Somewhere in Normandy, 1944 (2 Viewers)

[Njja]

Here is one of the King & County Para's I rigged up before Ken was nice enough to send me a spare Para he had shown in previous photo.

 

[desk11desk12]

One of the few pictures I could find of the German anti-tank gun bunker from the first Conte D-Day playset. This also had an interior and removeable roof to allow for a Pak40 anti-tank gun to be emplaced. In this photograph I simply slid the paint master in front of one of the backdrops I painted for the Studio. In my travels through Europe I noticed various concrete shelters and bunkers overgrown along countryside roads and this was my inspiration for the setting.
All the Best,
Ken

Hudson & Allen Studio
Dioramas & Scenic Supplies

Great master pieces Ken.

Carlos

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Thank You! The downside of the originals are that they can get heavy and this makes them difficult to ship. When I do displays for Museums they are generally hand delivered to insure that there is little or no damage. The other advantage to hand delivery is that if there is any touch up work then it can be done on the spot.
When these patterns were made I had to design in 'block out' so that the molds would last long enough to pull 40-50 parts before the silicone had to be replaced. As a result I feel that some of the details could have been better...and always are on one of a kind models.
The only way around this is to do a fair amount of hand finishing here in the studio...and I am looking into a practicle way to do very small runs in the near future. If you had a chance to see the customized one I made for ONWTC a few years ago I extended the church to twice the size and made the rafters and purlins see through as they would be, added doors, windows and 'frescos' on the interior walls. The next time I do this it will be even better as I have much more research for interiors now. With this said, I doubt that I would even bother to start with the foam model made for Conte as it is impossible to get any more, and I would want to use a different design.
Thanks Again!
Ken Osen

 

[Njja]

Here is my group of items designed by Ken and made by Conte.

First his Bridge which he was nice enough to autograph when I met

him at a show here in Atlanta.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Thank You! The downside of the originals are that they can get heavy and this makes them difficult to ship. When I do displays for Museums they are generally hand delivered to insure that there is little or no damage. The other advantage to hand delivery is that if there is any touch up work then it can be done on the spot.
When these patterns were made I had to design in 'block out' so that the molds would last long enough to pull 40-50 parts before the silicone had to be replaced. As a result I feel that some of the details could have been better...and always are on one of a kind models.
The only way around this is to do a fair amount of hand finishing here in the studio...and I am looking into a practicle way to do very small runs in the near future. If you had a chance to see the customized one I made for ONWTC a few years ago I extended the church to twice the size and made the rafters and purlins see through as they would be, added doors, windows and 'frescos' on the interior walls. The next time I do this it will be even better as I have much more research for interiors now. With this said, I doubt that I would even bother to start with the foam model made for Conte as it is impossible to get any more, and I would want to use a different design.
Thanks Again!
Ken Osen

Ken,

If you want to show off some of your work for some hard core and very appreciative collectors, we would love to have you as a special guest at the New York Symposium the second weekend next March!

 

[Njja]

A couple of shots of the large damaged farm house.

 

[Njja]

The church and priory with a column of vehicles pulling up.


Second is courtyard of priory


Last is rear of damaged church with two outer walls visible.

 

[Njja]

Okay anyone else a crane lover out there?

Here are two Marklin Crane dioramas I put together, both can be operated

as they sit by simply plugging them into transformer.

Buckets are quite rare and made by Wiad.

I have been searching for a Grabber also by Wiad for 3 years now.

Controller on bottom photo is just resting doesn't go there.

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Ken,

If you want to show off some of your work for some hard core and very appreciative collectors, we would love to have you as a special guest at the New York Symposium the second weekend next March!

Sounds like fun...We can chat at Chicago about it.
All the best!
Ken

 

[redhugh]

Okay anyone else a crane lover out there?

Here are two Marklin Crane dioramas I put together, both can be operated

as they sit by simply plugging them into transformer.

Buckets are quite rare and made by Wiad.

I have been searching for a Grabber also by Wiad for 3 years now.

Controller on bottom photo is just resting doesn't go there.

Njja, you have in your collection some of the coolest stuff outthere, where do you fit it all I have a simple crane , winder at the side, marklin coal depot, yours look like more fun The guy with the shovel is a del prado train driver

 

[Njja]

Njja, you have in your collection some of the coolest stuff outthere, where do you fit it all I have a simple crane , winder at the side, marklin coal depot, yours look like more fun The guy with the shovel is a del prado train driver

Well thank you very much Redhugh I consider that quite a compliment considering the wonderful train yard you showed us! And your photos are just
a pleasure to view!

I've been collecting as long as I can remember, wife just shakes her head!
Its in my den, wall unit in bedroom, and a couple of rooms down stairs

Not to mention a couple of walk in closets. I prefer to pass things to other collectors instead of packing it away.....you quickly forget what you have!

Heres a shot from my desk, and the second is the wonderful Dinky Toys
Military Series from the 1950's

 

[redhugh]

Its an aladdin's cave there Dinky toys look great

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

I found a picture of the Tiger tank in the barn last night. This was one of the early 21st Century Tigers so I think the space would be large enough for about anyones. If not a Pak 40, or even a Sherman would work as well. As mentioned earlier this was a two part casting and was painted to match the other sets that Conte released.

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

While looking for the last picture I ran across a couple othere images of patterns I made for the Conte W.W.II series. Here is a picture I took of the original sculpt for the US Airborne trooper pulling in his chute to collapse it and get clear of the harness. Some day I hope to paint one of these for my own collection.

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

This was a two figure set with a sniper, spotter and a resin destroyed building base. I do not recall seeing this as a painted production set, although I know it was released. The original concept was to design two or three sets like this that would interlock and create a destroyed village section with some GIs flanking the sniper. It never happened, but it could still be a neat set! I was working for Corgi at the time and finishing up a large museum model with a tight deadline.
Ken Osen

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Here is another image of the bunker entrance. This was a two part casting with a detailed interior and a snap in roof section. The nice thing about the foam and resin systems, is the ability to record and duplicate almost any surface details and textures you add to the original model as long as there are not deep undercuts. This set would have worked for W.W.I as well.

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

I always liked the look of these when I photographed them in Black & White...they can have a nice period look. This one is for you Debrito!
Ken Osen
Hudson & Allen Studio
Dioramas and Scenic Supplies

 

[Louis Badolato]

Really great stuff Ken! Impressive!!

 

[Wraith]

Njja, thanks for posting the resin para and other pics of your Conte buildings. Looks like we share the same good taste .

Ken, I appreciate you posting the photos of the masters. It's interesting seeing them (and the detail) before they went in to production. I have the German Sniper set, but never liked the paint job on it, but have got a few of the unpainted ones heading this way, so I can paint some up myself. It's a great figure.

Simon

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Hi there!
I agree that some detail was lost in duplication, although I know that the first 250 sets were very nice with good paint jobs as I helped pack those while I was working for Richard.
As far as the last sets I posted images of I never did see them after the originals were shipped from here. The sniper was a nice figure and the original had a scope that I turned from Brass to match the 1:1 scale one I had here on loan at the time. I was dissappointed to see the resin copy as the moldmaker used at the time had filled in around the scope mounts and there was a defect along the side of the reciever of the G-43. If you get your hands on a metal copy youi should be able to clean this up.
I would love to get one of these to paint myself...
All the best, Ken