Graham's Heros of the Soviet People GB Diorama

[Guest]

gram, I don't know if you do this, or if the head lights for the vehicles have clear lenses, but it they do, a great way to make the headlights look right is to put some thin aluminum foil in covering the inside of the lamp, it worked to great effect on my T-34. It gets the out side light to reflect out very realisticly

[Guest]

Nice tip Norm, I usually just paint with silver paint on the back but it never looks bright enough. Thanks for that, I will give it a try.

[Guest]

love the progress so far graham keep those pics comin.

scott

[Guest]

Thanks for the tip Norm, will try that.

Graham the turret casting is great, its more effective than my AFV Club model, which is quite smooth, every T34 Ive seem was quite textured.

Now how to replicate that?

Looking forward to more.

Ade

[spanner570]

Graham, although I haven't posted on your thread I have been watching the initial construction.

Now I am back home I can contribute a bit more...

Nice build, painting and pictures. You are going to end up with one complex and very involved diorama....I will enjoy every bit of it!!

Well done thus far.

Ron

[Guest]

OK, it has been a rubbish few weeks as far as modelling is concerned, I just cannot get around to getting anything done. I would say that I have not had time but I would only be kidding myself so time for another kick up the backside.... Only 6 full weeks to go before the end of the Cross of Iron GB and I am struggling. Will really need to pul the stops out now as I have done very little up to now. The T34 (Tamiya 1:48) is done all but a light dusting to tone it down a bit and the hatches fastened in place to match the figures (oh God, still 16 of them to do and the diorama...)

Anyway, I like a challenge :-(

A few pics of the T34, the other vehicles are nearing completion so they are not an issue, just the base and the figures really.

[Guest]

Looking great so far. I too am a fan of Tamiya's 1/48 range.

A word on the T-34 crew though; I'm not sure if you've tried placing them in the vehicle yet, or if they're still in the box, but they don't fit the tank. The commander can be placed by shaving one his legs down a bit, so he actually leans from behind the turret hatch, but the driver is much more tricky. I had to cut his torso down, and place a number of cocktail sticks inside the tank to get his at the right height, and even then, his head blocks the hatch from sitting in place. If your T-34 is already glued down and finalised, you might have some trouble. But then again, you might have far better luck than me ;-)

[Guest]

Thanks for the heads up Greg. I have test fitted them and you are right, they do need a bit of work to get them right. For this reason, I have not screwed the top in place yet. As you rightly point out, it would be quite difficult, if not impossible, to get the driver in with it all buttoned up I will be doing much the same as you have with the driver figure, the commander will have to do a bit of ballet dancing to hold the right position, thankfully, you won't be able to see down the hatch and catch sight of his tutu lol.

[Guest]

That looks nice Graham. This is making me try another tank

Adrian

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Graham

The T 34 looks great - I especially like the number and slogan on the back of the turret - it really looks hand applied and nicely scuffed, nice subtle weathering too. I hope you do get to finish as this is one of the dioramas I've really been looking forward to seeing (another great build amongst many others). If it's any consolation I'm really under the cosh with this build too I planned a pretty good schedule at the start of the GB but unfortunately that went out of the window about 6 weeks ago with very demanding work commitments. I am determined to finish though, as I know you will be, I don't want to be the guy that doesn't finish anything (I've still to complete the forest dio!)

Anyway, 6 weeks - come on Graham we can do it!

Looking forward to seeing the dozen or so figures and the vehicles, keep up the great work.

Paul

[Guest]

Graham mate i love the T34 it looks sooooo nice the paint job and weathering are spot onvery nice, kepp the pics coming.

scott

[Guest]

this is a great tank, like paul said, the numbers and writing on the turret are so well done, it gives the tank such a real look. hope you get stuck into the rest and look forward to seeing the pics.

[Guest]

The wording on the tank are just the supplied decals, nothing I did lol.

[Guest]

Looking very nice Graham , 6 weeks to go you`ve got no problems mate, not even started my part 2 of the GB yet , like a lot of the lads and lasses I`m doing a 1/48 basic dio for the 1st time with a german tank , just like the 1/35 scale but the bits are a lot smaller if it comes out half as good as yours I will be well happy

Richy

[Guest]

Well, I promised myself to get going on the GB today and for once I stuck to it. Not a lot done really but it does emphasise the amount of work I have yet to do. I have assembled (minus the odd head or two) all the figures that will be going into this small diorama. It looks a lot, I thought it was 16 but it is 20..... There is a reason for this but if madness starts to creep in, I may not use all of them.

The Tamiya figures are OK, but as mentioned before, they are a tad under scale. The beige ones are the ICM figures and they are just stunning. They fit as though they are made of one piece and the detail is just spot on. Just hope I can do them justice. As these are the 'Officer Class' I don't mind them being bigger as they will be grouped together away from the 'horde'. I will concentrate more on these ICM figures for effect whereas the mass of crouching, sitting, sprinting infantry will be painted a little more basic as the mass of them will give the effect I want not the individual detail.

I did hope to get them primed up but I will let the glue dry overnight and try and get them primed and started tomorrow afternoon..... Let the madness begin.