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Knocked out in Argentan- WiP


GRK

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Hi all 

 

I picked up Tamiya's 1/48 Panther D a while back and was looking around for inspiration for a scene to put it in. I was originally looking at Kursk but I wanted to try doing a street scene which brought me to Normandy and this picture of a knocked out Panther A or G in Argentan (picture for info only!):

 

Panther_tank_France_1944

 

I thought this will certainly be a test so why not share the progress along the way and hopefully pick up a few tips and suggestions from the helpful bunch here!? 

 

So i've completed the Panther build but kept the D version and i've also moved the position of the spare tracks and the side skirts in a bit of artistic licence- (mainly so i could see more of the metal tracks that i forked out so much for!) 

 

IMG_6341

 

So i haven't quite decided how to tackle the building yet so i started with the fallen telegraph post. All scratch build using evergreen as the main pole, turned sprue for the insulator thingies and a mix of shaped, melted sprue, aluminium from a beer can and copper for the lamp. Here it is all based in Tamiya dark iron:

 

 

pole1

 

 

Onto the weathering by a layer of hairspray and a coat of Tamiya German Grey and washes and speckled lifecolour rust (shadow and light):

 

pole2

 

Here it is with the insulators painted and a sponged on layer of dust wash, plus some speckled lichen or maybe just ash flecks:

 

pole3

 

Finally the block of stone it attached to (i assume it was mounted half way up the building as the lamp would only be about head height from looking at the original picture). Block is chipped plaster with a thin wash of dark sand with some copper wire added as re-bars.

 

pole4

 

Phew 4 pictures and all just for a pole! So now i need to decide how i'm going to make the building-can't decide whether to buy some dense foam and carve out the bricks or cut out individual bricks from cork and stick them on...

 

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, Model Mate said:

that's a great start - the pole looks fantastic - great weathering! Really looking forward to seeing how tis progresses.

 

6 hours ago, Muchmirth said:

I like this a lot, great bit of scratch building, way more satisfying than just buying the bits and pieces and you get to add your own take. Good luck with the rest.


thanks both! The foam has just arrived so on with the brick carving. I tried cutting cork bricks but just too small at 1/48 to make neat cuts without tearing the cork. Plus this way will be much faster!

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So here's the layout.

 

layout

 

The scene is slightly compressed from the original picture to aid the composition and also not make the end result too big! In the picture the gun seem to almost touch the corner of the building but i've pushed the building back into the scene. I've also opted for a two storey build rather than the three it actually has. 

 

 

And now that the foam has arrived here's the first bit of carving done. I've also rolled the texture in with the good old scrunched up tin foil! 

 

brick

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

So a bit more progress to post. Its very wet here at the moment so its a good job i've got the roof on ! ;) 

 

Just card cut into 5mm strips and clipped partially through and overlaid in rows. I started again on the building from the picture above as i wasn't happy I'd got the angles right to join the two faces of the building together. A quick ebay purchase and a hot wire cutter arrives to get nice precise cuts on the foam and here we are. Shutters, gutters and windows next. 

 

roof

 

rood 2

 

The brick work looks a bit too rustic currently so i'm planning on adding a dilute plaster mix and coating the whole thing to even out the surface a bit! 

 

 

 

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On 03/10/2021 at 09:33, Geo1966 said:

Hi GRK, coming along really nicely.

 

What sort of foam is that and where did you get it please?

 

George

 

On 03/10/2021 at 12:11, Whitewolf said:

Ditto, plus how did you 'roll in the texture?

 

Thanks both. 

 

This is the foam i bought (XPS styrofoam) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132277887488

 

Its dense enough to carve and but has quite a fibrous texture which you need to sand if you dislodge some of the strands whilst cutting (definitely wear a mask while sanding!!!).

 

The rolled texture is just a scrunched up bit of tin foil pressed into it and then a bit of rounding off edges with an old dentist tool. 

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Muchmirth said:

I like the rustic look, kinda stands out more, I wouldn't go to heavy with the dilute plaster. Great progress though. Coming along. 

 

I wish I'd read this before i went ahead!!! I definitely went overkill on the plaster and I've had to re-carve out the joints on the stone work in particular

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19 hours ago, GRK said:

 

I wish I'd read this before i went ahead!!! I definitely went overkill on the plaster and I've had to re-carve out the joints on the stone work in particular

Ah well not the worst thing. At least it's an easier one to fix. 

