After a suitable period of rest and recuperation, I've decided to embark upon my third build log. Some of you may have vague memories of my second build log dealing with La Fiere bridge. As fate would have it, that project is still uncompleted, having fallen victim to the age old issues of loss of motivation combined with finding inspiration for something completely different. I'll revisit that project one of these days, but for now, here's the introduction for what I'm working on now. Cue the dramatic music:

April, 1945. The Third Reich is in its death throes. The Western Allies, having bounded over the Rhine River, Germany's last natural line of defense, race deep into the enemy's heartland. German resistance is crumbling all along the front with thousands of soldiers surrendering every day. The men on both sides know that Germany is beaten and don't want to die so close to the war's end.
However, the fighting has not yet come to a complete end. Pockets of die-hard fanatics continue to hold out, determined to fight to the last. Small battle groups made up of whatever worn out troops and equipment can be scraped together are thrown into the line in costly yet vain counterattacks. Even though the end was in sight, the fighting and dieing continued.

I've tentatively titled this diorama 'To The Last.' It will depict a battle on the streets of a ruined German town, and will feature a Tasca M4A3, DML M3A1 and Panther A, figures of US armored infantry and German Fallschirmjagers from various sources, and probably four scratchbuilt ruined structures.
First up will be the Panther, which is the original issue of DML's late model A in Normandy. Pictures of progress soon to follow.

No progress pictures just yet, but I thought I'd post some rough layout drawings to give readers a better idea of what I have in mind. Sorry if they're a bit mangy. They're only quick sketches for myself to get a feel for the piece and aren't in scale. For instance, I know the M4A3 and M3A1 will be closer than they appear. First up is a general overhead view.

Next is a view from the side.

This is a view looking up the street.

Finally, this is the overhead view with the approximate position of figures and vehicles added.

The green numbers are US troops, the red Germans, black are vehicles, with 15 being the M4A3. I plan on showing the Panther as having crashed through the wall along the downhill sloping road and smashed into the ruined building. Figures 6 and 7 are surrendering Fallschirmjagers, 6 being wounded. I haven't completely settled on the poses and postions of all the US figures, so I won't run through them here.
Hopefully, the next post with updates on progress on the Panther will follow shortly.

I like it ... its got plenty of fruit to keep the ol mark one eye ball happy and should look very cool with all the rubble ,,ya i am going to keep a close eye on this Ed

Phill

After a few days of household stuff keeping me away, I'm back with an update. I've finished the majority of construction with the DML Panther A.




The zimmerit was created with a couple of thinly brushed on coats of thinned squadron white putty. The grid was applied with a sharp blade once the putty had set. The bare patches were masked off with silly putty and given a little scraping along the edges for a more realistic worn look. I was shooting for a fairly rough looking coat, and it turned out pretty close to what I wanted.
I left off most of the tools to give the tank an older, heavily used feel. The empty tool clamps were made from spare photoetch. The rest of what little photoetch I used, primarily the engine deck screens, is from Eduard. I left off the running gear and several of the smaller parts for ease of painting and weathering, as well as to prevent as best as possible any damage to the more fragile details.
Next, it's time to break out the airbrush and give this beast some color. I'll post the next update as soon as it's ready.

I have one question at this point:

What was the reason for the lack of motivation to finish the last dio? My point is that you are now embarking on a very big project of 4 houses (with interiors please), 30 figures and 3 vehicles.

Are you sure you will have enough motivation to finish that one?

Regarding the layout, i would immediately try to drop House No.4, there is not enough on the dio to make it worth standing there and it will clear up your view.

Claude

That's a valid question Claude. The biggest reasons for losing my motivation for my last project were uncertainty about the layout as well as technique burnout. I was having doubts about the distances and angles of the layout of that project. Concerns about what I could fit into the scene combined with worries about excess dead space took much of the edge off my enthusiasm.
To go with that, the diorama was primarily figures with a central structure made out of foamboard covered with cork stonework. That's basically what my previous project consisted of, and after literally weeks of glueing cork to foam, I was ready for something different. While the landscaping would have been a change, too much was too similar, and I found my interest waning.
Also, the project I'm working on now had actually been bouncing around in my head for a while in some form, whether it be US troops attacking or Germans retreating. I was in fact going to tackle this project in its Germans retreating form when a nasty accident with the box holding my collected figures and mostly assembled vehicles rendered so many of them damaged, including my central tank in a state of almost being reduced to spare parts, that I was left mightily discouraged and went looking in another direction.
As far as keeping my motivation is concerned, I have no worries since there are plenty of different tasks to tackle. This scene is quite vehicle centric, with each vehicle in a different paint scheme, so there's plenty of room for variations within a similar theme there. Also, while a lot of figures will be needed again, there is enough variety in the uniforms to keep things from getting monotonous. Finally, while structures are needed again, they will consist of different architectural styles and materials when compared to my last project. Rather than all bricks, these will be a combination of half timbered, stuccoed, and wood siding covered. Again, plenty of variations on a theme to help keep things interesting, and yes, there will be interiors.
As far as house 4 is concerned, nothing is set in stone yet for the final layout, so there's plenty of wiggle room for adjusting things as needed.
Thanks for the questions and concerns. I appreciate anyone keeping me on my toes.

