So following on from my recent DAK Pzr Grenadier build thread I thought you all might like to also see the pics I took while putting together the Kettenkrad diorama that he is now displayed with.
This was put together about a year ago now, and consists of a DiD Kettenkrad with trailer, a 21st Century Kettenkrad wit a Dragon trailer, a 21st Century motorcycle combination and 8 figures (if you include the Pzr Grenadier detailed elsewhere.
Lets start with the Vehicles. The 2 kettenkrads are quite different in their levels of detail as you can see, with the DiD being significantly more accurate to the actual vehicles. The DiD is also designed so that it can be relatively easily converted to Radio Control.
The backgrounds seen here are posters bought from the internet, and the sandy ground is done with war gaming mats.
The 21st Century Motorcycle combination I had already prepared for another diorama, but used it here instead, so there are no pictures of it being prepared. It did get new crew, but more on them later. The bike itself does not represent any actually
WWII German motorcycle that I can find. There are bits of what look like BMW in there and bits of Zundapp I think, but it doesn't look too out of place.
The 21st Century Kettekrad needed to have its towing bar modified by drilling a hole in it, and then fabricating a pin which would secure it to the Dragon trailer.
After this was done Both Kettenkrads had markings and number plates applied, detail painting done and a little bit of weathering, and I began to load them with gear (an ongoing process until they look right to me).
Whilst doing this I also started to put together the uniforms and equipment for the crews. I can't tell you exactly what figures I used, as most of them were spares I had lying around. The uniform and equipment parts are DAK parts from any number of different makers including Dragon, DiD and 21st Century to name a few. As you will see from the pics their looks evolved as I acquired new parts etc... whilst the build was in progress.
This is the eventual crew for the DiD Kettenkrad.
And the 21st Century Kettenkrad crew.
The Motorcycle combinations new crew.
With these figures I like to treat each one as its own separate model, using as many photographs from the period as I can find to try and get things looking the way they should. I appreciate that they should probably look a lot more dusty and weathered but they are done to suit my taste which is for a less weathered look. I have 1-1 kit for most of these uniform and equipment parts and I will sometimes try out wearing the kit as the figure will be to see if it actually works or not, how comfy it is, whether you can sit down in it etc....
Here is the DiD Kettenkrad all crewed up.
The 21st Century one.
and the Motorcycle combination.
And lastly the completed Diorama (not that these things are ever complete right
)
Some of these pics are taken against the backdrop I used with my Pzr II and some are where this is normally displayed with no back drop due to the mirror that can be seen.
If you got this far, I hope you enjoyed this thread, and as always any comments are most welcome.
Thanks
Paul
#DAK #WWII #german #military #vehicle #kettenkrad #motorcycle #diorama #modern #ww2
