panzer948

Wow Maru5137, Very kind comments. This thread has been a bit dormant for a couple of months but glad you found it and liked it. I had the opportunity to meet WNW staff at the IPMS Nationals in Chattanooga a couple of weeks ago and showed them pics of this dio on my phone. They asked me to submit to their site. They have since put a few of the pics in the readers gallery, which made me feel pretty good. Great group of guys that work there. I couldn't help by buy another plane from them that day (Gotha 1).

Thanks all for the very encouraging comments. This took me about a year to complete (and I didn't work on other builds at same time). It was nice to finish it and for it to come out the way I originally envisioned.

Thanks Kevin! Really appreciate your thoughts. I decided to play around with editing software and convert a couple to aged WWI looking images.... just for fun.

Figures In order to get the look of the pilot helping the injured crew member, I purchased four German Navy air and ground crew figures from Cooper State and did some parts swapping and heavily modified other arms/legs by cutting and filling with Milliput. I read somewhere to combine heavily modified figures that are connected prior to painting to ensure they look natural and mold them to each other using putty etc. I felt that really help me get the look of the injured guys weight on the pilot, even though it made painting more difficult. I used Vallejo acrylics for base colors but did all the recess and highlights using oils for both clothing and skin tones. I enjoyed painting these guys since WWI uniforms/attire were not consistent and allow you to use your imagination for color choices. A few more detailed shots Anyway, this project is complete. Now on to the next!

Diorama Construction The base bottom is plywoood with cut/angled Styrofoam glued down to represent the gradual relief from the bottom of the bay to the beach. I lined the sides of the base with basswood (later painted black and sealed with clear semi gloss) to cover those areas. This was also used later to cover the temporary damns I made to pore the water. The ground cover is Sculpt-a-mold with a mixture of fine to coarse sand and some organics. After the Sculpt-a-mold had dried, I painted the groundcover a light tan to yellow base coat using regular spray paint cans from the hardware store. This was later given darker earth tone washes and dry brushed with lighter shades using enamels. I added some driftwood material and vegetation (seaweed) below the water line since I knew I was going to keep the water surface fairly clear. I painted the beach area above the water line in similar fashion; but would later go back and add variations in tones using an airbrush since this area would be much more visible. For the water, I used a product called Magic Water. This was my first true water diorama; other than small ditches or pales of water, I had no experience with a large water scenes. Thus, I did a tone of reading and YouTube vids to figure out the look I was after and the technique. In the end, I found this product easier to use than anticipated and wouldn't hesitate to use it again. I followed the instructions and mixed it in several layers that did not exceed half an inch. For the first initial layers, I added a couple of drops of bluish green oil paint to tint the deeper layers, which I gradually decreased to no tint the higher I went. At some point I figured the depth I wanted the planes floats to be embedded in the resin and added it onto of that fully cured layer and attached it using JB Weld Epoxy Putty. I then added a couple more thin layers to top of the surface to engulf the floats about halfway up. This entire process took several days, with about a day or two of drying between each layer. Really, the hardest thing with the resin water is keeping dust out of it as it cured and avoiding trying to pick any out after it started to set. The first couple of hours you can still pull debris and move the resin around but once it starts getting tacky you really do have to refrain from touching it as it will show bumps once cured. The good news is that when you add the next layer, it usually hides the defects of the last layer. Believe me, I did this a lot, probably too much as I added a final layer about 2 days before an IPMS show which didn't really cure in time of me transporting the dio. Thus, my final layer was not my best and was a big lesson learned. The best thing to do is pour the mixture and immediately remove any debris and pop air bubbles and then cover the entire thing for two days. My best layers were when I followed that to a tee, with some showing no dust at all. The waves were simulated using Modge Podge Gloss, which is heavily shown on YouTube. This too was rather easy and allows you to make larger ripples and waves with a putty knife as it gets tacky. I did this in three sections (each side of the plane and then underneath). After this was dry I used white oil paint to represent the higher energy white water at the edge of the waves. I also used this to represent ripples around the floats of the plane. I used Acrylic Clear Gloss brushed across organic debris, leaves, etc. to represent the high tide mark of the beach. I then added layers of static grass (used the layer method described by WWS Products) for the sand dunes. After that had set I created the larger Sea Oats by painstakingly adding small bunches to individual strands of "Yellow Field Grass" from Scenic Factory. I even came across a Sea Life PE set by "Industria Mechnika" for some shells, crabs, and seaweed. I used carefully selected real branches/roots for the driftwood. All of this was glued down using Matt Medium.

Diorama Scene I finally have the W.12 on a proper diorama setting that I thought would be so applicable to the plane. As described in the 1st post to this thread, I am made the assumption that the W.12 1410 had added the black tar base floats by April 1918, which was documented on her sister W.29s aircraft from the same unit when the 1410 was written off that same month. Thus, I thought I would build a dio showing my imagination of the planes fate; that is an emergency (albeit controlled) landing in enemy territory near the coast of France. the environment is more of a tidal lagoon, bay, marsh, etc. Thus, I made a water/beach scene with low energy waves revealing minor damage to the engine area. The damaged included a couple of bullet holes in the right engine covers, with the fragile cover fallen off soon after reaching the shore. Finally I show the pilot assisting his injured gunner down the beach with hopes of reaching friendly territory or rescue. He is carrying his flare gun with hopes of signaling German aircraft nearby. Anyway, that was my imagination of what could have been. In reality I could not find anything on the real fate of 1410.

