Building a stone farmhouse

[ForbesHutton]

So I've been working on a AFV Club 251 halftrack:





That was about a week ago. If you can stick with a Dragon 251, do so. The AFV one is now built but there's lots of frustration and putty in it.
Anyway, it's got a Infrared spotlight in the back, and along with a Dragon 251 with night vision equipment, and a Jagdpanther with a night scope it will be going on a diorama.

A photo of the Jagdpanther:


So I want a farm house that the crews have been in, waiting for dusk to head out in the dark. A considered Mini-Art, but 1) wanted to build my own, 2) don't like the way Mini-art oversizes the doors and windows (doors are a scale 8' (2.75m) tall) and 3) wanted to save some money.

I picked up some sheet plastic molded to look like a stone wall. It's "G" scale but that's close enough to 1/35. I cut my wall and then went to the toughest part, the door. The door is actually a leftover window shutter from a Mini-art kit. It was a little too short to be a door, so I cut so off pieces from a second shutter and added them to the top and bottom. They I used balsa wood to build a frame for the door. Then the door and frame where traced onto the wall and the opening cut (carefully):


(if you look at the top of the photo you can get a glimpse of the fatherless person AVF 251 now that it's in paint)

The back (inside) of the door/wall:


I'm not making windows, instead I'll build shutters out of balsa wood. I figure 1) it's easier, and 2) they'd close the shutters if they had them, since they're not far from the frontline.
The roof will be thatched straw (wasn't going to get that from Mini-art) and I'm hoping that it will look really good for a modest amount of effort.

Stay tuned...

[digger303]

I like the way your going with this.....Didn't like to hear that the 251 afv club was such a bugger as I have some

[ForbesHutton]

I like the way your going with this.....Didn't like to here that the 251 afv club was such a bugger as I have some

There are some fit issues, the instructions at times are more "someplace over around that area" than clear, and the worst are the pour plugs, they are everywhere, and in really stupid spots. I don't remember ever seeing pour plugs on the sides of wheels, but AFV's got 'em, and lots of 'em (not on the edge, but actually facing towards the other wheel for the double wheel sets..).

[ForbesHutton]

The window frames/shutters done:







So a little more sanding and I'll prime it. The roof will go on after the painting is done.

[ForbesHutton]

Primed in grey Stynylrez.
Individual rocks painted in various colours (mostly different shades of grey), over half are untouched and still in the Stynylrez.
Ultimate dark dirt worked into the grout lines.
2 coats of clear.
A full wash with Ultimate dirt.
and...




A matte varnish has since gone on.

The roofing material,
some cut to size bamboo skewers and Woodland Scenics dry grass.

[ForbesHutton]

The bones of the roof went on:





One side of the roof is complete:

[privatepete]

Looking very good sir,like the different brick tones, keep up the good work

[ForbesHutton]

The second half was done, and extra grass was placed on the crest of the roof.

To age the grass some Ultimate concrete was lightly sprayed onto the roof, followed by some Ultimate light dirt. A bit of black pigment around the chimney and I'm calling this one done until I get around to the diorama.









For size comparison, one of the two SdKfz 251 half-tracks that will be in the diorama with the farmhouse.

[ForbesHutton]

The stage:



The scenery:



The cast:





And the motor pool:

[InitialProduction1]

Really awesome build/builds. You need a bigger board because those would look so cool as a night antitank ambush scene. Just say-n. Nice to see your builds again.

[AdamLuscombe]

That all looks really nice, great work

[ForbesHutton]

Really awesome build/builds. You need a bigger board because those would look so cool as a night antitank ambush scene. Just say-n. Nice to see your builds again.

I did consider that, but to do an ambush scene would mean hiding too much of the vehicles and figures. Setting it up as a night scene would lose it's effect by displaying it on a well lit shelf, unless I built a darkened box to put it in which would hide my work even further and the box would limit the angles it could be viewed from.
So what you get is a late afternoon scene where they are getting ready to head out to an ambush.

[ForbesHutton]

[ForbesHutton]

It's slowly filling in:



I'm about out of work space. I need to plan better or stick to smaller dioramas in the future:

[ForbesHutton]

[ForbesHutton]

[youtube]rtmQXjwckeA[/youtube]

[InitialProduction1]

Thanks for that. very nice build. And really good storyline for a build.

[Muzrik]

Excellent build thread really enjoyed following it, very nice work.

[Muzrik]