I wouls also suggest some small bits of cotton in some of the holes in the front part of the seats from the stuffing getting "popped".
J

Tim great job so far, looking frwd to your decision on the dio's remaining layout. This field car really got lit up!
Congrats on persevering over the lil' bugger too I feel yer pain brudda This coulda ended up on the shelf of shame if it were me! Great back story as well.

Saludos
Dave

Jerry - aha I thought if anyone spotted that it would be you! - yes the problem with changing the seat colour was/is I’ve lost the tufts. Still mulling on it – it’s an arcane subject & maybe only you & I care about it but I wonder what was in the seats i.e. what colour? Was it just a lattice of springs with no filling? I haven’t a clue but suspect the military versions might have had cheap(er) seats maybe filled with horsehair or the like? Yeah I know what’s coming, if that’s the case I’ve got to find 1/35 horsehair somewhere around the house….if I have to go through that vacuum-cleaner bag one more time…

Dave - great to hear from you & thanks for looking in - funny thing is I’m almost feeling sorry for the little Merc having trashed it in every way, it nearly ended up in the bin of shame, let alone shelf! But it’s a survivor & I guess I’ve made it look as good as ability allows…which isn’t very much, I’d really like to see someone make it look good without wrecking it – now there’s a real challenge!

Cheers, Tim

Probably horsehair at this time period.
I would dye some cotton swabs and use pulled out bits.
J

Thanks for your input Jerry,

Let’s see what you think of these better shots of the upholstery, sorry I can’t get any closer with my box brownie.



I’m thinking the slugs would have made relatively neat entry holes and ripped out the stuffing on exit – but where the only exit holes are visible at back of the front seats, I’ve assumed there was a wooden support panel (the kit parts strongly indicate that, for what that’s worth!) , so I’ve done a splintered-wood effect round those holes.



The entry holes look too yellowish in these shots, I’ll take that more towards a brown horse-hairish shade. This is a small car, so even the finest teasings from a cotton swab are going to look too big/thick – in fact maybe these holes are a tad too big anyway. Your thoughts?

Cheers, Tim

Looks convincing to me !
J

I think the holes look appropriately sized! Small bullets leave big holes, big bullets leave bigger holes.

Tim, The flats and shot-up seat-cushions look really good, and I'm digging the wound-up windows too! This 170 is looking properly wrecked, like the Tasmanian Devil got a hold of it and had his way! ... . .🌪

Cheers!🍺
—mike

OK thanks guys, 3 Yeas and no Nays that’s Carried.

Before moving on to the figures, a word about the subject itself as I’m slightly uneasy about it. This accidental project is turning into a diorama about the kind of thing that happened behind the lines on the Eastern front. Groups of irregulars/partisans attacked the invader’s logistics & command infrastructures, and as in any guerrilla war it was dirty and merciless. Many died in the awful cycle of actions and reprisals, the latter aspect never shown in dios because depicting executed non-combatants is rightly taboo. While honouring that convention, I’d nevertheless prefer this scene to be viewed primarily as an implied remembrance of all those civilian victims.

So after surveying the “bonus” set of five figures provided by MB (useless in their designed poses for my purposes) it seemed possible that by salvaging legs, torsos, arms & heads I could Frankenstein a slouched driver and at least one officer. The Driver during surgery…





The toes (and pedals) had to go & it took numerous test-fits before he slumped properly. You just can’t get good slumpers these days...I’ve waited a long time to be able to say that. (And wouldn’t you just fff know it? – announced over in the Figures forum today: the SOGA power-napping Panzergrenadiers – slumpers every one of them!) Steering wheel’s being tested for position & it’s tight





Armed and Extremely Rough-puttied. Nurse, the sandpaper…



On balance I prefer Tamiya’s old blue putty – the two-part epoxy stuff is a pain to mix & I don’t like its initial sticky consistency. Inevitably you mix more than required so half of it gets wasted, whereas with the blue stuff you could just squeeze out what you needed. But I used to end up chucking half the blue tube away because it solidified after a few months. Hmm, there’s a pattern there…
Officer 1 compiled from 3 figs. His right arm will rest on something, either a dispatch case or an MP maybe…





Slump-test Dummies - getting them to sit “dead-weight” is a trick yet to be mastered.







