nightshiftmodeller

So guys we did it

Added 2020-11-10 22:38:23 +0000 UTC

There's no going back now, the fir branches are glued in place 😁 I was so nervous in the morning when I was starting to work on them - are they gonna look too artificial? Out of place? Not fit the model at all? Well, I've put a lot of effort into them and I think it was worth the entire day!

So again, they're made from Asparagus fern, but it's not just "out of the box" 😊 I adjusted their shape, removed some of the needles and also glued some of them to dried plants which I found outside in order to build up larger branches. Then I sprayed them all with a mixture of Flat Earth and German Grey which serves as a base coat for the wood and also lays down some shadows. Next round was Deep Green and Park Green sprayed only on the pine needles, followed with the same mixture but with a lot of Yellow Green added, this paint was sprayed towards the outside in random shapes. Then I carefully picked out the wooden parts (or rather parts that are supposed to be wood) with Vallejo paints and a paintbrush. This process made the rather meh Asparagus branches into something that might've come from a 1/35th scale fir tree!

And in order to blend them nicely with the model, I also added the same earth tones like I did on the tank. Mostly just in form of light irregular earth washes here and there and some heavy speckling towards the bottom where they're near the tracks. The thicker branches received some diluted dark brown washes to accentuate their bark texture and that was it! Sounds rather quick, but this was uncharted territory for me so I had to take my time and think about each step 😁

Branches were usually tied to tanks, or held in place by steel wires, however the actual Jagdtiger seems like they were just stuck behind spare tracks, tow cables and tools, so I think I'm gonna leave them like that. Oh and of course I tried to match their placement and shape according to historical photos!

Next up: jerry cans and other junk!