Flakvierling 38 - part 6: vignette finished

Hey dear redaers,

As I promised last week, here are the pics of the vignette with the Flakvierling 38 finished. 

It represents a Flakvierling from the the Flak Abteilung of the 5. Fallschirmjäger Division which was send to Normandy to stop the American troops. Since the operation in Crete in 1941, the Fallschirmjägers weren't used in large-scale airdrops anymore. Consequently the fallschirmjägers fought mostly on the ground and were considered as elite troops. In Normandy, they fought bravely and succeeded to slow down the progression of th allied troops. Nevertheless at the end of the campaign many of these men ended up in the "Poche de Falaise" where alsmost the entire 5. Fallschirmjäger Division got trapped and destroyed.

Here are the previous steps of the building and painting of the vignette:

- step 1

- step 2

- step 3

- step 4

- step 5

After thes steps, I weathered the flak with pigments and some more light oil washes and I made the ground of the dio with wall filler mixed with sand, small pebbles, paint and pastel powders. Once everything was dry I glued dried moss, some grass tufts from Mininatur end some twigs from Joefix on the base. The figure, the flakvierling and the ammo boxes (from Royal Models) were then firmly glued to the base as well as the plate with the name of the vignette.

I brought this little vignette last week to the BSMC 2013 show and it won gold in the category "Military Vehicle" level Advanced.

As always, don't hesitate to leave comments, questions and / or constructive critisisms!

ENJOY THE PICS!

HAPPY MODELLING!

Flakvierling 38 - painting part 4 - The figure

Hello dear readers,

Since I always try to accompany my models with at least one figie, I've just finished this one for the flakvierling. It is a Mantis Miniature's Fallschirmjäger resin figure which , I think, is very well sculpted and is just perfect straight from the box. I painted it completely with acrylics (Vallejo and the Lifecolor "flesh set") according to Joaquin Garcia Gazquez's method. I also used Tamiya's decals for the insigna on the helmet and on the breast.

The little vignette with the flakvierling is 98% finished and the last update will follow very very soon but I'm currently working very hard  on it to have it finished for the BSMC 2013 show next sunday.

As always, don't hesitate to leave comments, questions and / or constructive criticisms!

STAY TUNED!

HAPPY MODELLING!

Flakvierling 38 - painting part 3 (pin wash & oils)

Hey everyone,

Here's an update on my progress on the flakvierling. I used Mig's dark wash in the recesses and for the outlining and I opted for oil paints to emphasize the contrast of the modulated dunkelgelb colour. I actually tried to follow Michael Rinaldi's advise on how to use oils to make a model unique. He calls this technique "oil paint rendering" (OPR) and describes it in his great "Tankart" books. I had the chance to attend one of his demo sessions at the KMK Scaleworld show in september and he really made me wanna try it on my models. Eventhough the result on this flakvierling isn't as convincing as on his models I will definetely try to develop these skills on my further projects.

Thanks for sharing your experience Michael!

As always, don't hesitate to leave comments, questions and / or constructive criticisms!

Stay tuned!

HAPPY MODELLING!

Flakvierling 38 - painting part 2

Hey dear readers,

As I promised, here's a small update. Here's the result after several loooong "chipping" sessions with Vallejo colours.

And... something that has nothing to do with modelling but of which every Belgian citizen is proud: our national soccer team (The Red Devils) are qualified for world cup 2014 in Brazil since last week! RESPECT!

GO BELGIUM, GO BELGIUM!!!!!!!!

HAPPY MODELLING!

Flakvierling 38 - Painting part 1

Hello dear readers,

Last week I primed the Flakvierling with Vallejo's black primer and then I used Tamiya's paints to paint it in a slighltly modulated Dunkelgelb color. I also used the "hairspray technique" to let the wooden parts of the footseps show through the paint. I'm currently working on the chipping and after I'll tackle down the paintwork with oil paints!

HAPPY MODELLING!

Flakvierling 38 (AFV Club special edition)

Hello dear readers,

It's been along time again since I have published something actually too long...

Anyway... I managed to work on two projects: Zvezda's Mercedes L4500A and AFV Club's Flakvierling 38 special edition. The original idea  was to load Zvezda's Mercedes' cargo with this Flakvierling but after having built the Flakvierling's bed... I noticed it was too large for the Mercedes' cargo bed!!!!!! I was really disappointed because I thought it would look really cool and original to load this big empty bed with this mighty AA gun. After I  got rid of my frustration I decided to finish the Flakvierling first and to represent it straight from the box on a simple base and German Fallschirmjager figure from Mantis Miniatures (but about this later).

This is a "special edition" because 4 brass barrels are included in the box. Detail is very sharp and it also comes with a photoetched fret for the finest parts. I don't recommend this model for a beginner because of these very fine PE parts. Nevertheless I do recommend it to the modeller who wishes to build a nicely detailled model SFTB and who wants to get some practice with PE parts without having to fear facing "fitting" and "hard to bend PE parts" problems. In a few words... I think this kit is a little jewel.

Here are some pics of the model completely built. An update will follow soon with the beginning af the painting process. 

HAPPY MODELLING!