"FALLEN EAGLE"
Diorama by Terry Ashley
1/35th-1/32nd Scale
The diorama represented here depicts a scene repeated many times toward the end of 1944, the allies pushing relentlessly towards Germany's heartland with the once mighty Luftwaffe crumbling. Here we see the crews of a US M-16 half track and M4A3(76)W stopped to inspect a downed Focke Wulf 190.
M-16
Gun Motor Carriage - Tamiya 1/35th Kit No.35081
This kit can be made into
a fine replica of the original vehicle straight from the box, but there are
areas where extra detail can be added. The main area for attention is the rear
suspension units, the drive and idler wheels are moulded as solid items but
the real things feature square lightening holes around the rims. To detail
these,
firstly mark out the square sections to be removed around the rim and drill
a hole in the centre of each section, then with a sharp X-Acto No.11 blade
carefully
remove the remaining plastic until all the holes have been added.
This is a fairly time consuming task and care should be taken not to remove
too much of the plastic. Since building this kit an etched brass set for the
M3 suspension has been released (isn’t it always the way) but at least by doing
the job yourself you have that satisfaction. The track of the M-16 is very
tight
fitting on the real vehicle and the kit track needs to be shortened by two
links and as a result the axles must be strengthened to prevent them bending
inward
under the extra strain. To do this, I replaced the kit axles with the metal
axles found in any Tamiya motorised armour kit.
The kit jerrycans were replaced with after-market items with brackets from
card and masking tape straps. The M2 machine gun barrels and cooling holes
were drilled
out, cross hairs were added to the gun sight and the exhaust pipe also drilled.
The vehicle was airbrushed with Humbrol HP5 'Marine Corps Green' and was then
glossed and the decals applied using the Micro Set/Sol system. When dry a final
coat of matt varnish was applied before weathering. A black wash was first
applied,
then extensively drybrushed with Humbrol MC21 'French Artillery Green' and
finally with various earth colours to simulate dirt and dust and to highlight
the fine
details. Personal gear was added finally, with ammo boxes and small items from
the kit and the bedrolls and tarps from tissue soaked in white glue as was
the
camouflage netting, made from surgical gauze. The empty shell cases scattered
around the inside of the vehicle are stretched sprue cut into small lengths.One
thing to remember when attaching equipment to vehicles is reality. By this
I
mean, don’t just stick something to the side of a vehicle without any visable
means of support, add straps or tiedowns. Too often these days we see vehicles
vestoon with stuff that would fall off with slightest movement or simple defying
gravity.
M4A3(76)W
Sherman 1/35th
This is a combination
of the Tamiya M4A3 Kit No.35122 and the Italeri M4A1(76)W Kit No.225.
Unfortunately it was not just a matter of taking the Italeri turret and plonking
it on the Tamiya hull. The engineering of the two kits is completely different
in how the turret attaches to the hull, the Tamiya turret sits flat on the hull
while the italeri turret sits in a recess in the hull. This resulted in surgery
to the bottom of the Italeri turret by removing the lower section designed to
fit into the hull recess and adding fittings to make it fit the Tamiya hull.
The hull is detailed using an “on the mark” etched brass set for the headlight
guards and other small fittings including all the tool tie downs. The front
fenders were thinned considerably and the machine gun drilled out. Verlinden
periscopes were added to the open hull and turret hatches with small fittings
added to the turret exterior, the M2 Machine Gun detailed by replacing the
mount
with the brass item as well as other small details. The storage was added from
Verlinden accessories and tissue soaked in white glue and the end extenders
on the kit track cut off to represent standard tracks.
Finally the model was airbrushed using the same colours and weathering as for
the M16 except for the markings which were Verlinden rub on stars. Of note
are
the turret stars overpainted in black, a common practice by crews to offer
less of an aiming point for German gunners. The crew are again Verlinden figures
with flesh in oils and uniforms painted using humbrol enamels.
Focke
Wulf FW190 Hasegawa 1/32nd Kit No.S10
The Fw 190 was one of the
best fighters to emerge during World War 2. The model depicts an A8 variant
in a not too glamorous pose
First the cockpit was detailed by adding throttle and flap levers, small switches,
seat belts and buckles. The engine cylinder heads were reshaped and bolts and
connecting rods added. All engine wiring was made from fuse wire and thin solder,
the air intake between the cannons was added from sprue and the cannon barrels
and engine exhausts drilled out. Detail was added to the inside of the open
panels after first reducing them in thickness using an X-Acto blade to shave
the excess plastic away. Internal detail was added using card with the dimpled
effect obtained by a few twists of a drill bit. The panel fasteners were added
from thin card with the recesses cut into the corresponding panels and the panel
in the tail opened to reveal the wheel retraction mechanism made from card and
thin wire. The battle damage was added after first reducing the plastic to almost
paper thickness using a Dremal Tool to grind the plastic away from inside, care
being taken not to melt through the surface. Once thinned the damage can be
added using the point of your modelling knife to make the bullet holes and torn
metal edges. Where the insides are exposed as on the wing tip and tail, add
interior detail using plastic card and stretched sprue and finally bend the
prop blades by careful heating and bending.
The camouflage was airbrushed using Humbrol Authentics -Dunkelgrau 74 (dark
grey), Heligrau 76 (light grey) and mottled RLM Grau 02 (grey/green) for upper
surfaces and Heligrau 76 (light grey) undersurfaces. The cowling was sprayed
yellow and the white spiral painted on the spinner after careful masking. Finally,
the blue 'Defence-of-the-Reich' band was added around the rear fuselage before
the model was gloss varnished ready for decaling. The kit decals were applied
using the Micro Set/Sol system and when dry a coat of matt varnish was sprayed
overall. A light black wash was applied in and around the engine and the model
was then dry-brushed with light greys and browns to show wear. Finally, silver
paint represents paint chipping around the damaged areas, leading edges and
cowling remembering that the control surfaces are fabric covered.
Base
and Figures
The figures and weapons are
from Tamiya kit's 'US Combat Group (No.3580), US Infantry (No.3548) and US
Weapons Set (No. 3621), plus two more Verlinden figures. The ‘local’ is a Belgo
figure. The buildings, stone wall and graveyard headstones are Verlinden items
with
added detail from balsa to the main building, with the paddock gate also made
from balsa. These were painted in humbrols enamels finished with black washes
and drybrushing to bring out the details. The groundwork was added to a hardboard
base using Plaster of Paris with powder colour mixed in to give depth and while
still wet, the grasses, rocks and trees along with all track marks, footprints
and marks left by the skidding aircraft plus the buildings etc. were added.
After the groundwork had dried, various washes were applied and the foliage
lightly sprayed to highlight the texture. Finally the aircraft, vehicle and
figures were glued to the base.
Althought the kits are two different scales, they are close enough not to look
too out of place when shown together.
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