military modeling in scale 1/72

Hello!

In this post I would like to show you how the diorama "Warka 1656 - The deluge) was made - in a very detailed building report. For all pictures: click to enlarge.

Step 1 - The Idea

I wanted to use my Zvezda Polish winged hussars and find the opponents in the Revell 30 years war sets. The figures are quite the same size, so no problem here. To find a suitable battle was a little more difficult, as the uniforms don't fit exactly in the timeline. The only possible conflict therefore was the Swedish invasion of Poland and I picked the battle of Warka in 1656. (Wrong horses in the picture)

Step 2 - The base

An old picture frame (33 x 26 cm), a little styrofoam and plaster. And that's all for the basic structure.

The next step was to createsome small pits with a screwdriver into the plaster - for figures, which won't stand without their base (horses often has only one leg on the ground, glueing is not the safest way). The purpose of the numers is for the correct positioning of the figures.

After that a priming with a cheap acrylic colour from the hardware store. This should minimize the white colour effect of the plaster for further steps on the groundwork. The pits are left uncovered.

Step 3 - A little bridge

As a a next step I built a small, very simple bridge. It consists of a few parts of wood, fixed with white glue and afterwards "weathering" with a mini cutting disc and a diamond cutter/polisher.

Painting as follows:
1. dark brown (a little thinned, not fully covering)
2. black wash
3. in some deep cuts/holes the black wash a little highlighted with dark grey
4, drybrush with medium grey
5. drybrush with light grey (on the edges only)
6. below and on the sides a little green wash to hint some moss (with some scarce highlights with a lighter green)

A small part of the diorama, but more complex and time consuming than expected. The colour difference on the last picture is from a different incidence of light.

Step 4 - The river

Large stones (from an old aquarium - I guess so)

Small stones (tea!!!)

Even smaller stones (track ballast H0)

The edge of the bank needed a little detailiing (for example slightly overhanging soil, sealing holes, trimming of edges, ...). For this purpose I used Vallejo White Stone Texture, every similar product will also do.

Then I wanted to created a few roots in the upper part of the river, for this I made use of some leftovers from a H0 product (pruducer and title unknown).

Finally a coat of dark brown acryl colour for better durability and visiblity of the structure.

Time for a quick "coffee break"

It's time for painting!

The whole area covered with coffee powder was painted over with dark brown acrylic colour for better durability and for further painting.

The riverbed got a very liquid colour mixture of ocre, medium brown and khaki (let the colour run into each other).

The banks of the river receives a dark brown colour.

Followed by a black wash below the overhanging soil.

The stones were painted with dark grey.

A layer of medium grey over the stones and afterwards drybrushing them with a very light grey. From right to left you can see the three steps.

And so it looks afterwards.

The riverbed was improved using several colours.

All other soil was covered with several colours using a bristle brush, mainly dabbed, to create a non uniform look (left). With a dry-brush-brush a light khaki was added (right). The used coffee powder gives a good ground texture, ideal for dry brushing.

That creating realistic looking water is one of the most difficult parts of our hobby was nothing new to me. But so difficult ...

I filled the finished riverbed with Vallejo Still Water (slightly coloured) in a first layer (ca. 2.mm). Some hours later it looked like thiis.

As it doesn't get any better after several days I had to do something radical.

I don't know what happened exactly. Something on the diorama created a heavy chemical reaction and so there was no chance for a clear water.

Since then I recreated the riverbed and corrected some errors from my first try (see arrows). In the middle part I flattened the riverbed a little, as the water course went nearly upwards. In the upper part I inserted some gradients to give the water a more natural way.

What do we learn from it: Mistakes can happen, but most often they can be corrected.

To avoid the mishap with the water, I painted a few layers of clear acrylic colour on the bottom of the stream. Afterwards several layers of Vallejo Still Water (with a minimal amount of green colour, still a little too much). While drying a white veil still occours on some points (no matter how thin the water layer is), but after a quite endless time it disappears.

