Nice to see you've moved on from the planning stage. Nice start!
J

Had some time over the weekend to work on the front facade of the church. A bit of trial and error, really. The 2mm chip board was an epic fail. As soon as the plaster hit it, it absorbed some of the moisture and looked bad. I ripped it all off and went with a rolled cork product to simulate the cornerstones and the stonework around the windows and doors. The cork was only 1mm thick, so I doubled it up to give it some weight.

I'll continue pouring the plaster in small working sections going forward. Carving the individual stones was tedious, but I think it achieved the look I was going for. A couple of light coats of Modge Podge sealed the plaster and cork.





I also decided to portray the initial work needed to remove the bell from the belfry. In the first image the window in the belfry has been enlarged to allow for the bell removal. Sledgehammer work most likely. I plan to show a dusty soldier or two exiting the church with a sledge. I'll add some stone debris on the ground, and I'll roughen up the knocked out portions of the window opening in the plaster stage.

Enjoy.

Taking a break from all the stone on the front of the church. Tedious work. I'm working my way through the Opel build at the moment. I've read most of the threads on this site regarding the color of German vehicles. Since this dio takes place somewhere '39-'41, I will paint the truck grey. However, grey is a loose term.

I did a quick color swatch of Panzer Grey and Schwarzgrau. Both Testors Model Master.


In person, the color difference is a bit more subtle than shown here. It is clear, though, that the Panzer Grey has a more blue tone than the other. From the color photo references of the Opel, it looks like Panzer Grey is a better match.

Thoughts from all you armor experts?

Not sure if it is because of my screen, but to me none looks right, it should be way darker. And no blue:

Leaning on period pictures, even if they always were in color, is a risk. Colors tend to alter over time, plus: the colors might have not been a faithfull representation in the first place, due to the used techniques.

I tend to look at the RAL numbers, 7021 is the official number, which is defined as Black Grey: RAL 7021 Black grey Added in 1937 for use by Wehrmacht under the name Dunkelgrau

looks good! looking forward to seeing the finished project!

The color swatch I posted a few days back is Shwarzgrau RAL 7021. Maybe it looks bad because I painted a white surface and the flash of the camera overexposed the image. Below is what it looks like on the Opel. Still a little blue because of the halogen light, but it looks good in natural light.

An updated shot of the front of the church. All plaster, cork and Plastruct pieces.

The metal grating above the operable part of the door was evident in a number of reference photos of different churches. I had something similar in the spares bin, so I cut it down to size. I think it came from an old tank or something. Operable part of the door is stained basswood. Hinges and door handles will come later.

The color looks good to me!

Also nice progress on the church.

First, I hope everyone here is healthy and remains so during this crazy time. Here in the States, most firms are working from home for the foreseeable future. As a business traveler that means more time to model, so expect more frequent posts.

A couple of updated progress shots of the church.



Preparing to pour the plaster for the rest of the bell tower. Eventually these two windows will have louvers.



Experimenting with stained glass windows. I measured the window openings and scaled down a few images in Photoshop. They were printed on Vellum paper so they are semi-transparent. It's not real evident in the photo, but I applied a heavy layer of acrylic gloss to give it some relief. When the four walls and roof are applied, the window won't appear as bright as the photo suggests.

More soon, enjoy.

Working on a couple of trees that will populate the church yard. The first image is an early progress shot of a wire armature.



Here is another tree in a latter stage. The wire armature was coated in Durhams Water Putty with a bit of sawdust added for texture. A stiff brush was used to provide the bark effect. For the branch structure, I went with a poly-fiber that is typical for pillow or stuffed animal fill. I feel like this material allows for a bit more realistic look than the Woodland product. You can see some of it has already been painted brown. Leaf flock will cover this eventually.



Finally, working on slate tiles (cork) for the church roof. Tedious, but I'm happy with the look and texture.

You keep yourself nice and busy I see....

A handful of pictures of the nearly finished Opel Blitz.









Enjoy.

Well executed. A nice addition to your church.

Beginning to flesh out what will probably be eight figures. The base for the first came from an old artillery kit, I think.



I like the pose because it reads kind of bored or impatient. Put him in an infantry uniform. He will be standing guard at the truck. Hornet head makes the figure in my opinion.



Had some fun working on the bell. While most of it won't be visible from the exterior of the bell tower, I still enjoyed fiddling with it.



As always, comments are appreciated.

Nice work on your diorama. The Opel looks fabulous!

Very cool J , the Blitz , figure work , bell etc. all nicely done !!

Coming along great Jim & if that’s the ol’ Italeri Blitz you’ve done wonders with it

SF, Cheyenne, and Dioramartin:

Appreciate the kind words. The Blitz is from Tamiya. It's 1/35, but I swear it scales out smaller. It will be in the foreground of the dio, so it should be ok.

Looking good! Looking forward to seeing the finished project!

The cast of characters is largely complete. One more to build, I think and then on to painting.



The main actors of the dio will be the German officer and the church priest. Officer was a kitbash, partial sculpt and a Hornet head. Priest was from scratch save for the hands and Hornet head. I wanted to convey the officer's authority and the priest's helpless and diminutive stature. I built him significantly shorter than the officer. The Hornet head is of an old man which adds to the drama.



A little more work to go on the priest. Some smoothing of the folds of the sleeves and such.

Finally made the jump to Apoxie Sculpt. So much nicer than Milliput IMO.

Enjoy.

Very nice work thus far. Really looking forward to your progress on this one. 🔔

—mike

J this is a really neat concept, which you are doing a great job of bringing to life. Your overall plan is concise, and your execution is spot on. I am looking forward, as a fellow church builder, to see how it all looks with paint applied. All the elements are here for a very good scale representation of a particularly sad moment in the war.

If I might suggest to you, it looks to me that the left forearm of the priest is longer than it ought to be? I could totally be out to lunch here, but maybe double check it's scale?

I love the bells details, and am looking forward to your tree being finished also. Keep moving forward brother, we're loving it so far!

Really nice set of figures you got there. The priest looks kinda stiff. Maybe because he has no neck? I dunno if the head is attached yet, but having him looking down in desperate submission would give him also a less stiff stance..

Nice work J , can't really critique the priest fig , my efforts would have been a disaster . Major kudos for crafting him !!