Mo’ tweaking to go. Next time – Officers 2 & 3 get it together.

Loos the part. You have followed the laws of gravity well so it looks convincing !

J

Those SOGA figures look so amazing! Still, I think Franken-Figuring has become my favorite stage of diorama building — wish I was a sculptor. Your slumpers are looking properly slumped. And I’ve noticed there is no shortage of slumper subject studies out in the real world these days. I refer to my day-to-day observations of people slumping while on their phones. 📲

Cheers!🍺
—mike

PS: It’s 68ºF on the Western Slope today! And all this talk of slumpage is making me sooo sleeeeepy ... . . . 💤

Tim - your figure posing looks spot on to me but what do I know - I'm primarily an aircraft guy - keep up the great work !

,,,,Cheers - Richard

Thanks sirs,

(Mike – same observation over here, and the related condition of being slouchant – that’s a heraldic gag…that I use whenever a nearby cell-phone conversation annoys me enough. I usually make bail)

So while Driver & Officer 1 get more settled in their seats Officers 2 & 3 take shape. They did survive the initial fusillade and tried to make a break for it, but didn’t get far.





There were just enough parts left from MB’s set to make Officer 2 above, but not a fourth figure so I revived a previous corpse who seemed a reasonable choice as he was already wearing a panzer uniform. Forgot to take an initial photo of him, he’s the one further down with the yellow hair and in the group shot bottom right.

These two will be sprawled outside the car. Trying to slowly melt them to lie flat was a bust, I tried 3 other experimental figures out in the noon-day sun for several hours a couple of days ago on a metal dish - the thermometer peaked at 43.5 C (110 F) but they never got remotely soft…unlike their human keeper. So my guys’ backs had to be flayed with knife & sandpaper during which I only stabbed myself once, so the needlework kit came in handy.

Then it was into their white onesies - two purposes, priming and showing up anything needing further work.



These guys are going to be somewhat paler than usual but I still went ahead with standard practice of successive wash over the previous dry one – first deep pink followed by strong yellow overall…



…followed by re-highlighting in white, then very pale pink washes to pull it all together, and lastly mid-grey detailing of eye sockets, mouth, ears, fingers.



Not pale enough though, a thin beige-white wash should cure that. I’m never satisfied at this stage because I dread flesh-painting, the only consolation is that some of it’s going to be covered by another colour…so for those of a squeamish disposition consider yourselves duly warned – if this is going to look real I’ll have to use image-references such as Bugsy Siegel’s checkout when it comes to painting these guys. I’ve taken advice over at the Figures forum about the uniforms (thanks again gents) & will now go into rehab er recess for a few days to finish them off…so to speak.

Thanks for looking in

So finally here they are all dressed up & nowhere to go, thanks again for all technical assistance with the uniforms from the Figures forum guys. As they say in Forewords, any errors are entirely my own.



Vampire lurkers will have to wait a little longer while I do some more red colour-tests, it’s tricky to get right & not over-do. I’m only giving myself one er shot at it, no way am I doing a re-paint if I screw it up as it’s been tortuous enough already...as Clint said, a man’s gotta know his limitations. I guess if it doesn’t work the partisans can find some dynamite to stop the car instead of sub-machine guns.



Mo’ test–positioning, not necessarily final



Some days it ain't worth getting out of bed and from a photography aspect, yesterday (thunder storms, hail) and today (ultra harsh daylight plus wind) were two of them, so apologies but these are the “best” of around 50 photos. As I wanted daylight I resorted to indoors but they still don’t show the skin tones or really any tones at all faithfully…



…and no matter what camera settings, there’s a heavy shadow under the backseat officer which looks like he’s hovering, but he’s flat on the seat. I see some touch-ups on the figures still required, although most of them will be over-painted in dull red.







Accessories to be worked out later such as weapons, map/dispatch cases etc, and the right-hand doors. The ambushers’ poses and positions will have a bearing on that because they’ll be searching for useful information in or around the car. And I just found a grazing horse in Riich’s livestock set vol 2, so there’s something for the neigh-sayers.

Next time – Partisan pickers

Looks great Tim I think you nailed the dead - slouch thing .
Only two possible scenarios upon viewing this , they're dead , or they're watching a baseball game tied 0-0 in the top of the ninth inning .

