Kursk. II S.S. Panzer corps slowly claw their way toward Obayan

[tr1ckey66]

Thanks Ade for the site info - that will definitely come in useful when I get to the T-34. Excellent techniques

Ian - yep, there's a bit to do but it's all good learning fun.

I'm actually tackling the figures first, although I do intend to build up everything together. In this way I can get the composition of the piece looking correct.

The base actually isn't that big it's smaller than the Luftwaffe forest dio and definitely not as tall!

Paul

[tr1ckey66]

Ok, here are the figures roughly assembled. I've done the usual trick of mounting the standing figures on fuse wire to enable them to stand and to be handled more easily. At this stage my chief concern is to get the weapons 'sitting' in hands properly. I find it's a common problem with plastic figures that when you assemble them the weapons don't look right. To rectify this I've cut off some fingers, drilled out hands and in some cases cut hands from arms to enable the hands to better conform to the rifle/machine gun. At this stage it's quite rough and I'm just making sure that the figure stance is correct and any gestures look natural. As you can probably see I've replaced the heads by an appropriate set from Hornet (the sculpting on these resin heads is first class) and I also replaced the weapons with a 2nd Gen set by Dragon I had in the stash. More work is still required on the hands with some fingers to be sculpted but this will be done at another stage.

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All of these figures will require a different uniform sculpting. The SS soldiers in Kursk would be wearing the M1940 Smock and I'm going to attempt to sculpt this (as well as some other refinements) from 2 part putty with other details possibly picked out in lead foil or wire. This is my first go at this so it'll be interesting to see how this turns out!

This is the aforementioned smock.

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...In for a penny in for a pound!!!

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[Guest]

Some really interesting stuff you have going on here dude, i really like your outlook on the GB, trying new stuff/techniques etc, all credit to you for that. I do know exactly what you man about the hands on some figures, it often seems to be one area of a figure neglected when they are moulded, and they often apear very un-natural.

Love the camo design on the smock, that will be fun to achieve. Already loving following this thread, keep up the great work and posts bud, regards Martin :-)

[tr1ckey66]

Planning...

I've got the basis for the dio roughed out. On the left is a trench that will eventually contain 2 dead Russian soldiers (2 previous figures are playing dead!). The T-34 (which my Cromwell is standing in for) is just to the right of this with the front-end partly over the trench. 2 German figures look down into the trench temporarily stunned by the carnage in it whilst the other 5 make their way across the open plain where the lead figure is downed by shrapnel (possibly blind).

I'm considering adding another figure to this... I think that a figure leaping over the trench would be cool.

Here's the plan so far...

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I'm also going to try Scott's long Grass tip. I've got myself some fur material and, although it may look like somebody skinned Orville and put it on my dio, I'm pretty confident that with a bit of work I can make this look like scrubby grass!

War is hell... unless it's carpeted - then it's quite comfortable!!!

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Cheers

Paul

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[tr1ckey66]

Some really interesting stuff you have going on here dude, i really like your outlook on the GB, trying new stuff/techniques etc, all credit to you for that. I do know exactly what you man about the hands on some figures, it often seems to be one area of a figure neglected when they are moulded, and they often apear very un-natural.Love the camo design on the smock, that will be fun to achieve. Already loving following this thread, keep up the great work and posts bud, regards Martin :-)

Hi Martin, thanks for the support.

The weapons /hands thing... Resin figures normally have the hands cast already grasping the weapon, it's then just a case of attaching hands to arms. In effect that's what i"ll be doing as all the hands will be cut off (attached to the weapons) and reattached later. This will also give me better access to the uniforms for sculpting (at least that's the theory!)

[tr1ckey66]

These are some shots of my progress with the figure mods.

This is figure 3 - the NCO.

I've got the smock on him by layering a thin sheet of putty over the top of the tunic, and I've given the sleeves the cinched cuffs. I've also hollowed out the sleeves and got the MP40 folding-stock to fit correctly in the arm. I've done a couple of other things too, I've undercut the tunic to give a more layered effect to the clothing and I've given the smock some laces - although these are coming off as they are completely out of scale,. being nearly the thickness of his fingers! I also opened up the collar and enhanced the collar boards themselves.

I've got to say I'm having a great deal of fun just messing around with 1 figure. I'm learning quite a bit about materials and pushing myself quite a bit too. Once or twice I've thought this piece of work was destined for the bin, but I've stuck with it and I think I'm slowly getting there. I now think I'm going to finish this one figure completely first (including painting) as I am eager to find out for myself how this will look. As I've said this is a bit of an experiment, but if it this goes well then I think it could open up a whole world of possibilities in figure modifications.

