"Slow Blades" - 1/72 Chechen War, Work in Progress

[Greg147]

Hi all,

As I mentioned in my last topic, I've started work on a new project, set during the conflicts in Chechnya.

The scene will dipict a Russian Spetnatz team, whose extraction chopper has been forced to crash land after taking heavy fire from rebel machinegunners. As the Russians set up a hasty defense around the crash site, rebel forces close in for the kill, bringing with them an old, yet fully functional, T-55 tank.

At the moment nothing is fully completed. The tank will have some weathering added, the chopper will have battle damage, and the farmhouse will be blended into the terrain with bushes, paths and fences. The base will have dozens more trees, as well as hedges and stone walls.

Basically, there's a lot still to do

Anyway, here's some pics of my current progress.

Here's a few of the trees. I'm currently experimenting with how to create the best looking ones, but they're all pretty similar.

The T-55 up close.

And about half of the Spetnatz commandos. Note flight engineer on the right hand side. As the only surviving member of the crew, he's taken up a fallen comrade's Dragunov in an attempt to protect his new team mates.

So that's it so far. At the moment, I'm stuck with making the walls for the base. Does anyone know of somewhere I can get a bag of small rocks or pebbles that I can use? The only places I have found are aquatic stores, and they seem to only stock sparkley ones...

 

[yak face]

Hi greg , great work so far, the crashed chopper looks excellent, loving the little touch of the crewman with the rifle too. For your rocks why not try budgie grit , most pet shops stock it or if theres a wilkinsons down your way ,they have a kilo bag for about 60p. Hope this is of some use, cheers tony

 

[spanner570]

Nice build so far Greg, nicely modelled chopper.

Re. pebbles. I get mine from my drive way...any scale you want and free!

Ron

 

[Greg147]

Thanks for the comments guys. My first thought was the drive-way, but the smallest ones I could find were around twice the size of my 1/72 figures

Fortunately, there's a Wilkinsons down the road from where I work, and I managed to find a bag of non-sparkley aquarium gravel for £1.29. Considerably cheaper than any the aquatic stores were offering, so good call on that one. Now I can get on with the walls, and make that base look a little less empty.

Oh, and as a minor update, the Spetnatz just got their hands on something that may level the playing field against that tank...

EDIT: On looking at those photos, I can see some specks of figure without paint. I'll be fixing those ASAP

 

[noble]

Iam viewing this on my way home and i like it so far the crashed helo is nice, keep up the good work.

scott

 

[Greg147]

Hi all,

Sorry for the lack of an update. I've had a minor computer problem recently that's stopped me from getting online. By minor, I mean I had to have it send it off and wiped clean back to factory settings

Anyway, here's where I'm currently at:

I've built the walls up, added some foliage, and started placing the figures down in their final positions.

The figures with the bases still attached are in temporary positions, but chances are I'll just cut off the excess plastic, and stick them down where they are. I've also added some more debris around the crash site, which you can see here:

Here's some close ups of the walls:

And a pic of the rebel RPG teams. The guy in white is surposed to be in urban camo, but he looks a bit artic at the moment.

Here's the house at present moment. Thinking of realistic clutter to put around it has been difficult, so I've settled with some barrels, hedges, a bike, and some logs.

 

[sprayman]

Great dio, just fab, wish my eyes could work on that scale.

 

[spanner570]

Coming together really well now Greg.

Excellent composition and I'm glad you were able to source some suitable materials to make your walls with, they look very good..Bit of a ball ache making them though aren't they? lol

Cheers,

Ron

 

[Richy C]

Looking good Greg , it tells its own story

Richy

 

[Greg147]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, it's nice to know people like it so far.

You're right, Ron, making the walls isn't the easiest task. Getting them to stand up straight while they were gluing took a elaborate arrangement of paint jars, and even looking at the pictures now, I can see they need a second paint job in areas I've missed.

 

[Greg147]

"Slow Blades" - 1/72 Chechen War Diorama

Hi all,

It's taken a while, but I'm finally calling this one finished.

I've learnt a fair few things to take onto my next projects, so I'm putting this one as a success. I'll probably notice some mistakes further down the line, and fix them when I do, but for now, it's complete.

This has been my first attempt at doing a crashed aircraft; in fact, it's been my first attempt at any aircraft since I was about 12. It is also my first attempt at making my own trees.

May I present the completed "Slow Blades", the desperate struggle of a small group of weary and battle-worn Russian commandoes.

Enjoy

Right then, with the end of one project, so begins another...

 

[Sky Raider]

Real nice work Greg, well done.

Andy

 

[Ferrets Bueller]

Nice work greg, loving the camo on those little guys

 

[Greg147]

Thanks for the comments guys, its good to know you like it