"Operation Barbarossa" diorama 1:35 scale

Post by **hansolo** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 11:03 pm

Hi Michael,

Looking good. I am so looking forward to the rest of the build!

Meanwhile I would like to ask you for favor:
I want to turn my T-34 into a diorama and I need lots of snow.
If I don't have the 'magic snow' that you used becore, what could I use to mimic snow?
Do you have any home brew tips?

Danke vielmals
Han

Post by **spruecutter** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 11:44 pm

Progressing nicely - I like the look of that gun and the figures

Post by **Coen** » Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:42 am

Hey Han,

I hope that you don't mine me answering too?
You could try baking soda and white glue, if you're diorama isn't going to be very big.
If you have plaster power you could use that too.
I've never used the baking soda method myself but I've seen the results and they don't look to bad.
It can attract bugs apparently in certain areas of the world though.
I use Micro ballons mixed with matte medium to do all mine.
Hamilkar has many more dioramas under his belt than I and I'll bet he's got a few cheap kitchen snow fixes.

Post by **panzerman** » Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:14 am

Michael,
The build is coming along nicely.
I like the look of the infantry set you are using.....action poses.
Oh boy! That tank commander figure has a menacing appearance......looks like he means business.
Keep building and having Fun.
Bill.

Post by **Lee** » Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:49 pm

Coming along nicely Michael

Post by **Bagpiper** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 12:41 pm

Moving along smoothly mate. Looking good

Cheers
Jim

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Fri Jul 12, 2013 3:14 pm

Thank you all very much

Oh boy! That tank commander figure has a menacing appearance......looks like he means business.

Indeed, he looks like a badass

I want to turn my T-34 into a diorama and I need lots of snow.
If I don't have the 'magic snow' that you used becore, what could I use to mimic snow?
Do you have any home brew tips?

The magic snow stuff is sold out unfortunately, i searched for it a long time and found it nowhere. The substitute i´m using is called "Rast Deranauo". It looks alright but not as good as magic snow.

A lot of people use baking soda. I never tried it myself and i assume its not a bad way to depict snow. However, i doubt it maintains its white colour over the years, i heard that people had issues with it because it tends to turn yellow after a couple of years. It depends on several factors i guess, but it can happen.

Post by **hansolo** » Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:38 pm

HamilkarBarkas wrote:Thank you all very much

Oh boy! That tank commander figure has a menacing appearance......looks like he means business.
Indeed, he looks like a badass

I want to turn my T-34 into a diorama and I need lots of snow.
If I don't have the 'magic snow' that you used becore, what could I use to mimic snow?
Do you have any home brew tips?
The magic snow stuff is sold out unfortunately, i searched for it a long time and found it nowhere. The substitute i´m using is called "Rast Deranauo". It looks alright but not as good as magic snow.

A lot of people use baking soda. I never tried it myself and i assume its not a bad way to depict snow. However, i doubt it maintains its white colour over the years, i heard that people had issues with it because it tends to turn yellow after a couple of years. It depends on several factors i guess, but it can happen.

Thanks for your baking soda tip!
I tried it combined with conditioner and white glue, but it turned yellow very quickly.

I also tried baby powder with floor polish and no glue, which stays white better. I don't no about the future though..
And it dries very slowly......

I tried it on my dio. Pictures are coming soon..

cheers

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 6:48 pm

Thanks for your baking soda tip!
I tried it combined with conditioner and white glue, but it turned yellow very quickly.
I also tried baby powder with floor polish and no glue, which stays white better. I don't no about the future though..
And it dries very slowly......
I tried it on my dio. Pictures are coming soon..

Depicting snow on dioramas has been a problem for generations of model builders. The special products we can get these days are expensive but look great. I´d love to know a very cheap and nice looking way to do it using stuff everyone has at home.

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:16 pm

All the models are assembled now, the next step is the layout of the diorama:

First some general words about dioramas (this is just my personal opinion and taste, if my points do not convince you then it will be alright for me).
In my opinion the most interesting thing about dioramas is the "cut-away" look. It should look like someone cut out the scene right from history randomly and miniaturised it to a certain scale. Therefore only few parallel lines should be found on a diorama, roads, fences or any other objects should not be parallel with the border of the diorama. When done correctly the diorama looks very dynamic and catches the eye of the beholder. Parallel lines are predictable for the eye, it takes away a considerable amount of interest from the diorama.
So, if possible, position the objects on the diorama diagonal to the diorama borders.
If it suits to the diorama you can add objects which are cut on the boder of the diorama, for example a house or a fence. This adds a lot to the imagination of the beholder, because he sees things that are actually not on the diorama itself, but indicated.
Therefore it is better to use a small base instead of a big one. The base has to be just big enough to allow you to position the models the way you want to. The amount of empty space should be small, but exist. Do not overload your diorama by filling every millimeter of empty space with some kind of stuff. Overloaded dioramas can look good when done right (and when it suits the story line in the diorama), but apart from expert model builders i recommend to avoid that. Its difficult and can look bad. Instead focus on what you really want to show and what is necessary to show it. A tank, maybe some figures, a simple street with a road sign and some plants will do the job. Just give your models a realistic environment to display them, its not necessary to build a WW2 Hollywood movie scene (maybe you want to do that, might be an interesting project!).

