Radek Pituch

SS Panzergrenadiere, 3. SS Pz. Div."Totenkopf", Budapest, winter 1945

2012-02-02T19:18:00.003+01:00

Today I'd like to present the finished figures. As I mentioned in previous postings, these figures are available from ATAK model. Hope you'll enjoy painting them as I did.

The base.., 3. SS Pz. Div."Totenkopf", Budapest, winter 1945

2012-01-31T20:17:00.005+01:00

Although the second figure isn't ready yet I started working on a simple base, a roadside, somewhere outside Budapest, when the Totenkopf Division was undertaking several relief attempts of the besieged city. The figures are just dryfitted to the groundwork which is still wet. If time permits, the whole setting will be ready soon.

152mm M 1937 ML 20 Gun-Howitzer-some progress...

2012-01-29T20:54:00.002+01:00

Some progress on the ML 20 gun-howitzer, the chipping process as well as the whole detail pain-up will take much time due to huge amount of details...

Publications, Military Modelcraft Int. February 2012, Sculpting Step by Step, Soviet Asian Trooper, Berlin 1945

2012-01-19T15:52:00.005+01:00

Yesterday the mailman dropped me my latest publications. The first one being the spanish Panzer Aces No 37 with my Pzkpfw IV H Mittlere Produktion article, the subject counts a 10 page step by step describing the various technics used to get a worn winter look of the tank. The second one is the February issue of MMI with my 4 page sculpting step by step about the Soviet Asian Trooper from Berlin 1945. Enjoy.

Happy New Year 2012!

2011-12-31T15:48:00.002+01:00

The year is closing to it's end so on this occasion let me wish you a happy and joyful time spent together with your friends beloved ones on New Year eve. Let 2012 be a prosperouse one. Happy New Year!

Scale Model Handbook has arrived...

2011-12-28T22:53:00.005+01:00

I just got my copy of the new Mr. Black Publications Scale Model Handbook from Stelios Demiras with my article regarding the vignette I created yet in 2009 - The Old Servant scene. The publication is printed on a high quality paper with beautiful pictures and various subjects mentioned inside reaching the number of 9 articles spreaded on 50 pages.

Publications, Panzer Aces No 37, December 2011, Pzkpfw IV Aush. H Mittlere Prod., Ukraine 1944

2011-12-16T19:47:00.006+01:00

I'd like to share with you my very first publication in spanish magazine, the Accion Press published Panzer Aces. The current issue No 37 comes with a 10 page article describing my winter dressed Pzkpfw IV Ausf. H.

Hope you enjoy.

Sturmpionier, 3. SS Pz.Div. "Totenkopf", Budapest 1945

2011-12-11T18:01:00.004+01:00

Following the finish of the Uscha. from Totenkopf I started painting the second ATAK figure depicting a SS-Mann Sturmpionier. The M42 style winter jacket in late war oakleaf pattern and white trousers were my pick for this figure. Below a bit of progress so far.

Unterscharführer, 3. SS Pz. Div."Totenkopf", Budapest, winter 1945

2011-12-05T23:39:00.005+01:00

Below are several photos of the finished figure of the Unterscharführer. I repainted the trousers pattern three times and eventually decided to leave it as it is. This was a very positive attempt for me in painting camoflage although I had to do several attempts before getting to a satissfying effect. I'm also very happy with the use of deep violet glaze.

Next posting will be about the second ATAK figure I started to paint.

After having both of these figures painted I will think of some kind of a vignette, hence there's no weathering at this moment on this Uscha.

Have a nice week.

Unterscharführer, 3. SS Pz. Div."Totenkopf", "Op. Konrad I", Ungarn, winter 1945

2011-12-01T21:30:00.006+01:00

More progress on the figure, I'm close to finish painting the trousers. Below the photo of the figure is the mix of colors used to paint the Eichenlaubmuster - the basecoat and dark blotches, 3rd photo shows the mix for yellow blotches of the oak leaf pattern that I use. I had some questions about the colors, and I hope this will help a bit.

For the basecoat of the trousers I used a mix of no 305 and no 337 with a 70-30% ratio. For highlights of the basecoat I added few drops of no 345. For the darker and lighter blotches of the pattern I used no 310 and no 337. Then glazes made of thinned Winsor & Newton oli paints were involved, based on van dyck braun, french ultramarine and magenta (not shown here).

The yellow blotches of the pattern were painted as follows with a mixture of no 321 and no 341with a similar ratio of the paints as previously (70%-30%). The pattern was lightened with delicate strokes of a mixture of no 321,341 and no 70917. I also started using a lot more retarder then I did on previous figures with pleasent results (the colors blend in in much more comfortable way).

Publications - Figure Modeling vol. I - Scale Model Handbook, Mr. Black Publications

2011-12-01T11:51:00.006+01:00

I'd like to present a new book from Greece by Mr Black Publications where I participate with my "The old servant..." scene. It's a new line of publications and this figure volume is the first to come on the market. Stelios Demiras, the editor, informed me that it should be available until 10th of December.

152mm обр.1937 ML 20 Gun-Howitzer, Trumpeter Painting

2011-11-29T23:49:00.005+01:00

New update. Painting the ML 20 gun-howitzer was done with Tamiya and Lifecolor acrylics.

Unterscharführer, 3. SS Pz. Div."Totenkopf", "Op. Konrad I", Ungarn, winter 1945

2011-11-26T14:21:00.013+01:00

As you may remember couple of months ago I did a set of Waffen SS Grenadiere for polish ATAK model brand and now I found the time to paint my copies of these figures. I started with the veteran Unterscharführer figure armed with a StG 44. Initially When I was sculpting this particullar figure the available info I had claimed that he's wearing a winter fur overall. But as I was noticed, it was quite common that the soldiers put their winter SS anoraks in their pants and most probably this was the same case. That is why I came to an idea to paint the trousers in the autumn Oak Leaf Pattern camouflage. Paints used are Vallejos.

Progres as seen below.

Napoleon's footsteps, retreat from Moscow 1941

2011-11-14T21:28:00.003+01:00

Doing some cleanup in my "atelier" I encountered a vintage 2006 figure that was sculpted by me as a commission for one of polish new brands at that time which was going to launch a series of WW 2 figures. In total I sculpted 5-6 figures but in the end the whole commission was cancelled and none of the figures saw daylight.

This figure depicts a battered and freezing german soldier retreating from the failed operation Typhoon, an attempnt to seize Moscow in the late months of 1941. Even thoght it's a 5 year old project, I still find this figure very interesting attempt in sculpting action figures and trying to portray a dramatic scene in scale. Hope you like it.

152mm обр. 1937 ML 20 Gun-Howitzer, Trumpeter

2011-11-01T00:02:00.006+01:00

It's about time to paint something really special, this time I picked a quite new model, the long awaited infamous 152mm ML 20 (used i.a. on SU/ISU 152 Zvieroboi SPGs). The build is finished, I will proceed with paintjob shortly. The kit overally is impressive in looks and very nice in build-up with some minor part fitting and trimming required. I really liked the idea of packaging PE parts in foil, which prevents tiny parts, when cut, from flying away into the unknown...).

It's been 250 000 hits...

2011-10-31T10:22:00.003+01:00

250 000 hits since 2008 and 186 followers so let me just say thanks for all the evergrowing interest in my works. And I'm hoping to maintain the frequency of my posts here. Once again, many thanks.

Publications, Pro Modell, 2011/3, Soviet East Asian Trooper figure sbs

2011-10-21T21:20:00.002+02:00

This time my Soviet East Asian Trooper figure sculpting and painting step by step article is available for hungarian readers, thanks to Pro Modell magazine.

Photo courtesy Duncan B.

