Here is my latest dio. The STUG is from DRAGON as well as the figures.













comments welcome

I like a nice idea. What did you snow?

what material was used for the dirt?

The base & groundwork are really good, and I think the bunker-like structure is a unique idea. Nice job!!

Really nice Gary....,well painted and nice composition... Especially like the contrast between the thawing snow, the mud, & even the few patches of grass showing through. Maybe I would have left afew remnants of the trenches previous occupants to add even more detail, (crates, personal effects, equipment etc....), giving the guy in the trench something to have a nose through, but that's just me..
Well done though, really good!!

Simon.

ace

I'm going to be Mr. P. Rick here, and dispute the greenness of the grass, and dead leaves on top of the snow - maybe they could be partially buried and just emerging from melting snow. But that's just me. Although you would be correct if you say it's an early snow in the fall! You could also put strips of tape, or paper, or lead foil for rifle slings. BTW, nice paint job on the SS camo.

Hi Gary,
I never pick on someone's dio unless it's really bad and then I just don't comment.
Good work,like it all,but have to agree with Biggles that the grass is too green and the rifles could use straps.
The only other thing is the guy on the right in the 6th photo seems to have a bent barrel on his rifle(easy to miss).
All in all very nice work.

Tom

thank for the comments

PAWEL = the snow is from woodland scenic, just mixed it with pva glue and spread in on

Jimmy = the dirt was grinded up plaster of paris and sand from the beach. Once tried then painted and powdered and then sealed with clear gloss paint to give the thaw effect

Biggles2 = I am in the process of trying to master straps with masking tap of foil, as I always cut them too fat and then the rubbish once glued on.

Tom= very observed never even saw that bent gun barrow will adjust before it put in the loft with the rest of my dio's way from SWMBO. The grass was just an experiment I was using the electric static grass shaker, I may try to darken the grass with diluted paint or pigments

It's obviously way too late to fix this now, but maybe keep in mind for future builds...there looks to be a little too much slack in the tank tracks. For rifle slings you could use graphic artist's lining tape (if such a thing still exists in the computer age). A little more expensive than DIY, but they will be consistent in width. Don't darken your grass - lighten it. Dead winter grass is usually pale yellow.

Quite a while back I found very small masking tape in a LHS.
It's the perfect width for straps.Paint both sides or it tends to stick to your fingers more than what you want it to stick to .I always used to have the same problems as you Gary before.I used it on all these tank riders.

Tom

Hi Gary,
The dio looks great. I like the trench and groundwork a lot … Nice work!

If I may, here’s another (easy) solution for rifle slings: Plain ol' copy paper works well for slings, belts, straps, etc.; it can be easily cut into strips, and once painted, it can be twisted and shaped into a somewhat realistic sagging or even a taut appearance.

In addition, many modelers use rolled lead foil — works very well. If you decide to go that route, I couldn't begin to tell you which bottle of wine is which, that would have lead foil ... but I do have another source:
Verlinden Lead Foil at Scale Hobbyist.com

HTH.

—mike

Gary, I think you did a great job on this one!!