WIP Stalingrad Winter 1943, Street By Street

[Dr Force]

Right, groundwork just about there (tiny bit of dry brushing on the rocks and the odd dark wash, but it's pretty much done.

I have added a peice of down pipe to help with the overall interest of the scene, all the bricks are done in oils with highlights being blended in (wet on wet)

It looks a bit shiny in the pics because it is still not dry, once it is dry it will get a coat of matt varnish so it will tone down a bit. I think I will make a start on the window next :-

 

[ryall]

Sorry but the guy standing up, I think his neck seems silly and it is not just this figure but a lot of the stormtrooper figures. The neck just seem silly or unrealistic to me. This is the reason I have not brought some of these figures. Just my thoughts.

 

[Dr Force]

Sorry but the guy standing up, I think his neck seems silly and it is not just this figure but a lot of the stormtrooper figures. The neck just seem silly or unrealistic to me. This is the reason I have not brought some of these figures. Just my thoughts.

Hi Paul

It's not glued or pinned yet, the head, hands are stuck on temporarily at the moment, my intention was to always shorten the neck and then add a toque.

Personally I think the stormtrooper figures are of a very high quality, but each to his own.

 

[JasonB]

Love the downspout, especially how its kind of standing on its own. Its one of those crazy things you see when a building collapses, that just adds character to the scene. Like the china found on the Titanic wreck still being in one piece after everything they went through
I agree a bit about the figures neck, shortening it and adding a toque will make it good, I think. I would consider having it a little less turned, or more tucked into the shoulder, as would happen if a person tried to turn their head that far to the right. I have noticed on many figures, not just Stormtroopers (though they all seem to be looking over their shoulder), that it seems the sculptors sometimes fail to take into account the limits of human anatomy. Too many have necks turned 90 degrees to the body, without any tilt to the head or leaning of the body. Wrists bent up or down at 90 degrees are another one I see far too often.
Don't ya just love the Shui figures? I had the guy in the greatcoat holding the MG-42, and I don't know how many times I said "how did they cast THAT???" Just beautiful sculpting and high quality casting. The running MG-34 gunner is on my to get list.I think they, along with Alpine, are at the top of the hill when it comes to 120mm or 1/16 scale figures. Honestly the Stormtroopers figs never did much for me, but I think this one fits the scene well, and with a little neckectomy, will be good to go. Since the cable reel is a little portable version, I think I would have it near the dead guy, with some wiring spooling out behind it. It would make it a little more obvious what they were doing, and show just how unaware the guy might have been when he got zapped, concentrating on getting the wire spooled out, etc.
Cheers
Jason

 

[Dr Force]

Love the downspout, especially how its kind of standing on its own. Its one of those crazy things you see when a building collapses, that just adds character to the scene. Like the china found on the Titanic wreck still being in one piece after everything they went through
I agree a bit about the figures neck, shortening it and adding a toque will make it good, I think. I would consider having it a little less turned, or more tucked into the shoulder, as would happen if a person tried to turn their head that far to the right. I have noticed on many figures, not just Stormtroopers (though they all seem to be looking over their shoulder), that it seems the sculptors sometimes fail to take into account the limits of human anatomy. Too many have necks turned 90 degrees to the body, without any tilt to the head or leaning of the body. Wrists bent up or down at 90 degrees are another one I see far too often.
Don't ya just love the Shui figures? I had the guy in the greatcoat holding the MG-42, and I don't know how many times I said "how did they cast THAT???" Just beautiful sculpting and high quality casting. The running MG-34 gunner is on my to get list.I think they, along with Alpine, are at the top of the hill when it comes to 120mm or 1/16 scale figures. Honestly the Stormtroopers figs never did much for me, but I think this one fits the scene well, and with a little neckectomy, will be good to go. Since the cable reel is a little portable version, I think I would have it near the dead guy, with some wiring spooling out behind it. It would make it a little more obvious what they were doing, and show just how unaware the guy might have been when he got zapped, concentrating on getting the wire spooled out, etc.
Cheers
Jason

Hi Jason

The downpipe really does add alot to the overall feel of the building, it's quite incredible how some simplistic additions just make or break a scene and I think that adds so much to the composition.

The cable dispenser is propped up over there just for show, I have not thought about the final position yet but I did have it set in my mind that there would be a trailing wire.

The Jeff Shui figures are the best I have ever seen, it's all just so crisp in fine detail and they will be great once painted and added in to a smaller scene. I have yet to purchase the alpine 1/16 so not had the experience of these but from what I have seen via the web, they also look like quality figures.

I'll mess around with the head on the Stormtrooper figure to see what looks best but apart from a bit of Necktomony (made me laugh that!) it's a fine looking figure.

Still painting bricks lol, just had a start on the wall tonight.

Thanks
Dave

 

[Dr Force]

update time.

I have painted the majority of the walls, just busy adding washes and highlights at the moment so still not quite there.

The broken glass is just bits of clear plastic but I have added a touch of paint to give a more dirty look.

 

[pmfs]

Hi David, very promissing scenerie.

