Tamiya 1/35 Churchill Mark VII with British Infantry Diorama

[rodrant]

Here's is my D-Day entry for the ground operations ...my first Idea and I already mention that in the forum was to depeict some GI's landing in the beach as I think that's waht we think when relieve D-Day aniversaries and History ...Large numbers of troops landing in the Beaches , As Most of you know I enter with a P-47 Build , and some of you make excellent work depicting the above , also it was hard to me to find the right kit to do as I'm a plane guy and for real do not have any armor to buid , so I ordered a Tamiya Churchill Kit , I read that it was an old but easy kit to start doing some armor , so let's have a try ...I enjoy so much all the threads from Coen , Flyingdutchman , Achtung PAnzer that I need to try this , also have always the idea to make a diorama of WWII with figures and buildings , so let's go and see how it goes !

My entry will depict a Normandy Street with the Churchill and some Tamiya British on Patrol in the middle of some ruined houses , could be some moments of operation Blue Coat where the 6th Guards Tank Brigade took part

Here are some details of that operation in Wikipedia :

Operation Bluecoat was an attack by the British Second Army at the Battle of Normandy during the Second World War, from 30 July – 7 August 1944. The geographical objectives of the attack were to secure the key road junction of Vire and the high ground of Mont Pinçon. Operationally, the attack was made to support the American exploitation of their break-out on the western flank of the Normandy beachhead and tactically, to exploit the German depletion of the defences of what had been a quiet area, by withdrawing the 2nd Panzer Division.
Background
From 18–20 July, the British Second Army conducted Operation Goodwood in a southerly direction, south-east of Caen on the eastern flank of the Allied beachhead, which had forced the Germans to keep the bulk of their armoured units in the east around Caen.[1] After Goodwood, Ultra revealed that the Germans planned to move the 21st Panzer Division out of the line, in preparation to moving it to the west (American) sector of the front. On 25 July, after a false start the day before, the American First Army began Operation Cobra.

Prelude
Allied offensive preparations
The inter–army boundary between the British right flank and the US First Army was moved, with British forces taking over a sector previously manned by the US V Corps, against which were lightly armed German infantry, which gave an opportunity for a new operation to keep tying down German armour. The VIII Corps headquarters and the 7th 11th and Guards armoured divisions of the British Second Army under Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey, were moved westwards toward Caumont on the western flank of XXX Corps, to relieve the US V Corps. Dempsey planned to attack on 2 August but the speed of events forced him to advance the date.

German defensive preparations


Normandy Bocage
From 21 July the 2nd Panzer Division had been withdrawn from the area south of Caumont and relieved by the 326th Division, which took over a 10-mile (16 km) front from the east of Villers-Bocage, next to the 276th Division, westwards to the Drôme river, the boundary between the LXXIV Korps of Panzergruppe West and the 7th Army. The 326th Division, south and east of Caumont, was up to strength and took over a large number of field defences and camouflaged firing positions, behind extensive minefields in the ideal defensive terrain of the Suisse Normande bocage.

Plan
British XXX Corps was to lead the attack with the 43rd Division to advance to the top of Bois du Homme (Point 361). The left flank was to be protected by the 50th Division and the 7th Armoured Division was in reserve. On the right the western flank of XXX Corps was to be protected by the VIII Corps, with the 15th Division attacking south from Caumont and the 11th Armoured Division attacking cross-country further west, ready to exploit a German collapse by advancing towards Petit Aunay, 3.7 miles (6.0 km) west of Saint-Martin-des-Besaces. A raid by over 1,000 bombers in preference to a preliminary artillery barrage was to prepare the way for the attack.

Battle


Operations Cobra and Bluecoat
Visibility was poor but the bombers placed accurately 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) of bombs. The damage to German equipment was slight, partly because there was little of it in the target areas and because the 43rd and 50th divisions were held just beyond the start line, well north of the target areas in their sector. The advance of the left flank units of the 11th Armoured Division through "Area A" made rapid progress.[6] Many British units were held up by minefields, sunken roads, thick hedges and steep gullies but in the centre the attackers gained 5 miles (8.0 km).

On 31 July, the 11th Armoured Division of VIII Corps exploited a German inter–army boundary weakness, when they discovered an undefended bridge ("Dickie's Bridge") 5 mi (8.0 km) behind the German front, over the River Souleuvre. Reinforcing the opportunity quickly with Cromwell tanks followed by further support units, they broke up the first German armoured units sent to counter-attack.

