New vignettes for Chicago (2 Viewers)

[villagehorse]

This piece originally featured in the Chicago show in 2010. So, so nice, a real testament to Ken’s talent. Robin.

 

[WBritain]

Well, Here is the M18 winter diorama I have been working on between other projects. I will probably do a little more work on the snow and slush elements before I call it done as I have a Civil War display I am trying to finish too. I like the way it turned out and will post a couple more photos. I used extra tank crew from our add-on set and the one fits the .50 cal position perfectly…

 

[WBritain]

Here are additional photos of the new pedestal diorama featuring the M18 and some GIs trudging through the show and slush. I added deep vehicle tracks and foot prints. Kinda like when I was a kid growing up in Michigan…

 

[Medic 314/79th]

Thank you for the effort and detail put into the M18! I wish it had a little more weathering, but as it is, it is a marvelous product.
the detail and accuracy is very pleasing. Even the tiny canteen mounted to the turret looks good!
It's nice to see some Allied armor. And this was an excellent choice!
Perhaps if the budget allows, a couple more crewmen wearing M1 helmets? TD crewmen wore these predominately, due to their open top
turrets. Thanks again! Nice work!

 

[WBritain]

I recently sculpted 2 new tankers wearing the M1 helmet over the fiber tankers helmet for the M4A3 (76) medium tanks (Shermans) that will be released in a few months. I enjoyed sculpting these and I agree that more crewman for the M18 and M10 wearing only the M1 helmet will be good additions… I just fished some halftrack crewman so these new tankers are moving up the list pretty fast.
Weathering is a slippery slope as far as mud, chips and even rust (the latter would be rare on an operational vehicle with a short service life) We have taken a light approach to our releases and hope to offer weather sets with instructions next year for those willing to do a little modeling to customize their models.

 

[fmethorst]

I have a very simple routine with vehicle models (and figure boots etc.) where I apply literal mud. This is simply dirt that I have passed through a set of geological sieves down to 230 mesh (63 microns). This essentially reduces the scale of the dirt. The resultant dirt is basically dust. I take a small amount, mix water into it until I get the consistency I'm looking for (for instance chunky) and then dab it on with a brush. It sticks and dries. I'm quite happy with the result. it works on figure boots as well. The nice thing is it's non permanent so if I want to reduce the level of dirt it will simply brush/blow off.

 

[Medic 314/79th]

Very creative! I had not thought of using real dirt....But it looks very convincing!

 

[jason foote]

Awesome displays. Wish i could be there

 

[WBritain]

I recently sculpted 2 new tankers wearing the M1 helmet over the fiber tankers helmet for the M4A3 (76) medium tanks (Shermans) that will be released in a few months. I enjoyed sculpting these and I agree that more crewman for the M18 and M10 wearing only the M1 helmet will be good additions… I just fished some halftrack crewman so these new tankers are moving up the list pretty fast.
Weathering is a slippery slope as far as mud, chips and even rust (the latter would be rare on an operational vehicle with a short service life) We have taken a light approach to our releases and hope to offer weather sets with instructions next year for those willing to do a little modeling to customize their models.

Here is a pretty good photo of the crew of our M10 with M1 Helmets on…as mentioned this seems pretty typical of crews of TDs in the later months in the ETO.

 

[Medic 314/79th]

Yes! very nice! I will be watching for those! Thank you!

 

[WBritain]

I managed to finish another WWII pedestal diorama for the show before I worked on the new ACW one ( I will post that this weekend) This new display features a selection of our WWII 101st Airborne figures involved in a fire fight with an unseen enemy at the edge of a woods. I designed it so you could see into the woods from the front edge, drawing you to the center of the action. One of the men has been hit and the young Lieutenant looks back for a medic. The two figure prone .30 cal M1919A6 set will be in later this year along with the soldier running with the M3 Grease gun. The rest of the figures are all currently available. It certainly inspires me to add a few more combat poses…

 

[WBritain]

I managed to finish the Pedestal base with marching Rebs between everything else I have been making for the Chicago Show. This one is pretty straight forward and uses all of the recent releases, along with a couple of the Collector’s Club Rebs in Butternut. I added a small bit of Queen Anne’s lace toward the rear of the diorama for some visual interest…an easy but time consuming task!

 

[Hunter Rose]

The prone Airborne machinegun team looks great. I'd like to see you add a similar prone rifleman or two firing. Combined with your previous kneeling firing figure in greatcoat, that would make a great little firing line.

 

[Mike97]

Fantastic work ! someday, I've got to get to Chicago for the show.

 

[Desertkiwi]

Love the tank mud tip, thanks for sharing that...

 

[WBritain]

Soldiers Everywhere…Here is a small pedestal base I finished the other day featuring 4 of the new French Imperial Guard due in this fall along with a few of our Village Green civilians. Ericka designed the period appropriate floral pattern for the strawberry seller’s dress, so I positioned her to see it. The H&A brick and stone gate gives the small diorama some presence and the laser cut iron gate is a nice see-through detail. All of these displays will be available to purchase during the show…but no shipping please.

 

[WBritain]

Here is a second small pedestal base I made at the same time as the French Imperial Guard diorama. Its features a small selection of German Grenadiers we offer in an urban environment during the last months of the war in Europe. I added the No Parking sign as a nod to the fact that these fellows are armed with Panzerfausts to enforce the restriction…although I suppose once hit by one of these the vehicles will be parked for good!

 

[WBritain]

I realized that I had not built a display featuring the M3A1 Halftrack… so I turned this one out in between other tasks. I wanted a couple of GIs in the back so I made minor modifications to two of the M5 3 inch Anti-tank gun crewmen and removed the base from the GI standing in the open raincoat. It works pretty well, but I think if I move ahead with the crew I have sculpted for the halftrack I will make them primarily out of resin to reduce the weight on the fine suspension. I think all metal alloy figures would weaken and distort the tracks and road wheels over time and it is the trade off for the fine detail. To make use of the dead space behind the wall I have a GI checking out the abandoned supplies from a German 88mm Flak crew.

 

[Mike97]

Frikin awesome !

 

[BHogan]

Soldiers Everywhere…Here is a small pedestal base I finished the other day featuring 4 of the new French Imperial Guard due in this fall along with a few of our Village Green civilians. Ericka designed the period appropriate floral pattern for the strawberry seller’s dress, so I positioned her to see it. The H&A brick and stone gate gives the small diorama some presence and the laser cut iron gate is a nice see-through detail. All of these displays will be available to purchase during the show…but no shipping please.

This is stunning! Terrific use of the Village Green pieces with the Imperial Guard.

Brendan