 

[Dr Force]

Hi David, very promissing scenerie.

Hi

Thanks for your comments. Still loads to do on the scenery as I am adding some light snow here and there, which will need a bit of planning.

I will finish the highlights on the walls and then it's curtain time..........any idea on the colour, I was thinking blue??

 

[1969]

Nice to see the colour developing now Dave, looking very good mate.

As for curtains I was thinking more along the floral lines but blue sounds good also.

Steve

 

[Dr Force]

Nice to see the colour developing now Dave, looking very good mate.

As for curtains I was thinking more along the floral lines but blue sounds good also.

Steve

Hi Steve

Floral :-P !!! That might be a project all on its own. I thought it would be wiser and certainly easier to have plain curtains made from a makeshift sort of sheet, with the blue adding a touch of colour to help with contrast.

I am not far away from the figures now!!

 

[JasonB]

Hi Dave,
Its coming along nicely. One thing that kind of struck me while looking at it. To me,the plaster on the brick wall follows the outline of the busted down wall a little too exactly. Like it was applied after the wall had already fallen.Also I think the edges of it might be a bit too smooth, the plaster would fly off in large and small chunks, perhaps leaving a more ragged edge.You might consider bring some areas of it out a little closer to the edges of the brick wall, having smaller patches of plaster still clinging to the wall here an there (it seems that it broke off a little too cleanly right now), and perhaps rough up the edges a little more. Glad to see you are still banging away at it, I was missing the updates. Can't wait to see the snow added, not to mention the progress on painting the figs.
Cheers
Jason

 

[Dr Force]

Hi

Yes I know what you mean in respect of the plaster. Ill add some more up top and to the sides with a bit of tinkering around the edges to sharpen it up a bit. I can do this quite easily with a bit of super sculpey stuck to some milliput.

The super sculpey allows for nice sharp edges as it retains it's shape after cutting.

Thanks for your help, the updates are a little less frequent as it takes so much time to paint lol

cheers
Dave

 

[smudger1960]

Great work dave i'm really enjoying following this mate,

 

[Dr Force]

Great work dave i'm really enjoying following this mate,

Hi Brian

Thanks for your support and glad it is of some interest. I like to post as much detail as possible because I hope that aspects of it may help others who like to model similar projects.

It's certainly a challenge and you find mistakes etc as you go along but it's very satisfying after you have completed each stage.

I'm near to completing the Walls and groundwork but Jasons pointed out something that is relevant and has got me thinking to improve the brittle and sharp look of the plaster.

All good if not tiresome at times but certainly satisfying.

cheers

 

[1969]

Dave I think the curtain is very relevant for this scene as you are depicting a sniper, the relevance of the curtain is that as this is the selected killing zone for the sniper the curtain will allow the sniper to gauge wind direction and speed so as to adjust for the shot so a visible colour would prove useful.

Steve

 

[Dr Force]

Dave I think the curtain is very relevant for this scene as you are depicting a sniper, the relevance of the curtain is that as this is the selected killing zone for the sniper the curtain will allow the sniper to gauge wind direction and speed so as to adjust for the shot so a visible colour would prove useful.

Steve

Good Shout Steve

I think the blue would stand out without it being too loud, so I think I will stick at that.

I have re-done the plaster effect tonight and the results (IMO) are far superior. Thin super sculpey, broken up and shaped before being positioned on a thin layer of milliput which acts as a nice rough render behind, has made a big difference.

I'll post tomorrow night once I have added a few more shades of colour etc.

Thanks
Dave

 

[Dr Force]

Hi All

Following Jason's guidance and my own view of the plaster/render on the wall, I have completely re-worked and I think it's made a big difference.

Please note that I have yet to finish the dark washes which will be done once the oil paint is dry in the next couple of days.

I am also adding some large chunks of plaster that has broken off and still stuck to bricks to help integrate it in to the scene.

This is a good technique and easy to do and I should have done it previously!!!

1) Roll out really thin square peice of super sculpey
2) bake in the oven as usual
2) leave to go cold and thus very brittle
4)break off large chunks for the main area
5) shape by carefully chipping away at the edges
6) stick to the area with cyano
7) fill in gaps with milliput epoxy putty
8) roughen the milliput where the plaster has broken away
9) leave to dry and paint

The pics show how it was and how it has finished up:-

 

[mil-mart]

Dave, amazing details love it.

Cheers Ken

 

[unknown01]

Cool progress.
It seems to be the real world.
Indeed it's wonderful.

Mitsutaka.

 

[Dr Force]

Hi to both Ken and Mitsutaka

Thank you for your kind comments, it means alot to hear positive feedback from other Vbench members, it just inspires me to try and reach new heights.

I do beleive that it is the little bits that count and if you can add those little bits it all helps to bring it all together.

As previously mentioned my intention is to open up a WW2 historical website with the whole story of 1939-1945 and the key moments to be told through various scenes I will model from this period.

With a bit of photographic skills with lighting you can help capture the feel for the moment.

A few washes and it's on to the curtains, followed by the sprinkle of snow and then to the figures.

Thanks for your support guys

Dave