I've been planning this one for a while...

My latest diorama effort features a Ukrainian KrAZ gun truck and crew hiding out in a ruined city building. The truck itself is the Takom 1/35 6322 kit, while the gun is from Trumpeter and the stowage is a mixture of pieces from Verlinden and scratchbuilt items.



The standing figures are from Black Dog, and the seated and kneeling ones are from Zvezda, heavily modified using Live Resin items and Green Stuff. I have also started painting a few Alpine heads.




The building and base is a 100% scratchbuilt affair. I used foamcore for the basic structure, cork sheet for the siding and asphalt, balsa wood for the main trim, and Evergreen half round rods for the trim above the windows. The collapsing floors are foamcore scored using a toothpick after removing the top paper. The whole thing was coated with plaster before priming.



I plan on adding sidewalks and a small pathway, as well as a LOT of rubble. Watch this space for more...

This is looking great,I will be following this to see how this looks when finished.

Hi Jasper - thanks for posting! Looks good so far - will be watching for your next post -

Cheers
Nick

Nice subject and it is really turning out great! Nice to see you here.
J

The bldg looks awesome, and your guntruck is b-a-d-a-s-s
(can I say that ? ) Jasper I will be following this.
Dave

Great looking truck and building! Will be interested to watch this finish out!

Nice job on the uniform cammo.

I'm glad to hear people are interested in this project. The conflict in Ukraine has fascinated me since the Euromaidan protests, not just because of the politics, but also because of the crazy improvised military vehicles fielded by both sides.

I've had a few days in Boston looking at art by day and going to rock shows by night. Nonetheless, the past week has seen some substantial progress. I undercoated the building with many shades of gray, applied through an airbrush and with a sponge to get a concrete-like look. My plan was to use the hairspray technique to chip off the blue color and expose the concrete underneath, but that didn't work too well because of the porousness of the cork. I drybrushed a little gray to show some wear, but the effect still isn't as intense as I had envisioned. Maybe I'll add some light-colored filters and washes, who knows.



The streaking turned out quite well IMHO. The trick to getting the effect to blend in was to use thin paint (Model Air mahogany and burnt umber) and pre-wet the surface beforehand using water. Pre-wetting was also helpful in applying washes and mildew effects.

Next up: making the bullet holes more realistic with some heavy drybrushing, adding some wear to the paint, and adding a ton of rubble.

Oh, and I finished the figures.

And it's done! Still not sure how I feel about the white around the base - texture's good but I might paint it black soon.
This one kinda sat on the bench for a while because the base got a little warped and I couldn't figure out a fix. In the end I added another layer of foamcore, weighted the whole thing, and cut it smaller to tighten up the composition and reduce warpage.
The concrete dust / ash / possibly snow is plaster mixed with a little bit of charcoal. I think this element really ties the whole scene together.





Oh, another note: all the magazines on the assault rifles are painted with the colors of the Ukrainian flag according to reference photos. I believe the soldiers use colored duct tape in reality.

As always, feedback is appreciated!