Hero of the Soviet Union Tiger 212 1943

ForbesHutton · Post by **ForbesHutton** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 5:32 am

Coen wrote:I know that's your schwimmwagen in there... Isn't that your ass too?
Was it you that sent me a pair of fallschimjager with a pair of donkeys?

No that's not my ass, mine's been following me everywhere since whenever.

Nope, didn't send you fallshimjagers.

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 2:28 pm

Bacon candy?...and an ass........you're killing me

All joking aside that dio is going to be awesome,I think that the figures you chose fit the story perfectly

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:19 am

Work began on the diorama now that all of the figures, vehicles, and buildings are constructed.
After the mockup I started building the shack out of popcicle sticks. All cut to various sizes to mimic 1/35 lumber as best as I could.
Normally I'll use coffee stirrers but I was all out. They're longer, thinner and skinnier so they better reflect 1/35 lumber. The popcicle sticks are more scale to a joist then a wall board.
Either way... it's what I had so it's what I used.
I've also altered the setting of the diorama a bit. It was going to be mid winter on the northeastern front of 1944. Now It's late summer, early fall on the same front. I'm tired of doing winter dios of late (I've built 8 in the last few months), so I wanted to do something different.
The problem with that is that I built a December 1943 issued Tiger I. There's weren't too many of those around in September/October of 1943.
But it's only a problem for the rivet counters, as I'm going to continue in spite of it. I'm sick of winter scenes at the moment. So there hahaha.

So I started with the shack. All the boards cut to shape using my Chopper and a hobby knife.
The Roof...

The frame...

The Mess...

Get to the Chopper....

The shack is incredibly simple to build and you can make it much more complicated if you want. (I may yet )
I filmed a video on how to build a diorama and I'll link it below for any that are interested. I cover the construction in more detail in the video.
But it's not that hard. The most difficult part is visualising what you want to build and then building it from parts.

Then I mixed up some celluclay, added some burnt umber and raw umber paint to it and spread it all over the surface of the diorama.
I added it in two layers about 4-8 mm deep, with about 20 minutes between the layers. I do this because it tends to self-level when in thick piles or in mounds. If I let it dry for 20-30 minutes and add another layer the levelling effect is reduced. If I wanted to eliminate it, I would wait a day then add the second layer.
Once I built it up to the level that I wanted I smoothed out the "cake icing effect" where the celluclay takes on the look of sticky icing. You smooth that out with an artist's palette knife or something similar. Once you do that the surface looks more like a mud or wet ground. That's what you want. When it dries it will loose the shininess and look like earth.
After that I added surface texture to the wet celluclay. Some tallus, about 4 different kinds of sand, some coarse gravel, some crusher dust, and kitty litter for the road surface. I also added the furrow made by the tiger as she slide down the bank and the tracks of the bergepanther as she sat on the road. I didn't add tracks for the schwimmwagen as it's too light to make them on a gravel road.

I added some static grass to the area around the furrow as it's meant to represent the torn sod churned up by the passage of the tiger. It will all get painted when I come to that stage.
I marked out the fence posts and the fallen tress with a dowel and some cocktail sticks.

So now it will sit and dry for 3-5 days before I work on it again. It needs base paints for some of the texture materials, ground scatter, grasses, bushes, trees... still a ways to go yet.

Here's the video of the work so far, it's a bit over an hour long so I'll warn you now.
I'll be re-releasing it in April in a multipart series that will be broken up into many shorter videos.

[youtube]hZGu9L7XjsE[/youtube]

Filmman586 · Post by **Filmman586** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 12:47 pm

Great work Michael!

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 1:01 pm

Very nice groundwork,you really nailed the furrows the Tiger made sliding down the hill

I was wondering if you could get the same effect using Plaster of Paris? I was wondering as I have some left over from one of my kids school projects.

OliveDrab · Post by **OliveDrab** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 7:39 pm

Superb work, just Superb

SyntaxModels · Post by **SyntaxModels** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 4:52 am

Almightly Lord Coen The Dio Master at work! Hail Coen! Hail Coen!

