Been a while since I last posted anything because I was working on two projects simultaneously. One of them is now ready and is a Panzer III Ausf L from Dragon in 1:72 scale on a resin diorama base from Black Dog. According to Dragon's leaflet, it bears the colours and markings of Panzer Regiment 33, 9th Panzer Division, South Russia in Spring of 1942.
Since the base is moulded with deep-set AFV track markings I thought to give a fresh mud look - the kind after all the thick Russian winter snow has melted away and leaves a quagmire behind. So I dished out a generous splashing of AK Fresh Mud weathering on the underside, wheels, lower hull, and the road base itself. Ak's product remains glossy to give that wet, muddy impression so I tried to avoid hitting the muddy areas with the final matt coating as much as possible to retain their wetter look. The kit itself was built straight from the box and I only modified the turret handes by replacing them with 0.3mm wire. The extra tarpaulins, sandbags, oil drum and spare tracks are from Black Dog and I feel they give a bit more 'oomph' to the end result. The resin base is an excellent rendition of a Russian hovel. I wanted to give a plain, weary look with wooden planks weathered by the elements.
I enjoyed making this one and hope you will enjoy the pics as well. Until next time!
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| Forgot to paint the tail light! |
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| Turned around to view starboard side |
Lovely job on the Panzer III, especially with the extra dressing, the blanket roll behind the couplet is a really nice touch. I hadn’t even thought about mud ‘suffering’ in the mat varnish process, I am going to go back to a model and lightly touch up the mud with some satin varnish to gauge the effect.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Norm! If your intention was to have wet mud, then the muddy spots definitely wouldn’t have a matt finish. Glad to have been of help on this!
DeleteMike, this is a gorgeous model. Great job! Mud can be dry, caked on, and flat too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan, glad you liked it!
DeleteTrue, mud varies a lot in both form and colour. So for example, caked, dry mud would be cracked and very lightly coloured in a matt, dusty finish whilst the type of mud I went for here is fresh, dark and wet. Depends on the picture the modeller wants to project.
Really nice job, it’s a pretty thing to look at. I especially like the shade of dunklegeld you got. 😀
ReplyDeleteThanks Stew. There are quite a number of differing shades out there but Vallejo Air Dark Yellow is my standard go-to colour for mid/late war German AFV’s.
DeleteGreat looking diorama, Mike. The Panzer III and Russian "mud" both look perfect!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your kind words Dean!
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