Inspired somewhat by the movie “My Way” and also looking for a good reason to build a type 89 i decided to build a khalkhin Gol diorama. The Type 89 is from fine molds and the BA-3 is from eastern express. The figures are warriors Russian tankers and fit almost perfectly with the BA-3. The diorama depicts a BA-3 crew admiring an abandoned Type 89 with one crew member looking onward and the other two inspecting the vehicle.
For the diorama base i used a master touch 8x10 frame from hobby lobby. I used modeling clay as the ground base then used ammo mig sand to create the groundwork. I cut up model railroad wheat grass from hobby lobby. Once applied I primed it in black and began painting. The ground color is ammo mig brown soil and earth tones from ammo mig. The grass was painted with mixing ochre, yellow zinc and panzer yellow to achieve the dried grass effect.
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Nice job. I have this same Fine Molds Type 89 kit after winning it in my local AMPS meet. Still trying to get around to building it. Was it an enjoyable build?
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Looks really nice! I went crazy recently and bought a whole mess of Fine Molds armor kits. I have plans to do a couple Khalkhin Gol dioramas myself.
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@Panzer948 surprisingly yes i had few issues with the kit. I forgot it had rubber band tracks but these were easy in deal with and weather.
@ImjinScout87 to be honest i did the same two years ago. I try to have a diorama for every build and there’s one kit i can’t for the life of me figure out a scene for. They are great but and would recommend them for the IJA enthusiast.
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I have all of the Finemolds IJA armor kits, plus IJA kits from 6 other manufacturers, and a few conversions from Modelbau for non-kitted variants. Finemolds are fantastic kits. Easy and enjoyable builds, usually requiring no putty. Tamiya quality in fit and engineering. Far superior to Tamiya in detailing. Outstanding kits. You can build up a huge IJA force if you hunt down the kits.
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Excellent job Greg! The vehicles are very nicely done and the ground work looks excellent as well. The figures came out great too. I really like the way you set up the scene with the vehicles at an angle- a wise use of the base.
Your work has improved tremendously over the years Greg- keep up the good work!
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@SSGToms somehow i think it’s more feasible to get all the IJA kits in 1/35 then all the German ones lol.
@metalhead85 thank you for the compliment. My father said something similar a few months ago when i saw him. I saw some of my first dioramas as an adult and compared them to what I’ve done now and I’m quite happy with my progress. I’m really pleased with my figure painting skills. It’s not perfect but it’s amazing what watching videos and replicating can teach you.
The ground work for this clay rather then papermache. It’s easier to work with and is more forgiving as well as dries better. I do feel bad about covering it sometimes with ammo mug dry mud or desert sand products but i think it’s made a big difference.
The angling of the vehicles is something i read in Shep Paines books as well as remember the comments of angularity in a diorama and not being parallel with the base.
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