This time i made a Danish Centurion tank from AFV-Club in 1/35 scale. I built this kit for Modellours Workshop. Thank you for sending me this kit! The kit is fantastic, there are only a few better tank kits available. I made 3 videos about the kit and the built of this model, i hope it is helpful for all fellow modellers :)
Modellours Workshop sent me two Märklin railway tank wagons in 1/87 scale. I had the free decision what to do with these. I decided to add a heavy weathering to the first wagon, with lots of rust and dirt. It was a big challange because i never weathered an object like this. Some research was needed in order to find out which types of weathering are common for railway cars. I used pigments from Vallejo and MIG aswell as various chipping techniques, like dipping a sponge into acrylic paint or drybrushing.
I thought that weathering the second wagon in the same way would be a little bit boring, so i applied some "nose art" and other colourful decals to give that wagon a unique look. It was a very funny work :-)
This diorama shows German troops in an occupied Ukrainian city in summer 1941. The tank model is a Panzerkampfwagen Mk IV, 744(e) (A13) from Bronco Models. The kit is quite nice, but some large parts were twisted and it required many nerves to assemble the model. Most parts are very small and thin, so there was always the danger of breaking parts. Usually it takes me 1 week to assemble and paint a 1/35 scale tank, this one took me 4 weeks. Therefore the kit is good for long dark winter evenings, but it is bad if you want a fast result.
The diorama from MiniArt had the usual quality. The details are nice, but the walls of the house have a very bad fit. Thats not a big problem, it is only a matter of filling the gaps. Overall i´m very satisfied with the MiniArt houses, they are beneficial (compared to other house kits) and they offer a large variability.
The soldiers are all from Dragon, taken from different sets and dog is from Tamiya.
I painted the models with acrylic paints from Revell and Lifecolour. Oil paint washes and MIG pigments were used for the weathering.
This figure from Pegaso Models shows a Hoplite of the 5th century B.C. The assembly of the white metal parts was easy, no filler was needed. I painted the figure with acrylic paints from Revell and Lifecolor. Oil paints and pigments were used for shadows and dust effects.
Diorama background:
This is second part of my previous diorama of a German Panzerjager Marder 1 of Battle of Carentan 1944, On 12 June 1944, German Wehrmacht & the US troops started streets war in Carentan City of France, the defending German were lack of ammunition & withdraw from the city centre. This M101 Howitzer was very common field gun since World war II, the gun crews quickly set up the gun and prepare to fire shortly after the German & Marder 1 withdrew from the same broken hut.
I painted some Roman legionaries a while ago and was thinking of building a diorama for them. The Raetian Limes is quite close to my hometown, so i decided to build it and to add the figures.
The figures are mainly from Caesar Miniatures, the barbarians are from various manufacturers like Italeri, Revell and MiniArt.
I painted them with acrylic paints from Revell.
The watch tower is a laser-cut kit from Fredericus rex and consists of cardboard and thin wood. I tried to add a dark wash, but i soon realized that the thin material starts to disintegrate and to bend, so i stopped the procedure.
The research and construction of the diorama made a lot of fun, maybe i will do more of this stuff, like a Roman fort or harbour scene.
The diorama shows Germanic bandits who raided the back land and now try to return into the safety of Germania. To get there they have to cross the Limes border. Unfortunately they are hunted by roman Legionaries and have a unit of roman watchmen in front. Now they have to fight their way through, which is almost impossible considering the numeric superiority of the romans.
I made a quite detailed video about the history of the Limes and the construction of the diorama. Enjoy!
I saw this diorama on the exhibition "Faszination Modellbau Friedrichshafen 2011". In my opinion it is one of the best dioramas i have ever seen. Despite the very small scale it looks almost photo-realistic and the sheer amount of details is stunning. Enjoy!