Brasso27

I cut each individual stone out of s thin sheet of closed-cell foam, rounded off the edges with a sanding stick, and glued it in place. Not as time consuming as it sounds! I applied them as one would build an actual bridge; keystone first, then the stones of the arch, then the rest.

Thanks for the kind sentiment. The device at the back of the vehicle is not actually a wading device, though it's often mistaken for one. It's actually called a 'Normandy Cowl' and it was an exhaust deflector which was fitted over the exhaust outlet to deflect fumes away from the vehicle. It gets it's name from the fact that the problem it was designed to rectify first appeared during the Normandy campaign, when it was discovered that Cromwells that spent time with their engines switched on and idling, but with the tank stationary, suffered a build up of exhaust fumes over the rear deck, which the ventilation fans then sucked back in to the tank; choking the crew.

At long last finished the Cromwell diorama, depicting a recce patrol of the 8th Royal Irish Hussars in the Normandy area, July 1944. Vehicle is the venerable Tamiya 1/35 job. The commander's figure is from the Miniart collection, the driver is from the spares box; Tamiya I think. Diorama is entirely scratch built, mostly from pink foam, and I used clear resin for the water effects.

Just finished the Cromwell for the latest project. Diorama already done, but still have two figures to complete, then I can put the while lot together. Tamiya kit depicted as part of the 8th Royal irish Hussars; the recce regt for the 7th Armoured Division, July/August 1944. (The track is not sitting right in one of the pics but I popped it back into place).

Finally finished; after only eight months! In fairness though I had to move house half way through. Diorama depicting members of the 2nd Bn, The Royal Ulster Rifles loading German prisoners into a CMP 15CWT during operations around Caen, late August 1944. Vehicle is the Italeri CMP model, British figures are a mix of resin and Dragon figures, German figures are by Masterbox. Diorama is scratch built. Water is done using Woodland Scenics Water effects, which hasn't quite fully cured yet. The leaves were done using a leaf stamp from Green Stuff world; excellent product. Hope you like it; I'm bloody sick of it at this stage! :)

I should just mention that I've added grass stains to the three infantrymen, because as everyone knows they do all the work. The figure on the right is a driver, and as anyone who has served in the military will tell you; those guys never get themselves dirty! (I'm joking!! I'm joking!!).

Just finished the four British Figures for the latest WIP. On now to the German figures. The figures from left to right are: Adalbertus Resin Monte Casino set, Dragon British Infantry in Normandy set, Adalbertus Resin Monte Casino set again and finally a figure from the venerable Tamiya Universal Carrier kit. Have to add the rifle slings yet.

Hi, As I'm sure most of you know Britain experimented with 'mixed' divisions between 1942 and 43, whereby one of the three infantry brigades in selected Infantry Divisions was dropped and replaced with an armoured brigade. What I'm trying to find out is what Arm of Service markings would the new armoured brigade have used? Did they retain their existing AOS markings, (a possibility as I understand most were independent brigades), or did the adopt the AOS markings of the brigade they'd replaced? If the latter, were they assigned AOS markings on the basis of their seniority, (e.g. red if they happened to be senior to the existing infantry brigades), or did they simply take on the markings of the brigade which had left, regardless of seniority? Any help greatly appreciated.

Finished the CMP at last, (delayed by moving house half way through the build). Depicted as part of the 2nd Bn, Royal Ulster Rifles, France 1944. On now to do the figures, then the diorama. Apologies if the photos are a bit naff; combination of a cheap camera phone and half a glass of scotch.

A few shots of the current WIP; the 1/35 scale Chevrolet 15CWT by Italeri. The tarpaulin is scratch built as I didn't like the stock part. Still very far from finished; haven't even started weathering the cab area yet, but happy so far.

So working away on the Italeri 1/35 Chevrolet 15CWT truck as part of a diorama. Bit of a pig of a kit to be honest, and it needs all the help I can give it. Decided to complete the cab interior out of sequence as it'd be impossible to paint once assembled. Here are a few pics of the project.

Ah yes, Private Rubbernecker. ☺

Thanks very much. Yes, 1/35. Figures by Dragon, but two have after-market heads by Hornet.

Finished the build at last. Pics of the finished product, with and without figures.

Thanks. I didn't use drybrushing. The base colours on the figures was done with Vallejo acrylics. The highlighting and shading was done with oils.

Thanks. Yes, 1/35 scale. It's the Commonwealth Infantry set from Dragon, though two of the figures have after-market heads. It's by Dragon, though two of the figures have after-market heads.

Finally finished the figures for the diorama I'm working on depicting a knocked-out Stug during the Italian campaign. Hope to have the whole lot completed by the end of next week.

It is indeed. Used aftermarket tracks for the damaged side though.

Added the vehicle to the diorama for the Italian campaign diorama. On now to work on the figures.

No, I'd say you're entirely correct. I was aware of that doing the vehicle but I went ahead anyway as I liked the effect. Some units even went as far as removing sand shields and welding them to the rear hull to create extra stowage space.

Sherman Firefly Diorama; finished at last! Ever get one of those projects where you think you'll never end? Anyway, based on an incident from Ken Tout's book 'Tank!', (highly recommended), where three Germans who hadn't had rations for days surrendered on the promise of army biscuits; they must have been desperate. Bocage country, Normandy, July 1944. Not completely happy, but it was either this or my sanity.

I think the rule of thumb is to leave it till the good resembles boot polish.

I'll ask the boss. (SWMBO is an artist).

We were always taught never to hold the SMG by the magazine too, (I trained on a Carl Gustav, and later HK, rather than a Sten, but same principle). The decision to hold it that way was Miniart's, not mine. I'll send him back for further training.

I found the most important thing with oils is to prepare them properly. This means placing a blob of each colour you intend using on an absorbent surface like cardboard and leaving it for 6 hours or so. This allows the linseed oil to leech out. Linseed oil is added to enable the paints to penetrate the porous surface of the canvas, but if you put them on a non-porous surface like plastic they sit there forever and never dry. If you leech the paints like this, then place them in a seal-able plastic container, (like one of those seven day pill holders), they remain workable for a week or so; just add a bit of thinner. Once applied to the figure they remain workable for a day or so. If you are not happy with a particular effect just moisten the brush with thinner and go over the area again. You can re-work the paint or remove it altogether. You can also use this effect to blend different layers, for example blending highlights and shadows. Once you're happy with with the effect you can seal it in with a couple of coats of varnish, then work over that area without fear of disturbing the layer beneath. I find that even if I don't seal it the paint will be fully dry in a week to 10 days, and can safely be worked over at that point. I use the same principles with both vehicles and figures. If I do a pin wash, (for example), and intend following that up with another layer, I seal in the pin wash first so the second layer doesn't reactive it. A final point; obviously use the best oils you can afford, but I found it's not necessary to go mad in that respect. A good paint is about £5 per tube, (Winsor & Newton Galleria range for example). You can if you like spend up to £30 per tube!, but for our purposes this is completely unnecessary. The £5 jobs are perfectly adequate. What is important however is to get a good quality artist's thinner; artist's grade white spirit or turpentine. The cheap stuff from the hardware store contains all sorts of additives that make the paint react in unpredictable ways. Use the cheapo stuff for cleaning up by all means, but reserve the quality stuff for thinning. Hope that helps.