British forces advanced to about 5 mi (8.0 km) from Vire by 2 August, which was on the American side of the inter-army boundary. There was confusion as to who had the rights to use certain roads and the British attack was restricted and diverted south-east. The German 7th Army was able to reinforce the town with troops from the 3rd Parachute Division, which was being forced south by the US V Corps and to move elements of the 9th SS Panzer Division south-west to close the gap between the 7th Army and Panzergruppe West.

The British advance was held up by these reinforcements. VIII Corps also had to protect its eastern flank, because XXX Corps had not kept up the same rate of advance. The commander of XXX Corps, Lieutenant General Gerard Bucknall, was dismissed on 2 August and the commander of the 7th Armoured Division, Major General George Erskine, was sacked the next day.[11] Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks, a veteran of North Africa replaced Bucknall on 4 August. The 2nd Army advance was brought to a temporary halt on 4 August. Vire fell to an American night attack by the 116th Regiment of the US 29th Division against the defenders of the 363rd Division on 6 August. On the same day, the British 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division and tanks of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars captured Mont Pinçon.

Aftermath
Analysis

Operation Bluecoat kept German armoured units fixed on the British eastern front and continued the wearing down of the strength of German armoured formations in the area. The breakthrough in the centre of the Allied front surprised the Germans, when they were distracted by the Allied attacks at both ends of the Normandy bridgehead.[14] By the time of the American breakout at Avranches, there was little to no reserve strength left for Operation Luttich, the German counter-offensive, which had been defeated by 12 August, leaving the 7th Army with not choice but to retire rapidly east of the Orne river, followed by a rearguard by all the remaining armoured and motorised units, to allow time for the surviving infantry to reach the Seine. After the first stage of the withdrawal beyond the Orne, the manoeuvre collapsed for a lack of fuel, Allied air attacks and the constant pressure of the Allied armies and culminated in the encirclement of many German forces in the Falaise pocket.

Casualties
During Bluecoat and later operations in Normandy the VIII Corps had 5,114 casualties.

Subsequent operations
Operation Grouse
With news from the American sector by 9 August that Operation Lüttich, the German counter-offensive from Mortain, had been defeated, O'Connor planned a new attack, intended to pin down the German defenders opposite VIII Corps or precipitate a collapse. The 3rd Division would advance around Vire and the Guards Armoured Division was to advance down Perrier Ridge, VIII Corps establishing itself on high ground between Tinchebray and Condé-sur-Noireau around Mont de Cerisi, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-east of Vire. A three-phase attack was planned by the Guards Armoured Division and the attached 6th Guards Tank Brigade to begin on 11 August but the day dawned with a dense mist, which prevented the preliminary bombing and disorganised the tank-infantry attack. German defensive fire restricted the advance on the eastern flank to 400 yards (370 m). In the centre, three Panthers were spotted in a farm yard at le Haut Perrier and ambushed, two being knocked out and the survivor being set on fire by a PIAT gunner on the southern outskirts of le Haut Perrier. The British advance continued towards Point 242 north of Chênedollé, where a German counter-attack knocked out six Shermans for a loss of two Panthers and an assault gun. To the west the 2nd Irish Guards-5th Coldstream tank-infantry group made faster progress and reached the west side of Chênedollé. When the village was attacked it was found that the garrison had withdrawn. As the bombers had failed to arrive, Chênedollé was consolidated and further attacks were postponed and then cancelled.

On the right of the Guards Armoured Division the attack began at 9:00 a.m. along a road running south through Viessoix and le Broulay, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) further on, thence to Moncy 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) to the east, protected on the right by the advance of the 3rd Division. From Moncy the attack was to be continued to Point 260, on Mont de Cerisi 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) further on. German resistance was as determined as that in the east. To the north of la Personnerie, minefields covered by the fire of troops from the 3rd Fallschirmjäger Division, held up the advance. In the afternoon an attempt to detour to the east through le Val was also blocked, the advance having covered only 800 metres (870 yd) in five hours. With the attack bogged down at le Val and Viessoix the troops at le Val were withdrawn during the evening and new orders were received to hold the Vire–Vassy road.