Then the waves are made with MIG Acrylic Water and a little white colour.

That's the final result, the riverbank layout still needs some vegetation.

As the next step I worked on the path across the bridge and the area behind it. A few stones as well some gravel on the path improved the overall picture extremely. Materials and colours were the same as on the riverbed, additionally a sandy brown drybrushed on the path.

Then it was time for something green around the riverbed. Faller turf and afterwards some green colour variations with a brush did the job well and gives a quite realistic look.

Step 5 - Horses

Now it's time for the first figures or better said horses. Wonderful beasts by Zvezda, but for a cavalry charge unfortunately too few poses.

Therefore some conversions by bending or cutting off and glueing on of the legs. Too much work is not necessary, as most of it can't be seen at the end. Small differences can make interesting effects.

Some testing with the converted horses had to be done, to ensure that the scene really works. The holes in the ground now make sense.

These things I did to the horses (fine tuning):

1. Flash removed
2. Size of bases decreased
3. Four missing pistol grips modelled with putty
4. Two armour piercers (overlength swords) removed
5. All holes for the riders filled with putty
6. Size increased of ten ears (definitely too small)
7. Reigns bent for positions of the riders
8. Some legs bent or cut off and newly glued
9. Three heads slightly bent to the side
10. Decorations on the reigns altered (tassels, ...)
11. Small holes and gaps filled with putty
12. Smoothing of cut off parts with putty
13. Basing with Humbrol 30 for seeing still existing problem areas

And so they look after all this is done.

Painting a horse - my way.

1. Priming with Humbrol 30 (any colour will do, but I prefer green or brown)

2. Vallejo 143 leatherbrown as base colour, then a wash with Vallejo 149 chocolate brown and finally highlights again with Vallejo 143 leatherbrown

3. Several layers of diluted Vallejo 169 black and Vallejo 4 offwhite for the legs

4. Saddle- and holstercloth with Vallejo 100 blackgreen as base and then Vallejo 82 medium green

5. Fringes and decoration with Vallejo 179 gun metal and afterwards Revell 90 silver

6. Saddle based with Vallejo 149 chocolate brown, then Vallejo 141 english uniform and decorations Revell 90 silver

7. Bridle and straps as in point 4, the bit with Vallejo 179 gun metal and some decorations with Vallejo 178 natural steel

8. Horsetail and mane with Vallejo 149 chocolate brown as base, wash with Vallejo 169 black and highlights again with Vallejo 149 chocolate brown

9. Pistols and holsters done with Vallejo 149 chocolate brown, Vallejo 141 english uniform, Revell 90 silver and Vallejo 169 black

10. Hooves are made with Vallejo 164 dark grey and a wash with Vallejo 169 black

And now the horse painting is finished.

Now the base has to disappear.

1. Some dirt on the horse with Vallejo 115 khaki and the base covered with a coat of acrylic dark brown.

2. To get the horse in the correct position and plane to the ground level some small sheets of paper are glued to the ground.

3. Horse glued in and gaps filled with Vallajo Ground Texture.

4. Base covered with coffeepowder and gravel (same as used for the ground).

5. Ground painted (Colours are the same as used for the already covered ground).

The base has disappeared - mission accomplished!

And after all horses have received this treatment, the diorama looks actually like this:

Step 6 - Riders

Every horse needs a rider and here they are (Polish winged hussars by Zvezda).

As you can see the wings are detached, also some lances and not all figures carry lances. As I need 12 riders with lances I had to make them by myself.

In reality the lances were very large (up to 6 m) but very lightweighted as they are hollow. Lance pennons are also extremely long (up to 4 m). These enourmous lances are mostly used on parades. In battle smaller versions were carried so I decided to make the lances 4,1 m (= 5,7 cm in 1/72) and the pennons 2,6 m (= 3,6 cm) - still very large and impressive.

