Contact! Durga I:RE & Idel Mayarl

Get to do a box pic for the first time. Everything is listed in the project except for the white metal soldiers. I don't have a box or anything for them else I would upload them to the site. Not sure what brand the Soviets even are either. Yes, the Germans are Africa Korps. I've already checked out their sculpts and they aren't wearing shorts or any desert hats so they're good for the Eastern Front. Some of them are wearing goggles but it shouldn't be to obvious in the final product. Getting 1/100 soldiers with good poses was hard enough already so I didn't feel the need to spend more time hunting for the perfect models that may not even exist. 

Getting started with the build. The first thing I needed to do was build a couple of the appendages to check fits and to get a general idea of scale for the diorama. This is the grabby arm on the Idel Mayarl, it's an old kit, 1984, so there are a lot of mold lines and ejection marks to work on. 

Testing the hand fit on the arm of the Durga. If you haven't seen a Frame Arms before it comes with the body already built in the box as they use a standard skeleton for the line.

Fits so far but we'll have to see how it does with the armor. 

Built the Durga's lance, another thing I need measurements on. Building a 2018(?) kit next to a 1984 one really shows how much quality has improved. 

The main body of the Mayarl. Once I have all the main pieces built, I'll tape them together to get an idea of how it'll look and act while standing. 

Got the body "completed" with some tape. Not really glued much yet, just what I needed to do to get it standing.

Looking at this photo I noticed one of the bits is on the wrong way, that's why I haven't glued it yet lol. 

Yes, those are ejection marks inside there. I'm not sure I'll actually be able to do anything about those.  

Quick update on the Durga.
Just dry fitting everything for the pose test. This model fits together much better than the Mayarl so I'm a bit worried about when I'll have to take it apart again because it has so many pins and connectors inside. Should be alright though, also just trying to ID areas that might need filling or glued later. 

Alright got the frames both built, test pose #1 looks good. I don't really like how the knee is suspended off of the ground though. Going to keep working on it. 

Different angle, you can kind of see how the knee doesn't make contact. 

This one is a bit awkward, I want to have the spear stabbed into the ground so it'll take some more fiddling to find the perfect pose. 

Also, finished up the durga with all its add-on armor. Right now I've already taken it back apart and I'm going to start filling seam lines and gluing some parts together this weekend I think. 

Here are all of the tiny tanks. Pretty decent quality for 1/100, only major problem is that the t-34 is missing the hull mg which I'll fix with some wire. The snap-fit also leaves some weird gaps so I'll need to probably just cut all that stuff out to glue it together. 

Getting ready to put the model together, taped up for the tamiya putty to fill all the seams. 

Filling begins, I have to do this in stages as I put the model together. 

Sanded smooth. I also hit all of the surfaces with a 1500 grit sponge to ensure paint will stick. 

This is as assembled as I'm going to have this get before painting. The panels and hand won't stick together without glue.
Not sure why the bit in the middle looks slanted in the photo, I just checked and it is lined up perfectly. 

Honestly not bad for such an old kit.  

Decided to take a break from mechs to work on the soldiers, just cleaned up some slight mold lines and selected which would go in the diorama.
Wish I knew what company made these, they're very good quality for how small they are. 

The guy pointing and running in the front is what convinced me to buy this set. 

Soviets. Based on how chunky the guns are and the base shapes they're not by the same company. There's definitely a cartoonish quality here with how big the helmets are.
Thinking about filing them down. 

This set also has some good shocked expressions, perfect for when two giant mechs crash down into your ongoing battle. 

Quick picture of the mg I put in on the t-34. Going to be spending a while now deconstructing and prepping the durga for painting. 

Durga taped up for the gap filling. 

And done. A very painful and long sanding session awaits... 

Located my baseplate. Don't think the dino bones will be staying on unfortunately. Need to do some measurements and cut it down some as well, it's a bit too big right now. 

That wraps up the mechs, painting coming soon. 

As a bit of prep I masked the only clear plastic part that I couldn't put in after filling gaps. Uniquely shaped and uniquely painful to mask, too bad there are 3 more to do lol. 

Decided to test out the basing, decided on this in the end. The lance is going to be stuck into the ground and the engine of the panzer II, the t-34 shot through with the cannon on the Idel Mayarl, and the T-26 crushed underfoot. I've been trying to work on how to not make this look like its a "german vs soviet mech" situation since it's not. It's more "these things dropped out of the atmosphere and we gotta go."

Maybe if I switched the T-26 and Pz II. Regardless neither mech will have any markings or paint scheme that could make them look like a WW2 combatant. 

Going to have the officer behind a little rock there, I do want him tilted up some so he looks like he's looking at the mechs. 

There's going to be a trench over on this side. 

One very long airbrushing session later... 

I did the airbrushing yesterday and got started on painting details on the idel mayarl tonight. Trying to think of a 3rd color that fits with the buff and yellow green. 

Some very poor woodworking on my part. The gash is going to be the trench, I just need to fill it in with a plaster mix and it'll look ok. 

Finished up hand painting the mayarl. Still need to panel line and put on decals so I'll be doing a gloss coat soon. 

Getting ready for round two of airbrushing. Need some more masking to protect joints and to fix some parts where the tape is on a overhang. 

Just got done with another round of airbrushing. Nothing super photogenic there so I'm uploading a pic of the waterslide sheet for the mayarl instead. I'm hoping that despite their age that they'll cooperate but who knows really. 

I wanted to see how it looked so I peeled off just one leg, pretty cool to be honest. I plan on going back for a third and final color tomorrow or maybe sunday if I have time. First I need to clean up some of the lines though. 

