The Making of WWII & Locomotives Series nº 53 (4)

That lazy guy JF is back to work!

That's right folks, when JF is on holidays, he is really ON holidays.

That means that placing a few pics in the blog for you guys to check out in simply out of the question.

That's what a civil servant mentality does to a guy...

The design of the overall placement of the buildings and models in this dio was CB's job.

Now you can check out how he did it.

Who could have guess that that black thing over there would turn out into a beautiful set of buildings (the bombed out part will be a bonus feature...).

Here you can notice the master's first hand, painting wise.

This first dry brushing looks really good.

Indeed, I can say that no self-respected bombed out neighborhood should do without one!

Next time enters the (bombed out) locomotive!

I mean, hope so, since a guy never knows when JF will decide to suspend all his personal activities for an indefinite amount of time...

Wake up dude!

BT

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 56 - by Carlos Briz

AFV's - Fairy Kikaku

Ki-84, F-Toys

(Class C50 locomotive - Japan National Railways)

Still in a trend related to "hot" environments, here we have another great (and brand new...) dio from our friend CB,this time related to the Burma T.O.

The fighter you can see in this dio is the Ki-84 (a.k.a Hayate, code named by the allies as "Frank").

This was one of the few Japanese fighters that could climb high enough and reach the B-29's in flight, but there were never enough of them to go around.

Here you can see another example of Japanese expertise in defenses and camouflage.

The Japanese were pretty tough costumers to dig out of similar defenses, since most of them did not know the meaning of the word "surrender".

BT

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 55 by Carlos Briz

AFV's - Fairy Kikaku

Storch - Takara

(Class FS 650 locomotive - Italian State Railways)

For sure, this heat wave that rages across the world demands an adequate response from our outstanding blog.

And here it is! A brand new dio, related to a "hot" environment!

(lame joke...)

Over you here have portrayed an armoured detachment of the 21st Panzer Division, that in my book was THE best unit in this war theatre.

Even with overwhelming inferiority in men and materiel, they could still sometimes draw circles around the allied forces.

The Pz I, II and III could do pretty good stuff in desert warfare, until the arrival of the Grant and Sherman tanks.

After that, they were nothing but potential scrap metal material.

BT

The Making of WWII & Locomotives Series nº 53 (3)

And now for number 3 - This is when CB comes into the picture!

Someway, somehow, ML's paper artwork found it's way into CB's work bench.

After applying the primary color, CB proceeded with the plannig of this dio, by the way of figuring out where to place his piece of choice: the locomotive.

But wait!

Before anything else, a guy has to work out the base of the dio.

This is where CB "The Carpenter" comes in.

As you can see, this guy does not buy his stuff in the nearest department store - given the fact that he has no department store no where near his place.

I could also do this...but I prefer checking out how CB does it.

There is more of this coming out after all, when that lazy guy JF takes the trouble of placing the necessary pics on the blog. 

You're on holiday dude! What excuse do you have for all that laziness now?


BT

The Making of WWII & Locomotives Series nº 53 (2)

And now for the construction work!

ML pushed up his sleeves and pulled out his masonry manual, I mean, paper manual, in order to do his business.

As you can see, all the pieces are precisely numbered and make for a perfect fit, after a few hours work.

The interior of the houses is in plain view, where every single piece of it's skeleton is hand made...in paper.

Even before the paint job you can notice all the nice detailing of this work of art.

Here we have the initial color that sets the stage for the contrasts and shading provided by the future colors.

There is one more to go in this series, hopefully soon!

BT

The Making of WWII & Locomotives Series nº 53

Yeah!

After thousands of requests from our trusted followers from all around the world, we finally convinced CB and ML to let you all in on their secrets.

And now here you have them!

We are going to show (in a series of 3 posts) all the planning that took place before the final result was achieved in this outstanding dio.

Once upon a time there was a something called a CAD, that is a computer program that does things that, I must confess, are quite beyond my limited comprehension.

Then, that "thing" evolved to a tridimensional "thing" - there is surely a technical term for this, that I will disclose to you if and when I figure it out.

This is the stuff that ML learned how to do when he worked for NASA (in his previous incarnation...).

 

As you can see, all the details of this dio were planned and programmed in advance - something that most modellers just cannot bring themselves to do.

Stick around and you will get a chance to glimpse some more goodies like these real soon.

BT

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 54 - by Carlos Briz

Vehicles - Fairy Kikaku, from Japan

Figures - Pendraken

Plane - F-toys (I guess)

(Class C 50 locomotive - Japan National Railways)

This guy does not know the meaning of the word "enough"!

Just when you guys thought CB was going to take a break from all of his recent hard work, here he comes again with another outstanding dio.

There they are: the elephants are the perfect 4x4 in a jungle environment!

The Japanese empire coveted the jewel (India) of the British empire above all else, but that was not meant to be. 

The Brits don't usually fancy blokes that go after their precious belongings.

BT

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 53 - by Carlos Briz and Mário Laranja

Buildings - Orange Scenics (Custom Work)

Sherman Tanks - WGS with Pendraken Crab

Half-track and Truck - QQmodels

Figures - Pendraken

(Class Mikado 141 locomotive - French National Railways)

Well, well, watch it and weep!

This is the first case I know of a joint-venture, modelling wise, between two of the BEST modelling artists in all of Portugal: 

CB & ML!

Don't worry JP, you are also among the best...

You too JF...

Don't think about it JMM...

Here we have a tipical French village, ravaged by war.

This locomotive also suffered the hazzards of war and nonetheless looks great!

Check out the details in the bust out buildings! 

This work is really outstanding!

You guys can search the Web all you want, but you will not find something similar to this anywhere else, since all the best modelling and wargaming artists in the WORLD are BT members!

YES!

BT

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 52 - by Carlos Briz

Gliders - GRAMODELS

Figures and Vehicles- Pendraken

(Class D 51 locomotive - Japan National Railways)

Gliders all the way!

And this time it's the Waco CG-4 glider turn!

This outstanding new dio represents an airborne assualt on a Japanese airfield in Burma, late in the war.

I recently read a book related to the last Japanese offensive in Burma (Road of Bones: The Siege of Kohima 1944, by Fergal Keane) that truly translates the hardships and horrors suffered by the troops on both sides, while fighting a siege in a jungle environment. 

A must read for guys interested in the Far East T.O., during WWII.

Check out another bust out locomotive!

CB is bent on turning his railway material into scrap metal!

The Waco glider had a really graceful figure.

BT

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 51 - by Carlos Briz

Glider - GRAMODELS

Figures and Vehicles- Pendraken

(Class 2-8-0 locomotive - French National Railways)

Well, after the Hamilcar it is time for the Horsa!

As you guys can surely notice, CB is on a roll now, where gliders & locomotives are concerned. 

The Horsa was another heavy duty cargo glider used in air assault operations, with the purpose of providing the airborne troops with the supplies and hardware necessary to "hold until relieved!" (whenever that could be...)

This is another awsome dio CB!

BT