Hi everyone. I have made a little head way on my ardennes dio and thought I would post a few pics to get some feedback. This is my first sherman model in about 8-9years. So let me know what you think of her. For those unfamilar with the setting of the dio its in the ardennes forest and there is a german hetzer and schwimmwagen to be used in the dio. The sherman has a broken track when the allies had hastily retreated and the germans are picking clean anything the allies didnt have time to get such as fuel. The sherman still has some final weathering to do such as the pastels and such. Forgive the poor quality pics as it was a little late in the day when I took these. Please fire away and let me know what you think. Cheers Kevin





I will see if I can get some better pics too. Thanks for looking

Awesome work! I love the landscaping. What did you use for the grass?

Pat, glad you like it. The tall grass is heki wiildgrass. Here are a couple more pics (I think better) of the sherman.


Cheers Kevin

Good quality work as always. Only comment on the sherm is to not forget the antenna. I would add a bit more ripped up road where the sherm drove along the road.
I'm a bit concerned with the amount of road that will be available for the hetz and schwim to pass. I would suggest that you have the figure that was pointing the schwim point in the opposite direction. As if he's saying "backup and give the hetz room" From what I remember of the first few images the scene was to stress free for the german vehicles. Not having a lot of room to get things through would have been more stressfull for the 'traffic cops'
A good title maybe 'in a pinch' will get rid of my whole concern......
Hope this makes sence...

Whoa, didn't notice the broken track there. Great touch! I especially like the indentation it made in the dirt.

Well bro, you certainly arent bad at what you do :-)
yet another bloody realistic scene and whats scary is it isn't even finished! :-)
Loving the flora and groundwork, and the sherman is excellent.
Cheers mate, keep it up!

wow! now that the sherman is somewhat done and weathered it looks awesome. Ive seen this dio come along and im lovin it! Cant wait to see the weathered hetzer etc. keep it up!
Ps...have you seen my ardenne camo on my 2 figs that u wanted to check out?
Ian

If it weren't for seeing the edge of the dio base I'd swear that was a real Sherman on the side of the road

Hi Kevin,
Your sherman is great! I think you have hit the OD colour on the head. With some wethering it will look even better.
I still think you should add a little snow around the sherman and on the side of the roads (ok ok I really love snow :-) )

Hi Kevin,

The 105 came out great!!, maybe a little more dirt here and there, and some stowage on the deck. 'Cos even the 105 is abandoned, the crew couldn't take all the stowage with 'em....
Again outstanding groundwork, maybe an idea for a Feature??

Can't wait to see it finished,
John.

Hi mate!

What can I say? I really like what I see! So, no comments but a question: Could you please hurry with finishing the Hetzer and figs? Cause I can't wait to see the finished dio :-) :-) :-)

Kevin, this is looking way to good. The Sherman looks great. The groundwork is excellent. And yessss..i am jealous.lol...Knowing what you have planned with this...i can't wait to see the finished product...Keep up the good work...
Mary

Hi Everyone, thanks for having a look and your comments. Scott-I amworkingonthe antenna and will keep your other ideas in my thoughts on this. Ian-I had a look and your figs are great!!!John-Thanks for thecomments andthe fruils!!! I really appreciate them. As for a feature we will just have to see.Andy I am still thinking on the snow. What does everyone else think? Should I put snow on this or leave the ground work dry? Let me know!!!Cheers Kevin

I think little patches of snow will look cool. But if you dont like that, than dont put any on. I think your ground work is too good to cover up.

Brother u re looking good in this dio . The groundwork is awsome as always. The shermie looks good and the antenna completes the picture. I dont know if some more waeathering would bve needed if i dont see it live from close .

Snow patches will add nicely but not to cover lots of the splenidn groundwork.

