FURY!

I have managed to cobble together some WIP shots of my 1/35th Easy Eight Sherman tank which I am building for my WWII movie diorama based on the film FURY. This past weekend offered me some relaxing and therapeutic time at the bench for which I was grateful. Not being a natural armour builder, I have had to learn the hard way with this kit and ultimately some of my mistakes and subsequent “do-overs” could have been avoided.

However with my foul ups and misgivings firmly set to one side, I was no able to continue on with a much more positive outlook and set about completing all of the stowage details, paint touch ups and weathering. I also made strides with the diorama base too.

Here is how the base setting is coming along at the moment:

As you can see I have been adding to the mud texture on the road and I have added some definition and detail to the stone wall. The cart still needs work as does the tank, but from this you can get a clear idea of the intended scene. I am also in the process of building the 1/35 FURY crew figures by BRAVO 6 that will sit on top of the tank when the diorama is finished. In the photo above you will see that the tank is not complete. The stowage needs further painting and detailing, the toe cable is not posed correctly either. After taking advice on how to wield the plastic toe cable- This involves removing it from the model, dunking it in hot water to make it pliable and then moulding it to the shape of the vehicle. All well and good! Except for one thing……My cable broke into pieces!

Damn and Blast!  My next option was to make my own cable from fuse wire and then mould that to the shape of the tank.  Luckily for me it worked! Hurrah!

With my modest victory celebrated by consuming a cup of tea and a slice of cake I pushed on to the serious business of finishing this beast!

I got all of the aforementioned  details finished,  tied up the stowage to the rear and completed the weathering process. I have to say I really did enjoy the weathering part!

I have not added mud texture around the wheels and tracks as of yet as I want to get all the other elements completed first. Then I can set the tank into the mud with its crew posed on top. But for now the tank is finished with the exception of its crew and whip aerials that will be added later.

The next element I wanted to work on was the tree for this scene. I have to admit that progress on said article has been slow and frustrating to say the least. In the end, I went with my gut feeling and took photo’s of an autumn tree outside of my house and attempted to copy that. Here is what I have so far…..

So the glue, leaves and bark texture are still drying, but you get the idea. So many diorama’s show us trees in full bloom-and that’s great. Its just that I can’t make one that looks realistic yet. So I’m going for this autumnal look that fits in with the subject.

With my Sherman matt coated after the last weathering processes, I took some photo’s to show how the tank looks now. I’m quite pleased after all the trouble I had with the build in the beginning, now its looks the part! And yes I have taken some artistic licence with adding a second German helmet and gas mask-I just thought two was better than one!

Here’s how FURY looks now:

I hope you are enjoying this build, as always any thoughts or feedback are welcome. Until next time, Take care and Happy Modelling!

Darren.