About the Churchill Tank, I found some interesting subject in the flames of war site and about the 6th Guards Tank Brigade , that is one of the options to do with the Tamiya Kit ( we have the colors for the 3rd Tank Battalion from the Scots Guards :


http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=2591

6th Guards Tank Brigade in Normandy

6th Guards Tank Brigade Badge 6th Guards Tank Brigade in Normandy
by David Lister

The Political Battle
In September 1941 two brigades of the Foot Guards were converted to an armoured role. This formation was the Guards Armoured Division, commanded by Brigadier Adair. About a year later the two brigades were split. One retained the Guards Armoured Division name; the other containing the 4th Coldstream, 4th Grenadier and 3rd Scots Guards regiments, formed what became known as the 6th Guards Tank Brigade.

6th Guards Tank Brigade Badge.



Originally each infantry division was meant to have a tank brigade under its command. The 6th Guards were meant to be subordinated to the 15th Scottish Division. However, this quickly changed and the Brigades became independent formations.
The 6th Guards were originally equipped with the A13 Mk III Covenanter; but in early 1943 the Brigade was reequipped with the Churchill tank. The early Churchill tanks were deemed a dismal failure due to its rapid development and being hurried into production. It was so dreadful that it got mentioned several times in heated debates in the House of Commons. For example, early models would flood in heavy rain as it had no drainage channels. However, modifications were ongoing, and by the time the Brigade went into action over 71 alterations had been made. These along with its heavy armour made the tank an extremely good infantry tank.



Heavy losses suffered by the 6th Guards in Italy between June 1943 and January 1944 nearly caused the 6th Guards to be disbanded. Due to indecision regarding the Brigade's fate, the entire Brigade had its Churchill VIs replaced by Churchill III and IVs.



Prior to the Normandy landings, all of the 6 pdr guns were replaced with 75mm guns at the Brigade's workshops; oddly this prevented the Brigade’s deployment in Normandy. Montgomery had a preference for 6 pdr armed tanks. Finally the Brigade's commanding officer, Brigadier Verney, complained to King George, who in turn took the complaint to Prime Minister Churchill. Montgomery was persuaded to deploy the 6th Guards. This was further aided by the fact that a third of the tanks had been converted back to 6 pdrs, to meet Montgomery’s requirements. Finally on the 20 July 1944, the 6th Guards were landed at Gold and Juno beaches.

Operation Bluecoat

During the lull between landing in Normandy and Operation Bluecoat, many of the Brigade's officers visited the vehicle collection points. After seeing the damage inflicted by the German 7.5cm and 8.8cm guns, the Brigade issued orders to weld tracks to the tanks; the hope this improvised measure would add an extra level of protection.



At the time, US forces were taking fire from their flanks from a position about six miles beyond the British frontline. This was a ridge line, with a high point; designated Hill 309.
Due to pressure from the Americans a hasty attack was planned, with no time for reconnaissance. The attack was organised with less than 24 hours notice. The initial objective was Hill 309. That evening the 6th Guards left their marshalling area on a night march towards the front. Again the lack of preparation showed, as many tanks got lost in the darkness. After scouts were sent out the next morning everyone was eventually found.

The Brigade was in support of the 15th Division, whom it had trained with extensively. The first phase begun with the Grenadier Guards attack on Sept-Vents, and a neighbouring wood with Sherman Crabs and Churchill Crocodiles in support. Despite the Grenadiers Guards losing five Churchills to mines, the Crabs were not used; however the Crocodiles saw plenty of action. The Grenadier Guards pressed on even with the loss of many of their officers to enemy fire. After some early success; heavy mortar fire pinned the supporting infantry, halting the advance.



At the same time the Scots Guards encountered the same heavy mortar fire. Compounded by difficult terrain their attack also bogged down. To maintain the momentum of the attack the Coldstream Guards press on past the Grenadiers Guards. Meeting little resistance the Battalion pushed on to Hervieux. In the afternoon the Coldstream Guards captured Hill 309, despite the boggy terrain and opposition from German armour.

Meanwhile, the Scots Guards had captured their foremost objective; Hill 226 over four miles behind the enemy frontlines. Shortly after capturing the hill, the Scots Guards were attacked by three Jagdpanthers.
The attack came from a wood that should have been captured by an infantry unit earlier in the day. However the unit responsible for securing the wood had been delayed by German resistance and in the devastating attack that followed the Scots Guards lost eleven Churchills. Despite these loses, the Scots Guards were able to disable two of the Jagdpanthers.

Fresh infantry were then brought up to support the Scots Guards. Due to the terrain, the infantry’s support weapons had to be manhandled into position, as none of the towing vehicles could make it. At the same time the Grenadier Guards, with fresh infantry support captured Montchauvet.
On the 1 August the 21. Panzer Division launched a pair of counterattacks. The first started with a preliminary bombardment at 0530hrs; this attack was easily blunted. Shortly afterwards the second attack was launched. While it was kept away from the hill, the exchange of fire lasted most of the day until the Germans withdrew at 1600hrs.