I made the lances from 0,75 mm rods from Evergreen. The top is flattened with a plier and the basic point shaped with a knife and a grinding wheel.

The pennons are made from paper of an old writing pad. The material will be moistered for shaping in one of the following steps and this paper takes it (copy paper don't work so well).

The lance guards are rudimentary made of wire from a very old cable.

Finally putty from Vallejo will made the points and the guards smoother. Then again trimming with a knife and a grinding wheel. After covering the treated areas with a Humbrol enamel coat for better visibility of the work done (and made corrections if necessary) I am quite satisfied with the achieved results.

The following conversions I made on the riders:

1. Sharpening of spurs (2x)
2. Bending of legs and arms, some cut off and glued in a different angle
3. Cutting of the sabre from the hand (4x)
4. Creating of a sash with aluminium foil and putty (1x)

5. Creating of animal fur with aluminium foil and putty (6x)
6. Drilling holes in hand for lance (7x)
7. Modification of wings with nails (for model train tracks N-gauge) and a little putty (18x)

8. Making of a sabre hilt (1x)
9. Bringing the lance pennons in shape with water (12x)

10. Lots of putty to make smooth transitions
11. Cutting off a shoulder bag (3x)
12. Cutting off a musket (2x)
13. Cutting off head and glued in a different way (6x)
14. Variations and minor deocrations on helmets with putty (8x)
15. Feather (from the leftover box)) on helmet (1x)
16. Boot for lances out of paper and a little putty (12x)

Finally the hussars are now ready for painting

Painting a rider - my way.

1. Armour: Revell 91 iron as base, then a wash with Vallejo 169 black and finally Vallejo 795 green gold for the edge coverings (bearly not visible on this pic) and Revell 91 iron for other metal parts

2. Coat: Vallejo 146 dark red braun, wash with Vallejo 31 red and highlights with Vallejo 31 red undiluted
3. Trousers: Vallejo 164 dark grey, wash with Vallejo 158 light grey and highlights with vallejo 158 light grey undiluted

4. Belts on armour: Vallejo 149 chocolate brown, higlights with Vallejo 143 leather brown
5. Eyes: Vallejo 4 offwhite with dots for the eyes in Vallejo 164 dark grey

6. Face: Vallejo 132 brown sand, wash with Vallejo 21 medium flesh and highlights with Vallejo 21 medium flesh undiluted
7. Hair, beard: Vallejo 169 black, highlights with Vallejo 164 dark grey

8. Belts für sabre: Vallejo 169 black, highlights Vallejo 149 chocolate brown
9. Scabbard: Vallejo 169 black, highlights diluted Vallejo 164 dark grey
10. Sabre hilt and metal parts of the scabbard: Base Vallejo 179 gun metal then Vallejo 795 green gold
11. Grip of the hilt: Vallejo 149 chocolate brown, highlights Vallejo 143 lether brown

12. Leopard skin: Base Humbrol 63 beige, wash with Vallejo 141 english uniform and highlights with Vallejo 127 ochre
13. White parts of the skin: Vallejo 4 offwhite, wash with Vallejo 158 light grey and highlights with Vallejo 4 offwhite
14. Pattern of the skin: Vallejo 169 black

15. Shaft of wings: Vallejo 146 redbrown and Vallejo 31 red (base/highlight), Vallejo 115 khaki and Vallejo 16 yellow as well as metal parts Vallejo 179 gun metal and Revell 91 iron

16. Feathers of the wings: Vallejo 159 medium grey, Vallejo 164 dark grey, Vallejo 169 black and Vallejo 152 silver grey (in several layers, partly diluted and final touches directly highlighted)

17. Lance and pennon: Vallejo 146 redbrown and Vallejo 31 red (base/highlight), Vallejo 115 khaki and Vallejo 16 yellow as well as Vallejo 138 light grey and Vallejo 152 silver grey

