Hello all,

I always seem to have to start with an apology so I'll get that out of the way first.  A job which sees me sat at a screen all day means that the last thing I want to do when I log off after an extremely busy day at work with a 45 minute commute each way is to log on again at home and as my modelling output is often very slow, I have little to post BUT, now I'm back in the modelling frame of mind again, I will try and get myself a little more organised and set aside a bit of time in the evening to sit at the bench, and a few minutes to check in on here and see what everyone else has been up to.

I brought this WIP diorama to the January meeting and have almost finished it so thought I'd share a few pics of the setting coming together.

The Jagdtiger is the 1/72 Trumpeter kit which I made during lockdown and painted with Tamiya acrylics.  I gave it a base of red oxide primer colour and then heavily weathered the finish to hopefully reproduce a vehicle after a long hard winter. 

After a bit of trial and error with a couple of attempts to get the finish I wanted - everything seemed a little too vivid - I discovered that a bit of surgical spirit helped tone down and fade the finish quite nicely.

The base is MDF with suitable coloured plaster/filler applied and contoured.  At the front right corner, I laid some bits of blue roll soaked in water and PVA glue and shaped it to make a rocky outcrop.  The trees are bits of the hedge from my front garden which I selected to give the impression of a prevailing wind from the right to help simulate some movement as I wanted the . had and the wall is some of that foam board which I soaked to remove part of the paper coating to leave a rougher finish.  I created the stones by scribing though the paper coating and into the foam beneath.  For the top, I sealed it with superglue and then sanded the profile once it was dry.  I was very pleased with the look of the wall and especially the stones which was fallen from the top and were part buried in the ground at the foot of it.  It was almost a shame to cover it in snow but it is a winter diorama so, out came the Krycell small scale snow, applied on top of a blast of Halfords clear lacquer and sprinkled from a sieve. 

As I wanted to depict the tank at halt with the crew taking a brew break, I decided I'd incorporate a bit of fire for them to keep warm by and after initially pondering a camp fire, I dismissed this in favour of an oil drum brazier.  I also wanted to try and show a bit of movement and so decided that I'd like to have the wind coming from the rear of the tank and therefore the trees - bits of a bush from my front garden - were selected with a prominent curve to make them appear shaped by a prevailing wind.  The flames were made by mixing acrylic paint with superglue - if you're quick enough, you can tease spikes and waves from it before it sets and so I also chose them so look blown by the wind.  I've incorporated a flickering orange LED in the bottom of the oil drum for added interest and the end result looks pretty cool (or hot in fact!!).  The lacquer and snow was also applied from the right to depict is being blown in from that direction.

I have a few accessories left to select and position and a wind break of a tarpaulin sheet (blue roll soaked in PVA glue and water) slung over a cable from the back of the Jagdtiger to the tree then the final positioning of the crew to decide and finally it will be finished.  My goal is to bring the finished article to the next meeting and then display it at Sword and Lance.     

Looking good.

Good work there Wizzel. Like the Brazier and the flickering LED, nice touch.

I decided to start work on the cable for the windbreak last night. Tying a bit of cotton to the rear towing eye of the JT and then to the tree and calling it "a rope" was far too easy so instead I found a bit of brass beading wire of what looked like an appropriate gauge, set about it with a file to key it for steel paint and then scored it diagonally to represent the twists of the real thing - at 1/72 scale?  Really Dave??

I then shaped each end - one into a hook and the other an eye - dipped each into superglue and plunged them into baking powder which, when set, allowed me to carve them into what will hopefully represent the towing hook and eye of the real thing (whether the real thing had a hook at one end and an eye at the other is irrelevant to me, it was fun doing it!).

The plan is to connect the hook end to the rear eye on the JT and wrap the other end with the eye around the tree and attach it to itself with a shackle.  I've yet to create the ears on the shackle and the pin, but I will stop short of making it threaded   

I have pictures but am struggling to upload them on this PC.  Will try later at home.

Hi Wizzel,
Posting pictures is relatively easy.
If you write your text, then go to preview, you will see your text and under that a space for attachments. Click on that, Go to your pictures on the computer and drag the ones you want into that space. No need to resize.
Once happy you've got what you want, then select post and it should all happen like magic.
Kevin

Thanks Kev, I must have stumbled across it by accident the first time but now I've hit the "preview", like you say, it's there as if by magic 

You're as mad as the rest of us!
Great work.

Insanity is one step away from genius!

Great work Dave.

Thanks folks.  Every time I speak to people at shows, they always say they used to model in smaller scales then as they got older they eyes made it necessary to built larger scales.  Let me tell you that larger scales scare me!!  For too easy to see how bad I am  , but actually that doesn't bother me, it's the enjoyment of a bit of trial and error (plenty of error and it's certainly a trial!!)

Anyway, I finally got brave enough to put the tarpaulin up - once the cable was fixed in place I draped a bit of blue roll over it and painted it with slightly diluted PVA and some green/black paint.  As it dried, I teased some folds into it to give it a "windswept" look.  Although I did put a folded piece of blue roll over the cable, it stuck to itself and looked like a single piece of cloth hanging down, so I laid a second piece on top at the back and kept it slightly away from the first piece until it dried so it looked a little more realistic. 

To avoid also painting the ground green/black I hit upon the idea of laying some cling film under the tarp in the hope that I could just slide it out when the thing was dry.  Luckily, it worked otherwise I would not be sharing this with you  . 

Just a bit of prodding to do and because I don't want it billowing up completely, I'll glue it to the ground in places, titivate the finish - maybe a dark wash in the creases - chuck a bit of snow on it  and then it'll be time start fixing the figures in their final positions and adding the few bits and pieces of equipment.   

I'm getting quite excited now as finally, this long overdue project nears completion.  I'm already planning the next...       

Looks good Dave.

Looks really good Dave, thanks for the tips along the way.

Quote from: cph64 on March 25, 2025, 05:51:56 PMLooks really good Dave, thanks for the tips along the way.

Agree, you certainly draw us in with your approach to diorama's. It all adds to the sense of reality.
Have a house point and a 'sticky bun'

When Salvador Dali was asked how he knew when his paintings were finished, he replied "I don't finish them, I just stop painting. So it was with this project - I just stopped modelling or it would have gone on and on! My goal was to get it done for the April meeting so I could take it to Sword and Lance and it's in the car ready to go.

Overall although it turned out to be different to the original idea in my head, I'm pleased with the result and other than the resin figures and accessories being a bit rough and ready in places, I enjoyed building this.

Really good Dave. It was good to see it 'in the flesh' at the club meeting.