During the night four German deserters came over to the British lines. Information obtained from them revealed that another attack was being prepared in a nearby orchard. Immediately all available artillery support was directed at the orchard. Reinforced by the 3” and 4.2” mortars of the infantry; the results caused several Tiger tanks and supporting German infantry to retreat in disarray.



The Following Days

After Bluecoat, the Brigade was split up to support infantry regiments from the 15th Division in limited attacks along the front. On 7 August under thick fog, the Grenadier Guards attacked Estry. But the lead squadron quickly ran into a German minefield, covered by Tigers and anti-tank guns. After stalling, a second squadron passed through the lead squadron and attacked. It barely managed to reach the outskirts of the town by nightfall. After a night of point blank fire from the Germans, it was forced to withdraw.

Later another squadron with AVRE and Crocodiles support attempted to push into the town, but the sunken lanes of the bocage hampered the specialised tanks, and they could not make an impact on the outcome. A final attempt was made by the entire Battalion, this last ditch effort was no more successful than previous attempts.

6th Guards Tank Brigade Organisation



The Coldstream Guards had no luck trying to fight their way round the village either. Their progress was slow, and communications with the US forces on their flank were patchy. On a few occasions the Coldstream Guards prepared to launch attacks on enemy positions that were captured by the US forces. Luckily last minute communications prevented those attacks from going in and disaster was averted. The Germans withdrew from Estry on 11 August and the 6th Guards Tank Brigade was relieved by the 11th Armoured Division.

Due to the slow speed of the Churchill, the Brigade was seen as ill suited for the pursuing of the Germans during the breakout of Normandy. It was during this period extra training was undertaken in preparation for future actions. Some officers were allowed to tour the surrounding countryside, normally returning to the Brigade with cheese, wine and other local delicacies. One pair of foraging officers took part in the liberation of Paris; arriving hours before it was officially liberated!

~ David.

Well time now to see what I will use in this Build :

First the Tamiya Churchill MKVII 1/35



The sprues









The extra figures in the box besides the British tankers ( It has some farmer , a British Infantry and a Oficer )



Instructions



Will do a tank from this Tank Brigade



Oh almost forgot the tracks ...in plastic really I'm looking to them and thinking how these guys here in the forum make it so real



Bought this aftermarket resin kit from Black Dog , it is a resin turret with Hessian Camo , also it has some stowage and those tracks that they fixed in the armor plate to try to avoid the penetration of the German 7.6 PaK anti-tank guns ...



All in a bag with some polysterene around



Some detail on the turret still on plastic :



Like this Hessian camouflage ...Hope to do it right , must dig o to find waht colors it was like ...

some of the pieces outside the plastic bag to you to see



Now , the British troops on Parade ...sorry , on Patrol

These guys are very relaxed to someone participating in this Historic operation :



Sprues ...seems simple , not a lot of pieces ...



Back of the box with the color detail



Now that I call managing Boxing space ....some more color and positioning options in the opening lid of the box




The diorama base :



A full bag of sprues



Instructions , very simple but clear ...




Now watch this :

First I was thinking of only having one base , but the churchill is a large beast :

For having an idea ( it is really the first 1/35 sclae that i'm doing , do not have an idea how big it was ...) I placed the body of the tank in the diorama , then imagine the figures ...then all crowded ...



Sooo...Bought another Diorama from Miniart



Like that I have more space to place the figures right , or can manage to depict the churchil in another way



Miniart had some kit that is exactly this two dioramas in one , will have to see how I join the two parts , and must start looking for a decent wood base for this ...

Sorry guys a long intro thread , and it seems wil be a loooong build , strating tomorrow with the churchill , I'm very entusiastic with all this and really hope to have the finish as I imagine ...

Hope that you follow this thread and build ,I will have to search a lot for photos on Intranet and in my Books about the WWII to see soem detail .

[UKguyInUSA]

This looks like it's going to be an interesting diorama build, Antonio....will watch this one closely, mate!

[chief5437]

yey! Another Churchill! You've got a lot of work going on there! Really looking forward to this. Good luck with the build

[rodrant]

Update 1

Starting the tank ...

Following Instructions ...







Frontal hull







Continuig doing front hull , buildong tanks is funnnier than I thought ...





The bottom hull



Start to look like a bren carrier





The funny part ...lot of wheels ....



