Thursday, May 24, 2012

Dragon StuG III Ausf. B - The Home Stretch!


I'm finally in the final stages for this project and happy with how it's coming together.There's still a lot to do, and not a lot of time in which to get it done before the competition this weekend, but I'm sure it will be ready. Of course I have no idea how I'm going to transport the display without destroying the tree... but that's a separate problem.

The StuG itself is nearly complete at this point. I'll finish the weathering when I'm ready to attach the model to the base. Right now it's just sitting there -- likewise the figures are pinned but not glued as they're not finished either. This is just a composition check to make sure everything is where I want it and that it's all going to fit as planned.


Here you can see our happy tank crew enjoying a nice breakfast before they get back to killing and mayhem. I'm paying a lot of attention to how these guys look from the "front" arc of the display to make sure that the highlights all bring the eye to the tank. You can see some of that here, despite the poor lighting, in that the guy in the foreground has highlights on his shoulders to his right arm, the guy in front of him on his left arm, and the guy by the tank is brightest closest to the tank itself. All of the highlights work with the models themselves but the emphasis is placed to draw the eye to the central point -- the tank.


I left some negative space at the front corner so that the tank, tree, and crew would have a focus from the center of the "front" arc to draw the eye into the tank as well. I will add some bright, low foliage in that area to help with the focus.


And here is the nearly finished tree. I have some foliage to add and some to trim away. But if you look at the last StuG post you'll see that it started life as a wire armature. Unfortunately I couldn't find the foliage I really wanted so I've had to settle for my second choice. I had hoped to make this a birch but none of my local floral shops stock the dropping grasses I need. Alas.

I'll have final photos posted soon but probably not before the competition this weekend as time is getting tight.

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