18. Metal parts of the lance: Vallejo 179 gun metal with a little Vallejo 169 black added and Revell 91 iron as well as Vallejo 795 green gold (nails for fixing the pennon)

19. Gloves: Vallejo 141 englisch uniform, Vallejo 115 khaki (base/highlight)

20. Boots: Vallejo 169 black and Vallejo 149 chocolate brown (base/highlight)
21. Stirrups: Vallejo 179 gun metal with a little Vallejo 169 black and Revell 91 iron
22. Boot for lance, straps for stirrups: Vallejo 149 chocolate brown, Vallejo 34 redbrown (base/highlight)
23. Dirt: Vallejo 115 khaki drybrushed

And here all 15 painted riders (lance pennons still not in the final position):

Before the riders can be glued to their horses some groundwork has to be done - otherwise no space for that. For this I used Noch static grass (first time done with an electric grass applicator by MIG, one to three layers of grass), Faller turf, some iceland moss (base for little bushes), yellow flowers by Woodland scenics. To bring in more variety I drybrushed over all with some colours.

After this treatment the stream looks like this:

Now it's time to put the riders on their horses.

The finished "Jan Zamoyskis Crown Hussar Banner":

Step 7 - Pikemen

Now the work on the opposing troops began. I used the pikemen of the Revell sets Imperial and Swedish Infantry 30 years war.

These are the 28 figures before doing anything:

And this has been done (quite the same procedures as by the cavalry, otherwise stated):

1. Cut off the base (28x)
2. Removing all flash and undercuts (28x)
3. Replacing the lances with scratch built ones (28x) - too short and no point
4. Replacing heads with helmets instead of heads (16x) - pikemen mostly wear helmets
5. Changing position of arms (3x)
6. Cut off most feathers on helmets or hats (23x) - in the field normally not worn
7. Making a flag out of paper (1x)
8, Making a sash out of aluminium foil and a some putty (2x)
9. Adapting the collar with putty (18x)
10. Improve the metal armour with putty (28x)
11. Creating a jacket/coat underneath the metal armour with putty (25x)
12. Additional equipment like ransacks or small bags with putty (18x)
13. Head bandage with putty (1x)

After this alterations and a coat of priming it looks like this:

I decided to give the pikemen the uniform of the Regiment Västra Viborg (now in Russia). Uniforms were introduced in Sweden in 1655 but this was merely for the colour of the coat and the trousers (same or different colour) and a sometimes for the stockings. The information I got are for the Viborg regiment wearing dark blue coat and trousers as well as medium blue stockings. Possibly the coat was lined with red or dark red.

As in the field the uniform parts had to be replaced soon and with whatever was available I made some variations in colouring the pikemen.

As the painting follows the basic style already given in the previous postings I took only one figure to indicate the used colours (all Vallejo as not stated otherwise).

1. Helmet and body armour: Humbrol 53 gun metal as base, 169 black as wash, 179 gun metal for scratches and highlights, AK 776 satin varnish as final coat
2. Buff coat below body armour: 141 english uniform, 115 khaki, 127 ochre as wash
3. Belts of body armour: 149 chocolate brown, 143 leather brown
4. Jacket: 50 prussian blue, 54 dark blue
5. Trouser: 164 dark grey, 58 blue grey
6. Scabbard: 169 black, 149 chocolate brown
7. Scabbard belt: 149 chocolate brown, 143 leather brown
8. Satchel: 149 chocolate brown, 141 english uniform, 115 khaki for the cord
9. Shirt collar: 158 light grey, 152 silver grey
10. Eyes: 152 silver grey, 164 dark grey
11. Face: 132 brown sand, 21 medium flesh
12. Hair, beard: 141 english uniform, 115 khaki
13. Stockings: 146 red brown, 31 red
14. Trousers cords: 50 prussian blue, 54 dark blue
15. Pike (wooden part): 149 chocolate brown, 141 english uniform
16. Shoes. 169 black, 146 chocolate brown
17. Metal parts (Pike, sword, scabbard, buttons): 179 gun metal mixed with 169 black, Revell 91 iron
18. Hilt of sword: 149 chocolate brown, 143 leather brown
19. Gloves: 141 english uniform, 115 khaki
20: Dirt: 115 khaki

After all that the figure looks like this (front and backside):

And the whole pikemen section like this:

The flag can be disputed. As I haven't found any source for it I give it the coat of arms of Viborg (upper and lower triangle), a blue field with the initials of the king (left and right triangle - Carl X. Gustav) and a yellow St. Andrews cross seperating them.

