The crew of the Polish Cromwell tank cordially invites the young panzer grenadier to surrender. RSVP SVP.

(more pics later when I can photograph them in outdoor light)

Great job Marlowe. Kinda looks like a scene from Kelly's Heroes with the Tiger Tank standoff.

Hi Glenn!
I think although you categorize your diorama as 1/48, it may be better to post it in "Diorama" forum, isn't it? No significant problem, just IMO In my eyes, the fences are still a little bit glossy, you may reduce it later.

Overall it was an outstanding concept & theme, congratulations!

Cheers


Garry

Thanks, Bob. I just finished an M4A1 using one of your Lima plant rear engine plates with rounded transition section.

Maybe I will post this in "Dioramas" when I am able to take pictures in better light. The wrought iron fences aren't as shiney when seen in person. I painted them semi-gloss black and then rubbed it with graphite powder in order to give it a more realisitc look, to bring to mind a peaceful (hence, well-tended and undamaged, not dusty) urban or suburban area of Holland/Germany newly encroached upon the hostilities.

The panzer grenadier is a resin figure from GasoLine (France). At first, I wanted to use the Hauler PE skis for this figure and have him placed in a winter setting. But, I have wanted to do a showdown scene for quite some time and decided on this. I cut the rifle cartridge pouches from the belt and replaced them with MP40 ammo pouches from the Tamiya panzer grenadier set. I thought about having the MP40 and panzerfaust on the ground as if he had just dropped them prior to surrendering but there is more tension in the scene by having him still holding the weapons.

I think the best figure for a showdown/final shootout vignette in 1/48 is the officer with the Walther from Bandai's German Infantry No.2 set.

Funny how the colours look much more lively in that first picture on top: It really reveals how good the work is: The "flatness" of the colours (as in, not bright enough in tone, not gloss/flatness issue) really hurts many of the pictures you take, except for that one: Do you have a setting on your camera which adjust for colours like with a little sun, cloud, neon or lightbulb?: I find these settings make all the difference on my camera, and have to be fiddled with on each picture sometimes...

I'll add that the Bandai figure in front of the tank has slightly odd head/neck proportions, and being such a visual focal point, even though it is very well painted here, I would not let the focus of the whole diorama rest on a mere Bandai figure(!)... I would use something more like an Evolution figure... But then I am a spendthrift with a plethora of unfinished models...

Gaston

That is why I reposted pics, hopefully with better lighting. These and the reposts were taken indoor. It is better to take them outdoors but I am waiting for better weather. The Tamiya figure does have an unusual head, more exaggerated in the closeup photos than in person, but he fit best in the hatch and had the pose, holding the Sten gun, that I wanted. The fact that he looks "happy" at some angles helps to increase the oddness of the scene.

And as a follow up, the tanker is a Tamiya fugure and the panzer grenadier is GasoLine. In defence of Bandai, though, I want to say that the figures that come with their Sd Kfz 7 are very good. It is funny, though, how the placing of the GasoLine figure changed, quite dramatically, how it looks. It is bigger than the Tamiya figures, yet when viewed from a few feet away, it looks like a boy dressed as a soldier, standing on front of the tank, all the more unusual because the Cromwell is not a big tank to begin with.

Great Glenn, are you going to post that one, too? I'm working on an M4A2 Direct Vision now. Hope to have it out in a couple weeks. Make a great Shermie III!

Bob , I have pics of the M4A1 but none of them clearly show the rear plate. But here are a few. This is a WIP diorama. I am going to change the colour of the mud on the base and tank ( I will use raw umber paint and pastel chalk powder) and add four figures (two from Dartmoor's US Tank Working Crew and the two from Dartmoor's US Tankers Whitewashing Tank). This tank is meant to be representative or a symbol of all the M4s and M4A1s of the 749th tank battalion, based on pictures from books and the internet-an amalgamation of all the features found on these tanks. In order to make this an early- to mid production M4A1 I used the Bandai bogie assembly with the M3 style arms without bolt cutouts and the transition track skids between the half round ones and standard ones that Hobbyboss includes in their M4 series kits. Steel chevron tracks are from GasoLine, the ration box is an OOP Dioart product. I had to do my own Lima style rear light guards but they were not as difficult as I had anticipated. The co-axial .30 cal is from RB barrels. I also used a combination of Hauler, Aber and Eduard PE.

I was thinking of using the low bustle turret you sent me, but I didn't have the extra pieces needed (lift rings, hatches)and so I stuck with the Tamiya turret I had completed earlier for another M4 project.

The inspiration for this project came from the pic on page 12 of Bruce Culver's "Sherman in Action", although the M4A1 in the pic has M3 style bogies.











Sorry, this is blurry but this is the resin Lima engine door plate:

Whoa, really nice Glenn! Great job on the paint, too. This gets me motivated to get the M4A2 DV into the molds quicker! I'm thinking of doing a complete turret set to go with it, too. Might as well! Keep up the great work.