B17's Dioramas

[B17Fortress]

Hello!

I have been getting into military miniatures again, and would like your comments on these dioramas [forgive my camera skills ]:

Kirovograd Front
[1/35 Dragon 6157]





White Tiger
[1/72 FOV Tiger I]



"Stukas im Anflug"
[1/35 Masterbox 2545]





"Who's that?"
[1/35 Masterbox 3571, 1/32 21st Century 'Chance Encounter' Structure]








Thanks for viewing!

[Axis Nightmare]

Those are great

Lots of time, planning and work. You can almost sense the tension of the pending confrontation in the last diorama with the Russians. Great posing of the figures. The wreckage and debris is SO well done.

Inspirational. Got to try something like that.

[granch]

Wonderfull, great little things! I specailly appreciate the bombed house with so real rests of communist propaganda... and the quality of your snow and frozen dios. What kind of snow did you use?

[B17Fortress]

Many thanks guys!

granch, the snow is 'Soft Flake Snow' by woodland scenics applied over WS' flex paste. Here is how I learnt how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWKuKOd7Npw

[Dom]

Very great !
Congratulations.

[holensock]

AWESOME!!
Keep the pictures coming!!

[normandy]

Very nice! I like the "Stukas flying" diorama, makes me want to look over my shoulder to see
what they're looking at and the grass/field is perfect. The figures have plenty of detail and are
well painted.
The building in the "Chance Encounter" is 21st 32X?

Great Stuff B17!!!!

[B17Fortress]

The building in the "Chance Encounter" is 21st 32X?

Great Stuff B17!!!!

Woops, make that the 'Counterattack' playset



The building is mostly stock, with floors repainted, 'glass' added to the windows, and a black wash applied.

The grass is a premade terrain mat made by Noch, and I highly recommend them. A whole lot cheaper and cleaner than using a static grass machine.

For anyone interested, this is the video that taught me how to do the shading and highlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-rsH9wdaVg

[pizzaguy]

Great Job!! Gotta love youtube.

[tmanthegreat]

Those are awesome dioramas! I'm particularly fond of the "Who's That?" setup.

Great use of the 21c pieces as well and I like how your scenes are "contained" to a specific base. Sort of reminds me of some of the miniature 32x diorama pieces we got from 21c back in the day like the German IG-18 gun and crew set and the mortar pits where there was a defined base and scene.

[pickelhaube]

Great stuff !!

[B17Fortress]

I figure it is time for an update.

Excluding my 1:18 displays, I have not made any dioramas since my "Who's There?" dio, but I have kept myself busy with some little customization projects.

(I again apologize for my camera, it's focus is hard to manage)

1:18

JSI Tiger 1







I always liked the look of grey Tigers, so I up and made one. JSI's camo looked really odd to me, so I didn't feel bad painting right over it. I'm aware that late-war Tigers--as I believe JSI's represents--received camo paint jobs, but it's my tank Just a base grey coat, dark wash, slight chipping, rust chips, some pigmets for rust, smoke, and dirt. The dullcote unfortunately muted most of the pigment.


Fritzen Osternoh







One of the first figures I got, this was the blonde version with that bizarre 'sun burnt' skin colour. Following ThePaintingClinic's painting flesh tutorial, I redid this guy. I masked his eyes, but in the future I hope to be able to paint entire faces.

Marauder Gun Runner's M41A



I have a swack of these, and have done little customizations to each, in the nature of the customs depicted in Aliens: peace signs, little sayings, kill tallies, burns, and the like.


M56 Smartgun





I had a few 21st MG42s with the mounting clip laying around, and decided to whip this guy up. I didn't have styrene sheet to assist this build, so I just grabbed what was nearby. The handles are made from LEGO tools; the muzzle is a carved skewer; the braces are made from post-it notes glued in layers, then cut to shape. Made freehand, I'm pleased with this 3-hour project.


FOV MG42





A FOV German I got from Foxhole came with an MG42 that sported a backwards drum magazine. A quick fix, I ended up repainting the whole thing. Real difficult mod

1:100

Flame of War Open Fire + Jagdpanther



I dabbled in this game, but have probably had more fun painting the miniatures than I did actually playing it. These are a sample of the 101st AB figures that came with the Open Fire starter set, painted in Market Garden fatigues.

1:35

Revell Leopard 2A6 / Dragon King Tiger









I guess you could call this a diesel punked Leopard 2. With spare parts from a previous King Tiger build, I whipped up this freelance tank to really just see if I could. I added a few details distinctive of a WWII panzer (copula, early IR scope, tools, muzzle brake), and ended up with this. Will it win a contest? No. Was it fun to make? Oh yeah! The figure is an Aurora model, which serves to demonstrate why I don't paint female faces for a living

Feedback and constructive criticism is welcome!

[B17Fortress]

Seeing these pictures online makes certain colours pop a lot more than they do in person. The rust on the Tiger and the base colour of the Leopard appear much brighter in photo. I'm colourblind, so let me know if anything else looks off!

I'll never forget when I began painting figures. I was so proud of one, only for my mom to ask 'why is his face green?'.

[ketelone]

Great work. Very realistic. I love the Leopard!

[tmanthegreat]

Nice! One thing I've always loved about displaying armor (in whatever scale) is that you can turn a tank into its own little "mini-diorama" with soldiers riding it, crew figures in the hatch, various stowage, etc. I have a lot of those sitting around my man cave

[B17Fortress]

I totally agree with you Tman. That's also the reason I never got into 1:18 aircraft: it is too darn hard to create a diorama with them in the lack of space I have!

[B17Fortress]

1:18 G41 and SS figure









The G41 was made from a 21st Kar98k lower and a styrene upper. This was my first attempt at 'sculpting', and I think I applied too much primer, which blurred the receiver.

The figure is a repainted Otto Wilndorff. I just added orange paint to the legs to make pseudo-oak leaf camo, and painted the pea dot smock and collar.

[B17Fortress]

Latest from the B17 works!

"Desperate Defense"
[1/35 Dragon 6273]

The MG42 team is from the titular Desperate Defense kit by Dragon, while the deceased Russian was built from my scrap box.














Looking at these pictures, the blood is far too glossy and pink, and has since been toned down to more closely resemble dried blood.

This small diorama is a tribute to my very first diorama, which was quite ambitious for a first attempt. While I was pleased with the end result, it left me wanting more, which got me into this diorama kick these past few years. Over time and without care, that diorama was literally falling apart, shedding scenery everywhere, and found a new home in my trash can. I saved the figures, leaving them aside to repaint when I had time. This week had some nice evenings free, and I chose the MG team as the first to receive a new lease on life. After much practice, I felt comfortable with attempting splinter camo, and am pleased with how they turned out.

Comments and critiques welcome!

[normandy]

Nice work B17!!! This small diorama is very powerful, the ground work is very impressive.
I think the uniforms came out great but the dead Russian really shows the horror of war
and how deadly the MG 34 was.

Your SS figure looks very cool and the G43 rifle....nice!