T-26 Model 1933, Spanish Civil War

[Philipp Gross]

Thanks Shawn!

Here's what kept me busy for the last week:




Apologies for the lack of proper WIP photos The ruin is made form cork plates of various sizes and covered in acrylic household filler. More rubble to follow...

Something's bugging me though - a diorama of this size really calls for some figures and generally a lot more stuff "going on", but I can't find any suitable Spanish Nationalist figures. Right now I consider making a small vignette for the tank and keeping the ruin for something else.... Opinions and suggestions are more than welcome

Philipp

[Steve Hutchinson]

Nice building Philipp
You have got the MiniArt look off to a T.
As for SCW figures, they are out there, mostly OOP and very expensive.
Best advise is to get heads with berets and look at references for dress types.
Russian early war tank crew would be useful, especially with the padded helmets
Collared shirts, tie, Sam Brown belts and jodhpurs with boots are an option.
"Maquis" - French Resistance, Master Box | No. MB3551 has one which could be useful
If they were the International Brigade, then almost anything goes.
I have found one E-bay offer which are a good reference but definitely a silly price
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384837605314 ... 1438.l2649
I'll dig out my SCW references and PM you if there is anything useful in the way of uniforms?
Regards
Steve H

[Philipp Gross]

Thank you Steve! I guess the Miniart ruins inspired me, it's a good way to suggest a larger building without having to build one

Thanks for the research Steve....sadly I'm stuck with a Nationalist tank. The figure set you linked to is a bit too expensive for me...not to mention shipping times from China at the moment Proper combat poses seem to be completely absent...

I think I'll continue with the tank for a while and then we'll see what happens

Philipp

[Adam Durrant]

With only 6 weeks to go I would focus on the vehicle and save the base for something else. At the speed we all seem to work you’ll either end up rushing it or not finishing.

Even adding an accurately depicted Nationalist figure may be a lot of work, you’ll either end up paying through the nose for a figure or spend a lot of time trying to modify an existing offering…..I see heart ache in your future

[Philipp Gross]

Thanks Adam, that's definitely the best course of action....

I've started weathering (i.e. drowing everything in dust), photos of the results hopefully soon

Philipp

[Philipp Gross]

Sorry for the long absence, seems like this one won't be over the finish line until the very last moment, like all my builds

Here's the current state of affairs, with a new base taking shape:




The little stone wall is made from Extruded Polystyrene (XPS), basically extra fine styrofoam. I had hoped it would behave similar to Balsa Foam, which seems to be impossible to get in Germany at the moment, but it's an altogether different material. With a bit of practice it's still possible to get some decent results. It took me about an hour to carve the wall segment.

Philipp

[Philipp Gross]

Gentlemen,

it was a long hard battle, but today I can finally say it's over. I'm done. And I'm proud of my self-restraint, because I was really close to throwing the damn thing against the wall yesterday when the suspension suddenly fell off. After fitting the tracks, of course.

So, here's the finished base. The vegetation is a mix of various grass tufts by Fredericus-Rex and Army Painter, the flowers are (heavily oversized) H0 scale items by Busch.








No doubt I'll find a few small spots to fix, then I'll take some proper photos.

Thanks for coming along on this epic journey of a thousand missing bolt heads. Whatever comes next will be much simpler.

Philipp

[Vincent Power]

Congratulations Philipp, the finished result was worth the pain you suffered.

Vincent

[Philipp Gross]

Thank you Vincent

I went back to it and did a few small touchups and highlighted some details with a light pin wash, and also added some sloppy oil stains around the running gear to create a bit more visual interest.



I think I'm also going to add a heavy tow chain to the backets on the back, as seen here:


But then I'm really done with it

Philipp

[Shawn Ramsey]

Well done Philipp.

Shawn