Diorama Project: 17th of June 1953 (1:35 scale)

[HamilkarBarkas]

Hi guys!
I feel like doing a building review again with pictures only, making videos about them can be pretty exhausting. Pictures can teach you a lot aswell
For quite some time i had the idea to deal with a rather underrated event in German history: The uprisings in East Germany on the 17th of June 1953. Here a little Wikipedia text to introduce you to the topic a bit:

The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany started with a strike by East Berlin construction workers on 16 June 1953. It turned into a widespread uprising against the German Democratic Republic government the next day. In Germany, the revolt is often called People's Uprising in East Germany (Volksaufstand in der DDR). In remembrance of it, June 17 used to be the national holiday of West Germany until reunification.

The uprising in East Berlin was violently suppressed by tanks of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and the Volkspolizei. In spite of the intervention of Soviet troops, the wave of strikes and protests was not easily brought under control. Even after 17 June, there were demonstrations in more than 500 towns and villages.

(Wikipedia).

This uprising was partly smashed by the useage of Soviet tanks (Countries of the former Eastern Block continued to solve problems like that that way for some decades) and it is an ideal set up for a diorama. Here are some pictures (as far as i´m concerned they show the uprising in Berlin):







Which kits i´m going to use?
First of all a T-35/85 tank from Dragon. It may not the ideal version to represent one of those tanks, but i can imagine those were unvolved too.


And a MK35 figure of a French resistance figther. He is useable for a pissed off German worker aswell i think


I´ll show you the parts for the diorama later, i have not received all of them yet.

I started with the assembly of the tank, it was pretty fast work. The upper hull is slightly bent, so i had to get it into shape by using some tape on the front.

[MrBildo]

This is really awesome, man. Can't wait to follow this one.

[Tiger131]

looking forward to seeing this dio come on

[gustavlekstal]

Wonderful. This is an amazing idea! Great story.

[HamilkarBarkas]

Cheers guys

[Donkeywalloper]

What a great idea. It tells a story and so great that it's not in an era often cover.
One to watch and good luck

[Coen]

Oooo! I've got that tingly feeling I get in the presence of awesome!
Haha
This is an excellent topic Michael, it would have been a fantastic Cold War GB entry last year. Great idea bud. I can't wait to see where you take this.

[LucasFromSweden]

Very nice idea!

[lasautin]

I think we are about to witness most supreme awsomeness. I shall call it Hamilkarness, for a lack of a proper superlative. Very good idea for a dio, methinks.

[Daishi12]

Will love to see this come together...I have seen some similar pictures from the Spanish Civil War with Panzer 1's and 2's also I've seen a picture from the Spanish civil war with irregular infantry using dead horses as cover - IMO would make a great diorama, but would probably be too harrowing for me to do.

[portlandjoe]

Great idea. I'm looking forward to see the build up on this one.

[wappynutter]

I too am keen to see what wonderful work you are going to dazzle us with..
I will get the popcorn out and pull up a chair..
" munch...munch...munch....."

Ready now..
All the best Michael...

[Lee]

Love stories behind your builds Michael

[HamilkarBarkas]

Cheers guys and thank you so much for showing so much interest I hope i can keep up with the expectations

Good, let´s have a look at the kits i´m using for the diorama:


This street section with the cobble stones and a tram line will be the diorama base. Nothing exceptional, i like those MiniArt dioramas a lot.
However, it is a bit empty and i´m going to add something. I still have not yet decided which feature i´m going to use:


Its a park wall by MK35 and a advertising column by Reality in Scale. Both object are ideal to give the figure a place to hide from the tank.

[longlance67]

Very interesting subject Micheal

this should prove to be a wonderful diorama


looking forward to seeing what you do with it mate


Shane

[Unit53]

Great subject, looking forward to watching this one unfold...

[Gav0909]

Looking good Michael. Should be an awesome diorama when done, especially with your skills.

[HamilkarBarkas]

Cheers guys

Time to post some pics of the progress i made.


I assembled the wheels. On the left you can see the wheel as it comes with the kit, the connection points to the sprue are very big and there is also some kind of "sinkmark" in the middle of the bearing surface. On the right you can see a wheel i sanded down with Ultimate sanding sticks. They are ideal for this task. It also creates a cool worn out effect on the rubber parts of the wheels.


One of the assembled wheels.


I installed the parts on the engine deck. All parts are quite crude compared to the latest kits from Dragon or Meng, but a couple of years ago this was an awesome kit (and it still is!).


I like to jump between the steps of the instruction sheet, i felt like assembling the turret


Some goodies are never a bad idea. I will add those cool looking towing cables from Eureka to the model at a later stage of the assembly.


Assembled figure. The gaps on the joints between the limbs and the torso need some filling. I will do that later.

