Here is Part 2 of the build, adding winter....Let It Snow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF4eYT72Ra4

Whole thing should be buttoned up this weekend and I will post final pics here.
Couple notes:
- I mumble at times (again)
- Ice is hard to see in video
- You have to deal with my wrecked finger nails again
- At one point I say acrylic silicone?? its just silicone
(acrylic is an option)
- Figures by Jerry Rutman are awesome but you can't tell in video, final still shots will show them.

Last part of video I show how I make ice and wet/icy mud
icicles and add light snow on the figure

Enjoy

- John

A couple teaser photo's till were done -

Very nice "dusting" effect! I do have one question, in the past I've used microballoons for snow. How does this material stack up against the precision stuff? In the photos it appears the precision is quite fine, I've never liked the Hudson and Allen or Woodland Scenics snow products as the product is too coarse to be realistic.

I've learned a lot with this build, thanks for posting some tips and tricks!

Cris, The Precision stuff has a fine texture but one thing I like about it is you can alter it depending on your adhesive choice and application. Its really good for layering and directional build up. For the figure pants I used hairspray thru an air brush but if you spray hairspray from the can it can make it look coarser. Its one of those products you have to play around with to see how it works.
Its the best product I have used but it comes with a drawback - $Price
- John

That muddy road with the broken ice sheets makes me feel like my feet are wet and cold just looking at it! Well done!
J

Jerry that Envirotex does a great job for the "Wet" effect.
Here's some more pics. I'm trying to set it up so I can get a good pic of the whole thing, but heres some others for now


The 2nd guys camoe'd so good you almost don't see him

Well damn!

Absolutely fantastic work, the forest looks incredibly realistic. I wish to some day be just half as good.

Keep it up!
cheers
Tristan

These are great pictures and a fantastic diorama John !

Greets Kurt.

Thanks for the good words guys.
- John

That is kind of eerie in its' realism,
J

Last round of some additional pics, at the end are some from the building of my store website diorama. In those you'll notice 1/2 trees on the backdrop just enough to get the camera on.



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Other dio

awesome stuff man,
J

Awesome indeeed!!

Could we have a few pics of the Schwimmwagen too?? It is certainly worth being shown!

The Königstiger looks good too!! And your "wet" areas are really superb!!

A huge Inspiration for us all!!

Kudos!!!

Cheers

Romain

Some of those pics of the guys looking through the small clearings in the trees makes me want to take the safety off my M1 and start a little somethin'!! Very realistic. Brings me back to hundreds of field excercises and training scenerios.
The Tiger looks just like it should before the offensive began,parked in the forest around Blankenheim.
I don't think the crew would like to drive the fat beast through that water over the road though as I can see a rapidly bogged down Tiger!
Romain is correct,the Schwimmwagen is so well cammo'ed that you can barely make it out.
J

The Schwimmwagen is hard to get good pics of because I have it stuffed so far in, When I try to take photos from the opposite side the camera focuses on all the tree and brush stuff (I think I took 20 pics just to finally get one of his head!)(by the way Jerry I threw in some extra fern after seeing yours!) I threw the dark one in because it looked like a cool @dusk pic thru the trees, but I'll keep trying. There will be a lot of other pics on the Scenic Dio site as well.
The Kingtiger was just a throw together a couple years ago just to use as a "Stunt Tank" for the website pic and to use in product pics for size comparison. I agree with the "Bogged Down" that's why I kept it shallow and a little rocky, I wanted to add a couple different effects for the picture. That particular Tiger is not super accurate and won't be used in the large diorama, I just figured I'd throw a couple pics of the construction in while I was at it. (That dio was only around for a couple weeks)
Thanks everybody again for the following and kind words and thanks again Jerry for the awesome figures.
Now back to the research and stay tuned as "Calm Before The Offensive" The 1st SS Panzer Division (Large Diorama)gets rolling again.
- John

Forgot to say in my last post that what really sets this off amoung other things is the deadfall in the forest. Something a lot of guys miss. I also love the damaged and destroyed trees like the ones around the road the Tiger sits on.
If this thing gets big enough I would love to see the "forgotten heroes" of this unit be portrayed. Stuff like the 105mm guns pulled by the Maultiers or the 75mm Paks pulled by the type 10 halftracks or the self propelled Infantry guns,etc etc.
Just a thought.
J

That's the plan Jerry, I've got 10 feet, another reason I built it so large so I could fit a lot into the scene not just the headliners (6 Kingtigers) Still looking for some high quality builders to help along if interested. I have a couple on board. Have also talked to a well known magazine for a feature, All is good. This thing is going to be pretty cool, I'm quite excited.
There is plenty of time. (I have a printout of everything in Peiper's column, just trying to make sure its accurate)
(and no I can't put Everything in)The video and pics for this one will start with painting the rock face. This Diorama is also at 5 feet height so you will be looking right at it.
- John