MiniatureZone Gallery Archives (2000 - 2006) - Christopher Holland - "Kaput in the wrong place"

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MiniatureZone Gallery Archives (2000 - 2006) - Christopher Holland - "Kaput in the wrong place"

Background

The idea for this diorama came from a picture I found of a german Panzer III surrendering to british troops somewhere in the North African desert, and my diorama follows that, but more precisely at the British lines, due to a engine failure. That's why I choose to call it 'Kaputt på fel ztälle' whichtranslates from Swedish into something like 'Kaput in the wrong place'.

This diorama came second at the Swedish IPMS Open '00 in Stockholm. It seems I'm stuck at second place...;-)

Facts
Scale: 1/76
Size: 22 cm X 18 cm
Tank: Matchbox Panzer III L
Figures: Matchbox 8th army, Matchbox German Africa Corps, Revell Panzer grenadier.





















Making the diorama

The base
The base is made from a piece of wood with smaller pieces making up the contours. This I covered with Celluclay after putting on a layer of varnish to seal of the wood. I then brushed on white glue and sprinkled rocks and the fine sand on

Sandbags
The sandbags are made from Superfine Miliput

Barb wire
For the barb wire I used very thin copper-wire which i doubled and twisted. Then I tied a small knot every centimeter and wrapped around a pencil. I chose to paint it straight gun-metal since there will probably not be much rust in the desert.

Camoflage-netting
The netting is medical gauze that was waterpainted in tan and brown nuances before added to the diorama.

Painting the diorama
The base I airbrushed in different tan Hubrol enamels and given a darkbrown wash and a lightsand dry-brush.

The tank
The Panzer III L is Matchbox old kit. Not much to comment on, easybuild except for getting the threads in place after the upper and lower parts are glued together. If you put the threads on before you'll have trouble getting the upper and lower parts fit well...

I opened up one of the front hatches for the escaping crew.

After painting it with Humbrol enamels and applying decals I gave it a light dust-layer togehter with the base to which it was superglued.

The figures
Nothing special to note about the Matchbox figures except that they are all action-poses, which kind of limits your dioramas. The surrendering german with both hands up is actually a British figure from the german kit, but I figured that even german tankers wore black berets maybe not in the desert) and with the typical British hip-pouches off he'd look german.

 I painted the figures with (as usual) Humbrol enamels, but instead of using a darker wash I shaded them with darker nuances, and then I Super-glued them in place.

Copyright 2002 : Christopher Holland, Sweden