A trip to Overloon War Museum, Holland, October 2011, Part 1

2011-10-19T21:15:00.008+02:00

Trip to Overloon was one of the main events during my recent trip to Holland. Here are couple of pictures that I took there. The Museum offers a good collection of various military gear, vehicles, aeroplanes and other military related stuff. Below you will find a selection of rarities kept in the museum...

Me next to a JS 2 displayed outside the museum...

Destination Overloon....

Blitz over our heads...

A real gem, SWS on display...

The heart of a Panzer...Maybach HL 230

SMC 2011, more about the show

2011-10-09T23:10:00.013+02:00

After a busy weekend I had on my University I'd like to present a pack of photos from the SMC show that took place in Eindhoven on 2nd October. Hope you enjoy because I enjoyed it a lot and will be there next year. I had the opportunity to judge in 3 classes along with Roy Schurgers and Sven Frisch in the company. That was a totally new and fresh experience for me also because of the simple and reasonable criteria for the competition.

Entrance to the show halls

My trophys

The scene

The bar, where the evening discussions took place and I had couple of drinks with Mig Jimenez, Robert Crombeecke and others...

I had the opportunity to see Jean Bernard Andre's masterpieces

Other works

Mrs Siepmann's sculpt

Alessandro Bruni's lord chaos

The ocean witch

Familiar with this name? Migs models on presentation

Marijn van Gils was so kind to describe me the way he created his award winning "Busted" box diorama. It won the Best of Show at SMC

Lots of beautiful stuff to be seen there

Roy Schurgers' works on the Scale Model Factory club stand

Armor -Masters - class 22

Lanna-Bruschi duo brought several of their works, among them this decapitated Centurion ARV

Volker Bemmbennek took gold for his new StuG III G scene

Roger Hurkmans' RSO scene

Roger Hurkmans' StuG III G "Defeat of the Dutch" scene

Red Devils in Arnhem...

There were also some polish accents in the show, Kamil Sztarbala's polish Dana vz 1977 sp howitzer, took silver in dioramas-standard

Florian Zehe's Egyptian JS 3

Markus Lack's StuG III F/8

Sven Frisch's Panther from Berlin:

Roy Schurgers' T-34 on pedestal - The monument

Roger Hurkmans' wonderful RSO, another view

Volker Bemmbennek's 'garage' scene "Ferme!"

Tailgunner by Jean Bernard Andre, this humble frenchman made a presentation about handling resin components to create realistic and artistic water effects

The italian shippment... Vincenzo Lanna and Alessandro Bruschi brought all together 21 works of their own along with the works of other italian modellers, these won many awards

Eric Vogel's jungle diorama

SMC 2011, Eindhoven, Holland, first impressions...

2011-10-03T23:25:00.003+02:00

Hello there folks. After a wonderful weekend in Eindhoven I'd like to share with you my personal results of the competition. Two times silver, for surrendering germans and for Pz IV diorama, and a bronze for the Worker militiaman.

A detailed report of the show will follow shortly, just let me have some rest after a 14 hour driver from Holland...

Preparations for Scale Model Challange 2011

2011-09-20T23:14:00.004+02:00

Experiencing lack of time during 2011 for new subjects I collected a bunch of recently painted and sculpted figures that I'd like to display in Eindhoven's Scale Model Challange modelling show. And I must say that this isn't all that I want to take with me there. There are two more figures in the process of painting and hopefully I'll manage to rush the process until October.

This will be my first visit to SMC because last year the plans complicated a bit unfortunately. Moreover I'll be doing some judging in figure cathegories there. A photo report will follow shortly after I'll return from Eindhoven on October the 3rd.

Worker Militiaman, Stalingrad, Barrikady plant, 1942

2011-09-19T15:00:00.005+02:00

Today next figure completed, this time a Worker Militiaman from a Militia Battalion comprised of workers from the factories located in Stalingrad. Speeding up for Scale Model Challange in Eindhoven? Maybe, but I find it very enjoying painitng all the longwaited projects that were sculpted months or even years ago. This figure was painted using Vallejos and a bit of oil transparent layers were added too. The figure is planned for a factory ruin vignette, see photos below and enjoy! Again I decided to use sharp contrasts between the colors to emphasies them and to enhance details of the figure. The rifle strap was made using lead foil.

British Tommies, Italy 1944

2011-09-12T21:47:00.004+02:00

I have finished this pair of british troopers from the Italian soil. I find it a very educating experience paitnting british khaki uniforms. Lots of lighter shades were used mostly beige and sand colors.

Hope you like it.

British Tommy - Italy '1944, getting things done

2011-09-05T23:30:00.005+02:00

Today, after a long absence I present my recent works, two british/commonwealth trooperas from the StuG dio project dating few years back. Now I'm dealing with figure paintjob and the diorama itself will be soon finished as it will appear in one of new modelling books. More info to follow later this year.

The first Tommi is nearly completed, needs some tweaks and weathering.

The second figure I sculpted back in early 2010 is available now from Adalbertus for couple of months. I will post more pictures from the paintwork process soon.

Publications, Modelar No 6, June 2011 - Soviet East Asian Trooper, Berlin 1945, scultping sbs

2011-07-21T20:54:00.004+02:00

Following the publication of my sculpting sbs in Steel Art and online at modelarstworedukcyjne.pl this time, thanks to Jindrich Sterbacek, chief editor of Modelar, the article is also availabe for Czech modellers in their own language. Many thanks goes to Jindra for giving me the possibility to share this material with Modelar readers.

Sculpting Sbs - Soviet East-Asian Trooper, Berlin 1945

2011-06-13T19:09:00.007+02:00

Soviet East Asian Trooper - My sculpting step by step is available now on-line at modelarstworedukcyjne.pl .The article is in english. Hope you find it useful. Check the link below.

http://www.modelarstworedukcyjne.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=196:rosyjski-onierz-budowa-figurki&catid=45:in-english&Itemid=59

Publications, Steel Art No 91, July 2011, Pz. IV Ausf. H, mittlere produktion, Ukraine 1944

2011-06-10T19:40:00.005+02:00

The Pzkpfw IV saga continues. Following the two part article about my soviet captured Pzkpfw IV Ausf. E this time, in July issue of Steel Art, there will be the first part of my snow Pzkpfw IV Ausf. H Mittlere Produktion build.

Review - Panther - Canfora Grafisk Forms & Foerlag

2011-04-23T17:12:00.009+02:00

During my visit in Mosonmagyarovar I met with Toni Canfora, the publisher of the first class Nordic Edge book series. He handed me in with his newest Panther book. I got my example signed by the publisher himself and by the originator of the Panther subject book - Mirko Bayerl (as I reckon one of the best modellers of our time).

The book makes a outstanding impression positioning it among one of the best modelling-historical research publications available on the market. We get a 144 pages volume filled with excellent photos of models and craftsmanship of their authors as well as historical background and research for the subjects.

The foreword is written by Hilary Doyle.

There are 10 modellers appearing on the pages of this book and they are as listed:

Roger Hurkmans with a 11. SS Pz.Abt. "Hermann von Salza" Panther Ausf. D

Lester Plaskitt with a Pz. Reg. 23 Infra Rott prepared Panther Ausf. G

Darren Gawle with a I./Pz. Reg. 22 Stahlrad Panther Ausf. G as seen in the Berlin area

Mirko Bayerl with a 9. SS Pz. Div. "Hohenstaufen" Befehlspanther Ausf. G AJ 9

Roddy MacDougall with a SS Pz. Reg. 1 Stahlrad Panther Ausf. G

Toni Canfora with a I./4. Pz. Reg. Panther Ausf. A

Brian Murdoch with a 2./SS Pz. Reg. 1 Panther Ausf. G (turret in zimmerit)

Gunnar Janson with a Infra Rott/Bild Wandler (IR/BIWA) Panther Ausf. G

Markus Eriksson with a 5. SS Pz. Div."Wiking" Panther Ausf. A

Phil Stutcinskass with a KG "Peiper" Stahlrad Panther G

Moreover there are 3 articles by Mirko Bayerl covering the search of the AJ 9 Panther and the battle route of the 9. SS "Hochenstaufen" in Hungary during operation "Fruhlingserwachen" in march 1945 as well as photographs of rarities found today on the once bloody battlefields of the hungarian landscape.

