Tasca Panzer Pz.Kpfw.II Ausf.L "Luchs" in winter diorama

I've had the urge to build a tank diorama for some time and now seems to be the right time to get started on it.

This is the tank kit:



I'd never heard of Tasca as a kit maker until I bought this kit about a year or so ago but I have to say I'm impressed by the quality.

Absolutley no flash, only two sink marks, (in places they won't be seen anyway) no warpage, very fine sprue attachment points and so far, the fit has been absolutley perfect!!

Box contents photos:







I have built a couple of braille scale tanks and one other 1/35th scale tank and what I like about them is, just how much construction you can get done, before even going near primer, let alone paint!!! LOL

What you see here, took just two hours, due to virtualy no clean up being required.





Mind you, these two wingnuts are just about the smallest parts I've ever had to work with!!!  



I'm planning on the dio being a winter scene, so I'm going to use this kit for the crew.....



..... and if I can find one, this kit for the base......





.... if not, I'll use this one:

Well thought out. I will be watching this one for sure.

Interesting subject Al. I think this was a recon vehicle that appeared late in the war.

Does look like a great kit with details and quality all around! The extra p.e. parts are a nice inclusion. The diorama choices are mind-blowing. This will be a beauty!

Thanks guys.

Well, so far it's been a real fun ride.

The kit is very well detailed..... all the little fittings are separate parts and tiny!!!!

The construction is now complete. In the photos, some parts are mocked up as they need to be different colours to the metalwork.  

The Jerrycans simply won't fit in the holders on each side of the turret, so I'll use them in the dio.

The spare tracks and bracket, aren't attached yet, as again the tracks need to be a different colour and won't fit in the holder if that's installed first.

Next up is paint. I have never done weathering on a tank and the winter camo is kind of scary....... but a challenge at the same time.

Those are really great close up shots. You don't seem to have had any alignment problems, it looks like the parts go together really nicely.

The fit is nice. Good looking kit.

Never heard of Tasca before, but looks a good kit.
I really fancy doing another Military build, but with so many 1/24th car kits to finish, I'm afraid my head will explode !

The base and 'Crew' arrived to-day.

The base is vac formed styrene which is quite thick. Miniart's video says to use a sharp bradawl to cut out the wall. I made ten passes and it still wan't near breaking through.

In the end, for the second half, I made a single pass with a modeling knife with No11 blade and was able to snap the excess off easily with the aid of a pair of long nosed pliers

The tops of the wall will need cleaning up and almost certainly, some filler.









I thought about makiing some Hydrocal (Plaster of Paris to you geezers) casts before I paint the base and wall, but the insides are a bit too 'soft' methinks.



As it's going to be a winter scene, I will need to add some 'snow'. So I went searching on the web, found and have ordered some of this stuff. It looks impressive. At least to me it does.



Most of the base, the top of the wall and the upper surfaces of the tank, will get a light dusting, with deeper 'drifted' snow at the base of the wall, the near side of the tank and on certain parts of the tank.

At least that is plan A. (Don't ask, there is no plan B...... LOL)

001 

The mating edges of the wall provided very little surface for MEK or CA, so they were flat sanded on a sheet of 320 grit emery paper before joining.

When joined, the gaps for filling really stood out......







..... so they needed to be filled......



...... then sanded back some. Just rough sanding will do for this one, as the top of the wall will be covered in snow.



On the sides of the wall, there are a lot of these little 'pips'. They are part of the vac forming process I'm told. However they needed to be removed and I did so with a chisel bladed modeling knife.

Before.



However, this left holes in some of them. Oddly, all but one were along the top edge.



To these I applied CA and covered in baking powder to act as a fast dry filler. A little sanding and they were history enough for an old stone wall in winter.


After

Good stuff you got going here Al.

Good looking wall Al   You could still make a rubber mold of the wall and cast a plaster wall from it. Did that alot on my train layout.

That Tank sure has some fine looking detail and castings !
Nice looking progress!

john2308 wrote:Good looking wall Al    You could still make a rubber mold of the wall and cast a plaster wall from it. Did that alot on my train layout.

One day I'll give resin casting a try but it's too late now!!!  

Thanks all.

I'm winging this all the way from here on in, so if any of you guys have any suggestions/critique, I'd be pleased to hear from you.

I started 'weathering' the wall by giving it an all over 'blackwash'. This darkened the garish grey and highlighted the joints between stones.





Old stone walls usually have some variation in colour/stone, so on the reverse, I experimented with some different colours.....



..... finaly settling on this for the front.



As some have dried slightly glossy, the wall will get a coat of Testor's Dullcote.

I'm not sure where to go from here..... leave it as is or have a go with some pigments!!!

wonder what you could use for moss?......get it in the nooks and crannies

It'd need to be tiny Paul. It's going to have a dusting of snow, so would probably get lost anyway.

More work on the wall.

Working with what I have, I experimented with different washes to blend it together and finaly settled on this.......



..... it didn't look too good when wet.....



..... but I thought it looked well enough when dry.



I gave the joints some brown wash and then dull coated the whole wall.



It still does look right to me but I'm not sure what else to do!!! Maybe the snow will help.

As you can see, I have also made a start on the base. I used Tamiya Soil Effect textured paint to do the tracks. Most of it will be covered in snow but hopefully I'll get it right and some will show through. (The high spots hopefully)



The straight line at the base of the wall looks totaly arificial, so I'm going to take care of it, by giving it some lumps and bumps under the snow. Maybe with these boulders, maybe something else.

i was thinking of the likes of the 'grass' stuff the railway guys use but you are right, it will get lost under the snow

The crew are assembled but still need small amounts of filler on some of the arms/leg joints.

I also re-applied the Africa Wash to the wall. It just looked too pristine without it. It looks a bit washed out in this photo, as it's a bit over exposed.

I also applied five or six coats of clear gloss to the muddy tracks to get a wet effect.

001 

Looking good Al   I thing it will all come together when you get the snow put on, put a little snow drift along the bottom of the wall wider at one with a taper to the other 001 

If you make the snow deep enough, and put a shovel in the hand of the guy standing on the ground, then we will know its a Government job.  

Good one Sam, this forum needs a like button.

I still wasn't happy with the wall so I completley re-did it!

Then I added some pebbles in order to give it some 'lumps and bumps' below the snow drift.



When they were stuck in place, I liberaly spread CA glue on them and dumped baking soda on top, to make a nice firm fixture.



This now forms the basis of the drifted snow.

Zbuckster wrote:Good one Sam, this forum needs a like button.

He did not get it Buck. You better explain it to him.