German Pak 40 gun and crew diorama, Russia 1943.

[BradG]

My first real crack at a diorama. This is the old Tamiya 75mm Pak 40 and crew, along with spares box weapons, ammo and extra crew member with binoculars. The grass is from Mininatur, the lighter roadway is tile grout, the darker dirt is just that from mums garden and the fence was made out of balsa wood. I'm not the best at figure painting but I'll get there. 1/35 is the scale.

[Bomber_County]

Brad, if it’s your first, that’s damn good, congratulations........

[GusMac]

Looks pretty nice for a first try. Kudos 

[GazzaS]

That's pretty cool!

[Sir Desmond Glazebrook]

I reckon that looks really good.

Does your mum know you stole her dirt? 

[BradG]

On 3/30/2020 at 8:07 PM, Sir Desmond Glazebrook said:

I reckon that looks really good.

Does your mum know you stole her dirt? 

Haha yeh, although I got a few frowns when she asked what I was putting in the microwave. Doing that kills off any rubbish in the dirt.

[Sir Desmond Glazebrook]

You learn something every day. 

[DocRob]

Very nice little dio with some dynamic in the setting. One little thought, the uniforms should be matted a little, then you have a nice and realistic contrast between helmets and equal coloured tunics.

Cheers Rob

[BradG]

1 hour ago, DocRob said:

Very nice little dio with some dynamic in the setting. One little thought, the uniforms should be matted a little, then you have a nice and realistic contrast between helmets and equal coloured tunics.

Cheers Rob

Thanks mate. Yeh I know it does look like the figures are glossy, but I think the light is just picking up some of the pigment dry brushing, everything was hit with Tamiya matt. Looks better to the naked eye.

[Sir Desmond Glazebrook]

8 hours ago, BradG said:

Thanks mate. Yeh I know it does look like the figures are glossy, but I think the light is just picking up some of the pigment dry brushing, everything was hit with Tamiya matt. Looks better to the naked eye.

You may want to get Tamiya Flat. Tamiya Matt is semi gloss.  

[BradG]

5 hours ago, Sir Desmond Glazebrook said:

You may want to get Tamiya Flat. Tamiya Matt is semi gloss.  

?? I used XF 86, that's not semi gloss.

[Sir Desmond Glazebrook]

20 hours ago, BradG said:

everything was hit with Tamiya matt.

I read what you wrote.

XF-86 is flatt.

[BradG]

Oh, well yeh, you know matt/flat, same thing to me I guess, maybe not to everyone but first time I've heard someone say equate matt to semi gloss.

[Clunkmeister]

On 4/5/2020 at 7:00 AM, BradG said:

Oh, well yeh, you know matt/flat, same thing to me I guess, maybe not to everyone but first time I've heard someone say equate matt to semi gloss.

I have the same issue with my figures, Brad, except mine always appear glossy no matter how much flatcoat I airbrush on. 

One T-28 I have has a couple guys climbing in, and no matter what I do with them,. the LOOK like toy soldiers.

[DocRob]

If you want a dead flat finish, use Scale 75 colours for figures, there is no shine whatsoever with these. A little care has to be taken with their skin tones, they tend to be a little chalky if not thinned properly.

Cheers Rob

[Fidd88]

Really nice! The only thing I'd perhaps do differently, is by "digging" small holes for the spades on the end of the trailing arms. If the gun were to be fired, as pictured, it'd travel backwards at some speed, abolishing some members of the crew. Putting sandbags on the ends of the trailing arms could help when the ground was too hard, or it was to be fired in a street or similar; but the best method was to dig two shallow holes - 8-12 inches deep, and lower the spades into said holes.

The other thing to consider with these larger ATG's is that whilst they could be horse-drawn, more often that not they were towed by a half or fully tracked vehicle, and even if protected with a tarpaulin, got very very very dusty - or muddy,.. especially on the trailing arms.

That said, it's a cracking diorama, and an amazing job for a "first go"!

[Clunkmeister]

I remember our 155s, which were by no means an ATG, and even those made a helluva mess when fired more than 2 or 3 rounds. The earth chewed up by their recoil movement was quite extraordinary, actually, especially when they weren't dug in.

 

[belugawhaleman]

That's cool! You really captured the action of the scene. Well done!