Done for one side :



Oh crap , One of the whell part is defectous ...



Looks burnt or something ...well it is a 1977 mould i saw in the plastic , will place it the same it will be in the inside so no big issue I think





You can't go lost here





So this is building a tank , a lot of wheels ...a lot of hulls , but enjoying it very much , start in the morning and until lunch time I guess it will be ready for Primer



This small part on top was the difficult one till now ...and dificult because i didn't look with attention to instructions





so next steps , first paint ...but I paint the exaust , but will leave for the end after all the hull is painted , this and other parts , the shovels and so ...





Finally we are getting a tank done...



AS I will be using the resin turret it is time to see if it fits ...

No fit and must make some sanding job , will use Ultimate sanders plus , and mandatory a hard File to getting all the resin excess out



went nice and it fits in th Churchill Hull

Here I will kept one of the uoper hatches closed ( the one of the left and keep the one of the right open



so must cut the one that will be open in two halves

Use my Tamiya saw



The hatches now fitted ...must make a semi open , as I could later have issues with the turret , with all the hessian tape camo ...



Fit the jerricans and deposits on the rear





More parts to fix in the laterals





The main gun ...it also isn't perfect , something is missing , the muzzle is missing ( it is the muzzle , right , sorry as I do not know the right terms ...)



so must do some scratch job using the original from the kit ...



cut from the plastic and glue it to the resin gun



the commander cupula also was more or less hard to fit , but in th end went ok



Some drilling to be done to fix other plastic parts





Later will have a lot of stowage in resin to place in this



HAtches will be open , and they are fixed now ....must cuted some of the hessian so that the hatches could fit properly



I like it so far , it will be a nice kit I think , and the Tamiya kit for such an old one all fit perfectly , no confusions , I'm thinking alredy in buildinig a Tiger or a Panther

Tank is ready for priming , oh I put the tracks , and did you know that the tracks have a right direction ? Well I don't , thank you tamiya tht you alert this in instructions , as a newbie doing AFV's I almost put the tracks randomly ....Dummass!



Already primed , I don't know exactly how to paint it now , but guess that will be good to do some preshading , paint and some postshading using a filter wuith a very diluted green ...Tamiya advice to paint will be XF-81 (Dark Green RAF2) ...I'm already looking for some green colors to do the postshading or some Khaki color ...let's see

Well hope that you like so far , I liked very miuch doing the first Tank , will not be the last for sure and is a very good build to not get faded doing airplanes ...

[rodrant]

HI , some little edit on my first update , and some mistakes from me doig the build :

The base color should be XF-61 Dark Green , not XF-81 as I mention, it is a matter of green i suppose

also learn from a mistake that I have done , and this was because I was building the tank and didn't noticed , the tracks should be painted before placing them , also I could have primed both Hulls before assemebly them ...

Finally about the tracks , I'm 'lucky' as this tank was also to be used as a RC ( Yes inside there is a figure for how to place batteries and to place the contacts for them ...

Well learning , with so many builds around in the forum , I could have learn and I could have done better , will post today some pictures of the tank painted , hope that will be ok .7

The turret ...very nice but now soem hard work to paint that Hessian camouflage , what I've done ...could be confortable with the original turret , but no... I want always to add some more detail ...

ALso noticed that this 1/35 kits , make me use the 0.4 needle in my Airbrush so to cover more and that they can take a little more paint than I'm used to , time to buy more paint one of this days

[rodrant]

Update 2 , Tank Painted , Hessian Camo painted , add the tools in the tank , the big tow cables , paint the machins guns ...

Th eTank was Airbrushed with Tamiya XF-61 , It was hard to cover , at least I give well two paint coats ...

The Hessian Camo I sprayed with some very low opening in the Airbrush , and use several paits : XF - 49 Khaki, XF-62 Olive Drab , XF 26 Deep Green ...I spray small parts , even if it get mixed up a little , the final effect was very good ...The Photos show a different color , i try to tak soem photos with natural light if I used the flash then the Photo believe me was very more bad than in reality ...



The tank color is really green , it isn't brown , ok ?

Exaust is ready to place later

This was a mix of XF-56 and XF 64 1 part eacj«h as in the instructions , well mixed give a nice metal with small rust effect



You see this Photo , it is with the flash , the color of the tank is the real , the Hessian Camo seems awfull ...



Painted the samll pillows inside the hatch and the opening knob in White (XF-2) , the strap waspainted XF-10 Dark metal

And the hessian tape again , now without the flash we can see it is more nice , even so it has more green than khaki , what the hell with this Photos guys ...