The figure is still a bit rough and needs a bit of liquid poly to burn off the odd bit of shaved plastic but you get the idea.

Cheers

Paul

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[Guest]

Wowwww, awsome changes happening here. Like you mate i cant wait to see the first fig all painted up and finished. Hopefully this will give myself and others the inspiration to get on and try new things. Good on ya bud, all the best Martin :-)

[tr1ckey66]

Thanks Martin for your continued support. It means a lot because this may yet end up in the bin and I may have nothing to show for it! At least someone will have acknowledged that I tried!!!

I'm going to add the straps for the field equipment tonight and possibly finish the other arm. I think by the weekend I may have 1 figure complete (family/work allowing). I don't want to rush the build though just to get to my favourite bit which is the painting phase.

Have you started your build yet?

Cheers

P

[Guest]

One of the reasons for doing the GB, and for people joining in, is to try things, alongside others, that you may not have done before. I think you are doing a great job of tackling a figure modification especially at this scale. Many people only mod figures to this level of detail in the much larger scales so kudos for that. As for it ending in the bin, sadly we all have things that end in the bin but I certainly cannot see any justification for this ending up there.

Can I just make a gentle reminder that the GB, well this one anyway, runs for four months. It is not a race as to who finishes first and it is not the intention of the GB to overtake everything else you may want to do. Treat the GB as a background project in which you can learn so much, as you have indicated you are already doing, and a place to share your experiences. By doing what you are doing with this figure, you may inspire someone else to have a go and that can only be good.

The forum is a great place to share our hobby, the GB is to focus that sharing and 'Club Atmosphere' around a single subject or idea. So chill and enjoy, you are doing a great job.

[Guest]

Hiya Paul, yep ive got around to prepairing a couple of figs for what will eventyally be the dio. Im reckoning that come the end i should have around 8-10 figs in the scene. I may even end up having to adapt a fig as i cant find what im after for a part of the main scene...ie a German 1/48th scale sniper!!!!!!

That said ive been inspired by what youve been upto with the figs and i reckon i could adapt something i have ??????? 1/48th scale, how mad would that send me lol :-)

Ive also been prepairing some of the weaponary that will be inviolved, its amazingly detailed for the size/scale and also very very delicate, so taking me time to get it right, the cleaning up from the sprues etc is quite time consuming, using a scapel to get it just right.

As for stuff ending up in the bin....tell me about it lol.....i was building a plane for the Torbay show later this month...ive never done a plane before so went 1/72nd...i completely screwed it up on the painting so guess where it ended up!!!!! Im normally a patient guy when it comes to modelling but that drove me nuts....im doing a 1/72 Stoch at the mo to go with a Kubelwagen, fingers crossed at the mo its going well. I reckon most of us at some point have ended up with something in the bin??

Anyway i will post some pics hopefully tomorrow, in the mean time im just enjoying the whole thing and loving everyone's posts on their chosen subject. Keep the posts coming mate and cheers for the inspiration, all the best Martin :-)

[tr1ckey66]

Point taken Graham.

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Martin

That's the idea - enjoy yourself! I'm really diggin' this figure build.

:biggrin:

Paul

[Guest]

wow!! paul, things are looking good. i can't believe how much our ideas are the same. though,the russian battlefield was the same in most fights. yours is looking much bigger (dare i say, epic). great minds think alike ha ha. due to being a field area i was thinking of using the fur trick for grass for some areas of ground, let me know how you get on with that and give me some tips. like i said tho,i'll have some melting snow on areas too so that'll make it different. i got snow from games workshop by the way, it was £4. but it has a good look. and thanks again for the help and advice.

ps. i like the pic of the german motar unit.

[yak face]

hi paul ,great work on the figures,they are going to look real nice, cheers tony

[tr1ckey66]

Thanks Bobby/Tony

About the Grass: this is really Scott's tip, I'm giving it a go for the first time. I've asked him for some advice on this but he may be away or busy. I'm sure he'll put us right once he gets the time and I'm a long way from starting the grass anyway. I think our dioramas will be quite different Bobby as I'm depicting a battle during high summer and you're tackling the winter scene. You've got some great opportunities to create some real muck and filth there, with the contrast of the snow it should look fab.

Paul