I've heard that if you stare into the roll of tape long enough, the tape stares back. 

Last coat of camo done. Not peeling off any tape just yet so I'll have to see how it looks tomorrow. 

Quick teaser of another thing I'll be posting tomorrow. Nearly finished with decals on the mayarl so all it will need is a clear coat to seal. Annoyingly the little "I" shape on the head crinkled itself up and somehow moved a bit to the left when setting; truly painful stuff but that's how it's applied. Maybe I can use some microset to unfix it and just do it with paint. 

In my "lightbox" here is the completed camo pattern. Still a lot of details to do but luckily no decals. You can see there are still some parts that aren't attached yet either which I will be getting to soon. 

View of the back. 

It's hard to see the whole pattern so here's how it looks on just a leg. 

Decals are done on the mayarl. All it needs is to be sealed and it'll be done. 

Some different angles, I'm thinking about keeping it glossy since it's very bulbous and it might look better that way. 

Still need to figure out what its final pose is going to look like. Don't plan on gluing joints though, the polycaps on these are strong enough that I don't need to. 

Today was soldier painting day. Honestly these models work pretty well for being DAK troops. The only odd thing is that they have goggles and the office has what I think are desert-style boots on.  

They're all pretty well kitted out. I've been reading some old 1/72 reference websites like On the Way Models and decided to test out using pencil lead for a metallic effect. Honestly it looks pretty nice, I may have to get some graphene powder. 

Soviet troop lineup with their nice camo jumpsuits. 

I actually had to find out about the camo pattern from a game I play. I realized partway through painting that all of the Soviet soldiers I had were wearing a particular baggy jumpsuit and I couldn't find where I'd seen them before or any references until I remembered the game lol. I think the pattern is known as "amoeba" camo and was used for assault pioneers, recon and some snipers. The airborne "desantniki" also wore a similar jumpsuit but without the camo or hood piece around the shoulders. Since they had the hood and do not have the assault pioneer body armor plate I believe these are mid to late war scouts. 

Everyone in various stages of fight or flight. 

I also used the game reference to see what color I should make their little pouches. They have considerably less gear than the Germans, only the pouch and some have canteens. 

Finally put all the pieces together for the first time. 

This backpack thing is way too heavy, it keeps pulling the torso backwards. 

Presenting the spear. 

Then tragedy struck. Any mecha builder will know the pain of the broken leg pin. 

I cut up an old nail that looked about the same width. 

Perfect fit. 

Finally get to show off the layout. Imagine the durga is reaching for the spear. 

These tanks are going to be absolutely wrecked in the final. Soviets are in complete disarray here. 

Germans also on the retreat. 

Beginning to actually attach things to the base. 

The Idel Mayarl saw that the Durga broke a piece and wanted in on the action. This one is definitely going to be more difficult to fix, I'll probably just superglue the joint instead of fiddling with plastic glue. 

First bit of destruction on the upper hull of the T-34 here. Still needs some cleaning though. 

Quick look at the base, needs cleanup but it looks a lot better than it did without paint. 

Got around to doing the basecoat for the tanks, no fancy camos since I already used all my will to do 1/100 camo on the Durga. 

This is all going to be blended into a molten metal look with reds, oranges, and yellows soon enough. Don't think this will be driving anywhere anytime soon. 

Looks better than I had expected it to. One miraculous bounce but otherwise this crew is cooked. 

Some overpen, I'd wanted to do more but I figured that future shells have smart(er) detonators. 

Panzer II got completely flipped. I wanted to do some sort of dent into the armor where it got kicked but couldn't think of a way to do it that would look nice with the tools I have. 

Gun barrel dented. 

Layout overview. I plan on putting grass down next, and with some detailing on the tanks and rods into the mech feet I'll be done. 

First time trying wet blending, it's alright. 

Got down the turf layer, grass will be next. 

Tanks are basecoated, panel lined, and ready to weather. 

More wet blending. 

Had to hand paint the cross since I don't have any decals small enough 😛 

Did some weathering on the tanks just with some new ak weathering powders I got. Had to hand draw the star like I did the cross. 

Actually had to weather the bottom since this tank will be upside down. 

I like the way the treads look. I realized a bit after I finished that I'd read somewhere that soviet treads rusted very quickly, too late to rust them now though. 

Also completed the grass application, pretty much the only thing left to do is mount the mechs. 

And we are done. I'll share some thoughts on the project throughout the photos of the finished diorama. 

The size of the base was definitely just right for this. It's still somewhat crowded but if it were any larger I wouldn't have anywhere to put it. 

Pretty proud of my work on the earth and grass this time around. 

The awkwardness of the pose definitely changes as you rotate your view lol. 

Detail shots now. I think I did okay on the wet blending but I wish I was better at OSL. 

I think the officer had been facing upwards more before and he somehow sunk down, oh well. 

Rough landing. 

The trench turned out well enough for how rough it initially was. 

I think the only thing I wish I'd differently was to account for the sheer about of armor the Durga would have on, and how much that would restrict movement. 

Mechs turned out well. This is the first time I'd used an airbrush for mechs so it was definitely a learning experience. 

The more I think about this guys placement, the less sense it makes. 

You can really see how tenuous the hold is here. One claw is hooked okay but the others are scraping the surface. If I could go back I would have planned the pose better and done some battle damage there to give a stronger impression of a grasp. 

I also think it would have been good to gouge out some places for the feet for more impact. 

Pretty happy with the impression that the Durga just was wrenched off of it's lance. 

Alright that's everything. If you're reading I hope you enjoyed the (admittedly poor) photos. Going for something much more subdued for my next diorama, I'm about to upload the plan for it in a second here.