The pikemen are finally in place:

And after adding a little groundwork:

Overall view of the diorama at this point:

Step 8 - Musketeers

Each pike formation is normally covered by musketeers on the edges. Also a few irregular infantrymen (mercenaries/volunteers/armed peasants) on the other side come into play.

Here the first batch:

The usual conversions were made:

Cut off the base / Removing all flash and undercuts / Some head swaps (musketeers normally wore hats) / Changing position of arms and legs / Cut off some feathers on the hats / Making a sash out of aluminium foil and some putty / Adapting the collar with putty / Exchange of swords against sabres / Creating a headgear with putty / Exchange of drumsticks with nails / Pistols made of nails and putty / Cutting off a flag / Some minor changes ...

The painting of the Swedish musketeers is much the same as for the pikemen, the Polish irregular musketeers have no uniform and can be completely freely painted:

Some more complicated conversions now in detail:

Drummer (left): Drumsticks replaced with N-gauge nails for railways / Collar adapted / Arms cut off at shoulder and elbow and glued together in different positions / one leg only bent the other completely cut off and glued in a different position / All gaps filled with putty

Officer (center): Flag cut off / Sash out of aluminium foil and a little putty / Hat feathers taken from another figure / Pistol made of N-gauge nail with some putty / Lower legs cut off and replaced with that of the right figure, as they were a little too short, two nails and putty made them longer / All gaps filled with putty

Musketeer (right): Hat cut off and another headgear made of putty / Bag cut off and glued to the backside, carrying belt also cut off / Sword replaced with a sabre from the hussars / Lower legs replaced with that of the center figure / One upper leg completely cut off and glued on in another position / All gaps filled with putty

Conversions are always a fragile work - the more complicated the more fragile, sometimes hard to paint without damaging the figures.

For the first time I tried to simulate smoke of a firing musket:

The smoke was made by some filling material from an old scrapped sofa and a little liquid plastic glue.

The figures are put in place on the diorama to watch the actual effect and I see that there is a second batch necessary ...

The final bunch of figures (two additional horses from old Airfix sets):

Converted (quite the same as above) and base paint coat:

Fully painted (see above):

Some minor and major conversions:

All figures in their final position:

Step 9 - Forest

To create a tree we need some partly very interesting stuff.

Let's begin with old calenders which are taken apart in wire (that's what we need), paper and cardboard (always useful).

From the shutters for freezer bags I cut out the fine wire.

The calender wire is winded to get a basic form of a tree (ca. 10 cm high).

The finer wire from the shutters are perfectly suited for smaller twigs.

A coat of Vallejo white stone texture for covering the winded wire and with a small brush a bark structure is created. Additionally it adds mor stability.

A base colour of cheap medium brown acryl paint is applied.

And then a wash with chocolate brown, a wash with black, drybrushing with dark grey, drybrushing with medium grey and finally some highlights with ochre and light earth. And as a final touch on some places a small wash with russian green to imitate moss.

Foliage is made with a foliage fleece by Faller. Cut in small pieces and the clued on the tree with white glue.

And after repeating that process another 11 times, all trees are ready. You have to be carefull that the trees have a natural appearance and that there are no large gaps between them.

Now it's time for the forest floor. I used some small parts of a piece of wood from a floral arrangement, several flocking material and grass, some moss and for the fallen leaves on the floor crushed pieces of rubbed basil.