So enough waffling now, here is my layout for the diorama. You may recognize some of the rules i stated above.

The base is made out of a wooden plate with glued on styrofoam. I covered the edge of the diorama with tape because the torn styrofoam does not look very nice. Maybe i cover it with thin wood later, i´m not sure at the moment.

Taking the picture from the book as a reference i will not add much on the diorama surface apart from mud, gun shells and tank track prints. Its nothing exciting but Russia is not a the Garden of Eden so such a meagre surface suits the setting.

Post by **russ2471** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:25 pm

Excellent work mate can't wait to see the final result

Post by **Nige201980** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:29 pm

Thanks for the "lesson" very helpful been thinking of doing a diorama but wasn't sure how to start so it was a great help.

Great work by the way mate.

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 3:46 pm

Thank you very much

Next i will prime and paint the models. A summary video should follow soon.

Post by **chief5437** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 11:36 pm

Looks good already, I look forward to seeing your progress. Your vids are very helpful.

Post by **spruecutter** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:35 am

Looks like a great set up

Post by **panzerman** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 5:32 am

Michael, I really like the general layout of the diorama....its focused and the figures give it a sense of action.
Keep up the good work.
Bill.

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 12:58 pm

Thank you all very much

Ther first video part is now available, its more or less the summary of what i have shown you already. Some people enjoy it more to see me actually working instead of looking at pictures and letters only so this is a nice addition i think.

Don´t forget to activate the English subtitles, just click on the "CC" button

[youtube]z7Kt3tR0kaI[/youtube]

Post by **Coen** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 5:25 pm

Excellent and edifying again Hamilkar.
Also a great review of the kits.
I was planning on picking up the Africa Korps kit... Now I may go hunting for that Soviet gun.
Thank you.

I look forward to the next part. I love the dioramas taking shape.

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 10:37 am

Yesterday i started to paint the tank model:

First of all i primed it with Revell Matt9 "anthracite" (basically black colour) completely. It is very important to get the paint in every spot of the model, otherwise there is the danger of light grey plastic showing through later.

Then i sprayed a light coat of Matt79 "blue grey" over the model. On the engine deck and fenders i applied a rather thick coat of paint that covers the black priming, on the running gear i applied only a light coat so the black primer is showing through a little bit. This creates some kind of "shadow effect". The sun shines on the model form the top, so the lower parts appear a little bit darker than the rest.

I increased the effect by accentuating raised details like the panels on the engine deck with light grey paint. In the end we have three tones of grey on our model, light grey on raised details, dark grey on the running gear and deepenings on the model and the normal blue grey in between. The model appears to be more realistic and has some nice "depth effect".
Furthermore, if it is possible, you can spray some light grey paint in the middle of a large area. This will add some variation to the model.

Apart from that it is also some kind of weathering as the upper hull is much more exposed to "sun bleaching" as the lower parts of the tank.
You can actually overdo this technique a little bit as the model gets a bit darker in the end when we apply a dark wash on it.

The red areas on the two following pictures mark the areas where i applied the light grey colour. You will also notice that the lower hull at the running gear appears to be a little bit darker. I hope the pictures help you to understand what i mean.

Post by **PhildaFish** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:01 am

Outstanding!

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:09 pm

Let´s go on with the project

I painted the gun the same as the tank, of course the colours were different. First i primed it with black acrylic paint, then a coat of Revell Matt39 "dark green" followed. I think this colour perfectly reproduces the Russian green of Soviet tanks in WW2.
Again i accentuated some raised details of the model with the lighter base colour. In this case i added some yellow paint to the green and sprayed a light coat of it on the areas i wanted to accentuate.

Then i painted the details (there were only few parts that needed some painting, the whole gun is pretty much green over all). Just some black on the tires and gun sights.

Same game with the tank. The metallic parts of the tools and the machine guns were painted with a mixture of Revell Matt9 "anthracite" and Matt91 "iron", the wooden parts of the tools got painted with Matt82 "dark brown". Matt83 "rust brown" was used for the exhaust system.

I painted the wheels separately, i plugged them on toothpicks in order to make this process more easy.
For the rubber parts of the wheels Matt9 "anthracite" was used, its the perfect colour to represent tires on a model.

