Trudging through the Snow… A Panzer IV in the Ardennes Offensive (2 Viewers)

[tmanthegreat]

This is a more compact variation on a larger diorama I made back in January of this year featuring the latest FL Battle of the Bulge German Tank Riders hitching a ride on the FL Panzer IV Ausf. H model. As the tank with all the riders is almost a diorama unto itself, I decided to place it in a more compact vignette display with more realistic terrain and snow effect. The “war torn” tree and litter were made using a twigs found in my yard with finely sifted soil and snow powder sprinkled in layers to create the “dirty snow” effect.

I like the way this little display came out and the Panzer IV Ausf. H is still one of my favorite FL models

 

[REVWARBUFF]

This looks very nice!! Your compact version turned out great.

I like your use of actual tree branches or twigs. I've done that on several occasions with my scenes and it adds a good deal of realism.

It's amazing how a very small tree branch fits into our scale models to appear as if they're large trees.

 

[Gebhard]

That looks great

 

[tmanthegreat]

Thank you for the kind compliments, Gebhard and REVWARBUFF, I appreciate it

REVWARBUFF, while I’ve long used bits from my yard in dioramas (e.g. fragments of wood chips and stucco to form rubble), I’ve only more recently started using loose sifted sand/dirt, soil, twigs, as well as model railroad sand and snow powder in my dioramas, often sprinkling it over terrain matting to add more realism and hide figure bases. Despite the mess, use of such natural materials really adds a lot to the realism of a scene!

 

[REVWARBUFF]

Thank you for the kind compliments, Gebhard and REVWARBUFF, I appreciate it

REVWARBUFF, while I’ve long used bits from my yard in dioramas (e.g. fragments of wood chips and stucco to form rubble), I’ve only more recently started using loose sifted sand/dirt, soil, twigs, as well as model railroad sand and snow powder in my dioramas, often sprinkling it over terrain matting to add more realism and hide figure bases. Despite the mess, use of such natural materials really adds a lot to the realism of a scene!

Great minds think alike!! I've been doing the same thing. My back yard is semi-wooded so I have a constant flow of resources to use. I recently began using real dirt as well.

Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing here on the forum.

 

[Panzer ace]

Simply incredible.

Perfect placement of the tank riders which is not easy to do!

 

[WesternOutlaw]

Really impressive, Tman. The bold colors on the tank and cammo uniforms look great. Mean!

 

[Hunter Rose]

I'd really like to see First Legion do a release of this Panzer IV with zimmerit. That would be a nice add on.