M3 Scout Car by Josef Raulston

Tamiya's M3 Scout Car built out of the box with the exception of a 50 caliber gun from Gaspatch. The model was finished with AK Real Colors acrylics and AK and Ammo weathering products.

M4A3 76 (Late) by Brad Raulston

Meng's late model M4A3 76 built out of the box with added Value Gear stowage and finished using AK Real Color paints. The weathering was achieved with AK and Ammo weathering products.

Panzerkleinzerstörer "Rutscher" by Chan Jackson

 Also known as E-5 (Entwicklungspanzer), the Rutscher was a late-war Wehrmacht vehicle produced in limited numbers. Chan built the kit out of the box and finished it with Tamiya and AK Interactive Late War German paints. The figures are the Stalingrad "Volkstrom" set. The base is a new offering from Vallejo and was painted with Vallejo, Hataka paints and Mig's Urban Weathering set.

Sturmgeschütz Sdkfz. 167 (StuG IV) by David Blankenship

 This is an attempt to bring Academy's 1987 boxing of the StuG 4 somewhat up to current standards of kit design without the addition of any aftermarket photoetch or parts. The kit's plastic armor side-skirts and hangers were thinned to prototypical dimensions, cut into sections, and hung. Fenders fashioned from thin aluminum and bent to make the vehicle appear like it had experienced some heavy use replaced the kit's. The supplied "rubber-band" tracks were cleaned up and painted for as realistic a look as possible.  The model was painted with a custom mix of Tamiya acrylics for a match to late-war Dunkelgelb.  

So, what started as a simple out-of-the-box build as a break from the 1,000 piece kits that are common these days, turned into something more involved but was a satisfying project that wasn't overly time consuming.

Italian Semovente M42 in German Service by Chan Jackson

This is a newer (2021) release by Tamiya featuring the old Italeri Semovente M42 da 75/18 molds with three new figures from Tamiya. This diorama was constructed using some additional Dragon figures, a VLS "Italian Villa" base and was finished with Tamiya paints, Mig weathering pigments and washes.

 

M18 Hellcat by Terry McKeown

Terry's build of Tamiya's recently released M18 Hellcat set in a small diorama. The diorama base is Miniart's "Country Road" vacuform finished with craft paints and tea leaf "ivy" on the wall. The Hellcat was painted with Tamiya and AK 3rd Generation acrylics. The figures are all from Tamiya and the packs and gear stowage is from various sources. Tissue paper was used to create the tents and tarps.

 

 

"Cossacks" Diorama by Chan Jackson

 Chan used Zvezda's Cossacks set and one of Doug's Original figures in this diorama of Cossacks in pursuit of retreating German forces.    The vehicles are an abandoned Italerei Horch and a Techmod T-70. He used Mig's winterizing set for the winter diorama effects on the base and Mig's Winter Camo set for the T-70. Since building this diorama, Chan found another Doug's Original Cossack and will attempt to somehow fit it into "Cossacks".