this very simple (and fast) work is intended to depicts an incident during the battles for Tunisia in North Africa. A detachment of the Deutsches Afrika Korps launches itself against the still inexperienced US troops, fighting through mountain passes in this country. The title of the work is also a tribute to the name of the book written by Field Marshal Rommel in 1937 on infantry tactics.
An Academy M3A1 Stuart tank and figures from Tamiya and DML were used in this work.
Thanks, Richard! I forgot to say the M3 is disabled. There are two holes (in and off) of a 5cm PAK 38 not exploded grenade through the turret (barely visible). I will post the figures to complete the story.
I was a little hesitant to post a scene like this, but nothing that hasn’t happened at some point, for both contenders.
I just used what was available on the workbench at that moment.
There’s also a bit of nostalgia in how dioramas were made back in the 70s…
Excellent craftsmanship, but the US flag never had (not even in Donald Trump’s wildest dreams) 52 stars in the canton (48 in WWII) and if the vehicle were disabled by 2x PAK 50 hits on the turret front, why is the port track broken?
Hi Robert!
Regarding the error on the flag, it would be more appropriate to send your feedback to the Academy itself. The flag decal comes with the kit. And honestly, I’ve never counted how many stars the flag has.
As for the broken track, for me this serves as a visual indicator that the vehicle is disabled, as I didn’t want to make it exploded or burnt, since that’s beyond my capabilities.
Sometimes I like to use the “Sepia” effect in photo editing software to transport the scene back to the past. But “B&W” also works very well.
Thank you!
Great subject The desert campaign never seems to get enough love! So, I really appreciate the subject matter. I like that the tank had a “light” weathering on it, but the German troops were really dirty. I think that follows historical scenarios.
What I really like is the mystery behind the scene. You don’t know if the taken was disabled a month, a day or an hour before. It’s nice to see a snapshot in history, and ask yourself, what is the back story.
Yes, you do: it’s on an active battlefield and the machine guns and stowage are still on it. If it had been hit longer ago than in the current battle, it would have been either repaired on the spot (by the Americans), towed away (by the Americans or the Germans), stripped of usable parts (by Americans from its unit or a repair unit) or looted (by the Germans, local people and/or Americans from other nearby units).