The wreckage on the car turned out very good also !!!
Your figure morphing skills are aces too .

Not something you see often, but the dead/wounded look very convincing.

Hi Tim,
The figures look great! ... 🤔 Hmmm ... Upon further medical examination, they actually look quite dead.

Sorry for your loss... 🤧
—mike

Hi Tim - although some nasty business...you are doing a great job of depicting it. I think it was Jerry who pointed out how well you are representing it - very nice work.
I wish I could do have as well with figures in better shape - that is still moving!

Cheers
Nick

Hi Tim ,

i just checked in , excellent work on the figure poses the whole scene looks convincing to me . Well done so far .

Kurt

Thanks you fine fellows, much appreciated.

All the same it’s so tempting to re-concept it as:

James Corden & One Direction’s ill-advised Car Pool Karaoke rendition of “Edelweis”…

…and I’m an Englishman. All I can do is apologise

He is deceased ! He is,in fact,an EX parrot !
J

It may be the flash on your camera or phone but it does seem like your figs are a bit mono-tone? Not enough shaded areas?
Or not,depending on your view,as it is,in fact,your dio !
J

Yep guilty as charged JR, the photography/conditions were certainly a big part of the problem but there is an underlying issue, you steely-eyed missile-man! I mentioned I was doing further tests on the blood work, that’s because when I tested dry-brushing highlights on the uniform creases to give that contrast you’re talking about, the dull red/maroon on top of that just went pink/purple. And that’s because the Tamiya X21 Flat-base I mix into my artist-acrylics (to get the ultra-dull effect of clothes) tends to make it unstable and it bleeds (no pun intended, for a change) into anything laid on top of it.

So the only solution I can come up with is to apply the blood first, and then carefully add the pale crease-highlights around it, so…fffinnicky, and my Patience-battery is in the er red zone right now so I’m setting the Germans aside while I get the partisans together…and they’re unruly too, because ICM seems to produce giants and Stalingrad productions seems to produce um little people to be p.c.

And so in search of a quiet life I’m currently working on the tethered grazing horse, which is a weird coincidence given you and Kurt are also going or have gone equine in current threads. Riich’s offering isn’t as bad as their box art suggests, and at least it’s better than their white cow with bright yellow blotches…well I’ve never seen such an animal anyway.

(And also weird you also mentioned the ex-parrot, I nearly added some text to my previous post quoting that sketch – “they have ceased to be, gone to meet their maker” etc!)

Onwards and sideways

A horse is a horse, of course, of course, unless it’s Mr. Vlad…so while the partisans pull themselves together I tried my hand at the russkie nag.







The mane & tail provided by Riich were…well you be the judge. As I pondered how to deal with them my ever-resourceful wife swiftly produced a small detachable collar from her late mother’s modest furs collection. “What else can we do with 70 year old pelts?” said she…



A flat black enamel priming coat to start followed by layers of acrylic in successive washes…













I cut 3mm strips of fur from behind a hidden lining seam (just in case it turns out to have any value) which complemented the horse’s colouring, & applied them with white glue.



The fur easily picks up a static charge – could do without triboelectric issues during photography. As for the horse’s coat, maybe it needs one more glaze…it looks more blended in softer light so I’ll wait to see what it looks like in the whole dio at final photography stage. Rather than risk a paint glaze I’d probably scrub some pastel dust in because it’s easier to control/modify, and it would also dull the sheen if the daylight’s strong. On the other hand that horse would be sweaty pulling such a heavy load in July.

I’m also having second thoughts about the original ambush idea of just a tethered horse in the road to slow the car down. I had an old cart – probably MiniArt – which looks promising as the ambushers’ own transport. They could have emerged from a pile of hay or whatever in the back and opened up as the staff car approached to overtake. This would also make the dio landscape simpler because it can now happen on a straight stretch of road. So I’ve now given myself the scintillatingly fascinating task of researching Russian peasant harnesses…





Next time – Partisanitation

This is awesome Tim, really like your horse's treatment. And as far as the expired Soldaten, you've got them looking perfectly... dead! Not easy to pull off, but these look very convincing.
And remember when applying blood, sometimes less is more right? Like the rear door window on the Officer's left came out great too, maybe add some tastefully applied spots of red? You know what you're doing, I look frwd to how this one turns out.

Regards
Dave