Another old ambush dio set in a building in Caen France. I don’t think I got the uniforms right as the jackboots were not frequently worn any more. Manny will point out the collars of the OR infantry. I’m sure I might have missed out on one or two seamlines…more will turn up on the tank, hope this version was at Normandy. The panzerfaust may not have appeard this early in the european theater…didn’t have the panzerschreck (German bazooka) in kit form and my scratch building skills were zero.
Other than the figures, plates, jug, bottle and tank, the whole building was scratch built from polysterene, polyfilla, card and balsa wood.
Well I think its top notch. I hate the new forum format-seems you cant zoom in on photos like you used to. If anyone can see seams in these photos, they have better eyesight than me.
Very nice!! You convey action and a sense of urgency in the figures. Getting ready for a fight. I like the soldier with the binocs and the fellow peering through the broken doorway. If I can offer a constructive criticism, it’s that everything, especially the uniforms and armor, look too pristine. Given the state of the building, there should be fine dust everywhere and these guys have been crawling through it for days. Are you planning to weather it a bit?
Thanks Pordoi, appreciate the comments, now that you mentioned it with the latest MIG pigments, I’ll add the dust up. I noticed that both my dios are too clean.
Awesome work… Although I’m not a big fan of using a lot of stock, OOB poses, you utilized them very well… The structure work is really well done, too… Good call on the idea of “dusting” it up too… Bombed-out buildings are pretty dirty, but then again, the weather at the time would have allowed for you to keep the dust to a minimum if you felt like it too…
Althoug true of units that were in the area after being refitted, there were still plenty of troops that had been on occupation duty for years that were still wearing the jackboots as the “Retreat Boots” were not being widely re-issued on the Western Front…
I had no choice for the figures. Hornet figures weren’t available, Verlinden was still publishing Verlindens Way IV and his figures weren’t available either. Dragon hadn’t been concieved yet so Tamiya figs were the way to go.[:D]
Thanks for explaining about the Jackboots. Still it would have been better to vary the leggings. I find that the jackboots on the OR infantry a little slim and high.
Hans is right—jackboots were common in 1944 France as many of the Heer units had been pulling duty there since 1940…the Marder is an earlier make and I haven’t seen the type you used in any pics or unit orgs for the time period, however. Another uniform issue is the fact that the Marder crew appears to be in pea-dot camo which is SS and the infantry are wearing Heer “splinter pattern” helmet covers…it was extremely rare for the Heer and SS to intermingle like this…Having said all that the craftsmenship of the elements is very nice and I hope to see you produce some new stuff!
Thanks jetmodeler, the faces were basically flesh base with a wash of sienna oil paint and details picked out with a fine brush. The five o’clock shadow was done with gun metal and a stiff brush. The whole set was done roughly for the dio .
Thanks Manstein, your comments are appreciated. It’s true that the Heer and SS don’t mingle even in the heat of battle and not like the 101st and 82nd getting tangled up together fighting against the germans in Normandy.
Is the later type Marder the Italeri one with the slightly closed top? I’ve got that one done and can easily switch them.
So far the newest dio’s I have are “Hold until relieved”, “Last Navy US Bi-plane”, “R & R” and “Kure Harbour”.
There’s one in the pipeline and that’s “David and Goliath” set in a Normandy town.
Unfortunately I have 3 to 4 old dios more to share.
I enjoy building dios because of the composing and detailing that’s required. The stairs was a challenge to get the scale right. I build structures that progressively reduce in scale as the structure rises. More or less like force perspective. If the building had the third storey, I would have had a slightly shorter ceiling with smaller windows.
Yup, the Marder II was widely used in all fronts but mainly at the eastern front. The Marder III Ausf M was the variant mostly seen in Normandy footages. The dio was completed 15 years before the M version of the Marder with the 38T chasis was available in kit form (Tamiya) in the late nineties or 2000.
If I do intend to create another scene in a Normandy dio, I would surely include the M version of the Marder since it’s available now even with Italeri. It’ll be cool wouldn’t it? Got a picture in my head already.
Very random. Very nice. I like the grimey yellow windows. Might consider a tiny bit more black in the low lights of the building and the crumbled walls.
Nothing unfortunate about posting older dios- they’re new to me [;)] I think this one is really fantastic, amazing work on the rubble, extra special kudos for staircase.
