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Cadman

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Everything posted by Cadman

  1. Progress on this one is beginning to pick up, although there's still a lot of work to do on the figures. Adding some of the helmet straps today was a pain, but worth the time it took. Next will be the weapon slings and adding various ammo pouches on the tank riders. The roadside shrine is almost finished, It just needs a thin coat of matte varnish now to tone down the shine on the wooden cross. Still have to build one more jeep and finish off five more resin figures from the set I got from Soga Miniatures. The group of Airborne officers are pretty much finished though. I think I'll probably make a start on the basic single-track dirt road tomorrow and while it's drying out I'll sort out the weathering on the AA Staghound wheels, which is well OTT. After much humming & hoeing I've decided to use the Asuka Firefly after all and revert the diorama back to Eindhoven so as to depict the link-up between the 101st and 30-Corp. Here's the latest photos that show where I'm at right now. Once the groundwork is completed I'll then decide on the final locations of the figures and vehicles. Cheers
  2. Excellent diorama, and a nice job blending in the backdrops as well. 👍
  3. Unexpected domestic events have taken priority these past couple of weeks, resulting in very little progress. However, with things beginning to calm down now, I've been able to block in most of the main colours on these 20 x figures that are earmarked for this small diorama. Always subject to change, but I think the final total of 1:35 scale figures will be around 26 x give, or take. There's a bunch of over/under-paints evident and there still lots to be sorted out, but all in due course. The enforced break provided the opportunity to consider the background details I'll add to the scene as well, so it's no biggie. I might give the 2 x Lost Scots Officers something different to tool around France with, rather than a jeep. Still chewing it over. PS. I decided to post these here in the Diorama section so I could keep all WIP photos in a single thread, rather than jumping around the Figure and Vehicle sections of BM. Cheers
  4. It's been a while since I watched that movie so I could well be wrong, but I don't think it was in N. Africa. Doesn't the cross shrine appear in the first scene of "The Big Red One" which is set in France during WW1, and then toward the end of the film Lee Marvin's WW2 platoon set up an ambush in the exact same location? Cheers
  5. I'm about to re-watch this Cold War classic for the first time in something like twenty years. Wonder if I'll like it as much as I did when I first saw it back in the late-1960's/early-1970's. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060437/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_0_q_funeral%20in%20berlin
  6. Those links are extremely useful -- Thanks for that. Just as an aside, what has increased my interest in WW2 Winter British figures is the movie in this link which I picked up at the local DVD shop a couple of weeks ago. I haven't had time to watch it yet but it got me thinking about doing a "Brits In Norway" scenario. (Not sure how prominent the Brits are in the movie though). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9737876/?ref_=tt_urv Looks like "cold weather" WW1 British figures could be used for winter 1939/1940 as long as the puttees and webbing are changed out/updated - and if I can get my hands on that Dragon BEF set and then carry out a few conversions to Germans wearing greatcoats, plus find out some details on Norwegian uniforms from the era, I could be in good shape for creating a diorama featuring the Allied action around Narvik sometime later this year. Also think I'll now have a look for suitable WW2 resin Brits in greatcoats as well. If I can find some, especially late-War examples, then mixing them with a few leather jerkin clad figures could provide enough to depict a British "Bulge 1944/1945" winter scenario, an idea which has been bouncing around in the back of my mind since the year dot. Cheers for all the ideas and info chaps. 😊
  7. All the dreadful puns are quite deliberate. In addition, there's a lot of wicked infantile humour that probably doesn't translate too well.
