M4A3E8 "Easy Eight" Diorama 1/72
The largely assembled sherman got some cast texture on the turret and transmission-cover, as well as the beautifully detailed OKB tracks. They were a bit fiddly around the sprockets, though a heat-gun helped to form them. The problematic joint on the lower part of the tracks will be hidden in the mud and grass later. You can also see the fixed figure (left)
I handsculpted the sandbags on the tank´s front plate. Stowage will also be placed elsewhere. The cardboard and styrofoam pile symbolizes the position of the bunker/dug in tank
The main terrainforms are being worked on after framing the EXP-foam block with some thin wood. The bunker face was made with carving foam (balsafoam) and some volume was given to the sloped by using packaging styrofoam. This formed the basis for the terrain sculpting using white air drying clay.
The tank (it has rear deck stowage now) was placed on the base during the sculptin process to make sure it sits nicely with the terrain. Rocks were cast from plaster in some aluminium foil and pushed in the steeper parts of the slope. They are being (hopefully) held in place by PVA
There are no tire/track-marks in front of the tank, as I imagine it guarding the engineers clearing a way trough some major fortifications, thus it is feasible to maybe put some not yet removed barbed wire in place in front of the tank.
The result of this session: the frame has been cut and sanded to conform to the shape of the terrain. Rocks are also in place, so I can start with the acrylic textures when the clay is dry. This foundation allows me to use thin layers of texture which should speed up the drying. The bunker will be textured with some concrete paste and maybe will recieve some more shell impacts
Texturing has been done using several acrylic pastes from Ammo and AK. The concrete one was clearly designed for 1/35 hudging from the rather heavy texture 🙂 The framing has also been properly adjusted to fit the terrain.
I added some static grass in more ore less regular coverage. And yes I will "pull a Nightshift" and airbrush the grass 😉
Basecoat and some slight colour variation has been applied to the tank.
Next, I need to apply decals and basecoat all the details
Starting to paint the figures. At this zoom-level you can really see them being 3D-printed
The skin tone here is a base for further refinement. I also built myself a wet palette for painting, this should hopefully make the process easier...
The result of an afternoon of painting 🙂
In those closeups, the individual layers are still visible. Anyway, with a little more contrast and some final details, they might look rather nice when placed in the diorama
After ecals were applied. I put on a flat coat and added a wash. Stowage and details have also been painted beforehand.
Some chipping was added using a sponge and then refined with some brushwork. Note, that even though I added the decals over a gloss coat, I still got silvering... I still have to figure out why that happened :/
I painted up the grass and the ground with my airbrush using different Tamiya paints. Also, the bunker face has recieved a basecoat, which I will however refine with brushpainting. Individual stones and rocks also remain to be painted.
The Sherman has been weathered using different earth and mud-enamels mixed together in three shades; a lighter one as a base and two darker layers to add variety and the look of fresher mud
The different mud layers are visible on the flat rear plate
Another (better) shot of the rear plate of the tank. It clearly shows the caked mud and earth as well as the polished parts of the tracks (there wer no rubber pads on those particular tracks). Along the center of the tracks, some wet mud has been represented by mixing enamel wet effects with a dark mud colour.
The frame has been painte black after I used the mud colours found on the tank to give some more variation to the ground. Stones and the bunker have also been painted. The bunker recieved a treatment with rust enamels on the metal parts of the firing port. I will maybe add some vines and grime to the bunker to really make it look like a somewhat older emplacement. Additional vegetation is also in the pipeline to be added for a further refined look.
Finished the diorama by adding vegetation and some other final touches 👍
Komentáře
36 4 January 2022, 16:35
Simon NagorsnikNice project, looks very promising.
Good looking figures!
i have already had good experiences with okb track, easy to work with and great quality!
7 January 2022, 22:33
Tom B.Thank yoou for tagging along 👍 I have managed to print a tank commander for the Sherman and cut the base to size. For the terrain I decided to go with a bunker face embedded in some rocks. I have yet to do the framing and start to do the terrain shapes with clay or plaster
9 January 2022, 10:56
Tom B.Welcome in then 🙂 I went on to apply some layers of acrylic pastes today. I am curious how the result will look when dry.
14 January 2022, 13:11
Simon Nagorsnikyour m4 is going to be a real beauty and the dio is getting awesome!
the figures are great too👍
8 February 2022, 06:49
Simon NagorsnikA well done dio from yur workbench!
