Too Bloody Quiet

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This gallery has 1.27% of the users' votes.

By: Cesar L. Martinez

Manufacturer(s): ESCI Matilda Kit, Airfix Figure

Modifications: Matild and Tank Commander built OOB and painted with acrylic mixture of Buff and White; Crete camouflage pattern is acrylic Deep Green handbrushed; given a wash of oils. Base is Plaster of Paris and glue mix; wall is foamboard painted with scrapbooking distress paint. Tree is a twig with scrub foam leaves; groundwork and moss, flowers, etc. are Woodland scenics diorama accessories.

Description: The scene is the 7th Armored Division of the British Army serving in Crete, WW2. I based it on a popular photograph of Matildas in that theater.

Judge 1: Good construction but there is a gap on the side armour plates. Very good camo paintjob on the tank, as well as good use of washes & decal appilation (7th AD did not have Matildas though!). The crew figure in the turret needs more colour variation a black beret & badge would do it. The mossy wall is a bit lightly covered in some parts exposing the white polystrene underneath.the weakest part of the diorama is the strange unnatural blueish green colour of the tree & scrub.The best part is the very realistic rust on the exhaust.
Judge 2: This is quite a simple diorama with one vehicle and two figures only. It fully reflects its title with both the soldiers attentively looking forward. My single advice is to make them looking in slightly different directions – it could make the whole work look interesting from different sides. The most eye-catching element of terrain is the tree of a strange color. May be it’s something wrong with your camera because the tracks seem to be painted in green which is unnatural. The wall looks like a badly painted piece of plastic and the ground have rather weird vegetation. The model you’ve chosen for your work isn’t the easiest one to build. The most difficult part of it is its chassis, and you haven’t avoided the typical gap between the hull and the side plates. The model is painted in an interesting camo, still, it wasn’t your best solution to dilute acrylics because green lines came out water-worn in some places. Still, you did good job using oils for washing, which is really the best part of your painting. I can’t say much words about figures since they’re either out of focus or in shades.
Judge 3: You've done a good job of a tired old kit and in the most part it is well built. The paint is generally convincing although it seems that you've painted the kit twice and the sandy base colour in the second attempt could have done with another coat as it has allowed the previous green camo pattern to show through. I have to agree with the other judges the ground work is quite a strange colour, it is never a good idea to use the foliage/grass material straight out of the packet as the manufacturers colours are always unrealistic, painting it makes it not only makes it more realistic but it then blends better with the other elements in the diorama. The tank is well positioned in the centre of the scene - naturally drawing the eye to it - but the base is the wrong shape –long and thin - forcing you to place the elements in straight line which always looks unrealistic. Although there are some problems with your diorama there are some good points, concentrate on improving the things the judges have pointed out and you’ll be on your way to the next level, keep up the good work.