Work in Progress

WW2 Pak40 western front

Posted by dombom on 08 Jan 2020, 09:52

The German 7.5cm Pak40 was after 1942 the main anti-tank weapon of the German "Panzerjäger" (tank hunter) and was effective in anti-tank battle at the eastern front until the appearance of the heavy russian IS tanks and effective at the western front until end of the war.
More than 23000 were produced between 1941 and 1945.

Recently I worked on figures of different era's such as ancient greeks and rome, medival Europe, China and Japan and 30 years war.
However, I choose WW2 for my first diorama due to the fact that the focus in modern war is on camouflage rather than on heraldry.
This shifts the focus from the figures to the environment, which is a good thing for the first diorama, since I can experiment and study more on realistic looking diorama building than on the minis.
dombom  Germany
 
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Posted by dombom on 08 Jan 2020, 10:37

Pak40 newly produced from factory
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After some time of service
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Pak40 in position and dug in
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The real challange: diorama building
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Toothpick ammunition
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So far, so good
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Next step will be more camouflage for the gun and trees for the forest. Here I'm not sure yet how to do it. I collected some twigs and hope I'm able to create some realistic looking trees from it. For a camouflage net I tried to color a teabag, hope it will work out the way I want it.
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Posted by Susofrick on 08 Jan 2020, 11:16

I like the groundwork and the camoflagued teabag looks like a clever trick! Looking forward to see more,
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Posted by Erich von Manstein on 08 Jan 2020, 12:21

Excellent groundwork, indeed. :thumbup:

Always a pleasure to see the beautiful Zvezda figures animated.
Interisting approach concerning the shells, although the diameter seems too big imho. ;-)

Will follow your progress with great interest.
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Erich von Manstein  Aruba
 
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Posted by dombom on 08 Jan 2020, 12:30

Yeah, the shell diameter is a bit larger than the one provided by Zvezda. However, it fits into the PAK40 loader, so I didn't mind it too much. I might replace them later on. But you observed it well.
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Posted by dombom on 08 Jan 2020, 12:33

Thanks :-) we will know soon if the teabag trick works out
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Posted by Peter on 08 Jan 2020, 20:43

Great looking work so far. :thumbup:

This can also be used as camouflage net:

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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by dombom on 08 Jan 2020, 22:32

Good idea. It will get a bit more of texture then.
I gonna try the teabag first and if that doesn't work I will get my medkit :D
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Posted by dombom on 09 Jan 2020, 08:13

I did the math and made new shells for the gun. Since the PAK is a 7.5cm gun, it's shells should have a diameter of about 1.05mm and a length of about 10mm.
This time I used steel for the shells and I'm truly happier with the resize:
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Posted by dombom on 14 Jan 2020, 08:07

A bit busy the last days, but I got also a little bit of progress.

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I added some more bushes and environmental details to make it more interesting. A few more soldiers are on the way, but it will take another few days for them to arrive at the front.
What do you think about the anti-tank obstacles? Is it too much? Would it better to just camouflage the PAK40 or do they look good there? Don't wanna overload it, but in a fortified position they would make sense...
I'm not so sure about it yet.
The teanet camouflage isn't satisfying for me. I will try the bandage approach next.
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Posted by MABO on 14 Jan 2020, 20:02

The bandage tip from Peter is working well! I like the groundwork, but I would prefer a lesser shiny surface of the figs. You my oppinion of course. Thanks for sharing your work.
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Posted by dombom on 14 Jan 2020, 20:37

You are right. The shiny surface I will remove at the very end when I varnish the diorama with matt varnisher.
I wanna finish the diorama first though, because I will varnish at the end by airbrush, which will also keep everything maybe still loose stuff in place.
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Posted by dombom on 15 Jan 2020, 10:15

Getting things done. The first tree stands and added some more bushes. The tree isn't finalized though. It's still too green, but it's a start.
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Posted by Susofrick on 15 Jan 2020, 12:10

and it is a good start! Very good!
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Posted by MABO on 15 Jan 2020, 15:52

Thanks for you answer. I think you will show the final version here as well?!
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Posted by dombom on 16 Jan 2020, 08:46

Of course, bit it will take some time. Recently very busy ond only slow progress. In another month I might finish it and will post the final results here ;-)
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Posted by MABO on 16 Jan 2020, 13:21

We all have the same problem...
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Posted by dombom on 17 Jan 2020, 08:27

Got more trees done and did some minor changes.
The camouflage net is prepped as well, will see coming days how to put it in the scenery. Looks truly way better with the bandage method. Pictures will follow

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Posted by dombom on 23 Jan 2020, 08:55

It has been a few days, but finally I got a mini update. New soldiers arrived at the front.
They aren't placed yet and also not entirely done, but you can get an idea of it already
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Posted by Susofrick on 23 Jan 2020, 10:08

Like it a lot!
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