Here is the start of my Berlin45

Originally I was going to have a KV-1 rolling down main street Berlin but research showed that it was highly unlikely a KV-1 would have survived till 1945.




The KV-1 has been eliminated from the dio. The PAK 40 has become a casualty rather than a functioning weapon.


I plan on having a number of Russian soldier assaulting a German position anchored by an MG42.

all I see is a red x shermies

Yeah Luke. I had the wrong picture loaded and was in the mmiddle of editing when you posted. It should be all fixed now

looks great

Very nice, I like the rubble pattern, looks like it was built up for a defensive position

Alan:

Yeah, I go along with Sgt. Major Shain, really nice
rubble pattern. The way you've arranged the "rows"(?)
or locations of rubble is very interesting and eye
appealing. The locations of the walls and the amount
of those verticals plus the size or volume of those
walls in right on the money. Do NOT overpower what
the scene will be. Good composition, arrangement. This will be a very nice presentation.

Hope you will keep sending us pix of the other stages
of this very promising start.

Ooooooooops, Alan

I made a mistake in one of my sentences and it,
unfortunately, changed the meaning.

That sentence that read: Do NOT overpower what
the scene will be. Good composition, arrangement.

ah . . . it should have read:

DOES not overpower what the scene will be, meaning
when your figs and other elements are added. IMHO,
w/ dios more — as in filling every space of a dio —
isn't always better.

And good "editing" or with my past career,
" good EDITORS make mo money
than reporters". It's not always easy to determine
what should go and what should stay. Sometimes
less becomes More, eh?

Looks good, But you should have left the building pink :-) sorry couldn't resist.
Great job so far what did you use for the rubble ( Plaster? )

redleg

Firt thing I did was to prepare the rubble. I took a huge scoop of dry wall plaster and spread it about 1/4 inch thick on a piece of tin foil to dry for 2 days.

Second step. The rubble piles started as broken leftover pink foam arranged into the piles. Then tissue soaked in diluted white glue was used to cover the foam chunks. This is necessary so the paints do not melt the foam. Any exposed pink foam will melt with certain paints.

Third step, cut some cork bricks.

Once the tissue from step two is dried you paint it whatever undercoat you wish. I did mine in gray and black. Then you crack up the plaster from step one into a bag and glue it all over the tissue. Mix in cork brick. I also misted all the rubble with diluted white glue again us sprinkled the plaster powder residue at the bottom of the bag from step one into as many nooks and cranny and onto the flat street.

Paint the plaster chunks the building color and the brick a mix of reds grays and blacks.

Scatter assorted wood debris, paper, I-beams and whatever other junk your imagination can dream up.

Now I have a question for all you folks!

I have the Tamiya Street Sign Set. I already used up the lamps in other dios. I want to use the steel poles with the signs. I don't know German so I don't know if I should use

1) Street names (could someone give me a few?)
2) Something like Party HQ
3) Another city with KMs from Berlin.

Good morning

While the composition of the dio is very good, i think that it is to big for the scene you want to show. I would turn a bit the left ruin and gain (cut) a bit of the dio.

Here are a some answers for your questions:
(i am not german, just speak it, looked it up on the net)
Street names:
-Wilhelmstrasse
-Spandauerstrasse
-Potsdamer Strasse
-Leipziger Strasse

Distanz to towns:

Leipzig 192 km
Dresden 193 km

A HQ is a "Hauptquartier". As for what HQ i think we need some more details what you would like to show.

Cheers
Claude

Alan, nice composition... I like the overall look. I would like to see how you plan on intergrating the figures and see their placement in relation to the rubble. I would try to make sure the figures have a good postion in the rubble, so they look like they belong where you position them, not akward, know what I mean...

BTW Kevin & Mary told me you were looking for a few things, I will see if I can help out.

I really like the PAK as a KIA. Always seen in pictures, rarely in dioramas - A+

The large building is nicely shaped with the overhang. I'd like to see some detail added to the structure, small stone details gutters, drain pipes etc.