Time for a fairly brief update. I finished airbrushing the camoflage base colors on the Panther and applied markings.





Tamiya acrylics were used for all three colors. Next up I'm going to give the vehicle a thin overall coat of lightened dark yellow to blend and fade the base colors, and then paint the cannon barrell as well as a few other details. More updates as they become available.

I like the camo on that panther, but is the barrel supposed to be that color?

I was hoping to see the Arnhem dio completed, but still can’t say I am not excited about this one!!

Regards,

:)

Hello Vlad. No, the barrell hasn't been painted yet. I'm planning on painting it dark gray to make it look like a recent replacement and didn't want to get any dark yellow overspray from the next step on it.
I finished the Arnhem dio in early June. The thread should still be on the site somewhere so you can see the final product. It was my La Fiere bridge diorama that I've put on the back burner for now.
Thanks for giving things a look.

Time for an update. I've made more progress getting the Panther painted.





I gave the tank a thin overall coat of lightened Tamiya dark yellow to fade and blend the camoflage. I also painted the barrell dark gray and the plate over the hull crew compartment with lightened Vallejo dark yellow and olive green to simulate recently installed replacement parts. Three of the roadwheel stations will get wheels painted similarly to the roof plate. Finally I painted the areas of missing zimmerit with self mixed red oxide.
Next up are filters, washes, picking out the various small details, chipping, and additional paint fading. I also plan to start work on the M4A3 while the various filters and washes are given time to cure. More updates to follow as soon as possible.

That is nice clean work sir.Awesome.

Here's another update. The filtering/chipping on the Panther is coming along nicely, and I hope to have things ready for pictures by the end of the week.
While waiting for each layer of oils in the filtering process to set, I got to work on the Tasca M4A3, which was in general a breeze to assemble.




I added texture to the turret where it was lost during construction, as well as the port for the smoke mortar, the mount for the searchlight, and casting numbers on the mantlet. I also added the missing welds for the front armor plate that should be visible on the forward hull sides.
I left the suspension bogies separate to make weathering easier, and built them with varying degrees of compression by using sheet plastic instead of the included foam. I'm going to put a full compliment of sandbags on the front glacis and the kit's somwhat fiddly suspension is perfect for simulating the additional weight. I substituted the kit's commander's hatch with one from a CMD sherman turret. Aber photoetch chains were used on the filler cap pins, masking tape was used for tiedown straps on the tools, and brass wire was used for buckles as well as the spot welds for the sand shield mounting strips.
If you see something I didn't mention, or just have questions or comments in general, please don't hesitate to leave a comment. More updates coming as soon as I can get them ready.

It may be ready a couple of days later than I anticipated, but the latest update on my diorama is here. I finished filtering, washing, and chipping the Panther.





The chips were done with Vallejo paints, while the filters were mixed from my handy old oil paints. I also completed installation of the driver's visor cover in the raised position.
Next up on the agenda is dirtying up the Panther with pigments for mud, dirt and dust, a little metalizing in a couple of spots, and perhaps putting paint and markings on the Sherman between weathering steps. More updates when they're ready.

I realise this is a bit late, and you may have already done so, but I would suggest adding the four missing bolt holes on each suspension bogey on the side opposite the return roller.

Matt

As it's a Panther A, it's most likely over a year old anyway . . . .

Rob

Thanks for the replies.
Matt - The red primer is showing through missing areas of zimmerit, which wouldn't be completely out of place or 'what if'' for a tank that had been in service for something close to a year, which is the case here.
Rob - Thanks for the heads up, but it's already taken care of. Sorry that the pics aren't quite clear enough to show the holes drilled in the backs of the bogies. Still working on getting better at taking pics of my builds.