The turret machine gun os painted , as well as the one near the driver





The exhaust and exhaust cover placed



Now I have all thi stuff (stowage) to ready to paint and place in the tank



When I buy the tamiya saw some weeks later I thought :'Why I bought this stuff...seems that I will never will use it ...'

Well I use it a lot with all this resin part , I t was my toll to remove the parts from their moulds , also some cleaning as some silicone still in the parts .Used a mask as I read somewhere that this resin stuff is very bad to your health !

No instructions , so I only have the box to see where to fix what , also I check on Blackdog site , there were more Photos for to see where to put all the stowage . Man ! They seemed to bring the house with them

By the way seems that Tamiya's cement isn't that good with this resin parts , I use an FALLER Super-Expert glue , it is nice for this and worked ok it seems

All clear and ready to paint :



While the stowage is drying from the airbrush , again XF-49 Khaki color , XF-62 Olive Drab and XF-56 for the tracks , place all the small tools in the tank and the steel cables on the side








And for today taht's all , maybe tonight I will place the stowage , make some brush finishing here and there where needed , and will see how I will do the weathering , I only have more stuff to planes , but will see what I will do , I didn't do any preshading onhtis and I'm happy with the result , will try to do some rust , try to enhance some rebits and some dust in the lower part of the tank , also some striking lines , I have a wah for rainmarks , maybe I use it and try to see how it goes on this ...

Hope you like the build so far , It isn't exactly how it should be in some steps , but really I'm learning doing this .

[chief5437]

that's some fast work buddy! Looks really good so far. CA (super glue) is what you need for fixing the resin parts. HTH

[rodrant]

that's some fast work buddy! Looks really good so far. CA (super glue) is what you need for fixing the resin parts. HTH

Thank you chief , yes I'm doing this fat , when you are doing something you like , you get your work done , thanks for the tip , just discover that when triyng to place the tracks protection on front of the turret , noe all the stowage is fixed to this Churchill ....boy that's a heavy load ...

[rodrant]

Update III , stowage

Well , thanks to chief iscover the right glue for the resin it is really more fast with CA glue ...so paited the stowage , first with airbrush and then some detiled work with brush , let me say that the result is awesome , I admire the work for example Frans (Flyingsutchman) he made all the stowage from scratch and what nice work he did , but then there is some Lazy guys me included ) that buy this aftermarket . The result is very nice and with the right weathering (hope that doesn't mess it up ..) should be the beginning of a very nice diorama !













Here I option to have only this protection in front and the small one between the driver hatch and the machine gun , if not all the front except the machine gun will be covered with tracks protection , is not very logical that the hatch of the driver will be with this , even it has three periscopes as we see in this photo





Well now is for sure the last update , starting with the tank figures and still thinking of waht to do weathering , perhaps a wash with some oils is a good idea ( at least in the stowage that is for sure ...)

See ya and thank you for watching !

[rodrant]

Another update ...well I remember to have bought the Ultimate washes and give it a try for Big ...I thought , well the tank is at war , it was a hard fight for British tankers , also remember to read that there was a lot of dust in Normandy in that period , so I think I weather it too much , used Ultimate Wash Light Dirt , Mud and Rust ...

Here it is the result , it is a very worn tank ...believe that the British Army will be shocked to have a tank in this condition

I like the final result :











Like that 'Call comander' comms Phone , this was used during the Normandy Bocage battles ... I can imagine the call ...Please Sir could you turn the turret left , there is an MG42 nest giving us some trouble ... , well seems that when this was used the results between tanks supporting infantry were meuch better , the americans also used after some bad casualties , at least that's what i read about ...





Some (a lot ) rustie ...the sea is a crap to metal you know ...









The stowage think it became very nice , put some Tamiya Dark Brown Pannel accent



That is the tank , I saw some photos and really I saw a lot of dust , and doesn't seem to me that these guys have the time to clean their tanks ...

Now Figures , I cut them off the sprue , remove all seam lines with an Hobby knife and use the Ultimate Sponges , the work went on , then glue all body parts, only leave the heads for the finishing , I first pain the bodies and paint the head and then glue it , I have already ine of the figures painted , for the first 1/35 figure I have painted went well , even the eyes I think ...the guy has some misterious smile in it ...maybe because he's the only one with an head in this 'happy' bunch !