In my opinion this is a highly reccomended publication with simply a load of high class modelling and a lot of historical info presented in a interesting and original way.

As far as I'm concerned Toni is already preparing new subjects so stay tuned for more.

Below some photos:

Publications, Military Modelcraft Int. Vol 15, No 7, May 2011 - Showtime - Bytom contest photo report

2011-04-21T20:38:00.004+02:00

David Grummit of MMI asked me to do a show report about polish premier modeling contest that takes place each year in February in the city of Bytom, Silesia. It's a very pleasent event and modellers from around Europe are most welcome to visit.

The material is available in May issue of MMI with the beautiful Stuhlweissenburg diorama by Roger Hurkmans.

Mosonshow 2011

2011-04-19T14:07:00.008+02:00

I just got back from Mosonmagyarovar contest, Hungary. The show again gathered great modellers from around Europe and a lot of interesting models. Here's a short report on the show.

A group photo of me and the Scandinavians: Toni Canfora, Tommi Mynttinen, Jari Hemila, Per Olav Lund, Nadir Khazimi, Henrik Melvold, Petri Kovanen, Sverre Melleby and Jouni Koski, as well as Marek Solar from Slovakia, and Gergo Szaszko, photo courtesy of Gergo Szaszko.

Models on display:

Polish winged Hussar bust

Hulk super hero figure, absolutely fantastic

Sven Frisch's Flakpanzer III

Blown Flak by Jouni Koski

Per Olav Lund's newest award winning creation

Some figures

Sverre Melleby's Belina's uhlan

Jari Hemila's rusted Sturmi

Quarterscale Jagdtiger

Sven's Kanonenwagen

A 1/72 scale diorama
Bernhard Lustig's Schwimmwagen from KG "Hansen, Ardennes offensive

Jiri Malcharek's Panther, a terrific model

As for me, well I didn't get any awards this time. But I got some interesting offers from the publishers. I will reveal more information in the nearest future.

Enjoy the photos.

Nowhere

2011-04-11T20:00:00.002+02:00

I have finished a painting that I started long ago. Hope you like it, it's not perfect but it's a part of me. The dimensions are 38 x 46 cm.

Thanks for looking.

Publications, Modelar February and March issues, Soviet Pz IV Part 1 & 2

2011-03-29T21:38:00.005+02:00

Just received two copies of the czech Modelar, issue 02/2011 and 03/2011 with my article about building soviet Pz IV and the scene and figures for it.

Many thanks to Jindrich Sterbacek, the editor.

Thanks for looking.

Enjoy.

ATAK model SS Grenadier and Sturmpionier, build up photos

2011-03-17T19:27:00.005+01:00

Yesterday I picked the castings of my recent work for ATAK model - SS Grenadier and Sturmpionier, Hungary, 1944/45. Some pictures below showing the quality of the castings.

Publications, Steel Art No 88, April 2011, Meeting the partisans - part 1 - building the Panzer IV E

2011-03-16T19:29:00.004+01:00

My "Meeting the partisans" diorama article will be featured in upcoming, april issue of italian Steel Art. The first part of the article covers the built up and finishing techniques on the Panzer. Second part - creating the diorama and figures will be published in may issue. My thanks goes to Alessandro Bruschi from Auriga Publishing.

Adalbertus - Polish/Commonwealth soldier with a dog 1/35

2011-03-15T18:07:00.003+01:00

Adalbertus of Poland will be releasing my figure of Polish/Commonwealth soldier from Italy. The kit comes with a figure of a doggie. The box art was made by Damian Bauer.

Soviet Guards Captain, Tigergrab, Potash 1944

2011-03-10T21:12:00.002+01:00

I got back to modelling, trying to finish recent project for the upcoming Mosonshow in late April. Hoping all goes well and the Tigergrab will be ready till then. I'm finishing the first figure of a Soviet Guards Tank Corps Captain.

Publications, Modelar No 2, February 2011 - Meeting the Partisans diorama, Part 1

2011-03-05T10:33:00.006+01:00

The first part of my soviet Panzer IV diorama article is available also in Czech Modelar, issue 02/2011.

Revised Panther A, I./4. Pz Reg., Anzio Nettuno, Feb. 1944

2011-03-04T22:17:00.005+01:00

Finished Panther A with it's weathering revised. The new weathering was done mostly with pigments and plaster. The tank will be placed on a diorama in the future.

More new stuff coming soon.

By the way it's march, so the fourth year of keeping this blog begins... It went by.

VIIIth Modelling Festival in Bytom, 26-27 February 2011

2011-02-27T19:46:00.009+01:00

I just returned from the biggest modelling festival in Poland, which takes place in Bytom, Silesia. The show gathered more than 1000 models on display, It was a fantastic event, the evening party with old and new friends was great. I'm looking forward for next year.

Discussions.

1/72 Panther with interior...

T 80 destroyed in Chechnya (Tomek Janiszewski).

Advancing Hetzer (Adam Obrębski).

Aussie Centurion in Vietnam.

Beautifuly finished Marder III H (Mateusz Mathea).

Krupp Waffentrager, one of my favorites (Michał Walkowski).

Recognize this one? Abrams in Iraq (Sebastian Woś).

Lend-lease Sherman, with my Panther in the background (Krzysiek Wiśniewski).

Winter paint scheme cathegory.

Afghanistan convoy diorama, with it's creator in the background (Sebastian Woś).

Recent workbench projects...

2011-02-13T13:19:00.005+01:00

Couple'o weeks ago I was writing about new stuff to be published here and so here are some, first the "italian" Panther from Anzio-Nettuno - revisited. I decided to redo the suspension, I disassembled the wheels added a set of friuls to add a much more realistic touch, here these are dryfitted.

Along with the Panther I made a effort to finish a oldie, Shanghai Dragon JS 2m, a very old kit that needed much attention (i.e. the hull was 2mm to shallow, this needed fixing immediately). Friuls were added, a must for this type of model, armorscale barrel, grills and some scratchbuilding. The model will be representing a tank from one of the Heavy Tank Brigades taking part in Berlin operations, Seelow Hights battle to be precise. More to follow.

ATAK Model - Waffen SS Grenadiers, Hungary, winter 1944/45,

2011-02-04T19:07:00.007+01:00

Soon ATAK Model of Poland will be releasing their first 1/35 figures, my two sculpts which are a german late war Waffen SS Panzergrenadier in winter overall and a german Waffen SS Pionier equipped with full sturmpioniere gear. The figures are based on a series of drawings found in one of russian WW 2 books.

Tiger I Mittlere Produktion, 503 sPzAbt., Potash, Ukraine, March 1944, Model Finished

2011-02-02T20:51:00.006+01:00

I managed to finish the tank and add some photos to the gallery. More will be posted once the base and the figures will be finished. This was quite a difficult built but I consider it to be my most advanced model (i.e. with the use of multiple finishing technics). Mostly I managed to fully understand the use of pigments and oils, mixed with media that allow to create different grime, stain and oil effects. The whitewashed camo was a complex operation, first the hairspray technic, than several layers of dilluted whites and sand tones. In the end it came up quite good I think.

More photos under this link:

http://artibusgallery.blogspot.com/search/label/Dioramas

Thanks for looking.

Publications, Military Modelcraft Int. Vol 15, No 5, March 2011 - Meeting the Partisans diorama

2011-01-27T14:57:00.011+01:00

A complex sbs article about my latest diorama build, with the soviet operated Pz IV E will be available in March Issue of MMI along with other beautiful pieces created by Domingo Hernandez, Noel Petroni and many more talented modelers.

