WIP Stug III - Far From Home

[China Dave]

Hello there,
I thought I would show you some of what I've been up to over the last six months.
As usual for me, it's 1/16th scale, will have a tank in it (well a mobile assault gun really) and two crew members.
At moment the figures are just in primer, the tank is nearly finished but today I thought I would show you the rest of the diorama, which is now very nearly done.
I thought I could get away with this as there is, at least, a face painted on it.
So here goes:

 

[Steve Brodie]

brilliant

 

[SUPER ANTO]

Really nice. Atmosphere absolutely achieved.... Awaiting vehicle and figures.....

 

[Redcap]

Masterful and amongst (the) very best representations of inner city settings and groundwork I have ever seen. Just brilliant and all the colours harmonise and are in perfect scale.

Gary

 

[China Dave]

Thank you all for your very generous comments.
I will post more photos once I've made some significant progress

David

 

[Nap]

Hi Dave

Brilliant groundwork , details and weathering everywhere , inspiring

No worries posting this look forward to the tank and the figures (PF is for anything with figures)

Following with interest

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Dozer]

Outstanding!

 

[Edorta]

Very good work, a real part of urban front.

Military miniatures painted by Eduardo Garcia

 

[arj]

Excellent setting for your vehicle and figures.
I second Gary's comment above.

 

[Warren SMITH]

Amazing work.. this will be spectacular when finished..

 

[Oda]

Absolutely top notch!

Oda.

 

[China Dave]

At last, some progress on the figures! There's just two crewmen for this project, both from Classy Hobby.
If you're not familiar with these, they're injecton molded so come in parts and need assembly, the details okay apart from the hands (which I replaced)
I've added some badge details using etch brass from Aber and modified the poses to suite my needs, the seated figure has been under the knife quite a bit.

 

[China Dave]

For the first time in nearly 40 years I've been using oils (Abteilung 502) and I bought some very nice Kolinsky sable brushes from Rosemary & Co.
It's been a steep learning curve, patience being the main thing, oils are great for subltety of shading but the waiting time between painting a layer and then being able to glaze over it, is very different from working with acrylics.
As you see in the photos, the hands look rather dark or sun tanned, it's not the final finish, after a base coat I've used a dark wash to bring out the recesses and details, I will be going back to them with highlights.
I started another thread elsewhere on this site asking for advice on drying time before varnishing and got some good help, so, once I felt brave I gave figures a coat of VMS matt varnish.
The very fine lines on the collar and lapel insignia is not due to my incredible control with a brush (sadly) but I've used decals from either Tamiya or Peddinghaus, same goes for the badges too.
To match the very dusty appearance of the tank, these guys will soon get their own treatment of dust and dry mud.
Oh yes, of course they'll need heads, these are both base coated and will be worked on again soon.
Send me any advice/ comments you care to.
Thanks

 

[China Dave]

I thought while I was here I would upload some photos of the vehicle too for those of you that are into AFVs

 

[Nap]

Hi Dave

Great to see the figures painted and nicely done , black is a difficult colour , like the decals ....good placement on them ...no doubt very fiddly but well worth it

The matting you've used has worked

Good to see the AFV you've done as well , love the details and the weathering looks spot on

Looking forward to seeing the figures update and with the vehicle

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[1969]

Groundwork, figures and AFV all look superb.
Steve

 

[-=König=-]

Great and realistic serving space.

 

[China Dave]

Thanks for all of your kind words.
Watch this space for some updates (sooner or later)

 

[Panzer22]

I like it a lot! the groudwork and the surroundings are great!
if everything else will be like this.... [no pressure]
keep up this work Dave

 

[Arie120mm]

Hi Dave
You have made a nice realistic diorama 1/16.
Very curious about the end result and the final photos
Greetings Arie