Cromm Cruac

Well done pixel camo. Great model. Слава Україні!

Another one from North Africa. This time Afrika Korps Flak 88. I've used the same chipping method as with my previous Crusader III: painted the dark primer and sealed it with Alclad lacquer. After quite long curing sprayed the main yellow sand coat and brown camo. Then dampened the paint with airbrush cleaner and carefully scraped the top coats till the primer layer has been revealed. Alclad lacquer acted here as a buffer which the airbrush cleaner couldn't penetrate so the base layer stayed intact. I found this method much better - more precise - for such a small scale than normal hairspray chipping. The rest of the weathing process is pretty much standard: washes, some pigments etc. Here are some pictures: Thank for viewing, comments welcome

Wow, thanks! To remind you a master is a real privilege ☺️

Some I've made myself from miliput and alum-foil but most is from https://redog.uk/ Quality and detail is quite decent. Not as good as the other ones I've got from ValueGear (small crates) but they were cheaper.

This one took a long time, especially the painting. I was struggling with a good method of chipping at such a small scale. All hairspray, chipping medium etc. were producing way to coarse chips. I think they're fine for 1:35 but not 1/72. I've experimented a lot on some cheap Armourfast models and finally found a good one that served me well. Instead of any chipping medium I've coated the primed model with Alclad lacquer. After long curing I've sprayed the main yellow coat and gray-ish camo over that. Then I used very little airbrush cleaner, just to soften the paint and scratched the paint carefully with a needle, toothpick and small hard brush here & there. The advantage is that I could slowly wipe off the paint in some places creating this sort of 'gradient'. It looked like it was naturally worn off. Took a lot more time that a 'normal' method but at least I was satisfied with the result. After all that a normal enamel wash & pigments weathering came on. Another problem was the tracks. Those rubber ones gave a me a real headache as the paint was peeling off them so easily. Finally I've found out the painting the directly (without primer) with Mr. Hobby metallic paints stops peeling. They hold on the the rubber pretty well. I'm quite pleased how it came out. Some people may say it's a little bit overdone but I kinda like those heavy weathered models. The stowage comes from various resin packs I've gathered Here are some pictures And some un-photoshopped ones Thanks for viewing, comments welcome

That's always my concern before I start weathering. But on the other hand weathering and 'ageing' is the part I like the most.

They were indeed stored flat, usually on the racks but I wanted to make them more visible and to create this more disorderly look of the scene. True, but I couldn't find the crew figures in lighter clothes that would fit the scene. They're from the Airfix set more suited for UK based bombers. But hey, beggars can’t be choosers... 😉

Finished the diorama More photos in the following thread:

Used Easter to finish the second diorama from the Pacific (after Kawasaki Hien). Here are some photos: And some un-photoshopped ones As always, thanks for viewing. Comments welcome

Super-clever concept and amazing execution. Boys poses and expressions are superb

@Muchmirth, I've tried to make flowers myself from coloured shredded paper or woodchips but I wasn't satisfied. Eventually I've bought the mini flock flower set from WWScenics and sprinkled them over multilayered static grass.

@spruecutter96, yeah, I kinda thought about it and even made a dent but miscalculated and it was in a wrong place. The scenario was that the plane rolled almost to a stop and the damaged wing and undercarriage gave up then it fell into the ravine. Does it sound believable?

Finally managed to finish the whole diorama - after 4 years! More pictures of the whole thing including Il-2 & half-track in this thread

Finally managed to finish the whole diorama - after 4 years! More pictures of the whole thing including Il-2 & Pather in this thread

Inspired by Sabaton song I've started this diorama some time ago. Just realised that it was actually over 4 years, so long time overdue. Finally had some time to finish it so here it is. Diorama consists Half-track (from Dragon), Il-2 & Panther Ausf. D (from Academy 2 piece set) + some figures from various sets. Trees are made of Miliput, wire & turfs. And some un-photoshopped ones As always, thanks for viewing. Comments welcome

