# Vignette



## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

Just started a small diorama using an awards plaque as a base. I'm using an Italeri Willys MB Jeep, two Tamiya British infanteers, the Luftwaffe pilot from Italeri's Schwimmwagen and the Dutch civilian hunter from Master Box's Operation Market Garden British Paratroopers set along with a Tamiya Alsatian dog. The Luftwaffe pilot has been repositioned and had his head replaced to depict him surrendering and wearing a side cap. The civilian's shotgun had gone missing, so I replaced it by trimming down a Tamiya M1 carbine and adding double barrels from .040" rod.

The scenario is that an English hunter was out shooting hares in the moors who happened upon a shot-down Luftwaffe pilot and took him prisoner before chancing upon an Army patrol.

I decided to experiment with Celluclay by mixing it in a Zip-Loc sandwich bag with water, Burnt Umber craft acrylic paint and Elmer's Clear School Glue, then spreading it on the plaque and inserting trimmed green baling twine trimmed to 10-15mm long into the Celluclay. I then flooded the planted area with 50/50 matte ModPodge & water to fix the grass in place.

Now to let it dry for 24 hours and we'll see what happens.


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

Owen E Oulton said:


> Now to let it dry for 24 hours and we'll see what happens.


Well, the Celluclay set up well. After I posted the first message, I added some Woodland Scenics coarse turf in medium green. I've also taken some material left over from a friend's project, some plastic fern material with clumps of tiny styrene foam balls. I trimmed it into 1/8" clumps and glued them into fronds about 1/4 to 3/8" long, painted light pink and lavender to represent clumps of heather growing about the moors. I left about half the surface without foliage to represent a road where I'll place the Jeep


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

Well, a week later I actually find the original double-barreled shotgun and replace the kit-bashed one. A month of searching and it suddenly shows up. Oh, well, the modelling gawds work in mysterious ways, I guess I must've stabbed myself with a #11 and they accepted the blood sacrifice.


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

Owen E Oulton said:


> Well, a week later I actually find the original double-barreled shotgun and replace the kit-bashed one. A month of searching and it suddenly shows up. Oh, well, the modelling gawds work in mysterious ways, I guess I must've stabbed myself with a #11 and they accepted the blood sacrifice.


Well, I replaced the substandard Italeri Luftwaffe pilot figure. I got a MasterBox set with two pilots (one in flight gear, which I used) and two Helferinnen (basically, female concentration camp guards).

The pilot was originally depicted as lighting a cigarette for one of the helferinnen. To make him appear to be a shot-down pilot, I removed the head with its cap and substituted a Dragon US Navy SEAL head with a bandana to represent a bandage, and repositioned lighter-wielding hand to be in a sling; so it looks like he got a bit beat up bailing out... Just have to get around to doing the paint work. The MB figure eliminates the stiff mannequin-like appearance of the old Italeri one.

As for the female figures, I took one of them, a dog handler with a Great Dane (a.k.a. a German Mastiff or Deutsche Dogge) and altered her to more of an _Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS_ type by adapting the the other pilot's legs to give her jodhpurs, placing the pilot's cap on her head and giving her a pistol holster and riding crop. The real Ilse Koch was actually a dumpy- looking hausfrau, but I went more for the look of actress Dyanne Thorne from the movie who had a more predatory_ femme fatale_ look. Rather than posing her with the Great Dane, I took a set of Master Box US Marine dog handlers and gave her their three Doberman Pinschers for a more dramatic effect. I'm depicting Ilsa and her dogs in front of a stretch of chain link fence topped with barbed wire. She looks suitably vicious in that setting.


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