I finally have the W.12 on a proper diorama setting that I thought would be so applicable to the plane. Quick summary of products used for diorama: Terrain: Sculptamold with Fine to Coarse Sand and Organic Matter Water: Magic Water - tinted with oils in lower layers Vegetation: WWS Layered Static Grass and Field Grass by The Scenic Factory Figures: Cooper State Models - Heavily modified German WWI Navy Airmen and Ground crew combined into two figures.

Thanks, yes Aviattic makes some great decals. They went on better than the WNW kit decals.

Ignore the bolt. I needed something to help prop the plane up in a more natural position. The floats are weathered in prep for sitting in the diorama (water). Giving some battle damage allowed me to make an excuse to have the one cover off on the right to show all that engine detail.

Below is a final pic after sealing the decals with Mr. Hobby Semi Gloss, but before beginning the weathering process. . For weathering, I followed the same methods I use for armor models. I use some of the same techniques described by Adam Wilder and Rinaldi using mostly oil paints for both washes but also for fading, shading, and adding grime. I like how you can fade the oil paints into your base colors. Some refer to this as Oil Paint Rendering. For me, oils are the easiest to use since they give you a ton of working time and are easy to fix if you don't like the look. It takes longer but I need all the help I can get! I also used pigments for the exhaust and a little here and there for grime. The next few posts will be of the final plane after weathering, rigging, and mounting of guns and elevators.

Next came time to prepare some of the smaller details. I wasnt real happy with the kit guns, partly because I had a hard time rolling the metal cooling jacket (top image), therefore at the last minute I placed an order with Master Model for their PE set (AM-32-104) (lower image). As indicated above, I used GasPatch Models - Parabellum 14/17 for the rear gun. It too is a great kit. Note that this plane is modeled with minor battle damage, which will go along with the theme of the diorama. I thinned out the back of the panel with a dremel tool before cutting sharpnel holes with an X-Acto knife I painted the weapons by airbrushing them a semi-gloss black and then mixed Testors Silver with Raw Umber Oil Paint and dry brushed raised detail, getting lighter to a sliver color on the most raised details. I later added some Gun Metal pigment after I mounted them to plane. My next new challenge was the prop as I had never painted one to simulate wood grain. I looked into several methods of doing this. I ended up going with what I thought was easiest but maybe the easiest to mess up too. I painted it first with a light brown base color (photo above) and then masking areas with long strips of Tamiya tape to over-spray it with a dark brown color. I then drew over this with a mixture of fine ink pens and colored pencils to simulate wood grain. I then sealed it all this using a mixture of Tamiya Clear Red and Yellow to give it more of that wood stain look. I sealed this with several coats of Testers Clear Gloss from rattle can, with some light sanding in between. I used Mr. Metal Color for metallic bronze tips and metal hub.

Next it was time to prepare and trim the Aviattic Decals since they came on one large sheet. I have to admit, I was a bit worried about this step. After asking some fellow AMPS friends (I build armor too), I got the great advice of scanning the WNW decals and printing/cutting those out as my template. That way you still have your originals in case you mess up. Luckily, my cuts were on the money and I was able to match the new decals pretty close to the correct size WNW decals on the first try. This step was much easier than I thought so if anyone is on the fence about cutting your decals to shape, I would say go for it and just take your time tracing and cutting. Below is a pic of one of the wings after applying the Aviattic Decals. I was happy to see some of the pre-shaded light and dark areas show thru. I was extremely pleased with these decals. I found them very manageable and easy to apply. Just the right thickness for this application. For any areas that are not perfectly lined up, I used regular paint to touch up.

Wanted to update this thread with some final work on the W.12. Actual plane is done so wanted to take some pics and document what I have done to date prior to working on the next phase, which will be a beach scene diorama. First, as indicated above, I used Aviattic Decals, the weathered naval hexagonal pattern, instead of the kit decals. This was mostly because I wanted a weathered looking aircraft for late in the war and wanted to do some preshading of the ribs and let that show thru the applied decals. After Tamiya primer, sanding, primer, and more sanding; I then painted the fuselage, wings, etc. using Tamiya XF83 and XF57. I did a bit of preshading using lighter and darker shades of each color using my airbrush. For the wing tops that will be covered by Aviattic Decals, I kept the color similar to the under wing color and lightened that even further as I got away from the wing edges. I was worried if I painted the tops a different color my decal may leave some of that exposed if trimming them to short. For the wing ribs, I painted a Tamiya clear smoke over the unmasked areas adjacent to the ribs. I then sealed this with Tamiya Clear. The pics below show progress up to this point.

Thanks so much! I may take another pic after mounting it to the deck and adding some more touches. I hope the completed model doesn't cover up much of the work.