  8. I guess you mean these guys? I used some of them in my "Korea 1951" diorama. See this link;
  9. I've been watching a bunch of WW2 documentaries over the past several days and one thing that leaps out at you is the lack of uniformity and variations of clothing among the troops of all nationalities, especially from around 1941 onwards; Western Desert, Tunisia, Italy, Normandy, and so on. (This is a feature I already try to include in my approach to painting WW2 figures, but it's worth highlighting). So on reflection, conversions from Winter German sets to Winter British troops may not be as difficult as I initially anticipated. As long as the correct equipment is used for the nationality that's being depicted, then a bit of scalpel and sanding work might well end up providing acceptable enough results. PS. Yes, MiniArt are to be lauded for offering relatively unusual and hitherto unavailable options. MiniArt, Masterbox and Tamiya 1:35 scale figures are the easiest for me to get my hands on locally, but Dragon and ICM are far more scarce. It is what it is. Cheers
  10. Thanks for pointing this set out. Had to go look it up as my ISP won't display the photo you posted. Found it on the Armorama website though; These are good for France 1939/1940 and Norway 1940. Anything later wouldn't need the gas mask cases -- I think, (might be wrong). Actually, now I think on it, doing a Norway vignette using these does appeal to me; maybe along with a couple of the leather jerkin clad guys that are available from other mfr's.
  11. WOW..!! Thanks for contributing to the thread I find info like this utterly fascinating. There's certain similarities in the screenplays of "Angels One Five" and "Malta Story" IMO. Both are wonderful movies of their time. Cheers
  12. Thanks for the tip Johnny ... 😀 I'm unaware of the ICM sets and 1986 is too modern for anything I tend to work on at the present time, but Slackbladder might be interested. I used the MiniArt British officers set in my "Germany 1945" diorama. Wouldn't rule out buying a 2nd set of them as the guy wearing the duffle coat would certainly be useful. Yeah, I've been considering what might be involved with converting late-War Winter Germans to Brits. This might well be an option, although depicting the correct webbing could be problematic. Cheers
  13. Hmm, point taken, unless they're going on safari up Mount Kilimanjaro ... ☺️
  14. Any confusion is my fault because I mistakenly used the "OP" acronym, so apologies for that. I should've clarified that my responses were with regard to Slackbladder's comments on contemporary civilian figures . Still, no harm done and hopefully the issue has now been suitably addressed, and resolved.
  15. Thanks for contributing to the discussion. These are nice figures which would certainly be useful in their given timeframe, but the key words in the OP's wish-list are "contemporary civilians", which pretty much rules out the MiniArt sets. Some of the Masterbox figures might be good as a basis for conversions or even straight out of the box, depending on what is to be depicted, (Ukrainian refugees for example). Having said that, I might try and get some of those 1930's/1940's sets to use in my WW2 dioramas -- so thanks again for pointing these out. Cheers
  16. A couple of 54mm white metal figures of 18th/19th Century Native Americans could work as Stone Age villagers. Might be worth taking a look in on the Historex Agents and the El Greco websites to see what they have available.
  17. It's not going to be all that exciting. Like most of my stuff it'll be more along the lines of a glorified base rather than a super-detailed diorama. Going to take a while as well, because there's 2 x Jeeps to be built and painted, some details on the Italeri Sherman need refined and I'll have around 20-odd figures to be assembled and painted. Plus I need to dream up some kind of story to explain the presence of a couple of officers from a Scottish Highland Regiment. Still and all, to add some visual interest I ought to be able to squeeze in the obligatory tree ... 😉 ... just kidding. It might well end up looking entirely different from the initial layout, most of my wee projects usually do. We - Shall - See ... 🤨 Glad you're looking in though, and like I said, the rate of progress ought to start increasing next week, especially as SWMBO is muttering about taking herself off for about seven to ten days pretty soon. The fact that I ought to finish re-watching the entire series of "The World at War" sometime tonight, (I'm about to fire up E22 very soon), ought to help as well, because getting that out the way means I'll then be focusing 100% on the scale modelling, instead of loafing around on the sofa pretending I'm carrying out research ... 😊
  18. Well I'd say your son has done a great job so far mate. Are you guys intending to add some figures to the scene? These would really bring things to life.