2011-01-23T21:07:00.003+01:00

Lately beeing away from the hobby due to some personal issues I'm going to get back here with some fresh ideas and new stuff next month. Thank you for your patients.

It's been 150.000 hits!

2010-12-20T18:00:00.008+01:00

Well yes, the counter just showed the 150.000 hits (since 2008, when I started this blog). The year is closing to it's end and on this occasion I'd like to thank everyone for the evergrowing interest in my works and for all the visits and time spent here on my blog. I wish you a Merry Christmas! Drop in from time to time.

Publications, Soldatini No 86, January-February 2011, The old servant vignette

2010-12-09T21:16:00.011+01:00

More news from Italy and from Auriga Publishing, a small article about my "The old Servant tells his tale" vignette will be available in January in Soldatini figure magazine.

Some info here:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=171395029560028&set=a.157732620926269.33929.113176252048573

Publications, Steel Art No 85, January 2011, Figure sbs

2010-12-09T19:05:00.006+01:00

Alessandro Bruschi was so kind to publish my long awaited figure sculpting step by step. I was asked many times about doing such tutorial. It will be available in January issue of Steel Art. The article is about sculpting Russian Eastasian WW 2 Trooper, it will be a part of a vignette later on. Building the scene will be described in second part of the article.

Tigergrab - The figures

2010-11-23T22:05:00.003+01:00

Some things in my life absorb much of my free time lately, but I managed to start the figures for the vignette. It will be a trio of officers, two of them from higher command, the third one, from the unit that captured the Tiger depot.

Tigergrab - Some Detail Shots

2010-11-02T20:08:00.003+01:00

Some close-ups and detail shots of the nearly finished beast. I need to add some pieces of destroyed interior visible through the hatches, a thing that I omitted during planning this build, oh well, who said it will be easy?

Tigergrab, 503 sPz.Abt., Potash 1944, Part 4

2010-10-27T18:24:00.005+02:00

Closing to have this cat ready. The tank needs some tweaks here and there, I repainted areas with flaked off zimmerit so they need some fading as well as the rusty parts of the vehicle, I'll be adding more textures of mud on the hull sides and rear.

The plan is to have two soviet officers inspecting the tank sculpted for this project.

V Lubelskie Spotkania Modelarskie, Lublin, 23-24 X 2010

2010-10-24T20:43:00.010+02:00

I just got back from the 5th edition of the Lublin annual modeling contest. It was the first time I visited Lublin and I was astounded by the beauty of the old town. It was a fine show with about 500 exhibited models.

It was good meeting old pals.

My 101st AB from Normandy and "The old servant tells his tale" vignettes got some rewards.

Some views of the city:

And the show:

Polish Stuart from Normandy by Rafal Jankowski (RJ) - awarded in dioramas:

Huge WW I diorama by Marcin Kalbarczyk - Best in Dioramas:

More models:

War in Georgia, 2008, Russian Modern AFVs

2010-10-22T20:34:00.008+02:00

I was able to put the tracks together and work with the overall shape of the T 62. Modelkasten T 72 tracks required quite a lot of cleanup, but they work splendid. Along with T-62 I will be building two other modern projects in the nearest future. My pick are russian AFVs from the recent conflict in Southern Osetia and Abkhazia in 2008.

The first one is a captured georgian BMP-1 loaded with spetznas troopers from the Chechen "Vostok" battalion under the command of Sulim Yamadayev. Unit was disbanded in late 2008 along with it's sister "Zapad" battalion. I'll be using Zvezda kit and try to sculpt some troopers for it. The graffiti on these vehicles drew my attention and it's the main reason I want to build it.

Another subject is a paratrooper ICV BTR-ZD, a rather field conversion of a standard BTR-D transporter with a improvised stand for a ZU 23-2 twin AA gun. It's another fascinating subject with lots of room for own improvements over the model. The kit available on the market are Alanger BTR and Skif ZU 23-2. I already got both of these.

Scale Model Challenge 2010, Eindhoven, Holland

2010-10-20T19:37:00.005+02:00

Thanks to a collegue of mine (thanks Tomasz), I was able to exhibit the "Afternoon chat" vignette at the SMC 2010 show in Eindhoven, Holland. This piece got me a silver medal.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to be there in person but I'm going to be there next year for sure.

Panzers to the rescue - Korsun-Cherkassy cauldron, Ukraine, early 1944

2010-10-16T21:00:00.005+02:00

Having the soviet Pz IV scene completed now I will continue works with another, and actually my last 2009 finished build, Pz IV H Mittlere Produktion. To make the scene more interesting I bought Miniart's SU 76. It will be sitting dissabled on the river bank by the incoming Panzer. The historical background for this one is the retreat of German divisions from Ukraine, during heavy fightings in January-February 1944 while the 1. Panzer Armee was trying to unblock forces trapped in Korsun-Cherkassy cauldron.

Publications, Steel Art No 83, November 2010, Sherman 105 Assault Gun

2010-10-15T09:39:00.006+02:00

Recently I started cooperating with italian Steel Art magazine. First article in the row is the Sherman 105 sbs, available in November issue.

Southern Front, Russia, summer 1942, FINISHED

2010-10-13T18:10:00.001+02:00

Today I present the finished scene.

Enjoy.

Soviet Pz IV E - Groundwork

2010-10-01T19:40:00.005+02:00

Today a few words about creating a realistic groundwork, I did some trials here, using pigments for colouring the groundwork. This resulted ina realistic dusty apprearance of the base. I mixed three colors of Vallejo Pigment range to get a earthy look, then using a big brush I covered the whole surface of the base with it and applied turpentine for fixing the pigments. After few hours everyting dried up leaving the desired effect visible on the pictures below, Next step was to add some grass here and there. I've done this using twizzers and attached bunches of static grass onto the groundwork with wood glue dilluted with water. Next was to add some small flowers to give more variation to the grass. To do this I used dried flowers picked during this summer. I used the seeds of white flowers, unfortunately I don't know the name of this weed. The yellow ones are dill flowers that I had already used on some of my earlier vignettes and dioramas.

I also found some old diorama stuff, a chair and table, the need some renovation though. That's it for now. Stay tuned for more.

T-62 Slat armor, Osetia 2008 - a new upcoming project

2010-09-27T18:40:00.011+02:00

The appearance of the new trumpeter T-62 kits was a good opportunity to start modelling modern AFV for a change. I also found a interesting configuration for this tank with additional grill armor around the hull and turrets back, such vehicles were operating in South Osetia during the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia in 2008.

The painting scheme is also interesting, a trinonal Russian Federation Forces camouflage consisting of pale green, black and grey blotches. This should be a interesting and quick project and most of all something really different for me. I already bought the T-62 mod. 1972 kit, now some T 72 type tracks from friul and I'm ready to start.

More about this in upcoming postings.

Soviet Pz IV E - The figures

2010-09-24T23:21:00.004+02:00

The sculpting of the figures is done, they need a little cleanup right now and I'll be painting them during the weekend.

And a overview photo of the scene:

Soviet Siberian Trooper, Berlin, 1945

2010-09-11T23:40:00.006+02:00

Many times I've been asked for a sculpting tutorial and step by step photos. I have recently finished a project for this purpouse. The subject is a less common one, a soviet euro-asian trooper. The Red Army was combined of many nations living inside the Red Empire i.e. Tartars, Georgians, Kalmykians etc. and I decided to depict this subject. It will be a part of a vignette taking place in ruined Berlin, May 1945. Head comes from Hornet's asian expressions headset, slightly modified by me, with a field cap added.

The sbs will be available in italian Steel Art and czech Modelar magazine later this year and is a part of a two volume article about sculpting figures and creating military vignettes.

