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Hi mike ,

thanks for the comment !

the Carpet Monster.....well.....it's not always his fault you know ! Sometimes , i swallow small parts of the kit because i'm so focused on the job and i forget that there's a small part of the model between my teeth and then.....gloops....ow ??????

Anyway when it happens , it's very hard to get it back ...especially when i eat a lot of chocolate too

@ Romain ,


Kurt

Cool!! It looks just like the north side of the N33 between Le Gleize and Stoumont,where the 2/119th cut the road briefly before Maj. McCown got captured.
J

Hi J ,

i found this interesting link on the net about Kampfgruppe Peiper https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ss501panzer.com%2Fpeiper_trail_part_4.htm&ei=OHtnVNedDoHTaJ3dgogN&usg=AFQjCNHfncrG6iePTSB1QFxaT6V6iuuvAg&sig2=O0Mcqt07KxcsdgwhSzgxcQ

You're right bro ,i also see some similarities in the landscape . The Panther that i'm going to make by the way will have the same camo pattern like the real one of Peiper... But more of that stuff is for later.

Thanks for having a look and to keep the interest !

Kurt

Cool to see the pics taken along the route. I drove that route in my VW Rabbit @1985 and there were indeed parts of the route that were dirt roads and I even remember the part that went through the muddy creek. I was lucky I didn't get stuck!!
Nowadays I just "fly" over the area with my computer mouse!
Thanks for posting the linky.
J

Hi Kurt - that is one heck of a transformation! Blocks of foam to a forest floor! Nice job!! Looking forward to seeing how you decide to wrap it all up! You seem to be moving pretty fast on this one, as it looks like a lot of work and still very nicely done!

Cheers
Nick

Hi guys ,

thanks for the reply !

- Jerry , the German Panzers like the PZ I , II and III had (almost)no difficulty to break trough the Ardennes forest during the invasion in 1940.That is because they were very small and light constructed. And it was spring. Can you imagine what kind of difficulties Peiper had to overcome for guiding his Panzergruppe with his very heavy tanks through the muddy roads in winter time ? In fact some parts are nothing more than muddy tracks along the Ambleve and Salm rivers. Even for you it was a big adventure with that lighter weighing vehicle.....thanks for the nice story J.

- Nick ,thanks for the kind words . My secret is a good preparation and also the knowledge about what kind of products i have to use to achieve my goal! I know that some of you on this forum must have some questions about the fast tempo concerning my building skills....but everything i do is well thought through in advance. And mostly of the objects on my dioramas are build from scratch so i don't have to wait for a delivery..
Thanks Nick for looking in , appreciated !

To everyone , a new update about the stream i've made . It is not finished yet


Any kind of feedback is welcome , so please feel free to let me know

Kurt

Yep! Looks great and frosty cold. Reminds me of the spring that runs out the side of a hill through barrel from a Panther somewhere west of Stoumont.
J

Looks like you've got this mission totally under control. Wish I could see this in 1:1 ... I wanna' make a snowball! But then again, we've got plenty of that around here now!

—mike

Looking real good Kurt, keep it coming!
- John

Thanks Jerry , mike and John for looking in and the nice comments.

- Jerry , you're not only a very good modeller but you also have a talent for poetry. That's great !

- mike , you know what ? Send me a snowball from Colorado and i send you mud from Flanders ! Deal ???

- John , what a nice compliment from the tree and terrain Master himself. Thanks ,i'm very pleased about the right atmosphere . It's spot on IMHO.

But i don't have the perfect skills for making trees and shrubs like you John and therefore i have much respect and appreciation for the scenic factory. It's Awesome and inspiring !

Kurt

Hi everyone i'm back .... oh no not you again ? Yes , it's me again .

I hope for my American modelling buddies and their families that everything is well and that the cold and bad weather didn't caused you guys to much troubles???? I hope it gets better soon !

Back to the diorama ,

here's a smallish update of the work i've done this week. I've placed the driver on his position in the hole of the hatch , just a dry fit because the Sherman is far from finished. You will see that the tank has many holes in the fuselage comming from anti tank weapens....

please have a look ;





Thanks for having a look

Kurt

Cool! Coming along nicely!

I gotta' ask though. ... Could anybody survive that many hits to a Sherman, especially coming from two directions?

The large hits look about right but the smaller hits seem to have out of proportional flowering by comparison. I've been collecting a few photos from the web on the subject, so that's all that I'm going by — no expert here. Largely asking to satisfy my own curiosity.

Keep going!

—mike

Hi mike ,

thanks for looking in and the comments. I can understand your concern about the holes in the fuselage. I think in real live that nobody can survive that kind of incoming fire or hits in a tank. So in my opinion you are right about that.The hits are comming from the gun of the panther and the panzerfausts....

The reason why i did this ,is to show the viewers in a better way that the Sherman has been completely destroyed and with the wounded driver who is crawling out of the hatch that will be the drama of the whole scene.

Kurt

Hey,it's your dio so it's your reality brother. Besides,didn't Telly Savalis survive when his turret got blown off in the Battle of the Bulge? If it's in the movies,it must be true!!!
J

I can't help it but you are my hero Master J ! Anything you say is true to me even if it's nonsense from time to time!!!

Thanks for checking in again Jerry , much appreciated .

Kurt.

Hi everyone ,

i did some more paint work on the tank . The color tone was to greenish in my opinion so i applied several dark washes of mixed oil paints (like green mixed with blue paint) until the color change was significantly different than before. I added some pigments to the underside of the fuselage to simulate sticky mud or dirt. I'm quite satisfied with the result. The things that are remaining are the sprockets , wheels and tracks. After that i'll place the Sherman on the diorama.

These are the photos , please have a look ;





and here are the pictures of the stream which is completely finished now,





Thanks for watching !

Kurt

Yess!! I love that stream!!

Well done Sir!!

Cheers

Romain

Thanks Romain ,

i'm glad you like it , thanks for the quick reaction !

Cheers

Kurt

Niiiiice!

—mike

I've gotta say, as great as the environment and groundwork is (it really is top notch, makes me cold just looking at it), that driver sitting at the tank is what really does it for me. The combination of the shot up tank and the figure (his posture, facial expression, etc) really is a diorama on it's own. Well done there, sir.

I'm always watching! Not in a creepy way though.

-Conor

By the way, what did you use for the stream? I'm sure you've probably been asked that already, but I can't seem to find it.

Thanks mike to check it out and the nice compliment too , appreciated !

Hi Conor , i'm glad to have you back ! Thanks for the great comments on my groundwork , it's great ( in a way ) when you have that chilly feeling if you look at the scene .

To give you a straight answer to your question......the item i used was 100% transparant silicone glue and i've applied it with a silicone gun ( i hope that's the right name for it in English , if not, you may have a good laugh )

Nevertheless , please have a look at the picture below and you sir shall see what i mean !


The foam on the water is just some drybrush with white oil paint, don't use any kind of thinner or washes based on thinner because otherwise the silicone will shrink for sure !

Allow me to give you this last piece of advice ; Don't try to rob the bank with it , it won't work

Hoping this was usefull ? Regards

Kurt

Yes sir! That's exactly what it's called by the way haha. I think so at least. Makes t sound very easy. Thanks for the info.

-Conor

That absolutely makes me feel a chill,like I was wandering around the woods north of the Petit Spai bridge on Dec 21st 1944.
J

Sir Conor , i bow my humble head ( Bold indeed but hey , who's perfect ?) full of gratitude and i thank you sir very kindly for your support !

@ Jerry , no no no ........you're not that old but i think you have a good book ???

Thanks guys , for looking in !