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Berlin Pantherturm



Background
This was my small scene I entered in the Berlin campaign here on Armorama. My Vignette started with the purchase of the old KIRIN resin model of a 1/35 Berlin pantherturm. I took the turret and street pole only and rebuilt the ground work, cobblestone emplacement and steel plate myself along with the rest of the ground work. I replaced the resin barrel that was warped with a Tamiya G and I was off and away. I also used half of the old Tamiya field kitchen kit, which came in handy.
My dio is set on the first day after the surrender of Berlin May 1945. The two figures are waiting to join a column and head east to the horrors that await there.
Reference
My main reference for this 'little' vignette was Tankpower volume 6 on the Panther. This has some excellent photos as well as a good, simple rundown on the different turrets and their stats.
These emplacements can be divided into 2 types....
1. Improvised. A turret taken from a damaged tank or just a dug in tank.
2. Purposefully built fortification. Approximately 269 of this type were built. These purpose built types were being built and assembled by the Demag and Krauss-Maffei companies. An unspecified number of these had a reinforced roof [40mm]. This type had a number of variations in the way it was placed into the ground.
Pantherturm1 - a complete steel box emplacement.
Pantherturm 2 - a concrete box emplacement.
Pantherturm 3 - a wooden box emplacement.
These details seem to vary slightly between references so I just stuck with the Tankpower reference.
Makeup
I chose to go with the first alternative, the improvised turret. Apparently there were 25 of this type of emplacements in Berlin alone!
The bricks are Custom Dioramics and VP with a couple of building pieces carved out, modified and thrown in as well.
I tried to include as many small details as I could to draw the interest of the viewer around the scene. It is harder than you think to make a dio like this interesting when you don't have an actual vehicle.
The helmet and rifle came from a great little resin set from VLS or VP called 'German graves' or something like that. The newspapers and mags are from VLS and they are in English on purpose, as I wanted to date the scene and have people be able to read the headline 'Hitler dead', so I used a bit of artistic license. I also used half of the old Tamiya field kitchen kit, which came in handy.
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About the Author

About Ian Hill (Brokeneagle)
FROM: VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

Whatever project I find myself doing I always try to create something a little 'left' of the typical. I use modelling to add a 3rd dimension to my painting of pictures. Please visit my website at threedbattleart.com


Comments

Incredible display! Very good layout and paint work! I lke the work with the figures too! Congratulations! Cheers and happy modelling! Prato
JUL 08, 2006 - 07:37 PM
Nice one Ian. The scene has really been dressed up, with all the excellent debris and war spoils. IMO, the scene appears to draw attention to the figures more, and tell their story. The pantherturm becomes part of the background/base! Using items like the old field kitchen and small items from the scrap box has added a lot to the despair effect. Whatever way, I really like the overall scene.
JUL 08, 2006 - 07:56 PM
Ola Very, very cool dio:) A lot of detail has been added, so wherever you look there's something interesting and realistic. Like Frank said there's a sence of despair and no hope for the defenders of Berlin on this dio, with the sitting figure with the broken leg being my favourite:) Great job mate!! Cheers, dsc.
JUL 08, 2006 - 08:27 PM
Very nice diorama. No wasted space and the two figures look terrific. The battered turret and the debris are well placed and weathered. I really liked the smashed up field kitchen - nice work. One minor point and don't get me wrong. If this is Berlin 1945, the newspaper should be in the German, not English. Minor issue. Over all, one of the best dios I have seen in a long time. Great work, amigo. Mike
JUL 10, 2006 - 12:14 AM
Mike - not to quibble, but the paper was put in English on purpose. Ian use a bit of artistic license so that viewers had a better idea of what was happening.
JUL 10, 2006 - 12:30 AM
Great Diorama, All those details, superbly wheatered, very inspiring. Cheers Claude
JUL 10, 2006 - 11:01 AM
Thanks everybody for the mail. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks Scott for the posting work. See you on the next one.
JUL 11, 2006 - 07:54 AM
Hi Ian, Really good mate, portrays the hopelessness of the situation very well. Great work on the rubble and general setting. Thanks for sharing, lots of interestying stuff to look at. Cheers Al
JUL 11, 2006 - 08:30 AM
Wow Ian! I have to say, your efforts were well rewarded to say the least! I spent a great deal of time looking at all the small details that you added to the scene and most of all, I have to say you captured the devestation of the surrounding area and despair of the two soldiers exceptionally well. The only thing missing is the acrid smell of smoke and chilled wind. Very nice!
JUL 12, 2006 - 11:59 PM
ALANL & 95BRAVO, thank you for your comments, it's always nice to get such positive feedback.It also lets me know if I hit the mark with the dio; it's seems that I conveyed the correct atmosphere.....just what I wanted to hear. Thanks again.
JUL 13, 2006 - 02:08 PM