Soviet Pz IV E - Diorama, Painting the scene

2010-09-05T20:31:00.005+02:00

Today a quick peek on the progress of the scenery. The building is mostly finished, I'm going to add a bit more weathering, mostly moist and dust effects to the lower parts of it.

I also secured the edges of the base with a masking tape and then started with the groundwork

A simple mix as usually used in my works, wood glue, sand, plaster and crushed plaster bricks to imitate stones.

I did some hairspray based weathering on the wooden cabin and steps. Then Tamiya Medium blue was used and finally with gentle moves of a brush deeped in warm water I scratched the surfaces to reveal the wooden color undearneath the blue paint.

Close-ups of the house, there's little to be done here, some more weathering I suppose, moist and dust effects. The drainpipe should be rusted a bit I think.

In next posting I will show the finished piece.

Soviet Pz IV E - Diorama, # 2

2010-08-27T23:03:00.003+02:00

More progress today, the build is coming along nicely and I'm about to finish the figures, the commander figure is the one that requires most attention and the partisan guy is completed now. The house is nearly fnished, lacks a window and door but these are about to be added tommorow. As for the house I choose sheet metal roof quite common in the southern parts of russia during this period. Next update coming soon. Enjoy.

British Tommy - Italy, spring 1944

2010-08-24T23:11:00.007+02:00

I thought to share some photos of a older project, a sculpt from 2009, that was supposed to be a commercial piece but eventually ended up on my shelf. Inspiration for this figure was found while I was completing photo materials for a diorama with a K.Oed StuG III G (unfortunately this project still hasn't been finished). The figure was made using Magic Sculp with addition of Duro for some details. The figure still bares a gap between the upper and lower parts of the torso for cutting it in two.

Soviet Pz IV E - Diorama, Southern Front, summer 1942, # 1

2010-08-15T22:29:00.007+02:00

I did some more work on the figures for this scene, as for now the partisan is almost finished. I'm leaving for a few days to relax. I hope to recover my energy to be able to have old things completed this year and to start new projects that are waiting for their turn.

Now off for the holidays.

Publications, Modelar No 7, July 2010, "Afternoon chat" vignette

2010-07-29T18:53:00.007+02:00

Yet another post under the Publications label. Along with the gallery in august issue of MMI, my article about creating the polish noblemen vignette appeared in july issue of czech Modelar magazine. Many thanks goes to Jindrich Sterbacek for publishing the article.

Publications, Military Modelcraft Int. Vol 14, No 10, August 2010 - Readers' Gallery

2010-07-28T17:51:00.009+02:00

A gallery of my works was published in the recent (August) issue of Military Modelcraft Int. Before the Tiger article is ready David Grummit, the editor of this fine magazine, offered me to publish a compilation of some of my recent works, and here it is. Many thanks goes to David and rest of the MMI crew.

Dealing with old stuff

2010-07-19T20:54:00.007+02:00

Recently I have been quiet but that's not because I'm lazy but because besides the Tigergrab project I focused on finishing old stuff that should be finished long time ago. First of all I finally made up my mind about the layout of the soviet Pz IV scene. The crew along with some partisan guys will be exchanging information about the movements of German forces in the nearby area.

The second thing is that I also made up the decission how the Ostfront taxi scene should look like and here it is, a disabled SU 76, knocked just after it reached the bank of a river and a Pz rolling down the road trying to cross the very same river the SU did. Simple but it suits my sense of composition.

A lot to be done in these two projects, lots of figures to be sculpted and lots of fun about it.

Tigergrab, 503 sPz.Abt., Potash 1944, Part 3

2010-07-05T17:42:00.009+02:00

Ok, so I worked on the weathering and completed the white wash. The tank on the photo has its camouflage in pretty good condition so I didn't want to make it completety washed. The most annoying part were the tracks, to blacken the friuls I used a homemade mixture of vinegar and domestos but it didn't work as I expected so after this I painted the tracks with tamiya nato black and after this secured them with a layer of tamiya smoke. Vallejo pigments were used. I still need to fix three torsion bar arms that were haning from the hull were the missing wheels were. More weathering will follow just after I paint some micro scratches on the exposed parts of the tank, like the barrel, cupola, turret bin and engine deck. A full article about this model will be published in Military Modelcraft Int. later this year.

Mantis Miniatures new figure set - my very first commercial figure work

2010-06-13T00:36:00.005+02:00

I'm happy to inform that a new set of 1/35 scale figures consisting of a G.I. figure sculpted by Laurent Borget and a German POW figure sculpted by me will be available soon from Mantis Miniatures. This is my first, hopefully not last commercial work.

The box art was painted by Artur Miniszewski.

Tigergrab, 503 sPz.Abt., Potash 1944, Part 2

2010-06-10T21:24:00.007+02:00

I finished the buildup stage and started painting the Tiger. I'm planning a simple base for it, muddy terrain, just as it looks on the original photo (even though my tank is slightly different)

As usual I used Tamiya Buff color sprayed over a layer of flat black primer. I'm also going to modulate the surfaces of the model, but not so much as all will disappear under the white wash and burnt areas.

Tigergrab, 503 sPz.Abt., Potash 1944

2010-05-17T21:27:00.005+02:00

In early 1944 the 503 sPzAbt. combined with more than 40 Panthers formed the Panzerregiment Bäke under the command of Oberstleutnant Bäke . Unit was considered to be a fire brigade, fighting back the advancing soviet forces in the southern secotr of the front. Unit fought to unblock the KG Stemmerman in the Korsun Pocket, several weeks later to find itself trapped in the Kamenets Podolsky cauldron. After these battles the Tigers' strenght was down to less than 1/3 of the initial number of tanks. And here my story begins. Twenty abandoned, damaged Tigers were found around the town of Potash, ten of which were photographed:

This particullar veh caught my eye:

When I saw it I knew it had to be built, and so I started with the Mid Tiger from Tamiya. Lots of aftermarket stuff was used to improve the kit, like turned barrels, PE, friul tracks, scratch, self made zimmerit etc. There are still some details to be attached prior to painting but I'm closing to have this build finished and painted. Hopefully within two weeks it will be ready.

Pz IV/70 (A) - The story continues

2010-05-08T21:24:00.006+02:00

A quick preview of what I'm trying to finish now. I started painting the Licht und Schatten camouflage blotches this evening. There's a chance that I finish it tommorow so stay tuned for a update shortly. The are more projects on the bench right now, to much was left undone during the last couple of months but I'm trying to brake this stalemate...

SS HJ Panzerknacker - The Scenery

2010-05-03T20:48:00.002+02:00

Today a quick preview on the scenery that I'm building for the two Hitlerjugend tank hunters. It will be a corner of a french shop, somewhere on the outskirts of Caen, where the 25. Pz.Gren. Reg. was fighting against Canadians.

Mosonmagyarovar Show 2010, The Summary

2010-04-13T13:24:00.011+02:00

Here's a short summary for the show. The award ceremony was in hungarian and unfortunately I don't know this language so forgive me that I can't exactly say who got their prizes for. Among the awarded were Per Olav Lund, Sven Frisch, Lars Richter, Erik Helm, Volker Bembennek, Bernhard Lustig, Kristof Pulinckx, Magnus Fagerberg, Petri Kovanen, Pekka Nieminen, Toni Canfora, Johan Fohlin (I regret that I didn't took a good picture of his RSO diorama, maybe next time). The Czech, Italian and Greek guys also got some awards for their works.

Among the awarded modellers from Poland were Darek Jędrzejczyk, Erlend Janson, Dariusz Beck.

* * *

Suprisingly I got a gold medal and a Best of Show in the figures cathegory. These are very important prizes for me.

I also had the opportunity to meet Gergo Szaszko and Mirko Bayerl who have shown me some photos of my interest - the shorttracked Zwischenlosung from the 23. Pz. Regiment, that I started building couple of months ago and now I can get back to it having more reference materials.