Post by **Coen** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:16 pm

Yay!
I've been hoping for an update.
Great shots Hamilkar,....more?

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:20 pm

Great shots Hamilkar,....more?

I´m actually forgetting to take more pics all the time, it can be quite difficult to handle the build, making videos and taking pictures

However, there will be more to see in the videos that i make about this project, but i will keep it in mind and take more pictures

Post by **Coen** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:23 pm

Yay!

Post by **Lee** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 11:33 pm

Can't wait to see this come together Michael

Post by **wappynutter** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 11:37 pm

Looks excellent Michael..

Well done sir...

https://www.youtube.com/user/bnealuk · Post by **T3hGuppy** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 6:10 am

I bit of colour really starting to make it come alive.

Great stuff dude

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 7:11 pm

Today i assembled the tracks (magic tracks).

I always glue every track link together in order to create one track thread for each side. The glue holds them together but the track is still flexible, so when the lenght is right i position the track on the running gear and insert some Q-tip sticks to simulate the sagging of the track.

Both ends of the tracks are not glued, just snapped together, so when its try i can open up the track and remove it from the running gear again to make the painting process more easy.

I thought quite along about the stowage on the tank, i was uncertain what i should add or if i should anything at all. Thats what i came up with. On the rear some resin stowage (can´t remember the manufacturer, i think PlusModel), some spare tracks from the kit and a towing cable.

Post by **Coen** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 9:08 pm

Looks amazing.
That stowage is really nice stuff.
Should dress things up well.

Post by **gosselin2112** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 4:48 am

After reading this entire thread from start to finish, I am stunned. Great work, Michael! Looking forward to seeing this diorama through.

Russ.

Post by **EasyEight96** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 3:06 pm

Hi Michael I'm a fan of yur YouTube video but due to age restrictions I still can't subscribe to U and ask all the questions that I want to ask.. Thanks to most of yur video building dragon model tanks is much more easier for me now thank you so much. I would like to know how did you paint the wheels for the panzer so perfect without any paint spilling out to the rims???

Regards
Matthew

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 4:17 pm

Thank you all very much

I would like to know how did you paint the wheels for the panzer so perfect without any paint spilling out to the rims???

with a brush and a steady hand

you will see it in the next video part.

Post by **EasyEight96** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 12:26 pm

Looking forward thanks michael

Post by **chief5437** » Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:02 pm

Nice progress, and I love your vids mate, keep it up!

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 4:21 pm

Back from holiday, so lets go on with the models!

When the tracks were dry i removed them from the running gear again and painted them separately. This was easy and can be quickly summed up: First i primed them with black paint, then a light coat of dark brown followed. Finally i drybrushed the bearing surfaces of the track on the outside and inside with Matt91 "iron". When the paint had dried i put them on the running gear again and glued them in place.

This is the model after i applied the wash and the decals (you will see this in detail in the second part of the video documentation which should be on Youtube within the next few days).
I mixed some odourless turpentine with black oil paint, due to the rather dark base colour of the model i added more black oil paint than usual in order to achieve the needed contrast. To apply the wash i prefer a big soft brush. Some people only apply it in the deepenings and around the rivets, but i apply it over all.
This took a while to dry, so on the next day i applied the decals with some Micro Sol decal softener. The decals adapted to the surface very well.

Next step was a light chipping: I mixed Matt9 "anthracite" and Matt91 "iron" together to get a dark metallic colour. I applied it with a Q-tip stick especially around the edges of the tank, because those areas are prone to paint chipping. As always, don´t overdo it, tanks need some weathering but not extreme weathering. Less is more!

Then i drybrushed the whole tank with Matt91 "iron" using a very big stiff brush. This way the surfaces start to "glare" like metal, its hard to see on the turret roof but in real life it creates the desired "heavy metal" effect that adds a lot of "weight" to the model. On rivets and hinges it acts as additional chipping aswell.

Then i continued with the rust effects. I applied some MIG "light rust effect" on the exhaust system, it is the "glue" that holds the rust pigments i apply later in place. I prefer the Vallejo pigments for rust effects in general. First i applied a dark rust brown tone, a light rust brown tone followed. Finally i added some smoke pigments on the exhaust pipes and the gun barrel.

The rust streaks are created with MIG "light rust effect" and a very thin brush. Few of those streaks are enough, never overdo them!

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 4:38 pm

Good to have you back Michael. The PzIII is coming on nicely. I look forward to seeing this progress to completion.

Post by **wappynutter** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 4:42 pm

Beautiful as always Michael.

..... And of course its because of you and your inspiring you tube videos that I found my way here in the first place.

Thanks.....

