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Freezing Eastern Wind

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During the recent King Tiger Campaign I finally had one of those rare occasions when I finally got to complete a model, and it was one of those even rarer occasions when I was really pleased with the end result. Having completed the kit I decided I wanted to place it in a diorama and with a vague idea in my head I started to work on a very chilly snowy scene. The diorama depicts a small group of infantry and a lone King Tiger retreating from the Russian Bear through Hungary near the end of World War Two.

The King tiger is a well known tank “Anneliese” which was built using the Dragon offering 6312 Sd.Kfz. 182 King Tiger [Porsche Turret], to the base kit I added resin zimmerit from Cavalier. The officer is from the MiniArt set 35021 German tank crew. Winter 1943-45. I used decals from Alliance Model Works on this figure and hand painted with Tamiya paints. The infantry figures were easy to select with the excellent offering from Master Box “Cold Wind”, you could say they were released with me and this diorama in mind. The figures were built from the box with just the addition of Tamiya tape slings and again decals from Alliance Model Works.

I would like to thank all of the members of the King Tiger Campaign for their advice and a big thank you to Pawel RZYMSKI AKA spitfire303 for his knowledge and insight during the build.
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About the Author

About Darren Baker (CMOT)
FROM: ENGLAND - SOUTH WEST, UNITED KINGDOM

I have been building model kits since the early 70’s starting with Airfix kits of mostly aircraft, then progressing to the point I am at now building predominantly armour kits from all countries and time periods. Living in the middle of Salisbury plain since the 70’s, I have had lots of opportunitie...


Comments

Sorry. I should have given you positive criticism as well - it's just that you already got lots. The concept and execution is excellent, and the snow very realistic. It really looks like 20 - 30 degrees below zero! I tend to be overly-critical and look for errors
MAY 29, 2013 - 02:47 AM
Thank you for all of your comments. Biggles negatives can be good as well due to the ability to learn. You have corrected me on an incorrect long held belief, Thank you.
MAY 29, 2013 - 02:48 AM
Excellent, Darren!
JUN 05, 2013 - 03:59 AM
Very nice Darren. Great job on the figures and snow. The KT doesn´t look half bad either. Some very important points have been raised in this thread, that all we dio builders should take heed of. Michael Koenig raises a very important point with colour temperature. His photo manipulation shows a huge improvement over the originals. Painting a scene like this, we should take the temperature into account and paint acordingly with colder colours. Its one thing being able to manipulate a photo, but I see too many winter scenes with warm rust and warm mud colours in real life. Adding some dark blues and purples would change the hue appropriately. Makes the scene more realistic to the eye as well. Several guys have also mentioned ground work. I would include composition in this as well. If the base was smaller, its enough to show snow in the immediate area. But with a bigger base like this, a thick layer of snow hides the possibility for 2D details and drags down the overall scene. We have to accomodate for this, by adding more 3D detail for effect. The first image with a tree in the backgound goes some way towards this. Varying heights would have been another method to accomplish this. This is as much as a "note to self" as I write this, but they were my spontaeneous thoughts while looking at the images.
JUN 06, 2013 - 08:57 PM
Just a thought: There would be room for a wrecked/flattened jeep, kubel or swimwagon covered in snow on this dio and it would create the 3D affect you mentioned above.
JUN 11, 2013 - 01:46 AM
Frank thank you for your comments which do highlight things to consider. Michael I did consider placing a small destroyed German artillery gun in the scene, but it seemed to much to me. On the subject of size; it is large because I have ordered a glass case to go over it and so the base had to be large enough to accomadate that main gun and the figures.
JUN 11, 2013 - 01:55 AM
Just happened to come across this photo from another dio. If one were going to pre-connect the tow lines to the clevis this is how it would be done. Regards
JUN 15, 2013 - 05:30 PM
So for my understanding of AFV terminology, the cable is attached to the shackle which is attached to the towing mount. The clevis being the C shape connector not seen in this photo. Correct? Cheers, Joe
JUN 15, 2013 - 05:59 PM
The clevis IS what you are calling the shackle. Either name probably fits just as well.
JUN 15, 2013 - 11:53 PM
Thanks Michael
JUN 16, 2013 - 12:47 AM