There were many great models on display and the show was worth going there. I'll get back to Moson next year for sure. See you then.

Mosonmagyarovar Show 2010, The Report

2010-04-12T21:21:00.021+02:00

Today I would also like to share pictures form this year's edition of the Moson show. I travelled 1400 km in total to get there and get back to Warsaw but it was worth the effort.

This event is one of the best in Europe, gathers many excellent modellers from around the world (there were some guys even from faraway lands like New Zealand). For me it was a great opportunity to meet in person some of the guys I only know from the forums and.

There were two replicas based on T 55 chassis, a Panther and a Tiger I.

Crowded exhibition halls and some photos of the presented models, dioramas and figures:

Per Olav Lund brought his award winning "Ragnarok" masterpiece, congrats on this one Per!

Volker Bembennek brought the rusty StuG III G (and mine damaged Ferdinand too):

More excellent stuff was to be found on the exhibition tables, Pz III on Winterketten by Bernhard Lustig:

ISU 152 from Kristof Pulinckx:

Gergo Szaszko brought his LAH Panther G, the model was displayed in the special cathegory (Tigers, Panthers):

More eycatchers:

Kristof's Firefly:

Volker's Ferdinand, one of my favorites:

Bocage vignette from Markus Eriksson:

A Beobachtungspanzer IV J by Kristof Pulinckx:

Henrik Melvold's disabled Jagdtiger with some G.I.s around it:

Erlend Janson's Zil 157 with SA 2:

Sven Frisch presented the Sturmtiger "Now and then" vignette created along with Robert Doepp:

Sunken T 34 by Mariusz Paluch, one of the more interesting pieces with excellent water effects:

Budapest 1956 - a piece of Hungarian history:

IDF Nagamoch, impressive beast:

The 1/48 scale stuff starting with a superb T 34'76, would love to know who's the author of it:

Some Fireflies:

Lars Richter's US captured hanomag:

1/72 scale starting with this crazy PE stuffed Stryker, take a look at that grill armour:

More great stuff presented in the 1/72 scale cathegory, a Pz IV G with Winterketten:

Awarded sunken Sherman by Darek Jędrzejczyk:

Other stuff:

And at last, but not least, the figures, some of them shown here:

Fishing, by Petri Kovanen:

As you can see there were many excellent pieces presented in Moson, it was a real pleasure to see all those mastered models seen on the forums but this time in reality. Second part of the report will follow shortly, enjoy the pics.

Poland in mourning

2010-04-12T17:58:00.006+02:00

Saddly this years edition of Moson show started for us, Poles with a tragic information. The presidential airplane with the president of Poland Lech Kaczynski, his wife and many nobel people on board crashed at 0800 hours on Saturday when trying to land on the airfield in Smolensk, Russia. There were no survivors. All they were heading for the ceremony to pay tribute on the 70th anniversary of the NKVD massacre of 21 000 polish officers in april, 1940. My country remains in mourning...

Preparing for Mosonmagyarovar...

2010-04-07T23:11:00.005+02:00

On Friday morning I get up early, pack my things to the car and drive nearly 700 km south to Hungary, to Mosonmagyarovar modelling show. I'm going to take some of the older works like the Hetzer dio from 2008, figure vignettes from Pan Tadeusz, some models like the Sherman 105 and soviet Pz IV. Today I also prepared two bases for the figures I sculpted lately, these will be probably presented besides the contest. I hope it will be fun.

Web Awards ARMOUR - Auriga Publishing and Zimmerit.com

2010-04-04T10:52:00.005+02:00

I'm pleased to announce that my works were awarded in the Zimmerit.com and Auriga Publishing online Web Armour Awards contest. The works awarded are the Sherman 105 (2nd prize in master armour category) and US 101st AB "Ambush" vignette (1st prize in the figure category).

More information under this link:

http://www.zimmerit.com/concorsi/2009/en_index_WAA_2009.php

SS HJ Panzerknacker - Unterscharfuhrer Finished

2010-03-27T20:07:00.004+01:00

The figure of the NCO is finished. It will be yet weatherd prior to mounting it to the base. The figure is mounted ona temporary pedestal. This paintjob was a good lesson and opportunity to practice SS Tarnungs and I'm very pleased about the effects I achieved here but there's always room for improvments. See you soon with the next figure.

SS HJ Panzerknacker - camouflage #2 - Eichenlaubmuster

2010-03-25T17:54:00.002+01:00

I started painting the SS Eichenlaubmuster on the blouse of the Unterscharfuhrer. Again Vallejos with few drops of retarder were used.

SS HJ Panzerknacker - camouflage #1

2010-03-21T20:29:00.003+01:00

Continuing the paintjob of the figures...

The Unterscharfuhrer has his pants painted, I'll be starting painting the camo blouse soon:

I also started the same on the Schutze and I'm nearly half way finishing it:

Here's my mixture for the italian camouflage, from left to right - brown blotches 337 + 312, yellow-green blotches 321 + 314 and the base - 327 + 330.

More later this week. Have a good Sunday evening.

More figures on the workbench - SS HJ Panzerknacker

2010-03-17T22:13:00.006+01:00

After a longer while, finally I got back to the Panzerknacker team from Hitlerjugend. My idea is to finishin painting them to have them ready for Mosonmagyarovar show. These figures are pretty chalenging due to the fact of having camouflaged clothes. The italian camo scheme itself isn't that difficult to paint (especially after studing Calvin Tan's way of painting it). My biggest concern is the german SS oak camo on the NCO's blouse. Will see if I can handle it, hope I can :)

The faces are more or less ready, some tweaks are needed. I applied basecoats for the camouflaged uniforms. I'm not planning any sbs pictures, Calvin did a great job with this on his blog, and I don't think I can do it better so stay calm for a update showing these figures finished.

German Prisoners Of War, Finished at last

2010-03-13T17:30:00.005+01:00

Ostatnie miesiące dały mi się mocno we znaki przede wszystkim przez ciągły brak czasu, a jeśli nawet pojawiały się luźniejsze momenty, to brakowało mi ochoty i chęci żeby cokolwiek skończyć. Po zeszłorocznym sezonie zostało mi całe mnóstwo niedokończonych figur i modeli, nad którymi prace teraz stopniowo staram się finalizować. Dzisiaj mogę pokazać już skończone figurki niemieckich jeńców. Na razie nie mają jeszcze podstawki, tym zajmę się w dalszej kolejności, poza tym zmieniłem nieco koncepcję.

Sądzę, że to jedne z ciekawszych figur jakie udało mi się wykonać w ostatnim roku. Po więcej zdjęć zapraszam do galerii.

Passing months were very tiresome and full of constant lack of time for my figures and models. Recently I decided to finished all those things I've started back in 2009.

Today I present the finished German POW figures. I really enjoyed this project and I think these are some of the better figures I managed to sculpt during year 2009.

For more pictures visit the gallery.

2010-03-08T23:43:00.002+01:00

Dalsze kreacje malarskie, znowu temat kręci się wokół zbiorów kulistych. Postanowiłem wykorzystać stare płótno, zagruntowane w beżach, pierwsze jednak co zrobiłem to przeszlifowałem nieco grubą jego fakturę i dopiero na to położyłem nową, jednolitą warstwę. Dalej przez parę dni były tylko kulki. Na razie udało mi się zrobić zarys, w najbliższym czasie zamierzam rozbudować całość w nowe kolory.

Further oil paint creations, and again round shapes. I use a older canvas that I renewed, covered with a new layer of beige primer and started painting circles. More vibrant colors are to be added.

Yet another year passed

2010-03-03T21:58:00.008+01:00

Well it's been two years since I started this blog, I never really thought I'll be able to keep it going for such long time. I can only hope that I won't loose my eagerness for this activity. Thanks for all the visits, comments and your evergrowing feedback girls and guys. It's more than appreciated!

See you soon with new stuff.