Nige99 · Post by **Nige99** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 7:34 am

Love the dio so far Mike

you got that texture bang to rights!! Can't wait to see more dude. 3-5 days

can I wait that long

well done buddy.

Kevinzane · Post by **Kevinzane** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 9:55 am

Amazing man! Good work!

alextheblue · Post by **alextheblue** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 10:02 am

What an amazing build thread! First you show us your ass and then your chopper - what next!!

Seriously though, that ground work is amazing and I can't wait to see all this lovely modelling goodness come together!!

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:49 pm

Hillbilly wrote:Very nice groundwork,you really nailed the furrows the Tiger made sliding down the hill I was wondering if you could get the same effect using Plaster of Paris? I was wondering as I have some left over from one of my kids school projects.

You could, it's the same sort of thing. Celluclay is just ground up paper and plaster of paris. Straight plaster of paris would be a bit more difficult to work with as it's a bit runny. So you'd have more layers. If you have drywall compound that would work as well, but it's very prone to cracking when it's too thick.

alextheblue wrote:What an amazing build thread! First you show us your ass and then your chopper - what next!!

Seriously though, that ground work is amazing and I can't wait to see all this lovely modelling goodness come together!!

I got my ass to the chopper hahaha.

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:09 am

Today I oil washed all three vehicles with some burnt umber, then flat coated them, but before I flat coated the Tiger I experimented with some Ultimate Dark Dirt on the zimmerit. I've been wanting to try the dark dirt on zim for some time but I just never had a good subject until now.
The great thing about clay based washes is that if applied to a gloss coat you can wash and remove quite easily, so it's worth experimenting with.

Before I forget though, I made an addition to the shack. I didn't like the shape of it and I wanted a more little house on the prairie look to it.

I added a good coat of the Ultimate dark dirt to only the areas that have zimmerit on them. The idea being to add shadow and a dirt effect to the zimmerit. Before it was a bit hard to see the zim, even after the oil wash. My hope was that this would bring it out a bit more.

I moistened a cotton bud and used it to remove the DD from only the raised surface of the zimmerit, leaving a large amount behind in the troughs of the zim.

A second experiment that I've been wanting to try for some time was a pin wash. Normally you would apply a pin wash to a flat coat, but I wanted to be able to to remove it if I didn't like the effect. The Ultimate DD worked excellently. I'll try it on a flat coat later today, but on a gloss it was perfect.
Here you can see it on all of the weld seams on the turret and upper deck of the hull.

So as a whole I was well pleased with the effects. I wouldn't use the DD on every vehicle or on every surface, more experimentation is needed for that to prove itself out, but for this application it's excellent.

And in other news.... the bergepanther is oil washed an some Ultimate DD has been added to the floor of the working compartment (not like you could see it anyway) Then it the tiger and the schwimmwagen were flat coated with Alclad Flat coat.

And finally here is a video on the Ultimate Dark Dirt experiment.

[youtube]M5afGBSz5Bo[/youtube]

alextheblue · Post by **alextheblue** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:16 am

All looking exceptionally spiffy.

Especially love the effect of the Ultimate DD on the zim, it stands out really well now and looks just perfect!

SyntaxModels · Post by **SyntaxModels** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 11:37 am

Great work there Mike! Loving all of this so far!

CrazyMajor · Post by **CrazyMajor** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 1:14 pm

This is some amazing work here. Not only myself was speachless but I managed to get serveral on my work college spechless. They loved your work.

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 3:06 pm

Thanks Rhys

You're too kind bud.

The Tiger I is finished to the point where it's ready to be installed on the diorama. All that's left is the placement weathering and environmental effects like dust dirt mud and wet effects. Next I'll do the same for the bergepanther and the schwimmwagen then finish the figures. By then I hope that the diorama will be dry and ready for the next stage of work.

Yevgeny · Post by **Yevgeny** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 3:13 pm

Oh Coen!
You and your Tigers!!
I want to make one now!!!
And a diorama!!!!

