Incomming!

This diorama of a US Marines camp in Vietnam includes an M113 which was scrap built from Tamiya, Academy and Italeri parts.

Various stowage was added, including some Playboy items from Verlinden Media. I did have to scratch build some of the details added to the M113. This scene was inspired from various old photos both in books and online.

The figures were a combination of Dragon and Verlinden.

Thanks

Vince Barrale

WWI German A7V

Finished Tauro 1/35th scale model. Painted with arylics and weathered with oils and enamels.
Just some quicky pictures taken out on the patio

SdKfz 10/5 Pak 38

Italeri 1/35 scale Demag with Pak 38. The kit was pretty well made and mostly fit well as any Italeri kit. I added some random stowage crates, packs etc. I didn't do any scratch built adders though there were details which could have been easily improved based on the photos I found on the real deal.

Thanks   

Vince Barrale

 

Terrifying GoPro video from tanks in Syria's war zone

Wow...
This is worth seeing. It's an hour long video.

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/incredible-footage-from-tanks-in-syrias-warzone-is-utt-1548084560/@caseychan

Question; How does some tanks seems to go in reverse quickly and maneuvers in those treacherous  and narrow streets without missing a beat? Can the driver see anything going backward, on twisty road?

Stalingrad - Berilin

A very Nice Diorama by  Oleg Lanskoy  from Russia. Sometimes I just wonder at the talent!!

Go here for more of this dio!!

http://en.diorama.ru/gallery/dioramas/4697/

Go here for more of this webpage

http://en.diorama.ru/

M4A4 Sherman

This was the Cyber Hobbies kit, Orange Box as some of you describe it. Pretty nice kit overall. I had a few minor construction issues due to not sufficiently studying relevant photos but I worked it out. As noted in my demo, I painted with Enamels, Lacquer dullcoat and sea I the decals with acrylic Gloss (Floor Wax).

The stowage is from various resin, plastic, paper, string etc. Most of this was base painted separately the oil washed with the model after attaching. The oils were used as a light wash to tone down the Green color, then dullcoated before applying variations  of heavier washes of burnt umber an black.

At the last meeting I demoed the dot streaking using blue, white and burnt umber for fading affects. Final dullcoated, then did some drybrushing to highlite.

Overall, I am pretty happy with the result. 
Vince Barrale

 

FOR YOUR INFORMATION - LOOK HERE:

http://mayang.com/textures/Metal/html/Flat%20Metal%20Textures/index.html

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK..........LOL!!

Military Vehicle Auction - Let's Start our Own Army!

The Jacques Littlefield Collection of military vehicles is going on the auction block in California. Everyone in the club should buy one vehicle. There are at least two Shermans available, for those of you who are into them. Even a SCUD missile launcher complete with missile. I have dibs on the Saracen APC. See article at AutoWeek magazine.

EMHAR 1/35 scale kit, out of the box

This is the EMHAR 1/35 scale kit, out of the box. The plastic is thick and the molds are crude, but the surface detail is good. The instructions are poor and the tracks are crude and take some work to fit properly.  I was surprised to find that the rubber track sections were gluable. You will need to gloss coat the decals as they tended to crack up. If you were to make a real effort by sanding out the alignment imperfections and straightening out some of the parts, you could make a good model out of this kit.

In my case, this wasn't intended to be a contest model. I threw this together quickly for the Houston Downtown Library Display case. We are putting together a WWI exhibit to be featured in one of the cases while the other cases will be general modeling of all kinds.

Vince Barrale

Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. K

Here are a couple of photos of an oldie, but a goodie.  Yes, it's another shelf-queen from Dragon that's been sitting around collecting dust for quite some time now. It was built at least six years ago and it's the original DML K kit built pretty much out of the box with a few Evergreen styrene refinements here and there, but the detail is nowhere near Dragon's newer Panzer III kits.  It has some Magic Sculp tarps added to the front and a boot for the rear antenna.  It will eventually (maybe someday) be finished in a winter scheme.  There's still some work to do to mount the storage boxes on the rear deck before any painting can begin. 

Russia's First IMAX 3D Film 'Stalingrad' Gets US Release in February

February 28th! and in IMAX 3D

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/russias-first-imax-3d-film-stalingrad-gets-us-release-in-february/

Gone Fishing

The Itaeri Armored Car kit was so small, I needed to come up with something to do with it. I recently purchased a wrecked bridge kit so decided to combine the two. A story was needed.

What do you do when your mission is scrubbed? Grab a stick of wood, tie a wire onto it and go fishing.

I added some torn steel framework and rock rubble to the scene. The water was diluted Woodland Scenics paste. I added some resin stowage to the vehicle and scratchbuilt the extra gas can rack.

The figure was an old Preiser officer. Not much to work with but I was able to re-shape his arms to hold the fishing pole.

Vince B  1-5-2014

Marder III

This is an old Italeri kit. It actually went together pretty well. In doing some research online, I found so many variants and field modifications, that I selected a few options that I scratch built some details or added components from spares.

 

The interior of the gun compartment was sparse so I added in a radio and some other personal equipment.

 

 

I found that the Marder was used in a variety of campaigns, so I selected the markings and color scheme used in France. I airbrushed with enamels, weathered with oils in several layers and mounted on some basic ground work.

 

 

Vince B  Jan 5-2014

Amazing visual effects for the new Russian movie "Stalingrad"

I recommend you watch it "full screen"

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/nothing-is-real-in-movies-but-who-cares-when-it-looks-t-1486106817/@caseychan

And there is more about the movie itself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXpLfi7B-t0

King Tiger

This was a Tamiya 1/35 scale kit. Whenever I want to do a straight out of the box kit, I go to my Tamiya stack. Since I had never built a King Tiger before, this was a great choice.

After the basic painting, I did a lot of oil washes and dry brushing to get the worn look. Since this is intended as OOB, I didn't add any stowage or modifications.

 

VB 12-17-13

Hummel

This is the Dragon 1/72 scale kit. These are really getting tough for me to see. I did manage find some good photos, mostly of museum pieces. I gathered enough info to get this done.

 

 

As always, painted with enamels and weathered with oils. I was pleased with the outcome of the added stowage as I had seen in many battle action photos.

 

 

VB 12-17-13

 



SAS Jeep

This is the Italeri SAS Commando Car, which is really just a jury rigged Willis Jeep. The kit was basic and an easy build. Based on the actual photos I found on line, it was not a great representation of actual vehicles used by the SAS, so I did some modification. I cut the front grill and mounted the spare water / gas cans on a scratch built rack.

 

I also added some personal weapons and stowage. 

 

The model was painted with enamels and weathered with oils. After more dull coats, I performed the oil dot matrix technique to vary the shades of green. I added more dullcoat then dry brushed.

 

 

Finally I used some MIG pigments with the turpenoid to create the splashed mud effect. on the tires and wheel wells.

 

VB 12-17-13

 

German gun... :-)

Cool picture! Had to post it :-)

For the article, see Gizmodo:

http://gizmodo.com/this-gigantic-german-gun-can-ruin-your-week-from-30-mil-1481330459

Cheers,
Fred

This make me think, could we have a Howitzer as subject for the next club contest?

In Time for the Christmas Feast

Opel Blitz Field Kitchen

This truck uses the wood gas engine burner fuel system

.

JSU-152