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'The Bouncing Betty'- operation veritable 1945. 1/35 British infantry and universal carrier.


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Operation Veritable was succinctly summarised as being of 'Mud and Mines' and so I wanted to do diorama which summed this up.

    Took around 3 months of fairly continuous work, my first 1/35 models ever (seems like 'first' is all I ever say but I had started modelling back in March this year, in 1/72 scale.)

Its brush painted and mostly scratch built. I built the base, signage, ground works, vegetation, the booby trapped mine and mines, fence, tree stump, scarecrow, some of the carriers stowage (the sandbags, areal with flag, the satchels with the maps, the bag in the back and the roll sacks). 

 

Some of inspiration and ref pics below:

Ok so obviously not a UC but gave me the initial idea:

b6d12d50b08b270d9b0d3337c48d7ca3.jpg

 

This is the 9th Camaronians in the Reichswald. Note the general detritus at the road side, including a ripped out door frame.

http://ww2talk.com/index.php?attachments/br-offensive-n-holland-27-jpg.186292/

This is taken from Holland but helped with the water effects:

3519c9c549832aecf5b34bcf1534d153.jpg

 

Also from the Reichswald (not sure of the unit):

2c3a2257a79fe5a42b80c539946b726e.jpg

 

The 2nd Argyll's in Normandy (where gecko got their idea for the figures from). 

 

2277678f1317141e85b551dfd7766c07.jpg

Now onto the dio itself:

My initial sketch:

P1020484

P1020441 P1020442

 

 

 

P1020446 P1020447 P1020445 P1020481 P1020466 P1020476 P1020462 P1020461 P1020477

Barely make out the dropped rifle under the murky water (top right). 

P1020474

The bag pipes came with a decal which I would never have been able to fit so I ended up painting the tartan on. 

P1020473 P1020472

Its a difficult balance to strike with regards to the mines as I had to try make them be seen, as they were the whole point and title but also not very obvious to spot which would have been realistic to the soldiers in the piece.

Hopefully your might be just able to make them out in the above and below pic (Their was four in total but really only three ended up visible.

P1020469

 

Played with a cold filter for the pic below: Note the booby trapped mine under sarge sten gun's boot. The link wire cutting across the front of the resin water, in front of the ducks 

P1020464 (2) P1020465 P1020467 P1020468 P1020463 P1020449 P1020451 P1020443 P1020480 P1020479

Thanks for viewing. 

Paul.

Edited by Muchmirth
added pics
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Fantastic piece of work Paul, so much to look at and I keep spotting extra details. I really, really like this!

 

I wonder if it would look even better if the sides/edges were painted or would that hide some of the details?

 

Anyway, as i say great work and well done!

 

George

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Outstanding piece Paul, lovely set out diorama.

 

Dioramas are not always a easy thing to master, too little it becomes boring, too much and it is overdone, also, the locations of objects placed are crucial to getting a great balanced look. You have achieved that, the water disguises a lot of pieces so it keeps the viewer engage as they seek out other bits, or something suddenly pops out.

 

Nicely done and a fave for me, one to be very proud of.

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2 hours ago, Geo1966 said:

Fantastic piece of work Paul, so much to look at and I keep spotting extra details. I really, really like this!

 

I wonder if it would look even better if the sides/edges were painted or would that hide some of the details?

 

Anyway, as i say great work and well done!

 

George

Thanks for the kind comments and taking an interest. The edges aren't very neat ,one of the elements I'm not keen on myself. I did edge it with plain black acrylic but the main problem stems from the resin cast with the ground works. I wanted to make sure it would hold the resin without any leaks so I made the whole base to fit a clear plastic box then popped the whole thing into the box and sealed the ground work to the edges. I was so nervous pouring the resin that I made sure I pressed the ground/mud to the edges if the box and so this made a bit untidy so when I did pour the resin it set the odd bit of mud in place. 

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3 minutes ago, eddiesolo said:

Outstanding piece Paul, lovely set out diorama.

 

Dioramas are not always a easy thing to master, too little it becomes boring, too much and it is overdone, also, the locations of objects placed are crucial to getting a great balanced look. You have achieved that, the water disguises a lot of pieces so it keeps the viewer engage as they seek out other bits, or something suddenly pops out.

 

Nicely done and a fave for me, one to be very proud of.

Thank you very very much. Nice to know people appreciate it....I spent a long time drinking coffee and just staring at the exact locations of the items I wanted to place!!!

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39 minutes ago, junobeach said:

Good day Muchmirth , great job on the scene. The carrier turn out great and makes a great focal point for the diorama.

cheers Juno beach

The carrier was thanks to your tips!!! When's the archer gonna be ready? Looking forward to seeing it, love an archer, it's on the wish list for future. 

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The Archer is coming along slowly. I have the lower hull and driver’s compartment done and just finishing the tracks. Started parts of the gun and upper hull.

I hope it will be done by December as I have a few things on the go , keeping me from dedicating a lot of time to getting it finished. Also have to figure out the base yet.

cheers Juno Beach

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On 31/10/2021 at 21:55, nimrod484 said:

Great diorama with a lot of thought put into realising it. 

Thanks for taking a look!!

16 hours ago, GRK said:

Great work, very nicely put together and very much like the roads in Lancashire today! 

Cheers grk, enjoying argentan at the moment. ...less flooding!!

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6 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

I really like that and I really like the idea of the written narrative explaining the scene and the  historical context. 
 

Great work.

Thank you so much. I tried hard with the research and signage. 

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Inspirational!  You’ve captured the misery of being cold and wet very well.  I like the tartan pennant,  the rank and unit insignia on the uniforms and dead German.

 

Were you worried about the heat from the curing resin damaging the soldiers or carrier?
 

Just one question, would the water have disabled the mines?

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5 hours ago, sanfrandragon said:

Inspirational!  You’ve captured the misery of being cold and wet very well.  I like the tartan pennant,  the rank and unit insignia on the uniforms and dead German.

 

Were you worried about the heat from the curing resin damaging the soldiers or carrier?
 

Just one question, would the water have disabled the mines?

Thank you very much for the compliments and appreciation. 

   I was initially worried but when I actually went to do the pour it very strangely didnt get hot at all. I don't know if it was the resin type, being a basic Amazon beginners type or the mass spread or volume I poured (done in 4 pours) but was barely warm. I did warm it myself by putting the plastic mixing cup into a bowl of hot water, to eradicate bubbles. I also stuck the whole thing prior to initial pour into a barely warmed oven (extremely risky and not recommended but paid off as I had no bubbles.

   I researched the s mine thoroughly but honestly couldn't find out if the water would have disabled the mine. So honestly don't know. If the propellant was enough to pull the out of buried mud to approx 1 Meter of height before it exploded (as also known as the bollock buster) then maybe possible. I would say one other thing about the mine it was particularly vicious as wasn't designed to kill but to maim, the adage goes a wounded man is more of a burden on an advancing army than a dead one. 

Thanks again.

Paul

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