HOW TO MAKE WATCHTOWER Tutorial 1:72 Wargaming Diorama Scenario creation

This is my third video-tutorial, this time how to make a fast watchtower (it took me 15 minutes, with practice, and in factory mode, you can do them as fast as chips) and I hope I have improved about the other ones. I've made clearer, faster (x2 speed) and made sharper pics in the end. 


Thanks to the collaboration of the Byzantine soldier, the Varangian guard and the Alan archer who will remain anonymous to pose for the final pics :) . 

Hope you find it useful;

See finished pics below;




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Airfix Heller US MARINES World War II 2 u.s. infantry HO/OO scale 1/72 WW2 Set 01716 79616

AIRFIX 1:72 WWII US MARINES

The Box

The new box is the reuse of the artwork of the 1/32 figures, which is certainly very nice, very realistic. In the back they show you the actual soldiers and number of each pose, which is very appreciated. The second box is correct, although it reminds me a bit of Vietnam, more than WW2. Finally comes the Heller examples, which seems a modern soldier in North Korea or Irak more than anything else.

                         The Figures

SCULPTING - 8.0 out of 10

The sculpting is ok, these are old school 1/72, (originaly sold as HO/OO, which is 1/76) which come out to be quite small, even if you compare them with Esci soldiers they look small. Compare them with some Zvezda and you have a battle between Dwarfs and Elfs!

Sculpting is good, details are clear. My examples are Heller reissue, and some present a bit of flash. Probably the originals have no flash at all.


HISTORICAL ACCURACY - 7 out of 10

What you will see is that these men practically doesn't carry any equipment whatsoever, which makes them look strange while disembarking, but also is refreshing compared to some modern miniatures which are overpacked with absolutely all equipment that "oficially" was to be carried. If you consult some war photographs, you will see that most men in actual combat wore little more than their weapon and a pack of cigars. Besides this, there is some errors in the pouches and the disposition of equipment, but nothing too important.

By the way, the boat given is nothing else than a rescue boat, not a proper landing craft in any sense.

ARMY REPRESENTATION - 7.0

"The army representation score is the potential of the soldiers to be used for other purposes different to the one originally intended"

 All WW2 figures they are what they are, and you can only slightly modify them to change them of war theater or exact timeframe. These however, are so standard, and so lightly equipped, that they could be used with little modifications as a standard post-war army for many countries, like South American dictatorships, or in modern African conflicts. Painting and a changing a bit the helmet will be all you need for a quite convincing modern role.

FUNNESS - 7.0

"I feel that many reviews are oblivious to this point - there are fantastic figures, which you can´t say anything against, but they are just too "correct", maybe too static, and just boring. So I feel that this is an important point when deciding if you buy this set"

You get a nice boat, which is always fun, you get a man firing slightly up, a bazooka man, which I always like very much and is perfect to show him fighting against elevated coastal defenses, and you get plenty of prone poses which are perfect for the subject.

But we lack a general, at least a officer or just somebody giving orders, and maybe something else, something more special.

WARGAMING VALUE - 7.5

The wargaming value is good, they are actually in fighting and in very active poses. Just one man is not really fighting as it is just marching or walking around.

PRICE-VALUE RATIO - 7.5

"The price value ratio of this soldiers will vary between any shops you go to, and the best I can do is judge by their average price on eBay and online stores"

They're very easy to find on eBay, if buy lots is nearly impossible not to get some. And now with Airfix reissue you'll find them nearly in every store that can have miniatures. They are a bit few (44, because of the boat that eats the plastic of 4 figures!) but they are correct.

PAINTING AND GLUEING - 4.0

Luckily you don't have to glue anything, as it will be impossible with these so very soft plastic. As with most Airfix sets, their flexibility avoids breakages but is very annoying to paint.

OVERALL VALORATION - 7.0

A correct set, without much exciting things, their strong point are their very active fighting poses, their weak point being their dimensions (even between them, there are some big and others small) which makes them look feeble and weak.

Conclusion; their price and availability makes them a very nice addition, but they are not a first choice.

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"If you have painted these figures, I would love to include the pics in here, so everybody can compare and use this blog as reference when painting their soldiers. So if you want, send me a email with the pictures to tam_cob@hotmail.com and I´ll gladly include them"

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TUTORIAL; How to make a realistic tree for dioramas or wargaming in 10 minutes

Welcome to my first proper tutorial of this blog, and the first with video. I've always wanted to make trees for wargaming, but never found out how to do it fastly and without spending a lifetime making one pine tree. After following some advice on Benno Figures Forum, I found that my sawdust had mysteriously escaped my modelling boxes, but while searching for something else (damn, I've still haven't found 1/72 arab tents!) I found these vegetable fibres for Christmas Nativity decorating, and the same day I went out to the mountain and found the perfect dry bush. 
So, by chance, I had the perfect ingredients. I leave you with the video that explains everything;

If you've liked this tutorial and want to say thanks, the best way is just make a click on the advertising below, that will help me buy modelling materials and dedicate more time to the hobby and less to work!

