Thanks for your opinion!
Romain, of course I have searched for photos, I found some, but you are right that there was not so many brick houses...
alternatively I can change title of the scene.. It could be Germany. The most important thing for me, that the scene will happen in the end of war. Regards!

Hi Pawel,

I actually recall a similar building in Rothenburg ob der Tauber....so Germany sounds great at first, but the Königstiger were getting extremely rare after the BoB...not so easy then!

But if you don't put a title on it...!! After all, it's not that such buildings didn't exist..somewhere!

The whole discussion does not take anything off your remarkable skills and your guts to tackle harder challenges!!

Cheers

Romain

Thanks Romain,
I appreciate you advices very much. But few things...
I would like to have a title printed on the face of diorama. Moreover I'd like to put a unit name (for example 6th panzer army), so I have to know which units used kingtigers and where (I have to check my notes later).
I also want to have a some type of road sign on scene so I have to decide in which language should it be.
But this picture tells me that it is possible to be brick houses in Belgium.

And one question more - do they cross the Belgium/German border during Battle of the Bulge? It ended in the end of January so was it possible?

Can't be of much help for the location of the house, but I do love your figures... and the building too.

Thank you Luca.
One more question - what kind of roof finish layer do you suggest for a shed (pictures later) near house?
I would like to have tar paper, but I am not sure if it was common in that times. Altough tar paper is known for about 200 years, I read that it became popular in 40's in Germany, as a material which is very useful to repair roof after air attacks. If anyone knows please let me know.

Dear Pawel,

What a nice build! The crowded tank deck is amazing!
Hope to see more soon.

About the building:
The use of, as you state, one of the last King Tigers, restricts the area indeed.
If you like to stick to the Fachwerk structure, it could be situated in one of the (narrow) vallies of the middle Rhine area. Here, the west Mitteldeutsch area, Fachwerk was common, but most bricks were covered by plaster and painted white. Roofing would be tiles or slates.
The combination bricks/Fachwerk is more common in the Hannover and nord west area of Germany. Known in the German architectural history as the West Niederdeutsch area. Than, however, you should consider to use smaller bricks. The size would be about the same as two stretched hands. So, much finer than the ones you use now.
For the shed you could use tar paper, corrugated steel or asbestos or flat steel sheets.
A lot of detailed info about traditional houses and farms can be found in the very detailed book of Heinz Ellenberg, Bauernhaus und Landschaft in oekologischer und historischer Sicht, published by Ulmer, ISBN 3-8001-3087-4.
It is part of my libary, so feel free to ask more if needed.

Success, I hope I contributed a bit.

Actually the King Tiger was in a lot of places near the wars' end from East Prussia down to Hungary and west to the Rhine. The units that were issued them just didn't have many operational at that late time. A normal heavy tank unit around feb/march/april45 would probably have around 10 tanks roughly,all located in Scwerepanzer Abt. with small exceptions like the 13th Kp of the 3SS PzRegt which retained their Tigers right till the end.
So,a northern German town near the baltic would fit for the klinker fachwerkhaus and also the Tiger!!
HTH,
J

Hi Pawel,

it's funny that you posted precisely that photo! I was born just a couple of kilometers away!

Yes, the border between Germany and Belgium is the area around Eupen Malmédy I mentioned before.

Brick is not the problem for the construction. Fachwerk rather is! The house nearest to the viewer is plain brick, whereas the next house is slate slabs (for details see Claude's diorama)
Moreover, you have chosen a rather special and gaudy order for your brickwork...and that's not "Ardennes".

Such fancy details are a luxury that the Ardennes rarely showed (and still show). The region is mainly agricultural, but the soil is rather poor. So it was the use of furnace slag from the steel production ("Thomas slag") as a fertilizer that enabled people to survive. Before that, many Luxembourgers had to emigrate (just like the Irish), and they went to the USA.

Even today, the Ardennes (both Lux and Belgian) count among the poorer regions (one of the reasons the flemish part wants to split Belgium and rejoin the "rich" Netherlands.

End of lesson, before I bore you to death!!

The essence of my statement is ....people used whatever material there was cheap!! And the only material there's plenty of is ...slate!!!

So the roof cover for houses was (nearly) 100% slate, but tar paper was used as well for sheds o.s.

Hope that helps!

Cheers

Romain

You don't boring me it's always nice to hear/read from someone who have something to say and it make sense.
So I googled some info and I think that tank can be from Schwere Panzer Abteilung 507 which ended war in northern Germany near Paderborn. So it could be march 1945. Correct me if I am wrong.

Works for me,
J

Sounds absolutely credible....so go for it!!!

Cheers

Romain

I have added last wooden parts and shed. Now it's time for ceramic tiles and windows.

Hi Pawel,

I'm afraid that Paul is right! Most Fachwerkhäuser show the brickwork covered with plaster!

Type "Fachwerkhaus" into google and go for the pics...and you'll see what we mean.

Don't get me wrong, bare brickwork is not impossible, it is (almost exclusively) just limited to northern Germany, which again reduces the possible "areas" for the dio.

Cheers

Romain

Ok, I have done some job. Romain I will think later about precise place of the dio. It will be ok. Now some photos. I have made foundations out of stone and tar paper from sandpaper. Now I have to make grout in brick wall.

Nice work. Really love the tile roof!
J

Hi there!
I need your help. I have finally decided that whole scene will take place in Prussia, near Gdansk (Danzig). So the troops will be from 103/503rd SS Heavy Panzer Tank Batalion. I am wandering what color scheme should I use on my Tiger II. There are few known picture of king tigers from 103rd (below).
Is it possible that it could be yellow? I think not, but will it be three tone camo or only two tone?
Pictures from Tiger in focus site:

Pawel....Really liking this idea. Continue sharing and Bring it to the Finish!

Hello,
I have done some work recently. Scene gained its final shape, I have added tree, cross and fence. Troops will come from s.SS Pz.Abt 503 - march 1945, near Gdańsk (Danzig). I found some interesting discussion:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/thread/1416683091/Karl+Bromann+King+Tiger

Buildings:





Shed - two layers of wood stain - a black one and oak. Thinned with spirit. Now sanding with paper and then lacquer. Then treatment with oils.



From the back:


Hope you like it!

Oh yes!!!! I like that dark overall tone a lot!!! Well done that!!

As I said before, your modelling skills are way beyond any doubt!

Congratulations Sir!

Cheers

Romain

Hi! First off, let me just tell you that I really love the work you've done so far. The figures look incredible and that building, wow!

Now to answer your question about the color scheme of the Tiger. If I were you I would go with the three tone hard edge camouflage scheme nicknamed "ambush scheme". I might be wrong here, but I think that the standardised scheme was common on the Battle of the bulge Tigers.


So the scheme would be a base of dark yellow with brown and green over it.

Haven't been posted anything for long time but this doesn't mean that I am on holiday.

That looks great.

This is coming along really really well! Nice,
J

Hi Pawel,

Looking nice - all around great on the weathering! The lower tiles in particular - wow

Cheers
Nick