Here is a late work in progress of my latest effort. This is the DML kit, no fancy extras... still have not gotten into the aftermarket stuff. I plan on adding some figures, But I am still debating on which route to go. I have an old Monty figure drinking tea that I can put in front of the tank and keep things simple or I can go with three figures from the DML 8th army set and get more of a combat look. I am still up in the air. Any way here are the pics. The tank is just sitting on the inwork base so if you all see something horribly wrong let me know before things get glued in place.




Thanks for looking.
Easy8

OUTSTANDING

Great little Scene, Easy8! What scale is it? Reminds me of the old Matchbox bases. One comment, it looks right now as if the tank is floating over the terrain. Maybe you can make the tracks more sunk in the road? Tanks move through the country, not over it...

Cheers!
Stefan

Great scene! The trees look really nice and is well built and finished with nice weathering. If it needs anything, it would be more crew kit secured on the tank for road march and your planned figures.
Cheers!
Rick

What did you use for sand?

Great diorama, looks realistic overall, although I agree with Stefan that the Tank kind of floats on the sand.

Thanks for sharing

Thanks all for the complements!

I will put a few pics up of the possible figure placement later tonight.

Stefan/Jesper – It is 1/35 and good eye on the tank and its anti gravity, I have yet to secure the beast down due to not knowing the final position. It will get sunk in when all is done.

Rick - You are right about the kit, Sherman’s carried everything but the kitchen sink.. well probably even those as well. May have to go dig in the spares box, we will see. I kind of like the clean look of this one though.

Richard - It is actually dirt from New Mexico. It is pretty fine to start with but I run it in a vibratory tumbler to break it up even more. Sifted to split up the sizes, then coarse stuff is glued down. When that is dry the fine powder is glued over it. All the track marks and foot prints are put in at that stage.

As promised here are the two versions..

First the 8th army figures. (they will get heads at some point I promise)




And Monty and his tea..




I am leaning towards the 8th army, it does make a busy dio though.... any thoughts??

Thanks

Hi there. As many said before, nice job with that Sherman.
IMHO, I would go with the DML 8th Army option. Monty standing alone in a front of a tank, drinking the traditional 5 oclock tea, doesn't make much visual impact and /or sense.
Again, do whatever your feel more comfortable with. It is YOUR diorama! and a good one too!

Cheers,
Pablo

Nice dio and cool looking Sherman but I have a question, you live in Oklahoma but you go to New Mexico for dirt? That is dedication!

Well I went there on the pretense of visiting family only to find volcanic tuff. It is a very soft rock made from ash from an acient volcanio. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth I tucked a few bags into the car and brought them home. Never know what you will find.

Nice job! I'm guessing you matted it down with Micro Flat.

I prefer the Monty figure. For reasons I can't pin down, the tank looks like it's parked, not in a combat situation. The two infantrymen are doing something, but we can't tell what, and the diorama gives us no clue. With the Monty figure, the diorama tells a story.

The action figuers look better as the tank is closed down. Excellent work so far but a few hanging articles from the tank would be good too.

Al

I'd go the 8th Army as well. Just ditch the guy kneeling in front of the Sherman. If it was moving then it's not a good place to be kneeling. Hence the old RAAC nickname for Infantry, Crunchies.

Cheers, John

Jason - There is no micro flat, just a final coat of the finest dust over a coat of thin glue to give it a flat sand look.

Alan - I am leaning towards the action as well, as you say the buttoned up tank seems to fit that better, and I am looking into some junk to hang from the tank

John - I though about that poor guy and those treads, but I have this thing for that tommy he is holding and there is no other place he will really fit He may just have to take the risk for God and Country (and my love of the tommy)

Thanks again all for the kind words. Hope to get some work done on the headless figs this weekend. Will post some updates soon.

Easy8

Hi,

There looks to be room for the chap with the Thompson to the side of the front right fender? Infantry would naturally use armour as a shelter so the front RHS should be OK.

Al

thats looking great!
i personally like the monty figure. looks like he could be having a cup of tea, wandering around the vehicles, and just stopped for a bit of quiet contemplation. maybe throw a sleeping figure in there too?

what is the base made from? i know you put sand on top of it, what is the rest? it gives it a different look to wood or plastic.

Hi again Easy8.
Try putting your tommy behind the rock next to the front left side of the Sherman. If he fits it would look good, like he's taking a bit of cover behind the rock while the tank is rolling up. Then you'd be able to keep your beloved Tommy Gun . Plus it would give the impression of some fire and movement between the rear soldier, his seco (Section Commanders carried Tommy's didn't they?) and the tank. Otherwise he can just take his chances like any other dumb Grunt (said with the utmost respect for the mobility challenged soldiers of the world) .

Cheers, John

Love the trees and the tanks camo is very neat! Looking forward to more ...

Regards,

Matt - The base is made from styrofoam covered in plaster. The sides were then sanded smooth and painted with a "stone" spray paint. I "borrowed" the idea from this site. Thanks!!

John - Good idea. I moved the tommy to the left of the tank behind the rock and slid the tank foward. Then I moved the figure near the left rear of the tank to behind it. Seems to flow better and from the front it puts all the focus on the tank. Thanks for the idea.. yet again another reason to post on these forums.


Seems Monty will have to go back to the bench and wait for another day, Patton would be happy.
Easy8

Here is a small update, worked the figures this weekend. I have figured out that old eyes and 1/35 do not mix well. These two are almost done, boots socks and an over all coat of flat to get rid of that nasty gloss. The tommy guner ran into an accident with shading and will be stripped and restarted. Any way, here are some pics. My camera is not the best at this kind of close up work.





Thanks for looking.
Easy8

Here is the final version. I did not add lots of extra gear to the tank as all the pictures of this units tanks that I saw did not have that much extra stowage. I have been reading on how to take pictures of models and hope these are abit better. I can honestly say I am sick of tan... all shades of tan. Now onto something green. Here are the photos:







Thanks for all the help with the sugestions from those here and thanks for looking.
Easy8

Hi Easy8,

Looking good. The only thing missing is the dust and flies but you can't have everything. The figure placement is spot on in my opinion. They give a sense of action but don't detract from your excellent Sherman. It has that feel of a nice steady advance anticipating a contact.

Cheers, John