Italeri AUTOCANNONE 3 RO with 90/53 AA Gun Lancia 3Ro + Italian Artillery Crew 1:72 Alzo Zero Wargames Approved nº7508 Italian Army truck with cannonAq

Today we make a very complete review, one that is a model kit and at the same time a set of soldiers, the Italeri Autocannone 3 RO.

 A quite impressive and big box, with the yellow round so you know it's not the typical Italeri kit. The artwork itself is a bit dull, and it almost shows the troops more than the vehicle itself. But the subject is too interesting to get distracted by the box.

THE KIT -7.5 >>

Being a fast assembly kit the score is a 7.5. I quite like fast assembly kits, as normally I don't see the reason to make a cab into 23 pieces when you can do it in one or two. Modellers that want further detail can add them buying a special resin set or improving with photoetched and plasticard. 

One of the curiosities of this set is that inside the box there are two sorts of plastic; hard plastic for the truck and semi-soft for the crew and the barrel of the cannon (presumably to avoid breakage). 

The kit itself is basic and of easy assembly, nearly not requiring any glue, but still with good detail. You really get a better result than with some old model kits still reissued today. 

One of the bad points is the lights, which should be round and are blended with mudfaces, and don't even detail with them, which sticks out quite a lot because the other things, even if made in few pieces, still have very nice detail.

The other issue is the dimensions. It is made to fit nicely with the figures, but these are a very large Italeri type.

The resulting kit is very sturdy and ideal for wargaming. With some improvements and dedication, can also become a first class model too.

I would have liked, however, to be able to fold up the feet, to make the vehicle into a moving position. But I understand that would have required many extra pieces, so it will be left to the expert modeller with lots of free time, to cut, sand and create.

EXTRAS - 8.5 >>

8 crew is a good extra really. Maybe some ammunition boxes or something like that would be welcome, but it is something you will have to provide looking in your box of spares.

Now we'll speak about the crew;

Sculpting - 8.0;

Nicely done, with a lot of detail and absolutely no flash. The projectiles are blended with the bodies, but it's not too important. 

These figures will not look too good along other 1/72 figures, like Caesar, and not very well either with Italeri's reissues of Esci sets.

Historical accuracy- 10.0;

Completely perfect, everything is right.

Funness - 5.0;

The other thing is the funness. These are absolutely official, completely and perfectly geared up as soldiers. I think it would have been nice to see some loaders bare chested, men without helmet , more casually dressed, or with the tropical one that was commonly used, like in here;

But I suppose it's not too important as Italeri does another artillery set where the crew are all wearing  these helmets, the Italeri 149/40 artillery.

POSSIBILITIES - 4.0 >>

Green or sandy, that's the question here. This vehicle was used until the 1970s, but it wouldn't have changed nearly anything.

So the possibilities here are doing a tanker version, 

PRICE/VALUE RATIO - 4.0 (eBay) 7.0 (Retail) >>

It is surprising that some Italeri models are nearly just not to be found on eBay. I found only one example, which at 12,00 € + 9 € shipping is very expensive in my opinion. In  I bought it retail  for 12 €, which is fair, considering is a big and bulky model of a lesser known vehicle with 8 crew. 

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HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE - 3.5 >>

"The historical importance score is determined by how many were built, and how much operational service they had, and how much influence they had on the conflicts they were involved in"

Just 150 were built, so it is not a Sherman in production terms. But nevertheless all of them did fight and were in the end destroyed, and there are plenty of wartime photographs. As with a lot of Italian vehicles, they were produced in small quantities but saw a lot of operational use. 

You can find out more here; http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/90/53_su_Lancia_3Ro

WARGAMING - 10.0 >>

This is one of the few model kits made especially for wargaming, as stated in the box. Easy assembly, good results, sturdy build. A 10.

OVERALL - 8.8 >> 

Italeri has made a great choice giving us a model never made before which still had it's share of operational importance, and is nice and powerfully looking such as this one. Thanks to Italeri we can at last represent the Italian Army decently, which without Italeri would be completely impossible, besides buying overpriced resin kits. 

In one phrase; At last a new and interesting vehicle for this period.

IMAGES OF FINISHED JOBS  (click on the pics to see them bigger)

Model kit made by myself.

Thanks to José Manuel Chasco, I can show you another great way of building this model (pics taken from this review; http://www.1-72depot.com/miniatures/1-72/scale-models/italeri-172-7508-autocannone-3-ro/);