Tunisian Road. Nigel Wells' North African GB entry.

Post by **Coen** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 12:23 am

So some time ago, Nigel Wells hosted a Youtube GB on the Conflict in North Africa during WWII.
I'd been hoping for some time to get a chance to complete my collection of NA pieces. I have several already.
When Nige announced that he was going to put on the GB I jumped at the chance.
However, my youtube channel and life in general always seemed to get in the way and I never got to finish the piece.
Now that I've stopped making the videos and dealing with all the traffic that they created I have tonnes of free time to build what I want, and when I want. Muhahahahah!!!!

So I pulled this off the shelf the other day and got back to work on it. I guess it's a shelf of doom piece, but because I had always planned on finishing it I don't really consider it to be one.

A great deal of work has already been done up to this point. All of the vehicles and figures have been built and most have been partially painted.
None are complete though. The shear number of them make this a bit of an epic build.
Below is the link to the playlist on my channel that covers all of the work that's been done so far on the vehicles and some of the figures.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... ieaBWdQFa1

What I've been working on the last few days is the diorama.

It started with a large piece of MDF that I framed with yet more MDF. Then I marked out a generalised layout for the dio.

I had originally planned to build a simple building facade to show the house in the garden, but I had a plaster one that I'd ordered ages ago from MK35 in France. It's a freaking awesome piece. I highly recommend their stuff. It's a bit expensive and shipping it is tricky, but to me it's worth the risk and the price for what you get.

Then I mocked up the dio with the partially constructed vehicles. Making any changes to the original layout.

Then I began the construction.
I started with the road and the rock wall first. Originally I was going to make the road a gravel road, but I changed it to a cobble stone one. I've seen a couple of shots of places in North Africa that had them and I really like the look of them. So a bit of licence was taken.
To make the cobbles I took two different sized old paint brushes and tore off the collars. Ripped out the bristles and then shaped the sleeve into a somewhat oblong shape. This I used as a stamp to impress the outline of the cobbles into the still soft DAS Airdry Modelling Clay.
I also took a bunch of small granite pebbles and lined the road and path with them. I also embedded them into the top of the rock wall.

After several hours work...

Next I primed the house and wall, and I added shadow to the floor inside the house.

The way that the roof was constructed for this model, the peak didn't join up naturally. So I made a cap for it out of copper sheeting.

Next I base painted the house in sandstone colours and a dark panzer grey for the roof.
Then I dry brushed the whole thing with a light sand colour.

The door and shutters I drybrushed in an old wood colour over the black primer. Then I drybrushed again with a lighter colour.

The basement window cover was painted in gunmetal then drybrushed in three colours of rust.

I glued the house onto the base and gave the roof a Ultimate wash of a mix of Sand and Light Dirt. The walls got one of Dark Dirt.
Then I moved on to the ground cover.
For this piece I used clean white super fine beach sand. The particles are incredibly small and more to scale than anything else that I've found as yet. I reduce the size of the particles even further with a Ultimate wash mix of colours later.
White contractor's glue is smeared all over the area where the sand with go and I add layer after layer of sand. Until it's at the depth that I want.
This stuff can also make fairly good snow when left unpainted.

I embedded a bunch of rocks in the ground at one end of the garden for visual interest. Later I'll add vegetation to this area.

Next I mocked up the vegetation and the olive tree base.

I made all the footprints and track marks in the sand that I'd need and I soaked white glue mixed with water into the sand. Once dry it should be somewhat hard. Then I tinted the sand with a mix of Ultimate sand (and old colour and the new one), light dirt, and concrete. I'll add pigments to some areas to add variations once it sets a bit.

I added two or three colours of pigments to the road surface as well.

Now pigments are added to the sand surface.
I will have to replace the track marks later as they were mostly washed away during the Ultimate wash application.

And the vegetable matter is added. All tinted. I'll add leaves to the bushes once they're dry. The tree still needs blending and foliage.

Next will be small tufts of grass. Not much, it's supposed to be an arid climate. Then I'll build a few incidentals. Barrels, bottles, a table maybe.
We'll see.

Post by **rodrant** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 1:45 am

Now this is some great (enormous...) stuff !!!!

I just watch and watch again and try to learn something ...great step by step of a diorama , this is one to follow Coen

, Mate !

Post by **robertw** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 1:56 am

Post by **Art17847** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 5:31 am

As always awesome work.....luv how u did the road with clay and the home made tool came out great...looking forward to seeing morei

Post by **AchtungPanzer** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:53 am

Michael - You are a "Model Making Machine"

. Well done Mate - Will be a super Dio

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:48 pm

It is pretty amazing how well the Normandy building fits into a North Africa scene, really good "conversion" so to say

Really cool, you captured the look of Tunesian cities of the time well, looking at some NA dioramas makes one think that it all happened the mythical orient.