The bunker is very well implemented and the m4 is an eye-catcher!
Chipping and the weathering works very well for this scale but it may be that I see something silvering 🤔😉
All in all a very nice scene 👍
12 February 2022, 15:55
Tom B.Thanks for the feedback to all of you 👍 I am generally rather content with how the project came out, although the bad case of decal-silveringwas kind of... unpleasant to put it likely. I had however been only using some Revell decal softener and may get myself some good decal setting solution.
12 February 2022, 19:52
Simon NagorsnikI'm using vallejo's decal fix and this worked always quite well.
I've recently been using Tamiya's marker fit as a softener, which is slso a top product.
12 February 2022, 19:59
Spanjaardi am not sure but.... it looks like you applied the decals over mat paint, which i believe has a higher tendency to lead to silvering. i would suggest to use a bit of bright coat (I know it looks strange to have a bright tank), but helps a lot with decals and washes. you can always us mat coat when all decals are done (as you did)
it is possible to decrease the silvering of decals by using some very strong thinners (like the one used in alclad paints), although you have to be really careful since it can ruin everything. i only dared to do it once.
12 February 2022, 23:08
FlounderfinderDecal silvering has more to do with the adhesive on the decal and the surface tension of the setting solution. Breaking the surface tension and flattening the decals with a cotton bud or brush will remove air pockets. If the adhesive isn't holding up you can add some white glue to the water you soak the decals in. Any air pockets could be poked with a needle before applying the setting solution.
The surface smoothness has nothing to do with silvering. I've seen decals applied to sandpaper with no silvering. If surface smoothness mattered then you'd see silvering over panel lines all the time...
13 February 2022, 02:48
NeulingVery good dio! And thanks mates for infos on avoiding decal silvering.............
13 February 2022, 09:47
Tom B.Thumbs up for all the feedback and the advice regarding the decals 👍 I will keep those in mind on the next projects!
13 February 2022, 10:54
Rui SWell, sandpaper is not painted plastic, it seems to me, that a airbrushed mate paint, becouse of it's texture (tend to keep more air in it's covered surface) than a gloss Smooth One. Try to use a mate panel line, instead a gloss One... In my Italeri 9 SS Panzerdivision RSO I,ve used only gloss varnish (no setting solution) and I was extremely happy with the result.
Ofcourse the setting solution and quality and thickness of the carrirer film is of the most importance too. I always try to reduce as much as possible the subject envolvent Carrier film. It is certainly not by chance that there are micro set and micro sol, for example
I've used white glue and it worked as adesiv but also to increased a "whiteish" blurr in the carrier film and also change the color arround it.
I've read somewere that mixing soap or detergent, or milk? in the taped water also helps reducing the water tension...?
13 February 2022, 13:03
Paul Gallagherreally like the figures and very well painted especially in this scale. They seem to be well sculpted too - great example of what 3D printing is good for!
13 February 2022, 15:59
Album info
My diorama "Trough the Westwall" will be my first try at 3D printing miniatures and possibly building a bunker. The main element will be Trumpeter´s 1/72 M4A3E8 Sherman with some nice OKB resin tracks and a mix of aftermarket, 3d printed and sculpted stowage/sandbags. Because it was my first try at resin tracks, I did not do a perfect job at fitting them and I already fixed them to the vehicle, so I have to paint the assembled model.
The overall scene will be set somewhere in early 1945 with the vehicle crawling trough some rather wet and muddy ground along an abandoned bunker or tank turret emplacement... I still have to figure out which option I will take, although I have a spare Italeri Panzer IV-turret lying around...
The figures are from .stl-files bought from CGTrader then resized, supported and printed by myself using my Photon Mono 3D printer. The first two figures came out rather nicely even though being designed for 1/25 originally 🙂 There only was a little missprint on the head of one of the GIs, so I had to resculpt a bit with Milliput.
Milliput was also used to sculpt some questionable looking sandbags on the tank. Further stowage is also being printed.
As for the terrain I decided for a destroyed bunker embedded in a slope with the tank driving in front of it. The terrain has been sculpted onto the foam using air drying clay that has been fixed with woodglue, textures will be made with acrylic pastes from AMMO/AK.
I also used my new static grass applicator to put on some grass that I will paint together with the ground. Other vegetation willl be added afterwards.