Waiting to see more .
Ure heading to another winner

Kevin,
Lookin' good, after our conversation yesterday I see where you are going. The weathering will help a great deal. The only comment I really have to make is the Ardennes setting. From all the reading and stories from the vets I knew, it was the worst weather they had had in that part of Europe for many years... The stories were of particular interest as one of my fathers good friend was there as a tanker and was terribly wounded during the battle of the Buldge. He said it got so "god Dam** cold in the tank that his feet were starting to freeze". He left the safety of the tank to move around to regain the circulation when they came under attack and he was severly wounded. He always told me how bad the conditions really were, and mud, mud, mud....The photo references I have give me the same impressions that there should be more mud, and snow should be included even if only in patches. From what I understand the weather was very cold but then would thaw creating a quagmire of mud in the roads. So much so that some of the roads were almost impassible by the non tracked vehicals. The roads remained really rough (like our B level roads can get, deep furrows) from the traffic well into the spring months. It's just a thought, after talking to you I went back and started looking at some of my references...

Did I answer your questions for allied colors in Korea? If you have any more let me know I am glad to help and more excitedly you have mentioned doing some allied stuff! YEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAWWWWWWW!

Paul

It could be before the snow really started to fall

Kevin,

Great looking Sherman. I am inclined to agree with Scott; the area behind the broken track gives the impression that the tank went off to the side prior to track damage, for whatever that is worth. extremely minor. As for snow, it would be a shame to cover such masterfully constructed groundwork, but from 16 December ’44 onwards the weather was how shall we say, FOUL.

Either way, the dio is simply another impressive work.

Jay

Maybe just a few small patches of snow in the grass and the bottom of the trees where drifts may tend to accumulate would be all that is needed to imply winter. No need to dump a lot of snow over such beautiful work.

Kevin: What can I say except it is looking fantastic. How do you achieve the color of the dirt in the road? As for the snow, early in the Bulge, there was not a lot of snow. So, I guess it is up to you and when the scene is taking place. I would recommend early, when the Amberican forces were being pushed back and there was quite bit if abandoned equipment left behind for the Germans to rummage through.

Keith

Wow, Jackhammer,hammer on the hard hwy:

Re the groundcover foliage — super. Your attention to detail is a wonder. I believe it is going to be smashing whether you add the weather or whether you don't :-) Meaning snow. I wrote of the following in a note last week. Have you ever used Woodland Scenics Subterrain Foam Putty for snow? I mix it w/ H2o and it goes on as smooth as you like depending on how much more water you brush on with your . . . er . . . ah . . . brush.

More pix, more imput, and thanks,

Regards

Kevin,
Nice work so far, I'm not much up on Shermans but your's looks the part!
Will be following this one (working on a Hetzer also)
Cheers,
Charles

oops, almost forgot my question to you.... is this 1:35 or are these the Tamiya 1:48 Sherman, Hetzer and Schim??

hy sorry for my englich but y neet your help can yuo explain me how do you do the dioram?? the terrean please
Sd.kfz

Hi everyone, Thanks for the comments and critiques. As for the snow...I am really still torn with doing it. I am thinking of a few options. Jay- It is going to be very early in the offensive where the germans have taken the allies by surprise and have been driving them back. Alos I am working on "tearing" up the ground a little to give a better sense of where the track broke. I made deep furrows in the road edge but I guess you cant see them to well. Paul- you answered my questions perfectly she is painting away as I type this. Keith- the secret to my dirt is after the celluclay dries I paint it with brown oxide craft paint(thinned with water) when this dries I paint it with khaki tan or trail tan craft paint. Then I do oil washes of burnt seinna and raw umber....followed by dry brushing of the tan paint and finally I use tamiya buff and airbrush this along the wheel tracks. I will do some experimenting and see how the snow goes. Any other comments are welcome. Cheers Kevin

Hi again everyone! Rick- glad you are liking it. I received your email with the snow ideas and like what you have done there very much. I hope to experiment with this a little bit and maybe it will find its way onto this dio. Charles- it is 1/35th scale. I would love to do 1/48th but there isn't any real figs for that scale yet. The hetzer is a dml one and its been an interesting build to say the least. I'll keep my eyes open for a look at yours too hopefully soon? Andres- First I would like to welcome you to armorama. Glad to have you onboard here. :-) Secondly, as for the vegetation I think I will direct you to an article I did...after you check it out and if you have further questions feel free to ask again here or please pm me and I will be happy to help. Here is the link
http://dioramas.armorama.com//features/523
Again all bad and good comments are welcome so please let me have it. Cheers Kevin