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i wish they had a like button on here so i could like the above comment... I'm also sell an imperial guard army (items separately) on ebay... it's due to start on Tuesday so I'll put a link up for those who are interested...

it includes: a forgeworld cadian command squad, 4 10 man infantry squads... my bane wolf i entered for GD 2009. my sentinel (not the awesome one from GD 2010) and a converted officer...

shipping to the US will be about £8 to £10 for all items combined so that's $14 to $17 by my reckoning.. oh and don't pay until i invoice you with the correct shipping charges though i don't mind you paying £7 a piece

uk shipping is £2.50 + 20p for each additional item... so about £4.00 for the whole lot

all items start at 99p apart from the banewolf which starts at £30

chris

Well, it is good to see you back on the horse, that way you do not need to necro your own thread to continue wowing the populace.

Yes please post other projects! Love a bit of randomness in a blog

It would be nice to see some stuff

It is absolutely OK to post 'non-GW' stuff here on Dakka!

And I know that I would love to see any of your WWII stuff!

Sure Chris. Never know the utility of things. The one video on line that taught me the most about using my airbrush on vehicles was showing work on a WWII tank... not a GW model.

Put it all in one, veriaty is the spice of life.

Miss Dee wrote:Put it all in one, veriaty is the spice of life.

qft i love too see what you made of the ww2 tank

Its your thread, I honestly do not hink we will care as long as you are not breaking any rules in the process, besides some updates from you are always outstanding.

Yeah, show us the tank!

We like tanks

Great to have you back, mate. Most of my favorite P&Ms have been quiet since december, but so has everything else. Looking forward to new stuff!

I think you've got your definitive answer there mate haha

Hi everybody! finally got some pics of the progress on the tank. the Plan is to do a diorama based on the German Ardennes Offensive of Winter '44 if any of you have seen Band of Brothers, the Bastogne episode is set during the Ardennes Offensive when it was cut off by the German advance. so there'll be plenty of snow A bit of history: there was only one Heavy tank division fielded in the offensive due to the steep hilly terrain and narrow roads. the Division SS-Pz.Abt. 501 (SS heavy panzer division 501) Consisted of 45 Tiger II heavy tanks armed with an 88mm and had a front Armour thickness of 180mm.

Most of the Tanks were abandoned or knocked out around Christmas '44 but it isn't known what happened to Tiger 304 which is the subject of the diorama. I have assumed it it was still in action on the 24th of December 1944. the diorama will depict tiger 304 stopped on one of the narrow roads in the Ardennes while the a recon panzer officer discusses what is up ahead with the tank commander. meanwhile a couple Volksgrenadiers advance off the road into the surrounding woodland.

if you are interested in any more of the history of SS-Pz.Abt. 501 in the ardennes, this site is where i did my research: http://www.ss501panzer.com/index.htm


the hull during construction



the model is complete including etched brass engine grills.






the tiger, painted and weathering started.




i decided to paint over some of the worst chips as if the crew had hastily touched up a couple of spots before going back into action.


the diorama base.





one of the trees i made for the diorama base and offered up in place. if people would like a tutorial to make these trees i shall make one, just shout.. note they look good but they are quite flimsy so not the best for games tables but great for Dioramas


the first assembled Volksgernadier with a super detailed resin head.



the bits and bobs so far laid out on the dining table




the tank crew are from alpine miniatures and are resin (i didn't paint these)

and there we go! i look forward to hearing your comments

Chris

Looking good there mate.

He's Alive!

Welcome back and thanks for bringing your lovely pictures to show. Wow, what a set of models. I always wonder about spending large sums on models, but when you take your time and do them justice like this, I can totally see the price justification

The tank tracks are great and I love the numbers on the turret, are those hand painted?

I'd also be interested how you got the twigs to attach to the trunk section of your tree, so if you do make a tutorial, that part is of interest.

Good work and keep us updated on the troops especially, can't wait to see what you do with the faces and uniforms

The tree looks great. good job on the tank weathering also

i'll get some stuff up about the tree over the weekend. the numbers are good quality transfers, though, unfortunately they were the wrong colour so i carefully painted over then in the correct yellow and turquoise markings of SS-Pz.Abt. 501.

The tracks were a bit of a pain in all honesty to assemble as every link was separate and they had to be build fast and put on before the glue fully set. but on the other hand, you can't get more authentic tracks than these really

they were weathered with a wash of browny orange over a black undercoat, then when that had dried a fairly watery mix of weathering powders and brown paints was applied..

More coming soon, Chris

wicked just like we expect of you

The tree's brilliant!

And I love the colours in the camo. Whats with the bits of track on the turret? Is that a researched detail? Seems a bit mad, but I know damn all about tanks so there you go!

As has been said; 'your alive!' lol.

Tree tutorial please.
Great work in general!

wow love the panther looks great! Those models are fantastic!

Hi everyone, unfortunately i was asked to work on Saturday so i haven't had time to do the tree tutorial, though i have done a bit more on the tank and have plenty of new pictures







here are a couple of pictures of the whole tank.

@ Newt-Of-Death, there are little hooks on the side of the turret for track links to be hung on, many allied tanks are seen covered with spare bits of track while german taks didn't carry quite as many spares:


some period photos


a canadian sherman firefly festooned with spare tracks (and Dutch families)

Detail Shots


the front machine gun




wear and tear around the left hatch, possibly to much?



the right hatch and periscopes


a bit of a mess caused by too much GW ink :O



the engine deck with plenty of oil and grease stains

Chris

That tank is incredible! The camo's subtelty is astounding and the weathering really ties the whole thing together. Great job, SoO.

The weathering is definitely NOT over the top. It's giving me a complete tank feel. As a WWII buff, I'm loving this

Fantastic! The weathering and painting in general is perfect, I take it that you used graphite on the edges of the metal to get that effect?

Keep up the good work!

Cain

yup, a bit of graphite and some mithril silver and boltgun metal here and there on the tracks and for where the tank has been hit

oops i din't put the battle damage pics up, here they are:


side


front

note these two did not penetrate oh if your wondering why some of the track guards are missing, it's because they used to fall off and were often discarded at the side of the road, many period photos of tigers in action so some, and in some cases, all the track guards missing..


Chris

The number to me loooks like it needs more weathering into the tank. It looks a little like its just over some damage atm. Great look overall however!

Good point imperial monkey, i hadn't noticed really , i think a couple of chips over them wouldn't go amiss and maybe i'll lighten them up to make the paint look slightly bleached.

Thanks mate

Chris

Newt-Of-Death wrote:
Whats with the bits of track on the turret? Is that a researched detail? Seems a bit mad, but I know damn all about tanks so there you go!

Spare track links were often carried in this fashion by crews on both sides of the war. Allied forces tended to do it more than axis, perhaps for the extra armor (made even more efficient by the gap between the track and the hull which would thwart shaped charges), but also because some tank designs were notorious for throwing tracks. German crews likely didn't feel the need to go overboard on the spare track like some allied crews tended to, but this can be attributed to the superiority both in the thickness of the armor on German tanks, and to their superior use of sloping (Tiger I excuded... they hadn't learned that lesson when it was designed, but its 10cm thick steel glacis plate on the front made up for it.)

Ah right, I see now. Never taken much time looking into tanks lol.

Looking amazing as usual tho. The weathering is 100%, mainly due to where and how youve added it and the metallic quality to it.