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Dioramas
Do you love dioramas & vignettes? We sure do.
Hosted by Darren Baker, Mario Matijasic
Big Bertha Dio
bohnsai
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Ohio, United States
Joined: July 29, 2011
KitMaker: 42 posts
Armorama: 33 posts
Posted: Sunday, January 14, 2018 - 07:09 AM UTC
been a little slow with updates as of late, had to contend with some sort of stomach bug.
Nonetheless, I was able to get a portion of the retaining wall up. I was originally planning on wood planks, but I saw that corrugated metal siding was sometimes used in the trenches so I though it might be fitting here as well.
I might be taking liberty of some artistic licensing as I've not seen any pictures of this exact set up before. I have seen pics of big gun emplacements by hills and even in the woods so I don't think it is out of the question.

One thing I have not been able to figure out is what color the corrugated siding was. Was it painted, galvanized? Would it rust? most pictures I've seen show it being bright compared to the surrounding dirt or wood.
bohnsai
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Ohio, United States
Joined: July 29, 2011
KitMaker: 42 posts
Armorama: 33 posts
Posted: Friday, February 02, 2018 - 08:36 PM UTC
Not a whole lot of progress the last couple of weeks. However, I was able to get a base coat of paint on the wall and add the angle iron supports.
bohnsai
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Ohio, United States
Joined: July 29, 2011
KitMaker: 42 posts
Armorama: 33 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 11, 2018 - 06:10 AM UTC
Finally got some paint and initial weathering on the Bertha. Next I'll start working on the corrugated siding and finish the base groundwork.

jrutman
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: April 10, 2011
KitMaker: 7,941 posts
Armorama: 7,934 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 11, 2018 - 08:01 PM UTC
Mighty fine looking work !
J
Kevlar06
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Washington, United States
Joined: March 15, 2009
KitMaker: 3,670 posts
Armorama: 2,052 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 11, 2018 - 09:01 PM UTC

Quoted Text

The challenge for any WW1 gun emplacement is the MOUNTAIN of spent shells. If there was a cost-effective way to replicate them, I would be all over this model because of its role at Verdun.


Excellent build! Can't wait for to see the finished product. What are you going to do for the crew? Bill, I'm not sure about this particular gun, but most large artillery over 155mm didn't use a brass or steel shell casing, they used a powder bag charge. What would be scattered around would be rounds ready to fire and the packing material. Most German guns used a wicker-like casing during WWI. Shapeways perhaps?
VR, Russ
parrot
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Ontario, Canada
Joined: March 01, 2002
KitMaker: 1,607 posts
Armorama: 1,581 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 11, 2018 - 10:29 PM UTC
Looking great.
Very nice work.

Tom
Frenchy
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Rhone, France
Joined: December 02, 2002
KitMaker: 12,719 posts
Armorama: 12,507 posts
Posted: Thursday, April 12, 2018 - 06:16 PM UTC
Talking about the 1/32 Daimler Merienfeld truck from Aviattic, there's another option, from John Jenkins Designs :



...providing you're not a budget !

Plan B : a 1/32nd scale 1913 Mercedes ( at $20.90 here )

:



Maybe a requisionned car used by an officer as a staff car ?. A 50's era kit like this one may require some TLC though ...


H.P.

Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
Armorama: 1,463 posts
Posted: Thursday, April 12, 2018 - 06:19 PM UTC
Looking impressive Devin – is there room for that truck? Regarding the corrugated iron, it’s always possible it was galvanised but given the pressing resource-demands during WW1 & rust-protection probably being a low priority, who could argue with some corrosion.
bohnsai
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Ohio, United States
Joined: July 29, 2011
KitMaker: 42 posts
Armorama: 33 posts
Posted: Friday, April 13, 2018 - 09:29 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Talking about the 1/32 Daimler Merienfeld truck from Aviattic, there's another option, from John Jenkins Designs :



...providing you're not a budget !

Plan B : a 1/32nd scale 1913 Mercedes ( at $20.90 here )

:



Maybe a requisionned car used by an officer as a staff car ?. A 50's era kit like this one may require some TLC though ...


H.P.



H.P. Thank you for the suggestion and links. I had been thinking about the Aviattic Merienfeld but it is quite pricey, more than the Bertha and diorama materials combined. But I'm starting to think that in order to complete this build, I'm going to have to shell out some coin for the second piece.
bohnsai
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Ohio, United States
Joined: July 29, 2011
KitMaker: 42 posts
Armorama: 33 posts
Posted: Friday, April 13, 2018 - 09:31 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Looking impressive Devin – is there room for that truck? Regarding the corrugated iron, it’s always possible it was galvanised but given the pressing resource-demands during WW1 & rust-protection probably being a low priority, who could argue with some corrosion.


I was thinking some light corrosion and some algae/moss on the bottom portion. Right now it's not too shiny, but definitely silver. I don't want to corrode it too heavily as to distract from the main scene. However, I don't want it to look to shinny and new either.
bohnsai
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Ohio, United States
Joined: July 29, 2011
KitMaker: 42 posts
Armorama: 33 posts
Posted: Friday, April 13, 2018 - 09:34 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

The challenge for any WW1 gun emplacement is the MOUNTAIN of spent shells. If there was a cost-effective way to replicate them, I would be all over this model because of its role at Verdun.


Excellent build! Can't wait for to see the finished product. What are you going to do for the crew? Bill, I'm not sure about this particular gun, but most large artillery over 155mm didn't use a brass or steel shell casing, they used a powder bag charge. What would be scattered around would be rounds ready to fire and the packing material. Most German guns used a wicker-like casing during WWI. Shapeways perhaps?
VR, Russ


Russ, don't remind me about the crew. I absolutely dread figure painting. Concerning the shells, I wanted to show shells being unloaded from the as-of-yet-procured truck. From the pictures I've seen, I honestly don't know if I've seen spent casings or not. I'm going to have to do more research on that.
Kevlar06
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Washington, United States
Joined: March 15, 2009
KitMaker: 3,670 posts
Armorama: 2,052 posts
Posted: Friday, April 13, 2018 - 11:14 PM UTC
Devin,
I seriously doubt there were brass casings for this large caliber gun, but I'm not that familiar with German WWI artillery. I suspect the rounds themselves came in a wicker basket or wooden pallet, and the powder charges came in a wicker case or wooden box. As for figures, there are several useful figure painting videos on line, and some quite accomplished figure painters here, Jerry Rutman being one of several, I recommend looking at some of those old posts. As for weathered "silver" metal, I use an old modeler's trick-- mix medium gray flat enamel paint with Testor's square bottle silver enamel (or any other enamel paint for that matter) to suit your needs. The silver paint "smooths out" and "metalizes" the gray paint, making it look like worn steel. Add more or less silver to get different shades for different panels. As for vehicles, look at some of the old Pyro kits (or Life-Like kits -- they are the same)-- they are 1/32 Scale, but it shouldn't be too noticible with such a large gun, and some of the kits were undersized to begin with. They have several early vehicles which could be converted. Des Delatorre has done a great job with one over at wwiaircraftmodels.com Des passed away a few months back, but I think the site is still up. Here's a link:
https://www.ww1aircraftmodels.com/page17.html
VR, Russ
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