Knocked out KV1 1941

[dombom]

It's 1941 and the Germans invaded Russia. What they did not know: the Russian T34 and KV tanks are superior to the German tanks. Only the 8.8 Flak and the Panzer 4 can penetrate the thick armor. It's that time, where the German anti tank guns got their nickname as "doorknockers", because they couldn't do more than knocking at the tanks hull.
Knocking out the Russian tanks with anti tank mines and charges or destroying them with artillery were often the only way to stop them.

I chose to make a knocked out KV1 diorama.
KV tanks were slow and thick armored monsters and almost impenetrable at the beginning of the war. The main disadvantage were the lower reliability compared to the faster and lighter T34 rank.

Assembling the KV1 tank and adding fine details:



I used a grey primer and after some shading and blending and it looks already a bit like a tank:

[dombom]

Black and some rust wash later:


Now it is time to age the model a bit (this is only a first layer aging):

[dombom]

It took me another day of work to get the desired result:

[dombom]

A bit of cleaning and then adding some pigments and it looks dusty:

A varnish will get rid of the reflections and fix the pigments in place:

[dombom]

Diorama preperation:


Adding some mud and grass:



Getting closer, but not there yet. However, I will be on vacation for a few weeks, therefore it will take some time till I will finish this diorama.
I woll post the final results when I'm done.

[C M Dodson]

You have some really slimy mud there!

This looks excellent indeed.

Looking forward to seeing it completed.

The rocks might be better if they were pressed into the ground a bit more?

Best wishes,

Chris

[Kekso]

Nice weathering... well done

[Rich W]

This is looking great! Nice to see all the step by step photos as well.

[Wiking]

Poland, France, Yugoslavia, Greece ...

You are in the Third Reich main battle tank III at this time.
You see for the very first time such a MONSTER with it`s GUN !
You get into position ordered by radio with your other tanks of the platoon.
You see your mates send shells to the MONSTER.
You see hits.
You see smoke.
You see that NOTHING happen.
You ordered: " fire".
You hit.
The MONSTER is still on the move in YOUR direction !!!

What do you think ?

In the early morning (lights on) I drove at the German Autobahn with full speed (ca. 200Km/h).
2 lanes.
Two cars on the right lane. (130 km/h I think) in around 500 m distance. No one else.

At around 25 METERS I will pass both cars at full speed.
The rear one suddenly try to overtake the one in front of him (ca.140 Km/h).

I only remeber: " Now it will crash". (" Jetzt kracht`s")

My heart ? ... please don`t ask.

Maybe this is the closest situation to a tank man, see the MONSTER and can do,
nothing!

Nice.
I like the open hatches.

[T. Dürrschmidt]

Wrecked vehicles are always a challenge to build. I like the overall appearance and the weathering. Very good work, mate!

[OwenChpw]

I love the muddy realism of the tracks and the weathering is superb!

[Peter]

Wonderfull to see this comes to live! Excellent work on the weathering!

[dombom]

You are right with the rocks They will be overgrown by gras later on

[dombom]

You made my day bro
Nice comment and fun comparison of the MONSTER and the car ride hahaha
That made me smile at an otherwise dull day

[dombom]

Due to my vacation there wasn't much of a progress, however I did a bit of work yesterday:

I dried the mud a bit, even though I liked the wet mud as well. I will add some wet effects and water later on again. I added two layers of dry static grass. The small river (still dry) becomes now more visible:

[dombom]

And some update on the vegetation:





Another few days/weeks till I can finish it I think

[MABO]

The groundwork is stunning!

[OwenChpw]

Very realistic basing!

[Peter]

That farmer will be happy with all that old iron on his ground!

Just joking! It looks fantatsic!

[dombom]

Almost there
A few more things to do and then a bit more of tiny details I guess.
Maybe another week and it should be finished... Huraiiii



Do you guys have any further ideas and / or recommendations what I could do, change or improve?