Blitzkreig in the West, 1940 (picture heavy)

[LeeCarey74]

Hi all,

This is the latest diorama that I have just finished entitled "Blitzkreig in the West" and is based on a German unit in May 1940 advancing through the outskirts of a ruined village, rounding up POW's and preparing for their next encounter. It has been on the go for over a year although it has sat idle at times whilst I worked on other kits and projects. It's by far the biggest diorama that I've attempted and I'm pleased with the outcome as well as pleased that it's finally (99.9%) finished.

Below is a list of the kits used:

Building: Miniart 36028

Tank: Hobbyboss 83813

Motorbike and sidecar: Zvezda 3607

Figures: Dragon 6478, 6347, 6196; Tahk T-35023; Stalingrad S-3534; Soga Miniatures 3531

All figures were hand painted including the insignia on the collars and sleeves and on some I added the improvised camouflage grass on their helmets that I've seen on photos from the period (very fiddly!) as well as making all the slings from scratch using lead foil and finally they all received a light dusting with Mig pigments to blend in with their environment. The Hobbyboss tank is my first proper attempt at air brushing as this is a new skill to me as well as the weathering. In keeping with the storyline behind the diorama, I wanted the tank to have a used and dirty look but keep the damage minimal. The scene is based around the Miniart kit with the added collapsed wooden floor scratch built using balsa wood and coffee stirrers and the strewn debris is a mixture of different sands, rubble and scale bricks. The burnt area is made up of white metal corrugated sheets and Mig pigments - Black Smoke and Ashes White. The slate wall was built one piece at a time.

Thanks for looking and all feedback is welcome.

Regards,

Lee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Blimey that's a lot of really fine work to take in all in one go.....Superb attention to detail, love all the little touches you've added to set the scene, very classy indeed! 

[JOCKNEY]

Fantastic job, congratulations.

 

Can I ask a daft question did you plan this or did it evolve ?

 

cheers Pat

[Badder]

Dunno what's going on today, but it seems it's a day for utterly fantastic dioramas!  Your painting is superb, the figures wonderful, the armoured car excellent, the building brilliant, the groundwork exceptional. I am yet to reach such standards in all aspects, but work like yours does inspire me to try harder and persevere.

 

Thanks for sharing,

Badder.

Edited October 4, 2016 by Badder

[Darby]

I doff my hat again.

[celt]

All good dioramas should tell a story and yours is a good one.Well tidy mun.

[LeeCarey74]

Thank you all for the positive feedback. Much appreciated.

 

17 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

Fantastic job, congratulations.

 

Can I ask a daft question did you plan this or did it evolve ?

 

cheers Pat

 

Hi Pat, it's not a daft question but this particular diorama evolved from my original plan. It was originally going to be confined to the size of the base in the Miniart kit but I then decided to add the motorbike and sidecar and the two guards and POW's to add an extra element to the story as well as build on the bombed building with the collapsed floor.

[sanfrandragon]

I have the same Miniart building and you've done a wonderful job on yours.  I especially like the extra rubble and dirt you've added, and your figure painting is something I can only aspire to.  Well done.

[DAG058]

Very nice! So much detail. How long do you think you spent on this? 

[JOCKNEY]

5 hours ago, LeeCarey74 said:

Thank you all for the positive feedback. Much appreciated.

 

 

Hi Pat, it's not a daft question but this particular diorama evolved from my original plan. It was originally going to be confined to the size of the base in the Miniart kit but I then decided to add the motorbike and sidecar and the two guards and POW's to add an extra element to the story as well as build on the bombed building with the collapsed floor.

 

Thanks Lee

 

Really appreciate the background and I had to laugh as you described the drip feeding of additions, good job the stash didn't contain a few Panzers and an Opel Blitz otherwise the kitchen worktop might have needed to have been sacrificed to mount the diorama on !

 

I would love to learn more about doing dioramas, might start off with some of the old Matchbox AFV's and learn by the school of hard knocks and tips from BM. Thanks for the inspiration  

 

cheers Pat

[eddiesolo]

Exceptional build and detail, you look...then you just have to keep looking for all the small details-excellent quality and layout. 

[DennisTheBear]

Nice!

[LeeCarey74]

18 hours ago, sanfrandragon said:

I have the same Miniart building and you've done a wonderful job on yours.  I especially like the extra rubble and dirt you've added, and your figure painting is something I can only aspire to.  Well done.

Thanks for your comments. The Miniart buildings are great foundation kits and they can easily be added to but I think they do benefit from adding the extra rubble and some natural materials.

 

18 hours ago, DAG058 said:

Very nice! So much detail. How long do you think you spent on this? 

Many thanks. I have no idea on how much time but it was started mid '15. Some pieces were completed a long time ago and stored until everything was ready to bring together. In hindsight, my only regret was not keeping a Work In Progress but I'll try that for future projects.

 

18 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

 

Thanks Lee

 

Really appreciate the background and I had to laugh as you described the drip feeding of additions, good job the stash didn't contain a few Panzers and an Opel Blitz otherwise the kitchen worktop might have needed to have been sacrificed to mount the diorama on !

 

I would love to learn more about doing dioramas, might start off with some of the old Matchbox AFV's and learn by the school of hard knocks and tips from BM. Thanks for the inspiration  

 

cheers Pat

Hi Pat, the stash does contain Panzers and a Blitz (saved for something else) but the frame it's set in was the maximum boundary....this time. The Miniart kit was near completion and then I went to Scale Model World in Telford last November and, well, the rest is history. It grew. I'm glad I'm not into ship model kits (yet!) otherwise we might lose the bath! I've learnt and am still learning about diorama building. What I'll do the same or differently next time and even trying things in a different order but if you have any questions, I'll happily try to assist. And if you're referring to the old 1/72 Matchbox kits that included a setting to mount them on, they're great kits.

 

Thank you eddiesolo and DennisTheBear for your feedback.

[bar side]

Reminds me of the tamiya panzerspahwagen I built many years ago.  Very nice build & the details make it - very fine model making

[tommyinuk0]

Hi Lee,

Fantastic!  Such a great build and it certainly is telling a story. I love all the detail but especially the slate wall and rubble. How did you achieve that and the individual bricks? 

Gives me and I'm sure many others something to aspire to.

Well done.

Tommy

[Ozzy]

Nice job.

[LeeCarey74]

On 07/10/2016 at 6:27 PM, tommyinuk0 said:

Hi Lee,

Fantastic!  Such a great build and it certainly is telling a story. I love all the detail but especially the slate wall and rubble. How did you achieve that and the individual bricks? 

Gives me and I'm sure many others something to aspire to.

Well done.

Tommy

Hi Tommy, many thanks. The debris is a mixture of at least two different sands, coarse and fine, plus larger stones and with a pack of Royal Models bricks mixed in. All mixed up, I use a spoon to sprinkle this in place and then use a PVA solution applied with a pippet to hold it all in place. This was built up in several layers over several days allowing it to dry in between and finally a fine layer of sand and brick and earth pigments to tie it all in. However, the grass areas were done first and the rubble strewn over the top. Regards Lee.