Stug riders part3

Hello readers and fellow modellers, yes again I've made some progress. This time I finished the basic shapes of the figures. It was more work than I could imagine. Well... fitting the figures together wasn't the problem, but give them the right pose so they look natural in behavior was an other story. It was a slow process that grew day by day, but I'm really satisfied with the result. So here are some pics of the current state of the project... Enjoy!

'Till now I've used six moulds to create the figures; hands, heads, boots, upper arms, busts and hips. Its enough to make random combinations of figures for this project. Most of the body parts are glued together, some of those pieces are connected with copper wire to make it easier to give the figures the right position. Later on I will fill those gaps with magic putty (green stuff).

The next stage for this project will be to sculpt the gaps of the figures and add all the gear, like munition bags, flasks and other equipment. I also need to fill the crates with some curiosities or useful stuff... Well I will come up with something.

So... Thanks again for reading and 'till next time. Bye!

Stug riders part2

Hello again! Here's a small update of my latest project "Stug Riders". In the first post all the attention went to the build of the Sturmgeschutz III itself. Now all the details are where they should be and it is completely finished, this was necessary so I could see where all the figures could be placed. And that brings us to the next chapter... Making the figures.

The idea was to stash up as many figures as possible on this tank. I kept in mind that I wanted to add about twenty four figures to get as close as possible to the reference pics. Before I began I knew that I had to modify all the figures so they would sit in a natural pose, (with other words: a damn lot of work) but I liked the challenge. After four or five figures I came to the conclusion that I didn't have enough body parts in stock to do this, So I needed a solution. I had a few Germans lying around here and there in the scratch box and after a bit of serious chopping, remodeling and a curse or two they surrendered and their body parts were ready to become a neat and orderly mould. Now my clones are ready to become a bunch of Stug Riders. Eventually twenty of these fellows will catch this ride. I went for twenty four, but came to the conclusion that twenty was better for a good overall balance.

I started with moulding four pairs of butts and nine pairs of boots, to have enough options to create random combinations. The connection between the legs and the boots is made with copper wire, so I can bend it in the right pose. Later on the gaps will be sculpted with green stuff/magic putty. I needed to start with the base to deceide how the figures will be posed later on. So Stug, details, feet, butts, and then the rest will follow eventually.

At the same time I am working on the stowage because that will ultimately be just as important for the balance and realism of this diorama. I've added some jerrycans and crates which will later on be filled with provision. But that is all part of the bigger vision that is slowly comming to life for this diorama.

Thanks again for reading and 'till next time... Bye!

Stug riders

Hello readers, this time I'm going to build a small diorama called "Stug Riders". The Stug III or better said Sturmgeschutz III was a German self propelled artillery vehicle from the WW2 era. The advantage of this vehicle was that it was very flat, almost a moving platform. So it wasn't only useful as a battle machine, it was also used as a transporter. Well... not officially, but in the battlefield a lot of these vehicles have been spotted stashed full with soldiers that had to go from point A to point B. On some research pictures I even counted more than twenty four persons sitting on this machine, like they were driving a bus.

Well... The idea for this diorama is to stash this baby as full as possible with figures, only the drivers visual port will be free so they can see where they are going. The diorama base will be very sober so the attention will go to the vehicle and the Stug riders. The scene has to give the idea that they are driving for miles and miles, pretty boring and cramping...  

The sturmgeschutz III for this diorama is almost ready... Well I mean the building process... The paint job will come later, because I still haven't figured out which cammo pattern I will use.

For this build I used the Stug.III Ausf.C/D from Cyber-hobby 9119 orange box 19, it is an older kit that is tuned up a bit with some magic tracks. The hull with suspension is pretty good, but the fenders were really crappy and needed to be replaced by better ones. After some research I found some nice ones that fitted this kit, they are from (Aber Fenders for Sturmgeschutz III). For the Assembly of this upgrade I took the option to solder it completely, using glue is easier but less solid. During the soldering process I experimented a bit with a micro torch and a soldering iron, but I came to the conclusion that the easiest way to solder is by using a simple lighter. I probably will write a topic about soldering PE. parts later on, because I have too much to tell about it and it's not relevant to this post... This is my first attempt on soldering PE. parts... And I must say that I'm damn proud of the result!

I also added the detail set from (Aber Sturmgeschutz III, Ausf.B,C,D) to give it just the touch it needed. Too bad most of the details probably will get lost under a pile of Germans, but that may not spoil the fun. Now I just have to add a few small details more before I can start with the figures, but that I will show you next time... Just imagine how many will sit on there, and what will they be doing on there to kill time...

Well... Thanks again for reading and 'till next time. Bye!

Inbox Review

Hello everyone, for the one that doesn't know or still hasn't discovered yet; for a while now I am archiving all the new kits and improvement kits that I get my hands on. I'm doing this becouse I am always curious what a box exactly contains before I purchase it. Mostly you can find it on the internet, but not always... So for that reason I'm building on a database with inbox reviews... Don't know how far I will come, we'll see....






Oh... This blog is in desparate need for new followers, so you do me a great favour by adding it to your reading list. Check it out at (Inbox Review)

Thanks for reading and 'till next time. Cheers!