  19. I bought this set of resin figures from FoG in the UK around five years ago - and it's been sitting in my stash ever since. So, given that I've taken a bit of a break from scale modelling recently and now looking for something new to build, I finally decided to include then in a very simple little diorama. Then had a look around for additional figures to flesh things out. This set from Masterbox was an obvious choice. And I reckon certain of these guys from Italeri might work. Thought about using this "France 1944" set, but it's actually reserved for yet another of those projects that's been put off for ages. Taking a closer look at the resin set, I really didn't like the sidecap on this guy... ...so I replaced the head for one from my spares box. Looks much better now IMO. The initial idea was for a "Market Garden" scene using the Asuka Firefly, but that roadside cross (which I particularly want to use) seemed to be an unlikely feature for a diorama set in Holland... ...thus the location has now been changed to France and the Asuka Firefly replaced with an Italeri M4A1. Note: I haven't built the Jeeps for this diorama as yet, (still waiting for the kits to be delivered). The two seen in these photos were temporarily lifted off other projects just to provide ideas for the layout. I'll also be using a couple of resin Jocks who've strayed into the American sector of Normandy and considered a Tamiya Tilly for their transport, but the example in my stash is earmarked for the same diorama as the Masterbox "France 1944" set, so they're going to be given a Jeep instead. Cruising around the internet for references, I've been struck by the wide variations in the uniform colour of WW2 American Paras. So I'll bear that in mind as the figure painting progresses. Made a basic start on the standing resin figures and these Masterbox tank riders - and that's as far as I've got, so far. This is the Diorama section of BM, so I don't intend to post too many WIP photos of the figures themselves. As mentioned, the diorama base will be very simple - just a country road. Haven't really done much more these past few days due to other stuff eating into my free time, but hopefully progress on this wee project ought to pick up next week. TO BE CONTINUED (as and when)
  20. I don't know of any contemporary civilians in plastic kit form. Could be it's another of those that perhaps the manufacturers deem to have limited appeal? As for Brits, the Tamiya British Patrol set must be getting on for its 60th anniversary! Good for providing a basis for conversions of course, but I do wish they'd release an update with a few different poses. I've often wondered how difficult it might be to convert Winter Germans wearing greatcoats to the British equivalents, but reckon it just wouldn't work, or to be more honest - that's probably well above my ability to pull it off. 🙃
  21. Several 10/10 movies there Vince. The rest? Oh, maybe 9.9/10 ... 😉 "Carve Her Name With Pride" was always a must-watch any time it popped up on the telly. PS. I'm up to E18 on my re-watch of "The World at War" already. If there's a better WW2 documentary series, then I haven't seen it, although to be fair, some do come close.
  22. Excellent modelling - very well done indeed. This one has been on my wishlist for a while, but other models have taken priority. These photos will push it up the list for sure.
  23. Hmm. I have a feeling that I downloaded it off YouTube before my VPN expired and then enhanced it using one of the free audio/visual converter software packages that are available on the internet. Might be worth doing a YouTube search for it, although free movies on that website tend to disappear after a certain length of time.
  24. For many reasons it was definitely one of the best films to be released during the 1940's. All opinions (on any topic of conversation) are subjective, of course.
  25. Seeing as there's quite a few, (okay - a lot of), WW2 Winter German and Russian military figure sets on the market, I was wondering if there might be any demand for, or interest in, 1/35 scale WW2 Winter British figure sets from the likes of Tamiya, Masterbox, MiniArt, etc? Gecko do a few sets wearing the leather jerkins that might be useful (or adapted) for Winter settings, but I'm thinking more along the lines of Brit figures wearing greatcoats. These would work for multiple theaters throughout WW2. I.e. Phony War, Norway, North Africa (Libya/Tunisia), Italy, Northern France/Belgium, immediately spring to mind. There may well be resin examples available out there, but if Miniart can offer a really nice set of US figures in rainwear/poncho's then a similar set of British figures in greatcoats would be an equally nice option. Comments? Obviously we all have our personal wish-lists, and my next desperate pleas would be for more Italian troops, or Free French Moroccan/Algerian Indigènes, or even East African Askari's, although that's me definitely pushing my luck ... ☺️
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