[Coen]

You're certainly right about that kit Michael, I'd have to agree, I've build it either twice or maybe three times now and I loved it. It's still a great kit.
Nice work on the wheels too.
It's always about the little things that makes it sing

[HamilkarBarkas]

You're certainly right about that kit Michael, I'd have to agree, I've build it either twice or maybe three times now and I loved it. It's still a great kit.
Nice work on the wheels too.
It's always about the little things that makes it sing

Cheers mate
I have a question: The welding seams are not ideal looking, i want do make them on my own. What is the best way to do that in your opinion? Stretched sprue glued in place and then moulded like a weld line with a knife or putty? I tried the sprue technique ones and was not really impressed, but i see the advantages of it.

[Prop72]

I look forward to you presenting this unusual and interesting topic.

[Coen]

I have a question: The welding seams are not ideal looking, i want do make them on my own. What is the best way to do that in your opinion? Stretched sprue glued in place and then moulded like a weld line with a knife or putty? I tried the sprue technique ones and was not really impressed, but i see the advantages of it.

I've used both methods for the welds Mike... I've like them both but for specific purposes.
For really large welds I'll use putty... like the welds on the top deck of a tiger I around the outside edge or the outer edge of the turret weld.
For small welds like on shermans and the like I'll use thin styrene rod. Usually .5mm does the job. Stretched sprue is good too for this.
So I guess I'd say that I like both.
The right tool for the right job.

[HamilkarBarkas]

I've used both methods for the welds Mike... I've like them both but for specific purposes.
For really large welds I'll use putty... like the welds on the top deck of a tiger I around the outside edge or the outer edge of the turret weld.
For small welds like on shermans and the like I'll use thin styrene rod. Usually .5mm does the job. Stretched sprue is good too for this.
So I guess I'd say that I like both.
The right tool for the right job.

#

Thanks Mike! I used putty in this case, those Soviet tanks had some extreme cast texture and weld lines.


I continued with the assembly.


I created the big squarish weld lines on the front part of the turret with tamiya tape and Revell Plasto putty. I used the tape to mask off the areas where i don´t want weld lines, then i applied the putty roughly with an old brush. Then i peeled off the tape and sanded it down slightly.


After that i installed the Eureka tow cables - they are superb!




On some reference pictures you can see the tanks with wooden logs on both sides of the hull. It is not a necessary detail, but certainly a striking one and it looks unusual.


Wood is the best material to reproduce wood.


Here you can see the brackets and some kind of bolts that hold together the two logs. All in all it looks very improvised, so this gave me some kind of freedom. Overall those tanks look like they were not in best condition, this surprises me. I always thought that at least in peacetime the Soviets maintained their stuff a bit.


Left over PE parts were used to add the brackets.


The exact construction is hardly visible on the pictures, it looks right to me.


The little plates look just as random as on the pictures.

[mannloon]

That's excellent man. looking really good. And those tow cables are sweet. I've so far only ever used molded ones, but I have a stash full of the Dragon metal ones, which apparently are pigs to get to do what you want.

[Coen]

That's superb work on those seams Mike, it may look messy, but under paint it should turn out well.
Eureka tow cables are the best that I've ever used. They're certainly worth the money. I've used them a dozen times and I've never been disappointed.
I also love your improvised log holders. This is going to be another show piece my friend.
I see the writing on the wall

[AchtungPanzer]

This is extra. Well done mate

[Nige99]

I'm loving this so far!!! Keep up the good work.

[HamilkarBarkas]

Thank you guys

I felt like the cast texture on the turret was not extreme enough, so i applied some Mr. Surfacer 500 and stippled it up a bit with an old brush.


Cutting and cleaning all those track links - oh my gosh! Thats why i prefer Dragon Magic tracks.


It was a bit tricky to align the tracks to the running gear, but in the end it worked. Look at the light track sagging effect. The tracks are not glued in place, they are removeable just like the wheels for separate painting.

[Coen]

Right out of the photo!!!
That's a fine bit of modification Michael. That log and attachment rig looks a lot like the shots. Very believable.
I agree with about the cast texture, I have two on my shelf that could have used a bit of help with that.
I'll bet your brain cells weren't thanking you after that Mr. Surfacer session haha.

[HamilkarBarkas]

I'll bet your brain cells weren't thanking you after that Mr. Surfacer session haha.

Which brain cells?

[Coen]

HAhahaha!!!!
That looks like a young Ron Pearlman... WOw maybe my brain cells are tanking haha.

[panzerjager]

Very interesting build indeed! Will be followed closely.

[Donkeywalloper]

Right out of the photo!!!
That's a fine bit of modification Michael. That log and attachment rig looks a lot like the shots. Very believable.
I agree with about the cast texture, I have two on my shelf that could have used a bit of help with that.
I'll bet your brain cells weren't thanking you after that Mr. Surfacer session haha.

You know chaps I had no idea about Mr Surfacer and it's properties for making your head sing
So I bought some after watching Coens builds where his commentary became more weird and fantastic.
Now after gazing into a newly bought pot of grey gloop and catching the whiff.....now I know
This build is just amazing, keep the good work up

[Jan01]

Just came across this, a very interesting piece of history being reenacted into model form.
Looking great Michael.

[AchtungPanzer]

Very nice - good work with tracks .

