Academy Hetzer Prague 1945

[Leighbo]

Hi All, back in the seat again!

This time I'm building the Academy Hetzer 'Prague 1945' and throwing in some Toro model resin figures.

Yes I know the figures are Polish but I couldn't find any Czech figures so I thought I would cheat a bit!

I will try and go further with the colour modulation this time and go for a really colourful finish to match the decals, The box art show its as mainly red, but there is another Academy poster going round with it in blue which I'm thinking of trying. The scene will be obviously in Prague with a street backdrop and a roadblock behind it and I'll be playing around with a new (to me) way to create the paved road

Heres the kit put together, it actually went together like a dream even the link and length tracks went easily.

And the first step of the paint mod after priming was to do the wheels which will be masked off when dry, I thought it would be easier to do it this way.

Thanks for looking I'll be posting again soon

 

[JohnSimmons]

I have this in the stash mate, great start! Watching this with a lot of interest!

 

[zappa]

Hi leighbo,

What is the story about this vehicle?
Looks like a very interesting history.

Zappa

 

[Leighbo]

Hi John

The colourful decals attracted me to this kit, bit of a change from Dunkelgelb & olive drab! It's a nice kit and goes together well, especially impressed with the link and lengths.

Hi Zappa

I think this was taken from the Germans by the Czech forces towards the end of the war, hence the pride in the colouring, but I'm not an expert on this. At the same time the Czech resistance was trying to liberate Prague and part of what they did was to barricade the streets with whatever was at hand which is the idea behind the dio. It does make for an interesting build!

I also got some done on the colour mod tonight, after masking off the wheels, I mixed up some Vallejo blue & light sea blue to get to the right base colour and then gradually lightened the base colour with more light sea blue and graduated to get the contrast.

To try and get the right start I took photos of the tank in the base coat adjusting the spotlight until I got the effect I wanted, here is the initial piccy before modulation

and after the airbrushing

The lighting is not too good but I think you get the picture.
Then I used the final light blue mix to paint in the details and removed the wheel masks

I have left the turret and skirts off as they will be different colours.

If nothing else it will be a colourful build!

Cheers for looking

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Thats some nice airbrushin' dood.

 

[Leighbo]

Thanks very much Ken

 

[JohnSimmons]

Wow that was quick! Looks great

 

[Leighbo]

Thanks John

I get totally obsessed with these builds sometimes (and I know i'm not the only one!) and was worried all day that i had chosen wrong in going for blue, so i had to put my mind at rest by seeing it painted!

 

[JohnSimmons]

Yeah I know what it's like!

 

[Leighbo]

Hi Guys, just thought I'd share the latest progress

I sprayed up the side skirts and the turret and then the fun of adding the decals, and here's the pictures

The decals took a little working with rubbing alcohol but they were really good, very thin with little carrier film. Also I rusted up the front plate

Thanks for looking

 

[JohnSimmons]

Looks great makes me wanna start mine!

 

[Leighbo]

Do it! It's been nice making something with some colour for a change and it's gone together well. The decals took a bit of work over rivets and around handles but nothing major.

Shame to dull the colour down with some weathering really but that's the next step.

 

[Leighbo]

Hi Guys

This build almost ended up on the shelf as I got caught up in other projects, but I'm trying to deal with my addiction problem ( to new shiny projects that is!) and catching up with some older projects.

I have been working on this on and off but am pushing for the finish now

I made a cobbled street from an MDF base and coated it with air drying clay and just stamped in the cobbles and added a drain cover. I definitely need some practice with the clay, I new it would shrink a bit as it dried and was hoping for some interesting effects with cracks along the cobble line, but it didn't crack as expected. The MDF board, which was about 8mm thick actually pulled up with the drying and ended up banana shaped and it actually took over a week to dry thoroughly! I covered the bending by making a frame of balsa, when it eventually dried, and then painted with acrylics and did a wash over it with some fine sand added to fill up the gaps.

There's still more work to do on it but I think I have managed to salvage it.

Then I added some layers of grime with oils with drying in between to dull down and to tie in the stark decals

[/img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6zUA_AytxZs/UkxcWJL83xI/AAAAAAAAICg/SMoEeIbBaAU/s800/20131002_183621.jpg[/img]

Although I liked the effect of the finished colour modulation the weathering layer really does tie it together and add realism

Finally I painted up the lone figure that I will be displaying. I didn't really have a reference for Czech tanker uniforms so kept with the colourful nature of this build and went with the brightish green

And finally a shot of all the elements together with the start of the barricade including an Schwimmwagen, there will be a lot more debris to make up the roadblock before I'm done

Sorry about the photos being a bit dodgy, don't have time to set all my lights up!

Thanks for looking comments welcome

 

[Leighbo]

Hi All

Got this one finished up, I ended up raiding a dust covered old diorama for the bits in the roadblock and all sorted

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-REdDKlR5d9c/Uk_Wv5lm2BI/AAAAAAAAIGw/L2moPwABwTE/s800/20131005_095529.jpg[img]
[img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5r9osf_89Pw/Uk_WrGBeWgI/AAAAAAAAIGo/qjelPL5qOqc/s800/20131005_095920.jpg

Thanks for looking

 

[Quaralane]

Looks really good here

 

[Papermodder]

Looks really good to me too.

Jim

 

[noname]

Looks really good Leigh. Nice bit of colour and interest with the barricade. The debris looks spot on.

 

[Leighbo]

Thanks for the positive comments guys

 

[zappa]

Wow that looks really nice, and different from other typical dioramas!!!!
Nice work!

Zappa

 

[hook1169]

Leighbo, you said you "stamped" the cobblestone. Did you make your own stamp or was this something you bought? I would like to find a way to do something similar for creating a cobblestone street.