M4A3 Sherman w/ 105 mm Howitzer & 75 mm Long Gun tanks by Jack12477 - 1:35 scale - Tamiya - FINISHED

[CDW]

Just now, Edwardkenway said:

Never been able to grow tomatoes,  they flower then the fruit doesn't get larger than a grape and stays green 🤔😟

Being the size of a grape is problematic, but fried green tomatoes are gooood. A southern USA favorite.

[mtaylor]

3 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

I have that sorted  when I go out  - Flame thrower  does the job fine.🤭

 

OC.

That would work, but it scorch the veggies.

3 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

For the virus or cats ?   I was thinking a few Claymores for the cats, but decided that was too drastic  

 

Noisy Jack.  Same with a bazooka... The neighbors will complain.  You need something stealthy like a cross bow

[Jack12477]

I have 2 types of tomatoes,  Cherry, or  grape, and "Big Boys", both are for the Admiral, I don't like tomatoes.  The Cherry mature early and produce a lot of fruit, all the other varieties don't produce much fruit and don't mature until almost September even tho I plant them in May and they get 8 plus hours of full sun .  Fried green tomatoes, no way ! Fried green peppers, yea !  I have red and green Bell peppers. Tried some of the other pepper varieties last year but did not get much yield, so went back to Bell variety. 

 

The purple potatoes, yes that is their color - skin and meat, are unusual but have a very strong potatoe flavor/taste.  Found some at a local farm stand a few years back and tried them, decided to plant my own.   

 

[Jack12477]

8 hours ago, mtaylor said:

You need something stealthy like a cross bow

I picked up a "cat scat mat" from a Garden Supply Company in Vermont. Think of a 12 inch square barb wire mat, except it is all plastic with sharp pointy spikes. Place it on top of the soil, plants grow up thru it, but critters get their feet spiked when they step on it.  It comes in 6 ft long x 1 ft  wide rolls you can cut to size.  

[Canute]

You don't like tomatoes?? Wow. Love 'em. And yes, fried green tomatoes are tasty. Do you eat stuffed Bell peppers? Or just for salads?

[Jack12477]

18 minutes ago, Canute said:

Do you eat stuffed Bell peppers? Or just for salads?

Both!  And as pizza toppings and sausage/peppers/onions.   It's a taste, texture thing with tomatoes, ketchup, pizza and spaghetti sauce okay, raw / stewed / fried , no go.

 

Adirondack blue/purple potatoes

[CDW]

I eat tomatoes like an apple...only with a little salt.

 

[Jack12477]

15 minutes ago, CDW said:

I eat tomatoes like an apple...only with a little salt.

 

So does my Admiral or she slices them with a slice of mozzarella cheese and some seasoning

[Canute]

That's like a Caprese Salad, with the mozzarella and seasoning. Good eats. I do miss the taste of Jersey tomatoes. We get good fresh  tomatoes here in season, but they just don't have the flavor. I know folks who "imported" dirst from there to grow their own and still, not the same. Must be the rain.

[cog]

soil Ken, the soil defines the taste

[Canute]

Very true, Carl. Can't replicate that taste. Very distinctive.

[Jack12477]

Okay, I guess I can call this a wrap.  Been hampered a bit by the lockdown, had to drag out my leftover Model Railroad scenery stuff to finish it. Aside from maybe darkening the fallen brick in the rubble pile a tad I think it is done (have to wait till the white glue completely dries to do the touchups otherwise things move around to easily).

 

[Edwardkenway]

Looks great Jack, can't tell you've had to make do and improvise ! 😁

What are the lichen bush branches made from?

[Jack12477]

14 minutes ago, Edwardkenway said:

What are the lichen bush branches made from?

They are a spongy like material (rubber ???) from Woodland Scenics, the tree is a white metal bendable casting from them also, as is the white crush stone rubble. The scattered brick is from Pegasus, the cobblestone road is Sculpey dark gray clay, dry brushed with various chalks.  The dark brown/black earth seems to be ground up Model Railroad cork roadbed.

 

Thanks !

[CDW]

Wow Jack, your diorama looks super! Did you learn doing the diorama's with model railroading?

[Egilman]

All that's left is to darken the broken brick to match the interior wall brick... (but I understand the need to let the glue wash dry first) EXCELLENT! Your inspiring me brother..... I"m gonna have to break out my WS materials, they have been in storage for over 10 years.....

 

That will fit anywhere in France the day after the invasion, or the breakout, or any number of other scenarios.. What did you have in mind as far as location time period? I know it was early... just can't place it....

 

Excellent work....

 

EG

[Edwardkenway]

12 minutes ago, Jack12477 said:

the tree is a white metal bendable casting

Ahh thanks, I did think you'd gone above and beyond and used the Admirals prized bonsai tree!!

12 minutes ago, Jack12477 said:

They are a spongy like material (rubber ???)

The last time I bought any scenery stuff the lichen was from a natural source but I suppose the eco police has cracked down on that😏

[Jack12477]

1 hour ago, CDW said:

Wow Jack, your diorama looks super! Did you learn doing the diorama's with model railroading?

Basically, yes, Craig!   Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman magazines published a lot of How To articles on scenery building , along with a couple of softcover books on the subject. Did most of my practicing there. Rest I picked up from either Shep Paine's or Verlinden's articles on diorama building.  Today there are a number of YouTube videos on How To.

