Verwitterung ... sanft ... sanft ... ja.

Looking really good, Matthew!

—mike

Ja ja. Danka, Mike.

A word of warning, when building the Bronco Hotchkiss H39, do not attach the track guards until you’ve installed the tracks. If you're using the ones in the box, they will not go on. The teeth of the tracks will not clear the return rollers, drive sprocket and the idler. Having learnt this lesson, I had to resort to using a set of Friul tracks. They look nice and have a naturally weighted sag between the return rollers, just they take a bit of time to drill out and assemble.





Thanks for looking

Cheers

Matthew

Lookin good ! Nice to see a French tank for once.
J

Matthew-- sweet job! The figure is great and the camo pattern very impressive.
DJ

Love the irony of the poster. "Join the French cavalry-and then get captured by the Germans" LOL. Seriously though it's coming together nicely. The Hotchkiss looks great and the early war Germans too in the correct uniforms. One thing I would do though is perhaps slap a few more posters up as it looks strange with them all up one end and nothing at the other. They're a bit precise as well but nice choices. Internet finds? The French guy sitting down at an angle would work well as lightly wounded sitting on the grass with a jerry standing over him as he does look very relaxed. Just an idea. I like early war dios as they're different with not seeing many about. Nice work mate and look forward to seeing the end result.

Thanks, Jerry. Thanks, DJ.

Karl, I’m pleased you like the irony of the poster. I actually plan to have the seated French tanker just beneath it, and with a guard standing watch. The posters were cribbed from the internet. I take your point, and will probably add a few more to the wall.

Here is the French tanker who dreamed of joining a modern and “sporty” army, but soon found out it wasn’t…



And this might be his German captor



Or maybe this one…



Still a bit of work to do. The French tanker needs a few washes to add depth to his clothes, as well as highlights. Also he needs a coat of dead matt varnish too.

Thanks for looking.

Matthew

A bit more progress with the figures, well a figure… This one…



I swapped heads with the seated tanker from page 1 of the thread. The Dragon figure was okay, but the the detail of the face was rather soft, and my technique, such as I have one, is to use a wash to bring out the detail. So with Dragon heads there’s often soft detail so a softly defined face… Eyes seem to come off worse. They often tend to be non-existent. So now my surrendering French tanker has a Hornet head and, I hope, a suitably forlorn expression. I still need to paint the bumper at the front of his helmet in leathery tones, and maybe add another wash to his fetching scarf.

Then it’ll be time to put it all together.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Matthew

This little diorama is nearly done. Just need to add a bit of dust to the Germans boots and I'll call it finished.















a few black and white shots…









comments and criticisms welcome.

Cheers

Matthew

Hey Matthew!
Excellent composition! Good choice of heads. The prisoners' expressions look rightfully distraught!

An observation: The standing prisoner is not in contact with the ground and therefore he seems to be floating. And before finalizing, maybe scrape a little groundwork away from under the sitting prisoner and from under the tank tracks as well.

Regardless, you've done a really nice job! 🍾🥂

—mike

Great job Matthew..., all looks very nice.

Especially like the walking tanker guy, great expression, the Hornet heads are invaluable in conveying the emotion you want to capture in a scene. Tank & figures too look good, as does the terrain.
One thing I try to incorporate in my models is trying to have a little interaction between 1 or 2 figures, talking or shouting, abit of eye contact...., it 'knits' things together abit more....that's where Hornet can help again.
But all together this is great, well done!

Simon.

Thanks for the kind words, Mike. You're right. The surrendering tanker does appear to be levitating about an inch off the ground. I can sort that easily enough. Thanks for the suggestion of scraping away some of the groundwork under the treads and the seated tanker. It's a good idea. I'll do that.

Thanks, Simon. Yes, hornet heads are great aren't they. I did plan on using a shouting German - possibly barking something at the walking French tanker- at one point. I gave up on him though as his mouth looked a bit like that of a, well, a blow up doll... Ahem...

Cheers

Matthew

Really enjoying this! Nice selection on the posters. One minor point if I am not mistaken the butts of the rifles should have a metal plate