The Road to Paris...1944 (1 Viewer)

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Hi All!
I wanted to share a couple of images of a new Shelf Diorama I just finished call 'The Road to Paris...1944'. This depicts a small French village inland, on the way to Paris. These villages often have buildings in them well over two hundred years old, many of which are still in use today. This first image has one of my favorite K&C GIs looking down the road past the supporting armor.

This second image has a Paratrooper sampling some of the local products before moving out again. The M4A3 Sherman is a 1/30 scale R/C model that I reworked and detailed with various Hudson & Allen products.

All the Best!
Ken Osen

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Here is another image in full colour of the GIs enjoying some local wine. I wonder if the tankers got some too?
Additional images of this diorama are in the Hudson & Allen section of the forum under 'The Road to Paris...1944'.

I hope you enjoy!
Ken

 

[redhugh]

wow , a lot of small detail in that..especially like the building which looks quite intricate and authentic looking..also like the small touches such as the leaves on the ground

 

[binder001]

I'm curious about the Sherman used. What brand? I'm asking because I haven't seen that track before (which is NOT a true Sherman track type).

Gary

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Gary,
I have posted images of this tank before and you are correct about the track, but I consider this a minor point for what I paid for it. This is a kids R/C tank that I picked up at a truck stop. It was cheap, but there was extensive rework done to it to bring it to it's current level, including grinding off stowage and replacing it. I also had to fabricate a few parts, but that was fun too!
I runs well but it takes off at top speed both forward and back, right and left.
The turret and gun elevation is also remote control and that is pretty much right on the money for scale speed and that is whey I like it so much. I guess there is still a kid in me there!
I think I can rewire the power to the drive motors to get the speed down, but I have been pretty busy lately .
I am in the process of finding a few more to rebuild and I may disengage the main drive motors if I can't get the speed down for those. This also eliminates the possibility of driving it off the shelf, which I have almost done...28 inches of road gets eaten up pretty fast.
If I do that, I will pattern a correct Sherman track link and cast some up to replace these. This also allows me to weather the track and road wheels to my liking. I suppose if I simplified the link connectors from what was really used, I could make working metal tracks. This is much easier to do on German style tracks however.
In the end it would make an excellent scale model with a bit more work.
Hope this helps!
Ken

 

[PolarBear]

Ken

A beautiful diorama both in color and black and white.
It is always fun to see someone with your array of skills playing with their toys.

Randy

 

[binder001]

Ken, Thanks for the info on the tank. The overall effect is nice, as is all your work. Being the resident "Shermanoholic" I happened to notice the "groove" in the middle, otherwise the tracks aren't too bad. They at least have the end connectors in the right place (Tamiya Stuarts, and a few other models over the years had the connectors in the middle of the track block). As far as "working tracks" I recommend against it unless you are a glutton for punishment. The M4 used a type called "double-pin, single-block track". That means that there are two pins for each track block, held together by the end connector. At 79 shoes per side (on a real M4A3) that means a LOT of pins and parts. It's annoying enough to build the multi-part tracks for plastic models, let alone make them working. You are better off using your time making your beautiful scenes and ignoring the tank nuts.

Gary

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Thanks Gary,
I am well aware of the connecting system on the Sherman tracks... but this Detroit you know, and we still know how to figure things out.
Many of my buddies restore full sized vehicles here and one owns a very large collection of soft skins.
I just got off the phone with one of them that decided to scratch build a 1/2 Ton Dodge ambulance in 1/6th scale in metal to match his full sized restoration.
I don't think the tracks are at all impossible, but you are right in that it might be easier to reto fit the existing tracks with new rubber blocks. That would take care of the immediate aesthetic issue and add to the accuracy.
Once I go down that road there would be several other things to upgrade too I guess.
I suppose you know as well as I, the effects of 1/35th scale modeling and being a bit of a rivet head... the black hole of small details!
All the Best!
Ken

PS
The cats love to see this run across the floor...