For the face I used Tamiya XF-15 Flesh and for the lips a little XF-7 red with a very thin Brush , th reut is very good , for eyes used some XF-2 White and XF-1 Black , nothing speacil , but i'm very happy with the result , now will wash the figure with some Tamiya weathering master for figures ( for the flesh) and some Tamiya accent Panel Brown I think it will be for the clothes and Armament





Cn't resist to see how it will be on the tank ...very nice I think





The acessories of the farmer :

I must say that this I like a lot to build all this acessories , they are very nice , liked a lot of the lamp and the bottles , the result is very nice , never saw this type of acessories before ...







That is for today , will end painting the figures and start the houses soon ...

Fell free to comment and hope you like watching

[rodrant]

Not much work done , warm weather and hot temperatures I hear the call from beach ...

Go on with painting figures , and buy some new camera so the Photos can be nicer now ( I hope...)







The map on the commander was cuted from the instructions ...glued it to the plastic board that he is holding with some white glue , wash it with Ultimate Sand ...first I make some test in a corner of the instructions to see the effect



Somehow I think that the figures that are optional (These Tank commander and the Infantry soldier are slightly bigger that the tank crew



Now some more images of the tank and put it in the diorama base with the figures that are already painted justto see and experiment the new camera :







the tank





So not too much today ...the camera seems an improvment and I was taking a lot of pictures experiemnt it, seems that Photo ar not one of my skills , this new camera has some nice picture effects still learning how to use all potencial , now must improve light around here ...one thing at the time .

I will paint the Infantry soldier with the others , as the colors touse will be the same , still need to paint the farmer and will start with the diorama parts soon ...

[UKguyInUSA]

Great job so far, Antonio!

[fly1ngdutchm4n]

Nice work!
Love it!

[wappynutter]

Looking real nice Antonio.....
Love the figures and all that Worn, weathered look to the Tank....Excellent mate..
Continued success...

[rodrant]

First , thank you all for the nice comments ! Weel This isn't a real update, still I was doing some paintjob on figures ...and really hard to paint te faces ...I look at my first attempt and they all look as they come out of some Japanese Manga but their eyes they look like cartoons ...



Then I paint agin , make some (or try to ) make some shadows in cheek and in the eyes , well I like the end result , still far from perfect , but I liked a lot doing this figures , still to make the British Infantry in Patrol ...still one Infantry figure, the one that come from the tank , alsoo the farmer and the cart are ready , on the infantry man I use a dark color in the uniform on top of x-52 flat earth from tamiya to make some shadow in some parts of the uniform . I now leave you with some Photos , all the figures are now complete and placed in the tank , the Tommy soldier still need to get some matt varnish as long as the cart ...next steps British infantry and Diorama ...maybe this weekend I can have some time free to dedicate to this project , I'm enjoying it very much , painting figures is hard work , but to see the end result is quite nice, even if we still do not master this type of builds ...

Damnn, I write too much ...sorry guys !



The tank trio :



The 'booze' cart

The lamp and the bottles I think they are real nice ...



The infantry to the tank commander : 'Sir , seems that there are two tiger tanks down the road ...could you take them out ? '





I really do not like this tanker figure ...it is oversized ...

'Messieu ! take the wine ! your commander isn't looking ...'







the happy duo on the turret



More to see tomorrow I think ...will try to do the figures or to start the Diorama , so to do some different work ...do not know !

[rodrant]

Hi All ,

some update on this build , something done after some absence around here ...soem considerations , I''m enjoying very much this first Tank dio , with the houses and so , but during soem days I didn't do nothing , to paint all these figures and do the same become boring , then I change to the dio with the houses , in here my will broke ...never done this before and this vacuum form , it is not difficult but to make everything altoghether to glue , that is a chalenge , and we sometimes complaint about a plane that the fuselage do not get toghther properly ...my friends , that is not a problem at all , now I know it

Well starting with glueing and primer the Infabtry figures , no issues in fit , Tamiya kit all fixes in right places ... Primer I used on this and to experiment it the AK grey Primer , very good stuff ... covers well , we get to see great detail , and no smell , must get more one or two of these .