It's all your fault.
Epic work by the way.

Kingdan · Post by **Kingdan** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 3:17 pm

WOW

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 9:53 am

Thanks you two and sorry Yev

Now the Bergepanther, Schwimmwagen, and the figures are finished to the point of placement effects. Pigments, mud and dust still need to be added yet. The diorama is still a bit damp so things will be on hold until it's good and dry.

Here's a few shots of the bits so far.

Like I had said, I still need to add the mud, dust and dirt yet, I also need to add the exhaust stains to both the tiger and the panther. So as I do that I'm certain that I'll end up picking and pawing over them as I do while I wait for the dio to dry.

alextheblue · Post by **alextheblue** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 10:02 am

I see you baby, shaking that ass!

This is going to look spectacular - you really have a knack of bringing figures to life!

JediBoer · Post by **JediBoer** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 10:46 am

Wow, those figures look awesome, Sir! Do you mind sharing which paints you used for painting the figures?

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 10:50 am

I use all sorts my friend. I don't stick to any one kind. Mostly what I have on hand. At the moment they're mostly painted in Vallejo Model Colour and Model Air, a bit of Life Colour, and some Mig's AMMO paint. I use oils for the washes.
I don't think that I could list off the colours that I used, there's about 30 or 40 with all of the figures combined.

JediBoer · Post by **JediBoer** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 11:06 am

Coen wrote:I use all sorts my friend. I don't stick to any one kind. Mostly what I have on hand. At the moment they're mostly painted in Vallejo Model Colour and Model Air, a bit of Life Colour, and some Mig's AMMO paint. I use oils for the washes.
I don't think that I could list off the colours that I used, there's about 30 or 40 with all of the figures combined.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Much appreciated. It helps a lot. I have attempted to paint some figures using Tamiya but have been struggling. I had much better success with Citadel paints and like them a lot. I've also recently got hold of some Ammo and AK paints which I still have to try out brush painting. But it seems everyone is saying Life Color and Vallejo for brush painting is the way to go.

HamilkarBarkas · Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 11:12 am

you do quick and efficient work there mike, it looks stunning

painting so many figures is very exhausting, but you feel like a semi-god after you have done them right? haha!

schweinhund227 · Post by **schweinhund227** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 1:07 pm

That is a lot of work in a short amount of time.... man !
You are smoking through this one....

Well done on Both Kats ! The Old BergePanther is looking the part
even for an older kit !

Keep up the good work !

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 1:31 pm

Well done!Those figures are really going to bring this dio to life.

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 3:18 pm

The ol'PTSD had been rocking my world of late so I've been spending a lot of time in the cave. Hence all the progress. Unfortunately my personality is beginning to suffer. haha.

If you think that I made a lot of progress before... well....

So diorama is all but finished. All that's needed now is the flat coat to seal in parts of it and a drybrushing on the mud for the slide. Then the vehicles and figures can be installed and placement weathering can begin.

Here's a pair of videos of the work... a How to of sorts on the shack painting and the diorama painting.

[youtube]z0lBdoT9Ko0[/youtube] [youtube]cdYhc7RkokM[/youtube]

Now the photos...
I started off with the shack. I stained it with a lamp black oil wash, added nail holes to the boards, then added a second black wash.
After that I mixed up a grey wash and stained it again. I'm hoping that with the washes it will take on the look of a wooden shack that's been left out in the wind, rain, and sun for a half dozen years.

Then I built the fence from square cocktail sticks and chopped barbecue skewers.

Then I started the base painting. Grey for the gravel road surface...

Two or three colours of brown for the mud...

And three or four colours of greens and browns for the field.

Then I stained the fence the same way that I stained the shack.

Then I added all of the scatter to the dio. First was the static grass over woodland scenics watered down PVA white glue.

Then I added some rubberised horse hair that I buy from Historex, glued down with Hob-E-Tac scenic glue.

Then longer grass made from paintbrush bristles. Blond and green tinted.