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More progress to report on the building. Largely painted now with some weathering, might add a bit more but I'm going to set it aside for a while and see how its looking. Just need to finish off the window (picture just for show so far, nothing's attached). I was trying to work out a good way of showing the curtains with some natural looking folds and pleats and went with gluing the fabric to a piece of thick metal foil and then once dry crushing the foil together and then stretching out again- think its worked out pretty well!

 

Any thoughts/suggestions welcome as I'll be moving onto sections of ruined building next so there's plenty more to improve technique on... Also on how to do the SIGN!!!!!????

 

 

house

 

gutter curtain roof2

 

 

 

Edited by GRK
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So calling the main building done. Finished off with the sign which was printed out and glued and weathered onto the balsa frame. Next step is the paving and cobbles in the street- needs to be done even if it is pretty much all going to be covered in rubble! 

 

house finished

 

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That looks great. Wasn't sure about the texture of the material you have used, but with the glass in place it doesnt notice and looks fantastic! The sign is excellent also.

 

George

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On 04/10/2021 at 16:21, GRK said:

Its dense enough to carve and but has quite a fibrous texture which you need to sand if you dislodge some of the strands whilst cutting (definitely wear a mask while sanding!!!).

I purchased that product from the same trader and it is so fibrous that I considered it potentially harmful. If you would like a link to the much nicer product which I bought to replace it, let me know and I will look it up in my eBay account.

 

Good work so far, by the way.

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On 13/10/2021 at 18:46, Ade H said:

I purchased that product from the same trader and it is so fibrous that I considered it potentially harmful. If you would like a link to the much nicer product which I bought to replace it, let me know and I will look it up in my eBay account.

 

Good work so far, by the way.


thanks ade, a link would be great, I’m no foam guru and went through a few types to try and find one I could carve nicely so I’m all ears if you’ve found one without the nasty fibres!

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Thanks to eBay finally putting a search box on the purchase history page, it was easy to find. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393483809795 I've bought the 6mm in the past and 10mm last month; both were the same quality. You may find the surface a bit different, I'm not sure, but if you need something else for finer carving, you could try Sculpture Block or DAS clay. I'm in the process of learning how to use these two products.

Edited by Ade H
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On 17/10/2021 at 10:02, Ade H said:

Thanks to eBay finally putting a search box on the purchase history page, it was easy to find. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393483809795 I've bought the 6mm in the past and 10mm last month; both were the same quality. You may find the surface a bit different, I'm not sure, but if you need something else for finer carving, you could try Sculpture Block or DAS clay. I'm in the process of learning how to use these two products.

 

Thanks for the link, i've bookmarked it for the next spending spree! So have you tried carving this stuff, do you think it's dense enough to be able to carve out bricks and stonework?

Edited by GRK
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I experimented a little with stonework on both the pink type and the old fibrous blue type (like the black that you have). My first lame effort with a pin vice suggested that the pink version might be slightly better. Certainly safer. I've since bought a set of cheap carving tools which should make it easier to work. However, my first real building project is from the West Bank, so I've made the structure (inc. windows and door frames) with foam and carved the sculpture block material into concrete bricks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I haven't' been able to do much on this over the last few weeks but i've finally got the basic pavement/road sorted. Eeh this took forever! So i started by carving out the road cobbles and pressing into the foam indents for the gullies. I then cut and glued thin pieces of foam for the pavement and then gave it all a good going over with the trusty tin foil ball for some texture. Next step was a thin wash of plaster and once that had dried about 4 hours and 5 sessions of painting- it will be a while before i decide to do a cobbled street again!!! The last step was to apply a grime wash which dulled down all the white plaster and blend everything together. Now the most painful thing is that most of this will be hidden in rubble once i'm done 😫

 

pavement 2

 

pavement 4

 

pavement3

 

 

 

 

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I'm getting the feeling that i'm not doing thing in the right order....! Should I have put the rubble mounds down before painting the cobbles-probably. Anyhow, started the ruined building on the left of the street and laid down the volume for the rubble. I'll paint this, paint the ruined building, paint all the loose rubble and then set it all down (don't worry the ruin isn't attached).

 

rubble

 

rubble2

 

 

 

Edited by GRK
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