Post by **Tiger131** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 5:21 pm

love the weathering the colour looks spot on was waiting for an update on your channel

Post by **Paul** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 5:34 pm

That's a great looking panzer I really need to build me one of those

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 6:19 pm

Thank you all for the nice comments

I just finished the tank and the figures and started with the basic construction of the diorama today. Tomorrow i will finish the gun and most likely upload the next video that deals with the whole painting and weathering process of the tank, just to sum it up and to demonstrate the techniques in real time. i´m sure i can finish this group build in the course of this week

Post by **Coen** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:03 pm

Good to see you back Buddy. I hope that you enjoyed Florence and she was good to you.
It's better to see you back at work though... Haha
This is looking great. It's finally coming together.
I can't wait for your real magic to kick it with the diorama.
I look forward to your video as well.

Post by **Lee** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 2:02 am

Glad to have you back Michael, hope you had a great holiday mate

PS... Tank looks ace

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:10 pm

Lets finish this tank!

Mud is needed

First i applied some wood glue on the running gear, this will hold the pigments in place. I prefer wood glue over special fixers like the one from MIG. I used MIG pigments for the mud and dust on the tank, i started with the darkest tone (russian earth), followed by "dark mud" and finally "dry mud".

I work in sections, each side of the tank gets its treatment. In the end i simply brushed on some dust pigments to replicate accumulated dust on the tank.

The commander is in position.

Finally i used a soft pencil to give the edges of the tank a metallic glare.

And here it is:

Most importantly here is the second part of the video documentation, it sums up everything i posted since the first video and goes a lot into detail with regard to the techniques i used.
Don´t forget to activate the English subtitles

[youtube]ckCIWxaBpFU[/youtube]

Post by **Coen** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:20 pm

YESSS!!!!!
Excellent as always my friend.
Your weathering, mud, and dust are fantastic.
It looks perfect.
I'll check out the video in a few minutes.
Many thumbs

Post by **spruecutter** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 7:44 pm

Nice progress shots and the tank has turned out great

https://www.youtube.com/user/bnealuk · Post by **T3hGuppy** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:39 pm

Fantastic Panzer dude loving the weathering.

Post by **good2us1** » Thu Aug 15, 2013 6:34 am

HamilkarBarkas wrote:Lets finish this tank!

Mud is needed First i applied some wood glue on the running gear, this will hold the pigments in place. I prefer wood glue over special fixers like the one from MIG. I used MIG pigments for the mud and dust on the tank, i started with the darkest tone (russian earth), followed by "dark mud" and finally "dry mud".

I work in sections, each side of the tank gets its treatment. In the end i simply brushed on some dust pigments to replicate accumulated dust on the tank.

The commander is in position.

Finally i used a soft pencil to give the edges of the tank a metallic glare.

And here it is:

Most importantly here is the second part of the video documentation, it sums up everything i posted since the first video and goes a lot into detail with regard to the techniques i used.
Don´t forget to activate the English subtitles
[youtube]ckCIWxaBpFU[/youtube]

Excellent work on the weathering

Keep up the good work!

daryl

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Thu Aug 15, 2013 3:46 pm

Thank you all

Now the gun:

Thats the model with some highlights sprayed on some raised details to "modulate" the paintwork a bit.
Then i applied a wash (mixture of odourless turpentine and black oil paint).

I applied the chipping using a Q-tip stick and a sponge, both dipped in a mixture of Revell Matt9 "anthracite" and Matt91 "iron". I applied the chips around the edges as randomly as possible. Then i drybrushed the whole model with Matt91 "iron" using a big soft brush to give the model a metallic glare.

For the rust streaks i used the proven MIG "light rust effects" and applied it with a very thin brush.

Finally i brushed on some dust pigments without any fixer. Same with the smoke stains on the gun breach and muzzle.
Heavy mud effects will follow later when i do the diorama to match the colour of the mud on the ground with the mud on the wheels.

So there she is:

Here we have the video about the gun, there you can see the techniques i used in detail.

(Don´t forget to turn on the English subtitles)
[youtube]9wRkegxJL70[/youtube]

The figures are finished aswell:

I did not go into detail about the figures because it is always a nightmare to film and document the painting process. However, i made a quite good tutorial about it a while ago so i post it here as reference:

(Don´t forget to active the English subtitles)
[youtube]fB75InFHb74[/youtube]

Post by **Coen** » Thu Aug 15, 2013 4:44 pm

Great stuff again Hamikar, I love the detail that pops out with that dry brushing. The rifling in the gun barrel looks really cool too. I think that I like the kneeling riflemen the best myself.
Well done my friend. First class as always.

Post by **Nige201980** » Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:03 pm

Where as my ruddy chin gone need to find it and pik it up AMAZING work buddy