So what was left to do after finishing the dead German soldier and attaching him to the base?
Well first came the cable that is pinning him to the side of the Kubel. This is just a simple braided metal towing cable from a Dragon Kit painted with Gun Metal acrylics and weathering with pigments. I had already moulded grooves into the body that showed where the cable was digging in to the body. All that I needed to do was anchor it to the base. I drilled a hole near the body and glued in the cable, pulling it tight over the body into the pre-made grooves and then securing it tightly into a hole on the other side of the Kubel.
Then came the water. From the outset this has been one of my biggest worries. My favourite water product is Vallejo Still Water- you just pour it on in thin layers, it self levels and sets crystal clear. However it is very porous. The wedgie base has no sides and I always wanted all of the base to be visible- I didn't want sides on it.
My experiments were done using two pieces of wood covered in plastic glued together into an L-shape, roughly the shape of the wedgie. The sides were blocked off with masking tape and the water product poured inside. Vallejo Still Water leaked out almost immediately despite my attempts to make the tape as tight as possible. A two-part water product from Deluxe Materials also proved too porous.
That meant I had to retreat to something simpler, Deluxe Materials Still Water. This is a kind of rubbery substance when dry and rather like candlewax when molten- once warm enough it becomes pourable. It remains thick and dries very, very quickly. The problem is thats it is hard to tint and can be prone to lots of air bubbles (it also dries too fast if left to sit for any length of time so you have to work quickly once it is molten).
The good thing is that the thickness of the product stops it leaking out below a strip of masking tape and it also peels off once dry without leaving any residue.
As with my experiments I sealed the edges of the wedgie with masking tape before heating up the Still Water and using black food coloring to tint the color of the water once I had it in its molten state. I was careful to pour it slowly and at the sides of the wedgie. The surface area for the water isn't actually all that big so I had the required amount on the base quickly before I then tilted it to create a slight 'wave' against the body and the side of the Kubel were the water was pushing against these obstacles.
Once that was done I added the two figures and then gave them and the cobbles a little dusting of pigments to tie them in. Finally the dead soldier was given a Knights Cross from an Aber PE set and the ribbon is masking tape. The dead soldiers gun and helmet were added last.
I had already added spent bullet casings around the wedgue which were made from small gauge brass wire and two spent G-43 magazines which were glued to the cobbled area.
Some Gun Metal pigment was then touched onto the metal bollard and some of the Kubelwagen edges.
And thats it done. I still have to add it to a base which I now have and get some name-plates for it. I will put some pictures of that up once it is done but the scene itself is finished.
I would like to now take this oppurtunity to thank Shane McElhatton and each and every person who took the time to look and comment on this build- you guys helped me make this project- your comments and suggestions helped immensely and encouraged me to finish this long and sometimes difficult build.
As modellers it is good to step outside our comfort zone, whatever that may be, and do something difficult- this tests our skills and ultimately makes us better at what we do. This site and all you guys following along helps makes that process both easier and more enjoyable. So thanks to you all and I hope that you have enjoyed the build log.
I'm off now to assault my stash and relax with some nice OOB builds!
-Karl187-
