It's been a few months, but I finally finished my third diorama ever. It's the first time I've ever placed structures in one, too. The diorama depicts an Italian M13/40 medium tank and its crew getting some rest after fighting their way through Cyrenaica to escape the British in February 1941. The road sign points to Tripoli, which is where Rommel and his Deutsches Afrika Korps began landing that same month, preparing to turn the tables on the Commonwealth forces in North Africa. The tank is one I finished some time ago and you may have seen pictures of it then. It is the Zvezda M13/40 with Model Victoria Conversion Kit. Three figures are Model Victoria and the other one is a Royal Model item. The old ruin was made out of foamcore cut to shape and covered in drywall spackle. The same technique was used with the well, except I used a toilet paper roll instead of foamcore. They were sprayed with the same colours as the sand, but most of the colour came from pastel dust that I scrubbed in to them. The wooden cover on the well, because the water has been salted and is not drinkable, was made from pieces of balsa wood, aged with a grey coloured wash followed by a dark brown one, using different numbers of layers on each board for variation.

















Nic

Very Nice Work. I like it a lot. The construction is very well done. The landscape is great, texture and color are right on.
For me you are teater on a space/fill balance that is great. You have just enough stuff in it to keep it from being lost and you have enough space to depict the a barron desert!

Great details, tank tracks, gear, nice touches (cup), etc etc.

Nice job.

Yeah, this is really niclely done. I love the groundwork.

Nice subtle tank tracks leading back to the tank to draw the eyes there. Good touch that. Assembly and paint on the tank looks great as do the figures. You've achieve good successin the difficult task of highlighting black, too.
My only question, is if this is a relatively new ruin, where's the rubble? Even an older ruin should show rubble semi buried with sand.

Hi Folgore, Nice work Its really got that desert feel to it, are the crew from the kit I hear those Italian figures are few and far between. all the best .

Very Nice work on the kit and figures ...but as John said where's the rubble ? You have your tank in someones living room...but nothing...(remember I used to judge Dio's) Also I would try and fill up a bit more space ...Maybe just a couple of figures heading in the direction of Tripoli(it would explain the idea of the dio ..retreat to Tripoli)..Maybe an old oil barrel on the side of the road for some color...a pail beside the well...a bird on the wall...you see what I mean.. All this said it does look good anyway,but as a judge I would have to question it a bit...Keep up the good work.

Richard

Ah, the confusion #:-) of signatures! John Hiatt is a singer song writer who penned the quote froma song covered by several others. But, hey, I've been called a lot worse than "John!" As long as the cops don't think I'm a "John" I'm okay.

The ruin is meant to be an old one from the days of the Ottoman Empire or something. I did place larger rocks near the ruin to represent remnants of the rubble that was once there. I realized the difficulty with open space, which is why I decided to include the roadsign and the well. I personally felt that they balanced out the piece, but if that's not the case in the view of the judges then I will remember that for next time. For this piece, I am happy with the way it is right now. You might not be able to tell from these pictures, but I painted the figures to obviously show battle strain (powder burns, dirt, etc.), thus giving the impression that they had just survived a gruelling battle.

Thanks for the comments thus far. Keep them coming.

Nic

Great setting, great tank and fig's, great groundwork ..... simply great.

just one note: Personaly I think that it would even be better on a round base instead , keeps the empty feeling down also, but I love it

D'oh Sorry Al or is it John ....errh whatever...lol...
Please don't take the comment wrong everything looks fine ,I was just trying to explain what would catch the eye of a judge...

Richard or you can call me Rick... anything else that comes to mind will be concidered an insult!! lol
#:-)

Very nice Folgore! First of all because it's an Italian subject, secondly because it's really... very nice
Ciao

Nice work Nic, I really think that you did exactly what you set out to do.
Now I would like to see some closer pics of the tank and figures.
How was the Model Victoria M13/40 anyway?
Great work,

Andrew

Andrew -- The Model Victoria Conversion Kit for the M13/40 is excellent. I even wrote a review of it in the reviews section here (under armour), so go there to find out more about it. It might not have enough PE for you, though . I had taken closeups of the tank and figures before, but not as good, so I think I may try to get some more pics soon.

Nic

Terrific groundwork. I started doing groundwork using Woodland Scenics ballast, but I don't think you've used that here. How did you achieve such realistic ground. It really is great work. .

Mike

Great dio Folgore. Its interesting to see two different points of view ......... on the space. A big flat base is very hard to use for full effect. I can understand what "the bear" is talking about and it was my first impression also. But as i looked closer, you have carried it off well! It does give an impression of isolation and the ground work is amazing. I suggested to somebody last night that they want to build up some contour and fill-out some open spaces, but I think yours looks excellent the way it is!

Thanks again for the comments, guys. It is indeed interesting to see the different views that can be taken on the use of space. I guess I should point out that the M13/40, though designated a medium tank, was actually very small (about the size of an M3 Stuart). The diorama is smaller than you might think.

mj -- I did, in fact, use Woodland Scenics ballast, but a careful mix of different sizes. For the larger pieces, I placed them individually. The other day I noticed a sizeable pile of sand and gravel under the car, so I think I will start collecting that. It can be difficult to get a random look with ballast. I should also note that the finer ballast came in useful with the ruin, where I glued it into the broken edges. After painting and weathering (I found cream coloured pastel dust sunk into the grooves, creating an interesting effect), it had a good effect without making it look too "fresh."

Nic

Nice workmanship all around Nic :-)

Great Dio. This is a perfect example of the less is more. I really like it..

"Why did they ship up hot coco here?"

Niice work Nic. you sure are turning into a great Dio builder!
Cheers

great job....you got your message across quite well wonerful work on the scenics nice touch with the salted written on the well cover

Nicely done overall... and a sand desert-scape is one of the hardest to do convincingly... well made tank too. I would suggest two things... one which can be added now, and one is a consideration for the future:

1) add a bit of short growth near the base of the buildings or at least the well... true - yours is a desert scene, but a little lichen or weeds will grow just about anywhere from my experience... the added color will sharpen the focus on your well if nothing else.

2) while you are really convincing on the "expanse of the terrain"... it borders on just a bit too big. Either a few more items to fill up some of the space (the afore-mentioned rubble, or perhaps an object or two, such as a chair, trough near the water, or maybe even some trash and debris), or perhaps a smaller base next time.

Overall, this is a well done piece. The armor looks top notch, and the terrain is on the money. The figures seem well done, but can't really see all the detail you have put in because of the distance of the photo.... I find it hard to believe this is your first (!) diorama.... hope to see more!

VERY NICE DIO - IS GREAT JOB - CONGRATULATIONS
ROBERTO