Post by **hansolo** » Wed Sep 24, 2014 7:36 am

WOW Coen!
What an amazing considerable piece of work!
Big in size ánd quality!
Can't wait for the rest.

cheers

Post by **Paul** » Wed Sep 24, 2014 9:54 am

Wow superb work mike, liking that a lot

Post by **LordFarnswaller** » Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:17 pm

very cool coen

Post by **Nige201980** » Wed Sep 24, 2014 8:10 pm

OMG

this is amazing it seams like I've been wait to see this for ages and it's well worth the wait WOW MORE MORE MORE

Post by **PaulAyrey** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 6:21 am

Thumbs up from me as well. Looks fabulous so far!

Post by **UKguyInUSA** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 3:36 pm

Wow...fabulous work so far mate, looks awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/user/longlance67 · Post by **longlance67** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 6:34 pm

wonderful ground work Mike, very cool and looks very convincing

looking forward to seeing more mate

Shane

Post by **Coen** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 12:42 pm

Thanks guys.
I really appreciate it.

Post by **Coen** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 1:14 pm

The last few days have been pretty busy modelling wise. I did some work on my FT-17, P51D Mustang, a Tasca 1/24 Zundapp motor cycle and riders, and the final figure for my 1/16th tiger.
I also finished painting all the figures for the North Africa Dio and finished the crusader tank.
I spent some time trying to figure out what to do for trees on the dio and I'm still not convinced that I like what I've done.

Here's some shots of the work...

Firstly I spent time trying to sort out which tree to use on the dio for the olive tree...

This one.

Or this one.

In the end I used both, but I don't like the look of the larger one that much. I may add mor branches and fill it up more.

The figures were completed and put in their final positions. I also added crates of wine, a milk can, and a water bowl thingy with water in it.
The crusader still needs finishing at this point.

It just wouldn't be complete.... Without a goat. Say hello to Alberta the Goat.

The olive tree with its foliage. I think that it needs more to it.

This one I like

The crusader finished and installed on the diorama.
Heavy use of Ultimate washes on this.

Next I need to start work on the other three vehicles. The tiger, Pz IV, and the Pz III.

Post by **AchtungPanzer** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 1:47 pm

THanx for sharing mate . This is Top of Art - When Dio will be finished , will be eyes-orgasm

Post by **Nige201980** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 6:06 pm

Cracking work mate getting excited to see it finished

http://www.youtube.com/user/longlance67 · Post by **longlance67** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 6:32 pm

beautiful work Mike, the figures have made it come to life my friend

keep it up

Shane

Post by **MarkVerploeg** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 8:45 pm

Awesome work
It looks like the africa gb was never long enough to begin with
But what a build it is

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 6:15 pm

Sir, i´m speechless while looking at all these lovely figs! You know what i feel

My face expression is down below:

Post by **Hillbilly** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 3:36 am

Holy Crap

Your craftsmanship always amazes me.Yourself and the other top shelf builders on here really help to inspire me to try to take my builds to the next level

Post by **Coen** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:11 am

Thanks fellas.
I wouldn't go that far Hillbilly, but inspiring builders to have fun always makes my day. So that's a win for me.

Post by **Coen** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:59 am

I started work on the vehicles this week.
I was going to assembly line them for the weathering, but I changed my mind.
I ended up treating them all individually with two simple unifying weathering products to tie them together.
They all represent different aged vehicles that exist in the same environment. So they would have different amounts of weathering but the same kind of dust and dirt effects.
So the filter and Ultimate wash will be the unifyer.
Let's hope that it works.
I started with the tiger....
This is her after an application of AK dark wash for DAK vehicles, and a bit of dirty grime on the verticle sides. I wanted to experiment with these and see how well the turn out.... The jury is still in deliberations.

Then I installed the tracks and dull coated her with Alclad matte coat. Now she's ready for the filter then the washes and pigments.

Post by **ThomasBrown** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:12 pm

Wow Mike! You should have stopped doing YouTube vids a long time ago! HAHAHAHAHA! Just kidding. Seriously though buddy that is some fantastic work. Glad to see you hard at work on the bench. Miss you on the tube. Take care buddy.

Post by **Coen** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 5:48 pm

Thanks Tommy. I appreciate that dude. If it interests you, I posted a finale reveal vid for the 1/16th tiger last night. It's not going to be a regular thing, but I wanted to close things off so to say.

I spent the last couple of days working on the panzer IV. It's pretty much finished now. At least as finished as I can get it until the other vehicles are at the same stage.

I started with AK's DAK vehicle dark wash. It's very similar to my burnt umber wash only the pigment particles are smaller and the effect is neater.
I liked it quite a bit and I may pick up more of these washes from a few other manufacturers and compare them.

Here it is with just a wash...

Then I flat coated it with Alclad Matt coat and I gave it a bit of touch up with a bit of AK's grease and grime for DAK vehicles. Then I installed the tracks.

Next it was a Ultimate sand wash mix over the matt coat. I really wanted it to stick and coat the surface.

Then I went over all the open spaces with a really stiff bristled brush to remove the top layer of the wash. I wanted the staining and the collection in the crevasses to remain.

Next I cleaned off the contact surface of the road wheels and the tracks with a cotton bud and water to simulate the lifting wear effect of the rubber.

