Big dioramas, however cool they may be, just take too much time, and I don't have that kind of attention span. So! I'm going to stick to small scenes for a while. Like this;

TARFU is just some obscene military acronym, and I figured that was a good enough title here. The idea is to portray the confusing, back and forth action when the positions on the Seelow Heights finally collapsed. Honestly, I don't know too much about that battle, but this scene doesn't really require much knowledge...

Basically this is just a way to use up some figures that have been kicking around the back of the workbench for a while. All Verlinden. First is their "Battle!" figure set, which I love, and second are two German casualties I bought 2 years ago and abandoned soon after.

The PaK is the old Italeri kit. Great build, but like most of my builds, it sat around for over a year. Also, it broke



The basic layout...



Figures...



I'm experimenting with the two "Battle!" figures. Trying multiple layers of thinned paint, going from dark to light. It's coming along ok for my first attempt.



I really overdid the blood and holes on him back when I first got him. Luckily, I still have putty and paint.





Still a lot of cleanup. I'm a bit nervous about the two casualties though. Like I said, they're old, so I'm missing an arm and a foot. Looking in my stash, I had no extras, so I went with this:



Is it too much? If so I'll gladly try to sculpt an arm or just toss the figure all together. This isn't a stand around the tank scene, it's a knee deep in battle one, but I'm still a bit iffy about it. I wouldn't be showing it off, it would be weathered over and partly hidden as well. I really don't want to offend anyone. I still consider myself kinda new, and I don't know if I'm breaking some unwritten rule here

But anyways, this is the four of them so far:





I'm most proud of this though. The face on him is coming along great:



Thanks for looking

-Conor

aha, nice one

always wonder why firms haven't yet brought out some sets with dying or mutilated figures.

you're breaking the unwriten rule of the peacefull and happy wardiorama's

wonder when someone is going to take offense

I admire your courage, tried it several times, it's hard to depict such a scene and modify the figs

Lookin good so far,
J

I'm familiar with "SNAFU" and "FUBAR", but what is the "TAR.." in "TARFU"? (Or is TAR an abbreviation for something equally obscene?)

Thanks for the feedback guys,




I kinda found the acronym by accident. "Totally And Royally Fouled Up." I thought it went well with the scene haha

-Conor

OIC. Hmmm... Tarfu sounds like a good sci-fi-fan name.

It does have a sci-fi sound to it...I like it though.

Okay! I did some stuff. Finished 3 figures, minus the little touch ups where paint has chipped. I used AK enamels and pigments exclusively for weathering. Now that I've figured out how to apply the pigments, I gotta say, they're amazing.

Face painting was done with 3 skin tones by Model Master. I thinned them a bit and mixed them around. Trial and error, but it's worked out well enough. (On a side note, I got Vallejo skin tones in the mail today, I'll give them a shot later) Alright I'll shut up, time for pictures:





His eyes are crazy at the moment, but I'll fix that.



Mud mixed with earth pigments, and I went over him from the neck down with pigments at different consistencies and thickness.



These two poor guys will have met their end in one of the many hell-on-Earth artillery barrages that plagued the front line at the Seelow Heights. That's why they're so filthy looking.









And here's our last WIP figure. I almost went with a camo scheme for the trousers but decided to leave them as they were. Pretty crummy looking but we'll see how it goes. Wasn't quite sure what Mr. Verlinden was doing about the does, so I just assumed he had his socks pulled up around his pants. After weathering it probably won't matter.



Next I'll repaint the PaK and start on the groundwork. Aside from ammo and weapons, what would you typically find in a late-war gun emplacement?

Thanks for looking!

-Conor

Conor,
Those aren't sox,they are gaiters that buckle on the leg with two straps.
It is really coming together. At this stage of the war,there wasn't too much in an emplacement as they were usually hastily made. Also supplies were pretty scarce so there wouldn't even be a lot of ammo.
J

Thanks Jerry,

That's what I thought they were at first, but the molding seemed off. I'll try to fix that.

-Conor

Well since my last figures face was TARFU (haha), I gave him a try with the Vallejo paints. And I think for my first try with them it came out great:


IMG_0663 by ronoc29, on Flickr


IMG_0662 by ronoc29, on Flickr

His eyes look a bit messy and need touching up still, but I think the green pupils were a nice touch. Granted, nobody's gonna see it when all is said and done, but hey, it's there. Now with that little issue fixed, I'll be able to sleep at night.

-Conor

Okay, update time:

Gave the PaK a spray with an old can of Tamiya dark yellow, gave it an improvised camo, and made it damaged.




Made the base in one day, let it sit overnight, and this happens:



Fixed everything, except in where the picture is lol...it actually ran down the entire base.





It's all been worked on quite a bit since the photos were taken, but I really don't like the base. It came out good, but it just doesn't sit right with me. But whatever, I think the figures came out great.

So, next update will either be my triumphant finish, or, my scrapping the base and starting a new one. 50/50

Thanks for looking!

-Conor

Nice progress Conor, like the dirty way the figs look.

has that "defeat and death" feel


greetz

@Maitane....? and the topic was?