Then I added some assorted bramble and bits of random vegetation that I found growing outside.

Then some grass tufts... three different colours.

Then some Old Man's Beard, a lichen that grows everywhere here and looks a lot like a bush on a diorama.

Then some small trees (a gift from Forbes Hutton)

Then I added the shack and glued it in place.

Then I did the final placement of the vehicles and the figures so I could mark out their locations.

Then I stripped all the figs and vehicles off and drybrushed the road, added more static grass to a few areas, and added pigments to the road surface and the mud. I also added the meldew and patina to the shack walls.

The bad news is... I've already started filming and photographing the next part

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 3:24 pm

outstanding work!Your eye for composition and detail is spot-on.

PaulAyrey · Post by **PaulAyrey** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 6:19 pm

Simply awesome as usual sir!

jbellos1 · Post by **jbellos1** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 7:22 pm

That is really, really impressive work. Looks like you really enjoy doing it too!

Kingdan · Post by **Kingdan** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 9:05 pm

think I might just stop modeling and watch

Dan

________________________________________________________________________________
On the bench
Airfix 1/72 Saturn v rocket
Revell 1/24 red bull rb8 racing car
Oh and a couple of old bits of crap

Nev · Post by **Nev** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 9:54 pm

Just awesome mate

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 11:59 pm

Thanks guys, I finished it today. I should have the last post, video and the reveal done by tomorrow.

Art17847 · Post by **Art17847** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:21 am

well i really am lost for words....i wish i could see ur work in person as sometimes i dont think the pics and vids do it justice....ur work is stunning...always well thought out and executed great job

.....

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:59 am

Oh I'm pretty sure that if you saw my stuff in person it would be like seeing your childhood house again after 30 years... without the veil of years everything seems smaller. Well... without the veil of good lighting and selective photography haha...

Anyway ... I started off this session with adding shine and more wet effects to the slide. I wanted to show that only the top foot or so of topsoil was soft enough to allow the slide. That's why the tiger slide so easily down the hill. Everything under the topsoil was frozen. It would be like scraping icing off of a cake. It's also why she didn't throw a track on the way down... hydroplaning.

So I sprayed the entire diorama with hairspray (to hold the scatter down and to add shine to the mud), then I sprayed everything except the much with matt coat. This removed the shine from everything yet left the mud looking wet. Then I added a bit of pigments and a left some of the shine from the hairspray.
The Woodland Scenics Real Water that I used to make a few puddles worked perfectly and it will be my go to for standing water from now on, or until I find something better.

Then I installed the tiger I and added it's final weathering. Mud effects around the base to blend it to the dio and pigments to the upper deck and turret top.

Then the rest of the vehicles followed suit.
Added, blended, and pigmented. The figures after that.

And then she was finished.
If you're interested in the how-to in more details here are the last two videos.
[youtube]DWrEZ5CuWpU[/youtube]
[youtube]7aRoRzzYn-k[/youtube]

Kevinzane · Post by **Kevinzane** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:12 pm

That is amazing! Great work!
Is the whole build up on youtube?

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:32 pm

Out-freaking-standing workmanship Mike!

andreb87 · Post by **andreb87** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:49 pm

michael this is a masterpiece! really the setup is perfect! the bergepanther is my personal highlight! oh 1 thing just nice to know, they used the towing cables crossed over like an X when they used 2 of them!

like this

http://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/ ... t-1944-45/

really a stunning diorama i love it!

Jmart95 · Post by **Jmart95** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:00 pm

Coen, she looks absolutely stunning and spot on to the real deal

schweinhund227 · Post by **schweinhund227** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:09 pm

amsvkng · Post by **amsvkng** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:31 pm

WoW

/Karim

HamilkarBarkas · Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:42 pm

For this great deed you shall be rewarded with the Pour le Merite.

Riderville · Post by **Riderville** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 3:08 am

Mike it`s a work of ART

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 4:32 am

Thanks fellas, really blushin now... Who's this Art dude?