Here's a pic of what I brought with me from Bytom:

VII Festiwal Modeli Redukcyjnych - Bytom 2010

2010-03-01T19:29:00.009+01:00

I got back from Bytom yesterday evening, the event was even better than the previous year. I took with me two of my models, the Arty Sherman and soviet Pz IV. No trophys for these but I got a medal for the "Old servant tells his tale" vignette. There where many beautiful pieces among the displayed works.

"The old servant..." scene was awarded in the vignette class.

There were some fine busts from Ademola 22:

September 1939 - 40 -1 - polish Spartan against 40 Germans at Wizna (awarded in vignette class):

Sergiusz Pęczek displayed his classy Panther D:

This Ausf G caught my eye too:

Sebastian Woś brought many of his works, among them this 'italian' Pz IV D:

KV 1 by Adam Obrębski:

This one was one of the best models in the soft skin vehicles class:

The show gathered more than 700 models on display, there were modelers from Hungary, Czech Republic, Greece, Germany, Slovakia and Serbia. It was good to meet old friends and meet new people. See you next year.

I only regret that I didn't take more good pictures...

VIIth Modelling Show Bytom 2010

2010-02-26T19:56:00.003+01:00

Tommorow at 6.00 o'clock me and my pal Marek, we're going to hit the road and drive due south, to Bytom, for the biggest in Poland, annual modelling show. This year it will be the VII edition of the festival. I'm taking with me some of my recent builds - figure vignettes as well as models. Wish me luck.

I'll post photos from the show just after I'll get back on Sunday.

Propaganda '41 - Take 3 - Pigments

2010-02-21T21:35:00.006+01:00

Po dość długiej przerwie wróciłem do tematu, generalnie do modelarstwa i w związku z tym nowa porcja zdjęć z postępów nad Propagandą. Przeszedłem do etapu pigmentów, zastosowałem jak zwykle te produkcji Vallejo, wymieszałem je tak by uzyskać jasny ziemisty kolor, taki by idealnie pasował do mojego wyobrażenia o tym jak mogły wyglądać zapylone Panzery w czasie walk na stepach.

After a long break I got back to modelling. I started applying pigments on the model, Vallejo ones were used. The colors were Natural Umber, Light Siena and Green Earth. As the fixer I used Turpentine for painters, works good every time.

Do utrwalenia pigmentów użyłem jak zwykle terpentyny malarskiej. To w moim przypadku wypróbowany sposób. Zastosowane kolory to Jasna Siena, Naturalna Umbra i Ziemista zieleń.

Kafle Gaudiego

2010-02-06T14:09:00.003+01:00

Na dzisiaj nowy obrazek, znowu temat z dekoracyjnego cyklu ściennego, czyli sztuka, która zapełnia puste ściany w mieszkaniu. Tym razem spróbowałem stworzyć coś wzorując się na charakterystycznym stylu połamanych kafli Gaudiego. Temat jest ciekawy, na pewno jeszcze do niego wrócę, za jakiś czas, na razie biorę się za coś nowego, nieco innego w formie.

Obrazek ma wymiary 27 x 33 cm.

Propaganda '41 - Take 2 - Scratches and Chips

2010-01-31T21:49:00.005+01:00

Panzer powoli nabiera kolorytu, namalowałem obicia i zadrapania farby, nasyciłem niektóre miejsca washem sporządzonym z czerni marsowej i brązu van dyck. Kolejnym etapem będzie namalowanie plam oleju, paliwa itp. a następnie pokrycie modelu lakierem matowym i pigmentami. Zaczynam powoli wątpić czy uda mi się skończyć model na bytomski festiwal, niemniej jednak pozostał jeszcze miesiąc, więc "piłka jest w grze".

More progess on the Panzer, this time I painted scratched and chipped paint effects here and there. I also added more dark washes to some areas (wheels, upper hull roof etc.). The next step will be to add oil and fuel stains, then flat varnish and finally pigments to complete the build. Hopefully I'll finish this one for the Bytom modelling show at the end of February.

Propaganda '41 - Smolensk-Moscow route, 1941

2010-01-16T23:26:00.007+01:00

Propaganda to jeden z najważniejszych instrumentów władzy, pozwalający manipulować opiniami, wyrabiać poglądy i tworzyć wizje. Zatem jest to niezbędny element do tego by wygrać wojnę. Chociaż podczas Barbarossy Rosjanie ponieśli ogromne straty, to jednak ich aparat propagandowy działał wyśmienicie, umniejszając nieco stratom ponoszonym przez własne wojska, powiększając przesadnie straty wroga. Co prawda czerwonoarmistom udało się kilka akcji bojowych, jak chociażby pamiętny bój 4. Pz.Div. z osamotnionym KW 2, wygrane potyczki na trasie Smoleńsk-Moskwa itp. Postanowiłem sobie, że wykonam małą scenkę, przedstawiającą jedno z takich propagandowych zjawisk. Po bitwie smoleńskiej 20. i 7. Pz.Div. zostawiły nieco sprzętu na polach wokół miasta, sprzętu który Rosjanie obfotografowali, część nawet użyli. Pz 38 (t), którego sobie wybrałem na główny element scenki, nadawał się idealnie do tego by pokazać małą akcje propagandową po bitwie. Mamy tutaj dzielnego striełoka, który kilkunastoma strzałami z rusznicy ustrzelił Panzera, korespondenta wojennego oraz element nieodzowny, błękitnego komisarza z politbiura. Scenkę zamierzam wyszykować na bytomski Festiwal.

During Barbarossa Red Army suffered a overwhelming defeat but sometimes managed to win some skirmishes with german armor. The memorable ones are the lone duel of a KV 2 against crews of the 4.Pz.Div. or several skirmishes won by Russians with 20. and 7. Pz Div. during the savage fightings in Smolensk cauldron. During these skirmishes Panzerwaffe lost some of its tanks and those were photographed and even put again into service by the Russians. My idea was to build a scene showing a propaganda photo session - a AT rifleman strikes a pose against a K.Oed Pz 38 (t), somewhere on entrenched field, a war correspondent takes a photo under a watchful eye of a NKVD comissar. I'm going to bring this vignette with me to Bytom for the modelling Festival in late February.

Ogólny zarys z Panzerem unieruchomionym na okopach:

Overview of the scene and Tirstar's Pz 38 (t):

Figury, jak zwykle w części na gotowych podzespołach:

Sctrachbuilt figures:

Model w delikatnej Color Modulation i po aplikacji olejnych artystycznych:

Panzer after being Color Modulated and with oils applied:

More to come shortly.

AFV Modelling Plans for 2010

2010-01-12T17:20:00.010+01:00

Na dzisiaj natomiast przygotowałem małe podsumowanie tego, co planuję wykonać w tym roku. Jest to kilka tematów, których nie udało mi się skończyć w 2009 roku. Część z nich została zaczęta jeszcze w 2008 roku.

W pierwszej części tego roku chciałbym uporać się z kilkoma poważniejszymi tematami, a pośród nich także ze skończeniem zaczętej w 2008 dioramy ze zniszczonym StuG III G z Włoch. Temat na prawdę ciekawy i wart zakończenia.

Po drugie na zawody modelarskie w Bytomiu planuję przywieść dioramkę "Propaganda '41" przedstawiającą zniszczonego podczas walk na trasie Smoleńsk-Moskwa Pz 38(t) z 7. Pz. Div. Wartym zauważenia jest że w czasie tych walk Panzerwaffe pierwszy chyba raz podczas trwania Barbarossy dostalo lupnia w znacznym stopniu od kontratakujących sowietów.

W najbliższym czasie będę także chciał zakończyć malowanie Pz IV/70 (A) z kolumny porzuconych podczas odwrotu z Węgier wozów z 23. Pz. Reg., 23. Pz. Div.

