Figured I'd start posting some pics of progress on the Hurtgen Forest diorama. November 1944 pre-Ardennes. Doom and gloom aftermath of a battle. Wet, muddy, destroyed and artillery splintered tree's. will feature a 251 on left checking out the scene and a knocked out M10 on the right built by Scratchmod Rob. It will be a busy, chaotic scene in the end.


groundcover sprayed with diluted matte medium

Difference of regular green forest floor and darker mix I made for this diorama (hand is regular)

1st of a couple base layers (less trees and foliage)

This mud is dry to the touch but looks wet (awesome stuff!)

Wow ... very realistic, John! I'm looking forward to seeing more of this project.

—mike

Very Nice work John

The groundwork has a realistic appearance.

Keep them images rolling

Thanks

Forgot the base image, I wanted to add a little twist to this one.

Hi John ,

Now it looks very promising and yeah , what a great start so far !

It's my turn to say Keep the good work coming !

Cheers

Kurt

Walk gently through a muddy forest or you may lose a sneaker!

Your base idea looks great John!

—mike

Hey! This one looks familiar. Love the 3 shell and/or foxholes on there, nicely done. Can't wait to see more.

-Conor

How much matte medium did you buy that it needs to applied with a spray bottle?

Looking forward to watching this.

The mud looks very good!
And I like your idea of painting the edges like you did.

YES!!!! You da man when it comes to this stuff.
J

Hi John,

fantastic mud!! And the "box" in camo-look is a super idea!!

Congrats from my side Sir!!

Cheers

Romain

Thanks for the comments guys!
for specifics:
Conor - Yes 3 foxholes and one bomb crater, they will get defined and detailed more as I progress.
Christopher - I dilute Matte medium about 3:1 with water for spraying and up to 4:1 max. At this stage I saturate it (diluted white glue leaves a sheen)
The bomb crater is what will stop the 251 from further progress.
- John

Starting some of the artillery damaged trees.

John as always impressive work! You take dioramas to a new level and the best part is you make the products you use avaliable to all of us. Looking forward to more.

WAAAAW John , nice work you have done so far. I like it more and more! Especially the detailed pine trees !

Cheers ,

Kurt

Hi
Nice start , will be watching this as it progresses.

Shaun

Said it on Facebook and I'll say it here- it's mother nature at it's finest! Love it.

-Conor

When I was stationed in Germany , I got to go the the Hurtgen Forest and go over the whole battle field. What an experience to step on the same battlefield that my father fought on. Very steep terain in this area.

That is a nice representation on the arty damaged trees.
This project has a special meaning for me as my Dads' friend (that was his insurance agent)fought in the Hurtgenwald and was captured there to spend the rest of the war in a Stalag.
He had some very bad memories of that fight. The most interesting one was what he said about the numerous arty tree bursts overhead. The Germans seemed to have in this battle,a nice supply of shells for once and most of them detonated in the tree tops,spraying shrapnel down. My Dads' friend said,consequently, that it was actually better to remain standing when the arty came in as you presented a smaller target!!
Nice to see John treating us with examples of his awesome groundwork skills.
J

Hi John - I need to echo the word of others -wow!! This project looks great - very nice work. Makes me want to start a project in the forest just to try out the products and techniques - looking forward to your next post -

Cheers
Nick

Wow. Those trees are stunning.

Love the base.

Thanks for all the good words guy, I sure hope I can live up to the expectations!
I read the book Hell in Hurtgen Forest prior to the start and that's where I learned of the constant dark,dreary, muddy and rainy environment, not to mention the purposely shelling of the trees to use them as a weapon, there was no where to hide. (how bad would that suck when you can't even plan to use the trees as cover!) The scene will start to "get busy" soon - stay tuned
- John