Now meanwhile and as the primer was driing , started on the diorama :

Bases first , I have two of them and remove forst this edges so I can put the two toghether :



One of hte bases



Let's 'try' to join them



Some sanding and glue and they are joined



Now to fill the gap in the middle used some Liquid Putty from Gunze Sangyo



Now vac-form has this 'problem'it doesnt glue well and a lot of gaps , during the glue curing process this is a proble , solved lately with some proper Plastic glue , I use a more strong glue form Faller , not Tamiya one

This are some walls





One of the houses in the dio done





SEcond house and soe more stuff added to the dio , again with the tank and figres to see how things could be placed (Yes I'm always posting pictures of the tank ...sorry guys )



I couldn't find a wood base yet so for now they are placed in a cork frame , do not know if wouldn't be the final chosen base for the Dio , I'm having a lot of work findong a proper wood base here ...at least with the dio dimensions .











Now the Infantry alreasy with some painting , the paint and I Think it is fro the Primer flows great , it is Tamiya paints and with brush , they cover great with this AK Primer !



Now that is all for today , this was soem days work , noe I must fill with putty or grout all the gaps in the dio , Primer it and Painting it , still to do some acessories for the dio , lamps , doors , windows and so on , to finishing the Infantry figures , faces , armaments and acessories , I really now wish (need ) to finish this , but also know if t do something proper in terms of the dio painting I must not rush now .

Sorry for all the Photos and Hope that you enjoy watch the progress .

[UKguyInUSA]

That's going to look awesome when it's completed....loving what you've done so far, Antonio. KUTGW!

Cheers,

Martin

[fly1ngdutchm4n]

Great work so far Antònio!
I know how hard it is to paint figures, especially faces. But you did a really good job on them!
As for all modelling and painting, practice makes perfect.
I love the setup of this diorama, going to look real nice when finished!
Keep it up and happy modelling!

[Nige99]

Cracking build and step by step guide!! This is going to look awesome dio once finished.
I am really tempted to do some British armour and the Churchill does look a nice kit. I love the box art on them Tamiya kits.

[rodrant]

Another update , I work mainly in th diorama this weekend :

primed all with AK Grey primer , then start painting and experiment paints to get right tones and colors ...still I discover that my small compressor swithc off if I paint too much time , and this takes time to paint , a lot of patience , a lot of paints to experiment ...

Still worked ok , I now added some details , still to do some weathering , some pigment vegetation and other acessories :













About Colors used :

Red Bricks and tiles : Mix of X-9 Brown and XF -15 Flat Flesh ( worked very well , the color seems the brick color )

for the rest no big mixtures , used almost all grey tones in Tamiya range , the grey bricks was also a mixture of XF-66 Light Grey with some XF-57 Ante

For the Pipes used Mr Hobby 351 Zinc cromate type 1 from a set of USAF and RAF cockpit sets ...

For the lmaps Dark Iron from Tamiya .

Will start weathering it tomorrow , will use Ultimate washes , concrete for the red bricks , dark dirt fr the grey bricks , light durt all around , it is a dusty enviromnment and this wash is great to simulate dust

Also will use some Vallejo urban pigments on the roand and so .

Some acessories to put , some bricks scattered arouund , some posters and street names and numbers on the buildings , some vegetation all over ...

and still must paint the British infantry , maybe next update will be the final one with all now done .

Hope you like it !

[Willem]

Hi Antonio.

Enjoying your thread. Your layout looks very well thought out.

Looking forward to seeing it all come together.

[UKguyInUSA]

Those building are looking way cool...when this all goes together it's going t look fabulous!

[rodrant]

Still another update just before reaching the final ...

well today I finish painting the infantry guys :







Look at the stripes of the leader of the patrol



I try to do some highlights , watching what I done seems a little crap , but in the end and after the paint dried were more aceptable , the faces on this and to me are really good , their expressions ( and not my work , but the kit is very nice in this aspect ..) are very nice , not one has the same expression ...

I use for their uniformes Flat Earth , and do the Highlights with some XF-64 red brown , maybe not the best choice but it is done as it is , now will do tomorrow some Matt Varnish and some weathering with some oils or Tamiya Panel line Brown or Dark Brown .

Initially I was thinking to do the gun belts/straps with tamiya tape , and also the helmets straps , but I give up , honestly I now am eagear to finish this build , I think that in future I will try to do again this type of Dioramas , it was something that I always wanted to do , and the possibilities are tremendous ... just have space in your house and sky is the limit , and it is very rewrding , and I like very much my result for the first one that I did !

Thank you for watching , Think that tomorrow will show you the Final reveal and them off we go to WWI

[UKguyInUSA]

Looking awesome, Antonio....looking forward to seeing it all together in your Final Reveal now!

[rodrant]

Final post on the building thread

the reveal is here :

http://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?f=262&t=8220

Hope you like it !

[AchtungPanzer]

All look not bad