[HamilkarBarkas]

Thank you very much guys!

Now it was time to think about the diorama layout.
I used a street section from MiniArt with tram tracks and lines. The street sections are vac-formed and come in two parts.

As you can see the whole diorama would be pretty big and i have intention to fill all this space up with something.


I decided to reduce the size a bit by cutting off a little section of the street.


The vac-plates got glued down on a block of styrofoam.


The sides of the diorama are covered with balsawood plates. The little gaps between the wooden frame and the plastic was filled with some putty, same with the little visible gap between the two vac-plates.


Here is the layout of the diorama. Some of the parts are not yet glued down, i plan to paint them separately.

[UKguyInUSA]

Wow!...That's gonna look awesome when it's completed....great vision and love what you did with the planks of wood along both sides.

Cheers,

Martin

[localjedi]

I agree with all the other modellers in this thread: This is already looking pretty good!!! I like the whole idea for the dio and your modifications of the tank model. Can't wait to see the next updates.

[Coen]

I can see that so much better now. That's a fantastic layout Michael.
Wonderful elements.

[HamilkarBarkas]

Thanks guys

Today i made some progress and received this book from a fellow youtuber:

It contains the history of Berlin from 1945-1958. There are some good reference shots of the uprising included aswell which are really helpful!


Some tanks had stowage on the back of the turret.


I reproduced that buy using a resin part and a piece of a microfibre cleaning cloth (i have plenty of these, they accumulated over the years because everytime i go to my optician they give those for cleaning my glasses). I dipped the cloth into wood glue and placed it on the tank. It dries rock hard.


All parts are primed with black acrylic paint.


Then i painted the model with Revell Matt39, its a good colour to represent the Soviet green paint. By adding some yellow to this colour i also created some highlighting effects.


starting the detail painting process. Matt9 "anthracite" is ideal for representing rubber on the wheels.

[Coen]

Now there's and idea... I have 5 or 10 of those little cloths kicking around... Excellent idea Michael!!!!

Nice book too. I wouldn't mind seeing some more of those photos. That's an excellent photo for your build. Perfect in fact.

[HamilkarBarkas]

Now there's and idea... I have 5 or 10 of those little cloths kicking around... Excellent idea Michael!!!!

Nice book too. I wouldn't mind seeing some more of those photos. That's an excellent photo for your build. Perfect in fact.

There you go!














I think this one is the most iconic picture of this event.

[Coen]

I couldn't agree more, that late picture is very emotional. It really shows the power and emotion of the moment.
It reminds me of Tankman of Tiananmen Square.

[HamilkarBarkas]

Apart from other stuff i worked on the T-34 a bit


I applied the decals. The areas where the decals sit on were painted with some glossy varnish first, because the surface aswell as the paintwork are very rough. This helped to avoid silvering nicely. I went for the vehicle "94" which is visible in some reference pictures.


Then i installed the tracks and finished the detail painting process. A coat of matt varnish helped to get rid of the shiny spots around the decals.


Next i applied a black oil paint wash and drybrushed the model a bit with metal paint. This gives the model neat shiny metal effect.

[PaulAyrey]

Looks great so far, interesting subject and well executed!

[hansolo]

Great idea for a dio.
Love the modifications you did on the T-34.
Can't wait to see the finished dio.

Cheers

[MrModelling]

Already another review? Michael you are overfeeding us

[HamilkarBarkas]

Thank you guys
In this post we will finish up the project!


I applied some chipping on the tank. I mixed black and iron acrylic paint together and dabbed it on the edges of the tank with a Q-tip stick.


Some light dust effects might not be 10000% accurate, but in my opinion there is no entirely clean tank! Considering the rather beaten up look of the tanks on the reference pictures i think it is okay. I used MIG "dry mud" for the dust.


The leaking fuel effect was made with AK "oil and fuel stains"


Black pigments were used for the exhaust fume stains.


I used some metal wire and stretched plastic sprues for the tram lines.


Here the fully painted diorama with some washes on.


Ultimate´s "concrete" wash is ideal to represent the grout between the brick stones.


The "dark dirt" wash looks good on the cobblestones.


The advertising column needs some decoration: i printed off some east German posters from the web on ordinary paper.


I cut the posters from the sheet of paper, rumpled them and glued them on the column. The poster on the floor shows Germans and a Soviet soldier with the text "eternal friendship". of course the rioteers ripped it from the column.


Streets are dirty, so i applied some MIG dry mud pigments on the diorama, too.


The painted figure is glued in place now.


The crowd threw stones at the tanks, so i scattered some on the diorama.


Some of the cobble stones landed on the tank and broke apart. White pigments were used to reproduce the hits of the stones on the tank.




I painted the frame of the diorama with black paint.

Finally i attached some reference pictures to the diorama frame. It looks cool and gives the scene a historic context.
More pictures will follow, the light conditions were a bit weird this evening.

[Paips]

Looks great , now that's building history, well done

[AchtungPanzer]

Very good execution. I like All Dio