I´ve finished the vignette (or is it a diorama? where´s the line between those?). I was inspired by this pic that i found in the book "Laguksen rynnäkkötykit". It depicts vehicle No R-708 at Kuuttilahti on the Svir front in June 1943, during "gunnery practice" at Soviet fortifications. As you can see the vehicle is being reloaded in the pic. As i didn´t know anything about the turret interior i decided to swich the loaders for a fire observer.

The pines are mostly home made. The trunks are real pine twigs, and the branches are seefoam sprinkled with static grass. The ground work is amde of mosses from my back yard and the figure is a slightly modified Preiser German one.









Here´s a link to an earlier posting:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/47210/message/1246134182/BT-42+finished
Comments are welcome as always.
/Peter

Hi Peter

That ground work turned out terrific, very natural looking, the whole dio is very good.

http://gunnerswargamming.blogspot.com/

It wasn´t easy making those pines, but fun! So you would say it´s a dio and not a vignette, right?
/Peter

Hmmm well I would call it a Dio but it depends what your definition is for, if its to do with a competition category then you would have to seek clarification from the organizers. When I think of vignettes I think more of figures with any other stuff on the base there to highlight the figures, but I'm no expert in this area.

http://gunnerswargamming.blogspot.com/

Hi Peter

you have done a beautiful job on the trees and groundwork on that diorama, and the rotated turret & figure give it a real life.

cheers
Neil

Diorama and not vignette, eh?
Thx
/Peter

like it and love the ground work

Greetings Patrick

some of my workhttp://poky609.fotopic.net/

I only used natural materials from my own back yard for the groundwork. It´s amazing how much useful stuff you can find if you just look around.
/Peter

Peter,
You've built a beautiful kit, and the base looks amazingly realistic. The little touches are superb- like the tree on the engine deck.
If you don't mind a question, coming from someone who has seen only two photos of the BT-42: would it actually fire with the turret turned like that? I mean, the 4.5" has a hefty kick, and the BT is not the heaviest of vehicles- isn't there a danger of the tank heeling over to one side?
Nice work on the figure too, especially the tone difference between shirt and trousers.
best regards
Aris Kosionidis

You have a good point there. It´s true that the kick would be rather strong. I used the original (rather poor, against the light) original pic, where you can just make out that the turret is turned, as i thought that would make the layout more interesting. Perhaps the turret was turned to ease the loading procedure? Hmmm... perhaps i should cange it so that it depicts the loading instead, as in the pic. Then i have to build some kind of a turret interior. There just aren´t any shortcuts in this business.

/Peter

Clearly the original image is in a winter setting. Your diorama / vignette has no snow at all, and a warm light, so I strongly feel this is not in winter at all but in a different season altogether!

Seriously now, this is a very beautiful piece of work. I like the landscape even better than the kit. Very well done Peter!

About the turret position, I think it was just for loading not shooting, and the higher ground next to the road made life easier for the involved soldiers. My two cents only, regards, Pat

Hi Pat,
Yes, i think you and Aris are right about the turret. I just have to rebuild the thing, won´t i? To be continued...
/Peter

Peter,
If I knew my remark was going to get you into this much trouble...I'd have made it sooner !
Seriously, it's a lovely built model on a beautiful base- you shouldn't mess with it because I couldn't keep my big mouth shut (or put a waffle in it).
best regards
Aris Kosionidis

n/t

Aris and Pat,
Thanks a lot for your help. It´s for comments like yours that i post pics of my work here. You haven´t forced me into rebuilding the dio, i do it because i want to. I´ve already opened up the rear of the turret and i´m working on the gun breech right now. I still need to make the rear turret doors and find suitable loader figs.
I´ll post pics this weekend.
Thanks again, i really mean it.
/Peter