 

Back in the '80s when I had a top notch brick and mortar hobby shop run by a modeler, there was a guy who would display some of the most detailed armor dioramas I've ever seen, even to the point of using real .22 caliber short and long rounds (minus powder and primers of course) to simulate tank rounds, at 1:35 scale they were almost a perfect match. I used to study his model dioramas for ideas.  Unfortunately, no digital cameras back then to record them.

 

The only drawback to dioramas is the amount of shelf space they require. This one is 12 inches by 12 inches by about 7-8 inches high.

 

Thanks !

 

[Jack12477]

16 minutes ago, Egilman said:

What did you have in mind as far as location time period? I know it was early... just can't place it....

Heh heh  didn't really !  I sort of went off the villa by Verlinden,  maybe Ardennes area of France, maybe elsewhere,  around '44-'45 time frame due to tank,  the 4 extra soldiers (2 long coats, tommy gunner and kneeling rifleman)  were an add-on Dragon 101st Airborne Ardennes figure kit I happened to like, and rest was just winging it.  

 

Thanks ! Glad you like it.

 

[Jack12477]

Edward, you should be able to find a source for Woodland Scenics product in UK. They are mostly geared toward Model Railroading but easily adaptable to any other scale modeling.  Their products are quite good.  

[Old Collingwood]

That looks superb   really impressive  dio.

 

OC.

[Jack12477]

Thanks OC !

[Jack12477]

53 minutes ago, Edwardkenway said:

Ahh thanks, I did think you'd gone above and beyond and used the Admirals prized bonsai tree!!

She doesn't do bonsai, I do !  

[Canute]

Jack, that turned out great. Nice job.

 

Woodland Scenics uses ground foams colored in differing shades and grinds. You can do grasses, tree leaves, bare ground, water features, whatever you can scheme up. There are several companies making trees and shrubs, Again, let your imagination work. Best thing is to try and find a real brick and mortar railroad hobby shop to browse. Sometimes Hobbytown has a decent scenery section. Or see if there are train shows in your area. They usually get in a bunch of vendors and you can browse there, too.

[Egilman]

31 minutes ago, Jack12477 said:

Heh heh  didn't really !  I sort of went off the villa by Verlinden,  maybe Ardennes area of France, maybe elsewhere,  around '44-'45 time frame due to tank,  the 4 extra soldiers (2 long coats, tommy gunner and kneeling rifleman)  were an add-on Dragon 101st Airborne Ardennes figure kit I happened to like, and rest was just winging it.  

 

Thanks ! Glad you like it.

 

Just an opinion, but Ardennes is too late, (winter instead of fall) and by the time of the breakout, the 101st and the 82nd were back in England so that would put it in the beachhead building phase after the landing, just before Cobra.... Outside of the Battle of the Bulge, it's the only time armored units were close coordinating/supporting the paratroopers........ The greatcoats were common amongst the paratroopers as in fall the temps at that time were pretty cold at night and it was rainy and cold most of the time.....

[Egilman]

4 minutes ago, Canute said:

Jack, that turned out great. Nice job.

 

Woodland Scenics uses ground foams colored in differing shades and grinds. You can do grasses, tree leaves, bare ground, water features, whatever you can scheme up. There are several companies making trees and shrubs, Again, let your imagination work. Best thing is to try and find a real brick and mortar railroad hobby shop to browse. Sometimes Hobbytown has a decent scenery section. Or see if there are train shows in your area. They usually get in a bunch of vendors and you can browse there, too.

You can also run down to your local Garden supply store and get a bag of dried moss... works very well for foliage also.... (and 100 times cheaper by volume)

[Jack12477]

6 minutes ago, Egilman said:

You can also run down to your local Garden supply store and get a bag of dried moss.

Yes, I have some of that. Also dead  twigs from my trees,  road gravel from the winter highway dept sanding, even shifted dirt from yard (best to bake it in oven at 125-150 degrees first to kill any bacterium), play sand from the kids sandbox,  dry sawdust shifted.  Lots of stuff. 

[Egilman]

Oh yeah, the back yard is a primary source... I remember one young modeler wondering where I got all this neat scenery stuff and offred to take him the next time I went to get some... when we went he was wondering where we were going cause it was the opposite direction from town where the hobby shops were.....  deep in the woods I showed him what and where to collect... At home I showed him how to prep it for use, and at the end, I explained the cost basis and showed him the practical side of need is the mother of all solutions, not how big your pocketbook is......

 

A lesson he never forgot....

[Jack12477]

My memory is a tad foggy these days but I remember something about preserving tree moss/lichen in glycerin (?????) or something like that.  

 

Just don't use RIT brand dye tho.  Rusted out my track and wiring with their salt.  Lesson learned

[Egilman]

47 minutes ago, Jack12477 said:

preserving tree moss/lichen in glycerin (?????) or something like that.  

Yep, 1/3 parts glycerin to water, put you lichen/moss in it and bring to almost a boil, (simmering) add your dyes/colors, (I preferred food coloring rather than fabric dyes cause of the sodium compounds used to make most commercial dyes) Let it simmer for about 5 minutes and then let it cool down naturally. Place the lichen/moss on a paper towel to dry.... I've had them last for over a decade in storage that way...

 

The salts in commercial dyes are almost worse than acids over time...