Hobbies B.C.M. (Before Collecting Militaria)

[bravotwozero]

Here are pictures of some of my work before I got into collecting militaria.

This one is a mixture of 1/72nd and 1/76th scale models and figures. I entitled it "Operation Barbarossa". I wanted to capture the speed of the Blitzkrieg strategy, showing officers making battlefield decisions while POWs are being marched off to the rear. The bridge itself was scratchbuilt from popsicle sticks and tongue depressors. It took me about a year to complete this. Here are the photos:










The diorama with a dollar bill for scale.


This was my first attempt at a diorama setting. The diorama itself is about 22 years old (man, I'm old!). So many things that can be improved but I've decided to leave them as they are.

[labrador]

Very nice! I do believe i saw this entered in a model show...Or was this built in the US?

[kalbs]

That is very cool and you did so well working in such a small scale. I love it! When did you make this Diorama?

[DAN SAN]

perfect for space... impressive! dragon is now selling 1/72sclae with figures.. how fun is that!hehe

[medic]

Very nicely done small, but difficult diorama. What did you use for water effects?

[bravotwozero]

Dec 11, 2010 19:34:36 GMT 8 labrador said:

Very nice! I do believe i saw this entered in a model show...Or was this built in the US?

This was Made In The Philippines! And you are right, I entered this diorama at two model shows. One was at the Philcite Transhow where it didn't place and the other was at Harrison Plaza where it won "Best In Diorama". Great memory you have there.

[bravotwozero]

Dec 12, 2010 7:55:07 GMT 8 kalbs said:

That is very cool and you did so well working in such a small scale. I love it! When did you make this Diorama?

Thanks! I was excited with this diorama. I think I made this diorama around 1988-89. I was inspired by a bridge crossing diorama featured in a Tamiya catalogue. I used that bridge as a reference, the main diffrerence is that, in the Tamiya Catalogue, the Germans were retreating. On mine, they are advancing.

[bravotwozero]

Dec 12, 2010 15:02:54 GMT 8 DAN SAN said:

perfect for space... impressive! dragon is now selling 1/72sclae with figures.. how fun is that!hehe

That's one thing I like about small scale tanks and figures, you don't require a lot of cabinet real estate to display scenes. Plus, the scale models are way cheaper than the larger scale ones!

[bravotwozero]

Dec 12, 2010 19:09:44 GMT 8 medic said:

Very nicely done small, but difficult diorama. What did you use for water effects?

Thanks! I used just a clear sheet of acetate for the water effect. Pretty laughable by today's standards. There are a lot of ways now to simulate water but at the time this was the best way I knew how.

[bravotwozero]

When I got here to the U.S. I found that scale models are relatively cheaper here than in the Philippines (my salary went further). So, I ventured into larger scale. I started buying the 1/35th scale Dragon figures. In Manila, I can only drool for these at the model stores (mentioning on another thread that Ron Volstad's artwork just drew me in).

Here's another one of my first attempts, this time at 1/35th scale. I think these figures represent the SS during the Ardennes Offensive. I was pretty brave to paint camouflage patterns with only the box art as a reference. For those of you who know the different types of SS Camouflage Patterns, you won't find them here. These are not the Oakleaf or Pea Pattern types but rather the made up pattern called "Gucciflage".

It was only after I finished this mini-dio did I get my hands on fabulous Europa Militaria and Schieffer publications for reference. But just like in my Operation Barbarossa dio, I'll just leave this as it is.









Here are some shots to show the ground work where I tried so hard to make it look like it's both muddy and snowy.

[medic]

More nice work. You should try the Vallejo pigments everybody is raving about. Putting a base really makes a big difference.

[genemilioaguinaldo]

hmmmm....for me this may become H.W.C.M. - Hobbies While Collecting Militaria.

[bravotwozero]

medic - I have heard about those Vallejo hobby paints but I don't think I'll be buying anything related to models anymore. I still have tons of hobby paints which are probably all dried up now. I used to buy models and paints but never got around to building them. Unfortunately, I ended up being a kit collector.

genemilioaguinaldo - eventually that's what happened to me too. I was collecting Militaria, while collecting airsofts, books, 6th scale figures, videos, etc, etc. Talk about being obsessed!

[bravotwozero]

Here are some more pictures of my other models.

After attending a Scale Model Show, I've decided to try and just do a lone figure display. This is my first foray into resin kit. The one I chose is of a German soldier on the Eastern Front. My camo pattern is a little bit more accurate here now that I have tons of reference books to turn to.

[medic]

Nicely done as well. 1:35?