A little over a year in the making, I am finally calling this done. The original post can be read here: Recreating History - Panther G, Stoumont 1944
The Panther tank, based off the research and on the cover of Duel In The Mist vol. 3 had been done for awhile. Now it was time to finish the rest.
I deviated from the original plans, but kept to the origins. Originally, I was going to follow what was in this picture of the road outside of Stoumont. The plan was to create the section between the yellow lines. In the end, I went with a three level base and a muddy road.
First, I painted the tree and stumps I was going to use. They were picked up at the AMPS show in Atlanta, and how I wish I had a few more of them. But they're discontinued. I used a branch I found outside for guidance on colors. But even that varied a bit.
While they sat and dried, I had already glued two pieces of foam insulation board together. Now I needed to carve out what I needed. After carving out the lower section, I used that foam to make the upper shelf.
Word of warning, the E6000 glue from Hobby Lobby will eat right through this stuff. Lesson learned.
All of those black spots are holes created by the E6000. I flooded them with Elmers clear glue, but the E6000 just kept eating and eating. I took a piece of thin foam I had from a package and used it to create the hump int he road. The more I look at it, I feel it's too big, but it is what it is.
First thing I did was lay down a cover of AK Interactive Terrain Dark Earth. While this was dripping wet, I used some of the track that came with the panther to make my road marks. Used the towing base of the German 20mm FLAKVIERLING to create wheel marks.
I set the panther down to gauge things and left it a tad too long as the mud started to dry to the tracks. I was able to get it up without much issue though. While the Dark Terrain was still a little wet, I added some VMS Mud 2.0 to the lower and upper areas. I also added some to the center of the road to blend the harsh edges in and make it look more realistic.
I created some PVA watered glue with the clear Elmer's. I had a small jar of dirt I got from my flower bed. I sieved it a few times to get just the dirt, but I added some of the small bark chunks. After all, a forest floor isn't just grass. The real dirt was added t the lower and upper section.
This was followed up by adding some flocked grass. Had an issue for the first time using the kit. As when i tipped the unit over to start shaking, the grass just came flying out. So there is a bright green spot that I had to figure out what to do with.
I also added some dead vegetation I picked up at Hobby Lobby as well as a few pieces of ground cover as moss around the trees.
This was all held into place by some sticky, cheap diorama glue i bought from Hobby Lobby. I really need to thin that stuff out. As it dried, it left a blue tint to the real dirt.
I proceeded to paint the grass i just dumped on the base with Vallejo's Chocolate Brown. Not only did this blend the grass with the underlying colors, but it was also the base for the Tamiya Desert Yellow that followed. I lightly sprayed the grass in areas with the yellow. This helped give it the "dead winter" look.
I let this all dry over night. At this time, I took some of the Dark Terrain mud and layered in on the bottom of the tracks and mixed it with some clear Elmer's glue. I put the tank back into place and added some of the Dark Terrain mud to the tracks where the met the ground. This will help it adhere to the base, but also mimic the mud being pushed away from the weight of the tank. I hope!
I started with AK Interactive Snow Sprinkles and started adding the snow. I really like this stuff. It's easy to use, cleans up and thins with water. And dries to look like actual snow and ice.
After adding it to the ground, i added some to the tank tracks and quite a bit where the tracks met the ground.
I also added some of the Snow Sprinkles to the tank and figures. Just enough to show that it's cold and snowing on this ill fated day.
After this dried, I used AK Interactive Snow for a thicker snow around the trees and few lower spots where the snow would build up.
While the new thicker snow dried, I took some AK Interactive Winter Grime and lightly washed the snow that I put on the road and tracks. This made it more a "slush" than snow.
It was also at this time, I had to weather the rest of the tank. I took AK Interactive Mud and layered it around the wheels and the tracks. Also added some to the front and rear of the hull. As this dried, I added a bit more of the Snow Sprinkles to the road and tracks, to have the offset of slush vs snow.
I took AK Interactive Dark Grime and washed the tracks in the mud on the road. This should help with definition. Had to take a few outdoor pics in natural light to see how this was turning out.
Once I was satisfied, it was time to finish it up. I took some MIG Wet Mud and Dry Earth and added some splashes to the tank. The tank is too clean! Also added some of the Wet Mud to the wheels and tracks to help blend things.
Took the AK Interactive Mud and added a bit more to the tank hull. After all, if it has been playing in the mud, it should show it!
I am overall happy with how this turned out. There's one problem though, it won't fit in my display cabinet. So I guess it will have to go in the China cabinet.
There are a few things wrong with the tank that I was able to try and fix and a few i couldn't. I am hoping with what I've done, they won't be too noticeable.