Hey ya Ed ... mate i like that Panther ,,ya did a bang up job on that and its really looking the part ,, one thing tho is at this stage of the war the Germans were removing unit markings and id numbers of their tanks so that the Allies wouldnt have much info to work on about who's who ..with some more weathering and making the tank look very well used ( none of the pics i have from this period show a clean Panther .all ready either damaged or very run down ,ie utterly rat arsed condition ) the barrel is a nice touch but the tank needs a lot more ware and tear mate ,,then it will look amazing

Phill

Hi Ed. This is looking really nice! I'm excited to see how it all comes together. Looks like a real PITA to build, but it's gonna be amazing when it's all done!

Thanks for the replies.
Phil - You're very right, the Panther does have a ways to go. I've just started the process of dirtying it up good and proper. Lots of mud, dirt, grime, dust, and fluid spills and leaks in store for the cat. i also need to paint the patches on the hull under the right sponson that only barely show up in one picture due to the fact that I still suck as a photographer.
As for the markings, my intention is to show a vehicle that has passed through the hands of a couple of different users so that the three digit number is of a past unit and no longer meaningfull. I plan on adding a number on top of the one visible now, which I have seen in a few pictures from the period. No elaborate markings or anything though.
Brandi - Thank you. I've seen the work you've put into your Carentan diorama, and know you can appreciate an undertaking such as this.
Thanks again and please keep the comments coming.

Here's the latest on the project. I had to delay dirtying up the Panther because I realized that a section of the lower hull might have been finished incorrectly. A picture in one of my reference books that I hadn't noticed before led to my repainting a fairly large panel, which then had to get a new round of filtering. I can't say for certain that all Panthers were painted in a similar fashion, but if someone asks I can point to that picture to show that my interpretation has some basis in reality.
In the meantime, I managed to get the Sherman painted and marked.





The kit was painted with Polly Scale Olive Drab and Tamiya Nato Black. Now, before any of the eagle eyed shermanoholics say anything, yes, I know the bumper codes are bogus. Since I intend the diorama to be a dramatization rather than an attempt at reproducing an actual event, I wanted to avoid getting bogged down with arguments about whether or not unit A was actually in city B on date C by not using a particular unit's codes. I only wanted the impression of codes being present, with most of them covered by weathering.
Hopefully I'll get the weathering of the Panther taken care of this week and then I'll move on to painting details on the Sherman and giving it the filtering treatment before adding sandbags to the front glacis as well as possible improvised add-on armor for the turret. As always, more updates when they're ready.

After many delays, I'm finally ready to present another update. I've finished weathering the Panther, with the exception of the tracks.





I have to hold off on finishing the tracks due to the fact that their sit and placement will be dictated by the landscape of the diorama.
Weathering was done with a variety of Mig pigments and Doc O'Brien's weathering powders, each of which was mixed with a variety of media to obtain different textures and finishes. Areas of burnished or polished metal were finished with either a standard number 2 pencil, a silver artist's pencil, or Vallejo Oily Steel paint. Oil leaks and fuel spills were created by mixing Tamiya Smoke acrylic paint with varying amounts of brown acrylic paint, depending on the type of spill depicted.
Time to set this one aside until I'm ready to put it in place on the base. Next up will be more work on the M4A3. Hopefully it won't be so long until the next update is ready.

i had to pick my jaw up, what a wicked looking panther. pharkinphantastik.

Hi ED,
That Panther is a gem,I think you nailed a latewar one there.I've been looking at your dio plan and think this is well thought out and will no doubt aid in your execution......You keep building and don't let your mojo flag

Time for another update. First of all, thanks for the comments, and don't worry Chris, I still have my mojo working nicely.
As far as the build is concerned, I got quite a lot of work done on the M4A3.






I gave the kit both spot and overall filters, as well as a light, patchy coat of Tamiya Flat Earth on the lower surfaces to act as a base for future dirtying up. I made the sandbags out of Miliput and painted them with various shades mixed with Vallejo Khaki. The areas of gray around the bags is meant to replicate the cement sometimes used to hold the bags in place. The plates on the turret depict applique armor fitted in the field sourced from wherever metal plate could be scrounged. They're made with plastic sheet painted with various shades of mixed Vallejo Gunmetal Gray.
Next up will be applying lots of dirt, mud, and dust, as well as rust and aging for the metal plates, using various pigments and weathering powders. I've also started assembly of the M3A1 halftrack, and should have it ready for pictures in the not too distant future.
Back with more when it's ready.