Another one from a Pacific theatre after my Kawasaki Hien. Went for heavily weathered look like in these photos: Struggled a bit with the main sea blue colour. Recommended VA Glossy Sea Blue was a bit too dark and grey-ish to my liking so coated it lightly with diluted VA Medium Blue. It gave a blue-gray-ish colour from the photos I was looking for. As a side effect it gave a nice colour modulation as well. After decals the model was postshaded and weathered with silver painted chips, + dark & light washes and pastels. A little disaster struck almost at the end - when removing the masking tape during the weathering the starboard number peeled off completely. I've managed to salvage the decal from the tape in pieces, except the pilot name at the bottom. Took me some time to put it back together but I'm pretty pleased with it. And after weathering it's hard to tell it happened. Working on a diorama right now but here is the model: Thanks for viewing, comments welcome

So finally got some time to do the chipping tests. I'm posting the results in case someone has similar problem. All the layers were sprayed in at least 24h intervals to allow curing. After all has been cured I've wetted the areas and started chipping. 1. Klear protective coat: chipping was easy and quite detailed but after a while of soft scrubbing the Klear layer gave up and chipping medium started to eat the gray undercoat showing the primer. 2. No protective coat: chipping medium went through the gray undercoat layer immediately in wider areas 3. Matt acrylic varnish coat: top layer was immediately dissolved and chipping was very crude and flaky. Then it went through the undercoat layer. 4. Lacquer protective layer: best results, very detailed and I had to scratch hard to damage the undercoat gray paint. Soft scrubbing didn't damage the gray layer.

I've seen some tutorials on YT and also read some. That's why I use a coat of Klear because I've read that having some 'sealing' layer helps with the issue I have. Some recommend gloss layer, some matt but I couldn't find if this need to be the same type of paint or other - like using enamels for weathering if paint is water based acrylic. To answer some your questions @Ade H, the chipping medium I use is 73.214. I spray MA paint in about 50/50 ratio of paint to Ultimate Thinner. I find that applying more light coats of diluted paint works better for me. I do the chipping with water only as this what Vallejo (and tutorials) recommend. I'm gonna prepare another test and will wait at least 24h after each coat. Also with different seal layers (and without).

I'm trying to master the chipping technique using the chipping medium. I know it could be done with hairspray but I've chosen Vallejo Chipping Medium. I've had initial problems with spraying this as it comes from the bottle - its gelatine consistence just makes an airbrush clog and spurt big droplets. However, I've managed to overcame them with diluting using some Ultimate Thinner. It sprays more nicely with thin coat. I've followed these steps - with 24h to cure between steps - except 4-5 where I've waited about 6h and 5-6 maybe an hour: 1. prime with Ultimate Primer 2. spraying base coat of Vallejo Model Air 3. sealing with coat of Klear 4. spraying Vallejo Chipping Medium layer 5. applying top layer of Vallejo Model Air 6. Applying some water and started scrubbing and chipping All goes well but then despite having a protective coat or Klear, the chipping medium start to eat through base layer down to a primer. I can see that even if I just scrub gently the base coat is being dissolved, colouring the top coat. What am I doing wrong? Could it be Klear coat that reacts with chipping medium making it stronger? Should this protective coat be any particular type, maybe not water based, maybe it should be like enamel or lacquer - what should it be? Should I wait 24h to cure all layers including top layer? Please help!

I've made brass side skirts on my Panther. I've simply degreased them with alcohol and then followed the normal procedure for plastic - Vallejo primer, Vallejo paints, weathering etc.

Thanks again for all your comments!

I'm just about to build DAK Panzer IV in 1/72 as well and I'll definitely try your method of chipping. The results are fab!

Thanks for comments guys! @72modeler, it's 1/72, I assure you @stevehnz, Chrome seems not to like the images from my website. I've put them to some other hosting and they show correctly now in Chrome

Hello again It's been long time since my last post and my last model - it's been 4 years! Time flies indeed. Anyway, finally got some time during this whole pandemicmonium to do some modelling again. Here is my latest I've just finished: Kawasaki Ki-61-Id Hien. Model: Tamiya 1/72 Foliage: Banana trees made of aluminium foil, wire and masking tape; static grass combined with lichen, turf and jute fibers Barrels & crates: resin copies of some I've found on eBay using method from this post Crew: Japanese Army Pilots & Crew from RedBox Here are some photos: And some untouched ones: Thanks for viewing!

Hello again Thanks for all the comments on my Panther. Here is another vehicle, a second part of the Eastern Front diorama I'm working on. This time 1/72 Sd.Kfz. 251 Ausf C from Dragon. As previously the crew will come later with the diorama. Here are some photos Thanks for viewing. Cheers Marcin PS. Have a Merry Christmas!