Kolejnym tematem, który od dawna zalega u mnie na półce w warsztacie jest rzadki model nieistniejącej już firmy Eastern Express przedstawiający sowieckiego Zwieroboja czyli SU 152. Model wzbogaciłem o kilka gadżetów oraz nieco własnej inwencji w postaci przerobionych czy też dorobionych detali.

Na zakończenie moich planów na pierwszą część roku przedstawiam jeszcze Tygrysa z 503. sPz.Abt. z okresu walk na Ukrainie w 1944. Większość czołgów z batalionu została stracona w wyniku ciężkich walk. Ponadto w miejscowości Potasz Rosjanie zdobyli skład uszkodzonych, czekających na remont Tygrysów. Jednym z nim będzie właśnie mój Tiger.

Modelling Summary 2009

2010-01-02T13:52:00.012+01:00

Podsumowując rok 2009 muszę przyznać, że okazał się dość owocny, przynajmniej w porównaniu z 2008 kiedy to niewiele rzeczy udało mi się doprowadzić do końca. Oczywiście, zawsze mogłoby być lepiej, wiele nowych pomysłów zacząłem realizować, ale nie starczyło czasu na ich dokończenie, nic jednak nie stoi na przeszkodzie by sfinalizować je w tym roku.

The 2009 is gone so I can make my modelling summary for it. I can call it a good year, pretty fruitfull with completed builds. I have managed to learn some new technics, develop my talents and previously learned tricks. The second important thing is that I started many new projects that I'm hoping to finish soon during this year.

***

W pierwszej połowie roku zakończyłem budowę dwóch winietek figurkowych, a ostatnio jeszcze dodatkowo dwóch figur. Zacząłem też kilka nowych, myślę że dość ciekawych tematów i mam nadzieje, że w najbliższych miesiącach je zrealizuję. Głównie osadzone w epokach historycznych, XVII-XIX wiek.

In the first half of the year I completed two vignettes, the contiunation of the polish noblemen saga and a WW 2 scene from Normandy. For this year I have several new ideas to be brought to life, mostly from XVII-XIX century time period among these again some polish stuff based on books and novels. I'm also going to start sculpting figures from Napoleonic era, this is one of my main goals for this year.

***

W kwestii pojazdów było nawet lepiej niż w tematach figurkowych. Tutaj udało mi się zrealizować cztery projekty. Dla niektórych to za pewne nie wielka cyfra, ale ja jestem z tego wyniku zadowolony. Po pierwsze udało mi się opanować Color Modulation, technikę dającą zupełnie nowe możliwości w tworzeniu efektów malarskich na modelach. To właściwie dzięki temu, jakie możliwości daje, przełamałem w sobie impas i począwszy od Pantery zacząłem próby z jej zastosowaniem.

Z ciekawszych epizodów, udało mi się także opublikować artykuł w czeskim Modelarze. Na 2010 rok przygotowuje nowe artykuły, które jeśli dobrze pójdzie ukażą się jeszcze w pierwszej połowie roku i to nie tylko u Czechów.

To by było w zasadzie na tyle w dużym skrócie.

The AFV - only four finished but it's still more than I managed to complete in 2008. The most important thing for me was to learn the Color Modulation introduced by Adam Wilder. This gives much more possibilites of finishing a model and allows my my artistic ego to be fulfilled completely.

I have also already prepared some new article stuff for 2010 and not just only for czech Modelar. I'll keep you informed.

Thanks for looking and keeping your evergrowing interest with my blog, the numbers speak for themselves, more than 55 000 visits since 2008 and 48 followers until now. That's a realy big deal for me.

Happy 2010!

Getting back to bussiness - soviet Pz IV, The Figures

2009-12-27T23:16:00.006+01:00

Finally I found the right plot for the scene with this model. Some local partisans are exchanging information with the crew. The enemy is not far away. I started the figures yesterday. The armateurs are mostly ready. I'll be having some time off this week so a update will follow shortly.

Kosmiczna kawalkada

2009-12-09T21:01:00.002+01:00

W końcu udało mi się sfinalizować pracę nad tą fanaberią. Kolejne płótno czeka.
Miłego oglądania.

"Prowling Panther" from I./4 Pz Reg., Italy 1944

2009-12-06T12:30:00.008+01:00

Choć budowę modelu Pantery zakończyłem jeszcze w czerwcu to dopiero teraz zebrałem w sobie siły by zbudować do niego dioramę i wyrzeźbić figury. Jak na razie udało mi się zrobić podłoże sceny.
Sceneria przedstawiać będzie fragment włoskiego krajobrazu z takimi charakterystycznymi elementami jak wapienny murek czy drzewo oliwne.
Powoli rzeźbię też figury grenadierów z Hermann Goering Panzer-Falschirm Division.
Scena przedstawiać będzie kontratak Niemców na amerykańskie pozycje pod Anzio. W okresie walk o przyczółek Niemcy podejmowali wiele prób zniszczenia go, jednakże trudne warunki terenowe i niesprzyjająca pogoda uniemożliwiły skuteczne działanie sił pancernych.

English text soon...

Malarskie kontynuacje - Kosmiczna kawalkada

2009-12-03T22:56:00.004+01:00

Od czasu gdy skończyłem ostatni jesienny obraz upłynęły już cztery miesiące. Niestety teraz większą część czasu i energii pochlania mi praca, stąd czasu i sił na pracę twórczą mniej.
Jednak jakiś czas temu zebrałem się by przełamać ten impas i stworzyć nową abstrakcję. Jako miłośnik klimtowskiej twórczości postanowiłem zaczerpnąć z niej choć trochę i stąd pojawił się pomysł na poniższy obraz. Na zdjęciu jest jeszcze w stadium nieukończonym, mam jednak nadzieje, że nic nie stanie mi na przeszkodzie i będę mógł szybko go ukończyć (wtedy zaktualizuję galerię).

Długo szukałem tytułu dla tej masy kul i tak rozmyślając nad sensem tego malunku spostrzegłem, że przecież przedstawia on nic innego jak tylko gwiezdną kawalkadę i taki też otrzymał tytuł. Nie będę tutaj uzewnętrzniał moich wynurzeń na temat przesłania, idei czy też motywu dla którego namalowałem, a w zasadzie maluję ten obraz, powiem jedynie, że po prostu tworzę go z potrzeby tworzenia. Banalne, ale prawdziwe. Ideologię niech dorabiają inni...

snow Pz IV H, Tank Finished

2009-11-26T21:33:00.006+01:00

Galerię zdjęć uzupełniłem o fotografie skończonego modelu. Dalsza część relacji będzie dotyczyła budowy podstawki i figur. Więcej niebawem.

I added some photos of the finished model to the gallery. I will continue posting more sbs stuff concerning this project later.

Link do galerii:

Gallery link:

http://artibusgallery.blogspot.com/search/label/Dioramas

German POW #5 - Painting contiunes

2009-11-22T21:46:00.003+01:00

Kontynuując prace malarskie nad figurkami niemieckich jeńców zdecydowałem się przemalować szalik pierwszej figurki, aby dodać jej nieco żywszych kolorów.

More progress on those two surrendering Germans. I repainted the scarf of the first one, simply because I needed some color diversion for the figure, red and yellow are nice accents.

Zacząłem także cieniować drugą figurę, na razie udało mi się popracować trochę nad przodzem płaszcza:

I also started adding highlights and shades to the second figure:

It was a busy weekend.

German POW #4 - Painting in progress...

2009-11-19T23:09:00.004+01:00

This evening I continued painting the first POW figure, the overcoat is nearly done, hands, belt, shoes and trousers still need attention.

I used three color palette for painting the overcoat, the base color was Vallejo Panzer Aces Feldragu 335, the shades were created with a mixture of PA Feldgrau and PA no 337. The highlights were painted with no 335 and VMC Beige 70917. I'll probably have this one ready before the weekend.