. Some of the weathering on the edge of the canal has also been removed as I plan to add moss to some parts.

I also realised some parts of the Kubelwagen's top-cover frame sat proud of the base edges and I sanded these back- they won't be seen under the water-line but I'll re-paint them anyway.

I'm still experimenting with various water finished but I think I've got what I need.

So hopefully I'll be starting to paint the sculpted figure soon.

Anyway, thanks for reading and taking a look.

Cheers.

-Karl187-

Yeah, it seems very convincing Karl.

I'm very corious about your water effect

Go on this way, i'm following you

cheers

Mauro- thanks a lot mate. I'll be discussing the water effects shortly.

So in the last update I mentioned I was going to add moss to the base. Anywhere with old brickwork/masonry that is wet from time to time will have moss, unless its deliberately kept clean. The side of a canal such as this scene depicts would have plenty of moss in various places. It needs to be kept in scale too.

For the actual moss I use Fine Green Turf from Scale-A-Rama- this is little more than fine green dust and its just right for bits of moss. Paint some PVA glue on the areas where you want the moss and then sprinkle the turf on. Let it dry, blow/shake off the excess and then add a little more PVA and water to harden the moss up a bit so you can change the color.

I tend to want to change the color because out of the bag the turf is very bright, and moss is usually quite dark and it is usually accompanied by a bed of dirt beneath it. For this I gave the moss a wash of AK Dark Wash.









The green discoloration is to suggest areas of damp slime often found around mossy areas or in dirty, damp areas such as this. That is created by mixing a bit of green oil paint and some AK Streaking Grime- I leave it to dry for a while and then feather it a bit.

The bullet strikes in the brickwork was also worked on with Brick Dust and Industrial City Dirty pigments from Mig Productions.

I finally finished the figure aswell and some painting has begun, very rough at this stage, still thinking about colors to use and how to create certain effects.




Thanks for reading and taking a look.

Cheers.

-Karl187-

karl that moss looks fantastic!

Simply … Fantastic!


and an extra tip for me

Looks stunning Karl

Just one things I'd like to say, but is just a doubt

Maybe dead soldier would have a paler skin

What do you think about?

Anyway great upgrades, moss looks incredibly convincing

Cheers

Stan- glad you like it!

Vladimir- Thanks mate, thanks for checking in.

Mauro- Much appreciated bud. The skin on the figure isn't done yet, thats just the undercoat! He will be quite pale as you have said, but there will also be blood on his face from the wound on the right side of his head. I'm still thinking about how best to tackle it.

Yes, that's true, haven't paid enough attention. That's just a base coat, so with your second coat probably you'll desaturate and fade the skin color shade
Color of coagulated blood is close to the dark red brown. It won't be easy to depict, but i know you'll do an autstanding job

Mauro's right, if there's dried blood, it will be pretty dark red-brown. But if he's stuck underwater, I'm not sure if there will be any blood on his face. Water washes away blood, so all we'll see is a nearly white face. Then again, I've never actually seen how a bloody body is affected by being thrown into a river, so I could be completely wrong with my assessment!

Mauro, Robby- you guys are spot-on. Those issues are what I'm currently thinking about.

...well....actually it swells up.... and it has some other nasty things...
But we have to consider the soaking time and the freezing water, so most likely it wouldn't appear decomposed

I'm quite sorry for that gruesome observations but....

Unfortunately a few things have been keeping me away from the workbench which is why I haven't updated this. I haven't forgotten and I hope to get cracking on with it very soon. My apologies !

It took a little longer than expected to get back to the bench and get on with this! I'm glad to be cracking on with it again and to be honest there really isn't too much more to do.

The two biggest things are to finish off the dead figure- which I'm currently working on. The other was to get the writing from the poem onto the sides of the base.

The sides of the base just aren't big enough to transcribe the three stanzas of the poem in full. The fantastic Gears of War 2 commercial that shone a much deserved light on Alan Seeger's poignant work did not use the whole poem either, it used several lines from each stanza that conveyed the essence of the poem within them. Thats what I wanted to do on the sides of the base.

I also realised it would be difficult, if not impossible, to transcribe the text neatly with a paintbrush. This also worked in my favour though because I really didn't want the text to look 'neat' and ordered. I wanted it to look as if it was written in the heat of the moment.

I wanted the text I chose, like the commercial I talked about, to convey the essence of the poem and I also wanted to add at least one reference to Spring (there are three references to Spring in the full poem) as this is when the diorama is set. Here is what I chose:

'I HAVE A RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH, AT SOME DISPUTED BARRICADE, WHEN SPRING COMES BACK WITH RUSTLING SHADE AND APPLE BLOSSOMS FILL THE AIR- I HAVE A RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH.

IT MAY BE HE SHALL TAKE MY HAND AND LEAD ME INTO HIS DARK LAND AND CLOSE MY EYES AND QUENCH MY BREATH- IT MAY BE I SHALL PASS HIM STILL.

