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Mark P Hartig
37 articles

Who's tired of C-Rations?

January 11, 2022 · in Armor · · 11 · 1.2K

This dates from late 2013, an idea that came to me out of the blue one day

The M-18 used, it gave me a decent base and assembled well. It was upgraded with a Verlinden interior set and ModelKasten workable tracks. The interior set was somewhat difficult to fit I recall and the tracks were fiddly but the improvement over the kit provided parts made the troubles worthwhile.

Figures are a mix of Dragon and Tamiya and I found the pig in a toy store after a long hunt for something of proper scale size, at the time I was unaware of the Tamiya offering of farm animals.

I note in the eight years since completion all my pigment weathering has pretty much vanished from the vehicle, now that I've discovered MIG and AK weathering enamels I may have to revisit this.

Reader reactions:
6  Awesome

6 additional images. Click to enlarge.


11 responses

  1. An amazing diorama, Mark!
    The pigment might have vanished, but, still, the overall weathering still looks really good.

  2. Beautiful diorama indeed, Mark @markh
    Great fun aspect too, the soldiers hiding for nature.

  3. I like it a lot, very nice idea and execution, great diorama

  4. Well done Mark, and who doesn't like the smell of bacon in the morning. Sure beats C-rats.

  5. Well done! Great diorama idea. Smoke the whole hog!

  6. Thank you all gentlemen you're too kind

  7. Very cool Mark! ?
    I suspect that pig is about to disappear too. One shot behind the ear will do it...? ?
    And, for many extra "cool points", I love the GI with STG44! Great touch, and not that unusual to see in use but rarely shown in models. ?

    • If it was me I'd surely pick up an STG-44 over an M-1 as long as I could scrounge ammunition for it. The M-1 was a very good rifle but for forest, hedgerow, and street fighting the STG was better for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the 30 round detachable box magazine. Much easier reloading than the Garand's en block clip that only held eight along with select fire capability and chambered in a cartridge hotter than the 7.62x39, the STG was the world's first successful assault rifle.

      Thanks for the positive comments, this was another idea that had me grinning thru the whole project

      • Mark, I agree on every point. As much as I like my M1, I would sure pick up an STG44 on the battlefield if the opportunity presented itself. I've seen multiple pics of GIs who did just that!

  8. This a terrific diorama, well done!

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