The King Child - Diorama of the Day

I have previously shown another piece by Nicolas Cabaret of JBA Diorama. A small vignette called Baba Yaga. Nicolas is creating some of the most spectacular and inspiring work I have ever seen and I have spend the last couple of nights looking at all the wonderful pictures on his website.

This piece is called The King Child and features a wrecked ship crushed by the ice. In the centre of the diorama Nicolas has sculpted a nice scene of a child jumping into the arms of a man. I guess he has a long story to go along with the diorama and if you are the curious type you should really explore his site. There's a lot of treasures to find.

Great tutorial for figure painting

I have been thinking of getting more into painting large scale figures over the last couple of months. It looks very appealing to me. A very creative process with a lot more freedom than the usual military kits. Aircraft looks great and they are fun to build but you have something specific, you are working towards and most of the time it's a picture or a drawing of an actual aircraft. Hence you are working to make a rendition of the real aircraft. Most of the figures are a product of imagination and they don't exist in real life so you have no reference for your painting.

Because of this I have been looking at a lot of tutorials on figure painting. Rusty Nails of Grex Airbrushes made this excellent tutorial you can use as a step by step guide to how you achieve Translucent skin effects. Great video. Enjoy fellows.

Warfare in Scale Episode 17

It's time for another episode of Warfare in Scale. This time Carlos gets his hands on the new 4x4 MRAP from Kínetic Models and I have to say, it's a great looking kit. I would really like to see some builds of this model in domestic police schemes. That would be rather cool to see. Carlos Costa does the kit justice and have one beautiful looking model in the end. Anyway, another great show from Valencia, Spain. Enjoy fellows.

All new episode of Warfare in Scale

Yes guys! Episode 16 of Warfare in Scale is out. This time it's another AFV build and a very interesting subject. The Diamond T969 from Mirror Models LTD is a really cool looking kit. The level of details on the model is just amazing and Jose Moral really does a great job of building, painting and weathering it.

I get a lot of questions about the content of the WiS videos, concerning techniques and such but unfortunately I'm not able to answer those questions. The same goes for the Diorama of the Day video and I'm not sure  how to deal with that. I hate to leave people hanging and I'm trying to find a format that makes it possible but I haven't found it yet. I'm thinking of making some interview videos with the  different builders but that's a future project.

Anyway, enjoy the show and if you have never seen the kits from Mirror Models you should head on over to their website and have a peek. Just follow this link...

-Kasper

 

The Death of 6th Army in Stalingrad

Well guys. I did it again. Another video of the amazing work done by Paul Keefe. I really have a soft spot for Paul's work because of his ability to tell a story in his dioramas. I just love it and it really makes my job of creating a video very easy. I just have to find some related footage and the video just creates it self. Thanks Paul, for your inspirantial work. I hope everyone enjoy's it as much as I do.

This diorama is called "Death of an Army" and is in 1/48 scale. It was a commision to a private collector and deals with the collapse of the 6th German Army at Stalingrad. I am completely blown away by the level of detail in this piece. The way the snow has been modelled to look like the wind has caught it and blown it across the tank just looks so good.

If you want to see more pictures of the fantastic diorama and check some of Paul's other works out, head on over to his blog through this link. I will promise you he has more goodies in the bag...

-Kasper

An old abandoned Hind

A few days ago I came across this fantastic diorama. An old abandoned Hind, left behind to rust, in an public parking lot, after the fall of the Soviet Union. I was so impressed by the diorama I instantly got inspired and just had to make a video about it. Another DotD video...

The piece is in 1/35th scale and is called "Rust and Bones". The stunning artwork was created by Rick Lawler, the man behind the now famous "Twisted Fate" diorama. This is another fantastic example of how much weathering can add to a model. I much rather see these rusted and forgotten machines than well functioning killing machines. They are much more interesting to the eyes and do not promote war, in the same manner.

Rick has a lot of impressive pieces on his website and it's well worth a visit and if you want to see/read more about this diorama or check out his other work, you can follow this link to his propaganda site.

-Kasper

Airfix 1/24 Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB

Airfix has just released a new kit of the Hawker Typhoon. This one is a bit different though because it is in 24th scale and for this reason the kit is super detailed. Almost eveything you can think of, in the real airplane, is represented in the model. Internal gas tanks, machinegun mounting and one amazing looking engine.

The kit has been created with advanced CAD design which is used on all their new models. The kit has over 500 parts, and once assembled boasts an impressive wingspan of over 500mm. The kit looks like a giant project and I'm not sure I have the stamina to complete a model like this. How ever, I cannot hide my positive feeling for this kit. Maybe some day when I have more time on my hands?

The Hawker Typhoon (Tiffy in RAF slang), was a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium–high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane but several design problems were encountered and it never completely satisfied this requirement.
The Typhoon was designed to mount 12 machine guns and be powered by the latest 2000 hp engines. Its service introduction in mid-1941 was plagued with problems and for several months the aircraft faced a doubtful future. When the Luftwaffe brought the formidable Focke-Wulf Fw 190 into service in 1941, the Typhoon was the only RAF fighter capable of catching it at low altitudes; as a result it secured a new role as a low-altitude interceptor.

Battle of the Bulge Diorama by Paul Keefe

It's time for me to make some more videos for our Diorama of the Day series and the first video is ready. I have worked all night to get the video done because once I got started, I couldn't stop until it was completed. I guess a lot of model builders know that feeling. Just having to complete those damn tracks before you can go to bed...

First up is another masterpiece by Paul Keefe called "Butcher's Bill". I will properly present more of his work in the future, simply because I love the way Paul tells a story in his work. The level of details in his dioramas reminds me of a page from a good old cartoon. This is a 1/35 scale Sherman tank set in the Battle of the Bulge.

The diorama represents the last stand of the US 28th Infantry Division (Pennsylvania Army National Guard) at the Battle of Clervaux Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge. The 28th Infantry took 90% loses, killed and captured, but delayed the German 5th Panzer Army long enough for the 101st Airborne Division to get into position around Bastogne. The M4 depicted here was part of "A" Company of the 707th Medium Tank Battalion, attached to the US 28th Inf. Division at this time.

If you are hungry for more and want to see pictures of this stunning diorama, just click here to visit Paul's website.

-Kasper