BUT I'VE A RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH AT MIDNIGHT IN SOME FLAMING TOWN, WHEN SPRING TRIPS NORTH AGAIN THIS YEAR, AND I TO MY PLEDGED WORD AM TRUE, I SHALL NOT FAIL THAT RENDEZVOUS.'











So now that the text is on the base I've been thinking about whether I should weather it a little. I'm not sure about this myself- I feel it may be good to give the text a wash with a brown/earth color to kind of 'age' and distress it a bit. I'd really like to know what you guys think?


As ever, thanks for reading and viewing.

-Karl187-

Damn, Karl, that is hauntingly beautiful! You captured the essence spot-on...the passages you selected, the hurried handwriting, the curving around the corner, everything! It's a very difficult question, whether or not you should weather the poem. If you decide to weather it, I wouldn't think as much of an earth/brown, but rather something more similar to the background color (which may actually be brownish and the picture just doesn't show it well ). You know, just to cut down a tad on the contrast. But honestly, I really like that contrast in this instance. It's very surreal, engaging, and frightening all at the same time. I feel like if you weather it it may take away from that impact ever so slightly. It won't ruin the model if you do, but it really probably wouldn't hurt it either.

Bottom line, this dio is gonna kick ass either way you play it. Flip a coin

A very light wash, just enough to tone down the contrast, at most.

Looks great!!

Happy Modelling, -zon

Robby, Zon- thanks for your comments, you made my day !

As for the weathering- I hear what you guys are saying. However, I don't necessarily have to flip a coin. The poem was painted in acrylics and sealed with matt varnish- I would use an enamel wash to weather it, so if I didn't like the effect then I could always wipe it off with some thinner. In any case I can't do it right now as I just discovered I have no suitable base for the wedgie, hence I have to touch the sides to hold it for now and I would smudge a wash if I did one. Once I get a suitable base I can experiment with a wash.

Oh. Brilliant My friend, you are set. Be sure to post pictures of the weathered version to compare!

Karl, writing the poem with that rough font it's a GREAT IDEA INDEED!!.

It looks a far more original, dynamic and dramatic....and most of all more "modern" than a common diorama

Congrats indeed, that shows, in my opinion, that you're not only a great modeller but that you have an incredibly taste and artistic sensibility

Really well done Karl

cheers

Mauro- that really means a lot coming from you- thanks for your support and encouragement !

I'm working on the dead figure at the moment. I should have some pictures up soon!

So the dead figure.

Now this was a tricky one. Easily the most time consuming part of this build- I didn't want to start painting it without being prepared.

I had already discussed painting of this figure with a friend of mine in the Irish Model Soldier Society and I was glad I did as we were able to thrash out some ideas for the painting.

First problem discussed was his clothes- they would be sodden but just coating them with Vallejo Still Water or something of the sort would give them a shiny quality- not what a heavy great-coat would actually be like if submerged in water. It would act like a sponge- soaking up the water and turning from a field grey color to something dark, with perhaps a hint of brighter color at the high points. So for this I went with a mix of Andrea Field Grey and black, shadowing with black and then highlighting with both Vallejo and Andrea Field Grey.

The web gear was simple enough, as where the G-43 ammo pouches.

Now came the face and the wounds- both caused by a large calibre weapon- part of his face has been ripped away and a deep wound is present on his chest- plus the cable pinning him to the Kubelwagen has been digging into his flesh around the exposed neck.

However, I wanted the body to be painted as if it had been there for a couple of days. In order to get the wounds to look right I actually asked a Medical Professional for their opinions. Essentially necrosis, the severe cold and the water in the canal would have a significant effect on the wounds- little, if any, red blood would still be present and a dark, almost, black color of flesh would be present in the areas of the wound. Any blood that wasn't washed away would be thick and, again, very dark in color. I also had to consider the fact that the dirt of a desperate battle would be present on the skin of the figure, as well as the blue-purple hue of a dead body.

Finally, the trauma to the side of the figure's head is deep and some bone would likely be visible- a contrasting off-white color against the dark wounds.









So thats what I have right now and he's attached to the base. However, I still have to add the cable that is pinning him to the Kubelwagen and then I am going to add a Knights Cross around his neck.

The couple of things glinting in the background of the last picture are spent bullet casings cut from brass rod- I've been adding these to the base along with a couple of discarded magazines on the cobbles above. I've also still to add the dead soldier's gun and helmet.

Then the only thing left to do is add the Alpine figures and the water.

More soon!

Thanks for reading and viewing.

-Karl187-

That's great Karl. It looks very convincing and impressive

I think your diorama shows in a perfect way the hoorrors of the war.
Furthermore I think your researches for the dead figures, asking for opinions to the experts and doing lots of experiments, is a great exemple for all of us.

Again, many thanks for sharing

Mauro- your too kind mate !

This thread passed 10,000 views sometime today, I'm well pleased ! Thanks to everyone for taking the time to have a look.

The corpse looks - I was going to say good but that's not right he looks realistic.
Well done Karl

Thats what I was going for ! Thanks Pat!