Then I pigmented the exhaust with various rust colours. I'll go back over it with a dark wash once it drys.

Next I took a dry cotton bud and scrubbed all the flat open surfaces to imitate rubbing wear of the passing of the crew on the dust on the vehicle.

Then I drybrushed AMMO gun metal on all the corners and hard edges of the vehicle. I also added grease and fuel stains.

Finally I added the crew...

I'll probably start on the Panzer III next and save the tiger for last.

Post by **AchtungPanzer** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 6:20 pm

The hat of mate

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 8:09 pm

Post by **hansolo** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 8:53 pm

Awesome stuff Coen, AWESOME!!

cheers

Post by **ThomasBrown** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 1:13 am

Thanks for the step by step brother. I took notes.

Post by **mannloon** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 2:45 am

Awesome stuff.

Post by **Nige99** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 8:29 am

Been following this on FB this dio is stunning Mike.
Your Tiger and panzer 4 looks amazing mate. Well done on this massive build.

Post by **Russ72** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 8:44 am

Beautiful stuff mate.

Post by **Gb64c** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 1:06 pm

Thanks for the step by step, great help

Post by **Deacon** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 5:36 pm

What I like about your builds mate is the vision you have for a dio and the skills you posses to
make it happen.

Post by **rodrant** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 7:38 pm

This is becoming so great Coen ! I'm enjoying every new update of it !

Post by **Coen** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 10:45 pm

Thanks guys.... It's finished now.
I'll post the reveal later on, but finis completious.

Post by **Coen** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 2:05 am

As promised, ...

But before I show the final reveal I'll show the last bits of the build.

I basically did the same thing to the Panzer III that I did to the Panzer IV. I gave it a wash with the Ultimate sand wash mix and waited until it dried.
Then I took it off with a very stiff bristled brush.

I thought that it was a bit too dirty looking so I took a bit more off with a dry cotton bud.

I also took off the wash on the contact surfaces of the wheels and the tracks to imitate wear.
I also added fuel and grease stains to the wheels and fuel ports.

Then I moved on to the tiger I.
I coated the running gear with Tamiya X20A thinner as a fixer and applied a sand mix of pigments to everything. I waited a couple of hours for it to dry and took a lot of it off with a stiff brush.
I also added a dry pigment of the same mix to all the upper surfaces as well.
Then I added the fuel stains.

I don't much like the exhaust shrouds and I'll be adding some pigments later on.

Next is the reveal

Post by **Coen** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 2:09 am

And now the reveal...

[youtube]P2RQj9EZmC0 [/youtube]

Post by **Hillbilly** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 4:52 am

Yet another stunning diorama!

Post by **Nige201980** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 6:43 am

Wow mate I love it it's stunning wow I'll watch the vid when I finish work
Thanks for taking part buddy.

Post by **Coen** » Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:53 am

Thanks Hillbilly!
Nige.... I had a blast with this bud.
I wasn't kiddin when I said that I was itching to build this for a while.
It was an awesome experience bud, thanks for giving me the excuse.

Post by **hansolo** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 10:55 am

Awesome dio, Coen!!
You've got an amasing eye for detail.
My absolute favorite is the Panzer 3.
Absolute awesome weathering!!!!!

Great stuff as always, master. Hats off.

Cheers

Post by **wappynutter** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 3:05 pm

So, so....... Fan-bloody-tastic Mike..... Awesome buddy....
Finished to perfection..... just like the 1/16 Tiger and crew!! Top shelf pieces for sure!!
Stay safe and well my friend!

Post by **Coen** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 3:21 pm

Big Grin Andy

Thanks bud.

Post by **Yevgeny** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 5:08 pm

Wow, that is a lot of work! Looks amazing, love all the crew in the tanks, looks like they are really on the move

My only questions are, how is the tank with the crew next to the house got in the garden with the tree and small wall behind and why all the booze by the house is still in the crates and not being drank? They show an incredible restraint these troops

Can I just add that your portfolio topic is amazing. Were do you store all of your work?!

Post by **Coen** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 5:57 pm

Thanks Yevgeny,
That's a good question bud.
Originally the entire diorama was intended to fill the space created by the frame, so the whole thing would be level. But I didn't have enough material to fill all of that without making the dio weigh 60kgs haha.
So I just covered the bottom and left the frame exposed. Unfortunately that made it appear as though the frame was a wall ... it's actually not.
The crusader would have driven into the courtyard between the wall and the tree... the frame on the edge of the diorama confuses this though.

As for where I keep all the finished pieces...

I have a few shelves that are rapidly filling up.

Post by **Yevgeny** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 6:19 pm

Makes sense

Your collection looks amazing.

Post by **MarkVerploeg** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 9:51 pm

I can't remember if i congratulated you with this fine build or not
But anyway , hats of for this amazing build

Post by **Coen** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 10:16 pm

Thanks Mark

Post by **rodrant** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 10:22 pm

Hi Coen !

Watch the video and this was a fantastic Build ! Very nice all the details and the thread is a 'How to ' full of great tips on how to do a proper Diorama !

Liked a lot !