The rubble pattern is good (as mentioned), don't forget the little stuff.

Coming along well

It looks a very good dio project to me! Thre's just one thing: I think it's too wide a space to occupy with an infantry charge! Or maybe I'm wrong!Well, keep it going and keep us posted! Can't wait to see more progress on it!
Cheers and happy modelling!
Prato

Alan, take a look in the Berlin '45 forum ; the KV-1S (or KV-1C) DID survived and took part in the Berlin campaign.

Alan,

On the other hand, this fits you more, I guess:

Found this on: http://www.2iemeguerre.com/blindes/shermanrusse.htm and it was based on the Osprey-Vanguard N° 26 booklet "le char Sherman en service dans l’US Army et les alliés"

Entièrement peint en Olive drab, ces chars portent un insigne géométrique qui les identifient comme appartenant vraisemblablement à un corps blindé. La bande blanche et la croix de toit ont été peintes sur les tourelles des chars russes en avril1945 pour faciliter leur identification par l’aviation alliée opérant au dessus de la capitale du Reich

Translation (simplified):
Painted in OD, the tanks wore a geomatrical insignia to identify the seperate tank corps. The white band and cross were added to the Russian tanks in april 1945 with the goal to be identified by airplanes during the attack on the capital of The Reich (Berlin).

Academy brings a 1:35 Sherman with Berlin '45 markings also!







SHERMIESRULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Taking everything you guys have posted into consideration I too agree that there seems to be too much open space to tell a good artistic story of a Russian/German street battle. One would have to strain the eyes looking for hidden troops. While that may have been the way in real life it is not a good presentation to a viewer.

I am leaning more towards a KIA Russian tank. This would fill the dead space in front of the large building. The reason I don't think a running tank would be a good idea is that you would have to be suicidal to stay at your MG42 with a tank bearing down on you less than 50 feet. Plus I think the tank would have taken out the position long before it got that close.

Darn it! Looks like I'm going to have to pick up another Russian tank. There goes the budget. I think the KIA tank will give me the opportunity to bust open my first interior.

Alan, looks good so far, You just have to hate going over the budget again. These dios with Russian troops and tanks have a tendancy to do that to you :-) Cheers Kevin

Hi Alan,

I have a couple of suggestions, take them for what they are worth.

1. Cut down the base size. Maybe down the middle of the side street, and reduce the front to back by having the building more of a facade.

2. Add depth to the destruction of the street, a broken street surface with loose cobble stones and exposed electrial or plumbing would add interest.

3. Put a tank back in, maybe a T34/85 or JS? Climbing over the rubble strewn street.

4. have maybe some Volksturm with a Panzerfaust in a desperate last defense type pose?

Just some ideas that came to mind, I hope not to insult you efforts.

There is definitely going to be more detail in the buildings. The rubble is only the basic right now but I plan to include more "personal" stuff in the debris such as dishes, furniture, broken paintings....

As for cutting the base I don't think I can do that now without cracking up the rubble piles and building.

I have decided to add back in a tank but it will be a KIA Russian (type TBD by price and availability).

I dunno Alan, a nice sharp new bandsaw would cut it with minimal damage at this point. Again just an idea.

how can he get a new band saw when another tank barely makes budget?

Like the start of the dio. Still trying to work mine out...lol. A useful one for street names is the After The Battle intel map of Berlin. I picked mine up off Amazon for a few quid. I've been using that and Google Earth to have a look around Berlin.

Well thats an interesting question, which I am not sure is germain to the topic? Maybe you use a regular fine too saw and just cut slowly then?

Gi_B I'm sure you could figure somthing out, you seem to be able to read and write ok. :-)

MIG productions do a KIA T-34, but it's not cheap. Why a Russian tank though? It could be any german vehicle (soft skin or armoured), any civilian vehicle or even a tram carriage as a makeshift barricade. It could even be a downed aircraft - an FW-190 or a the wing of a Lancaster...