Hi Bruce,

I was wondering if you could show us some pictures of your figures, and how the diorama is going to look like? The arks will give a nice touch, looking forward to the finished product.

Happy New Year
Regards

here's a sneak peek at one of the figures for the diorama... the german:


he's not finished yet, still more to paint on him and the two british fellows. as for the diorama plans i don't have exact drawings other than what's in my mind, just kind of winging it as i go. i have some photo references that will be helpful to the build and final paintwork and will try to post pics as i get stages done.

cheers and happy new year everyone, bd.

Good paint job on the figure Bruce. I'll be interested to see how you use that arch. I have the Hirst mould for that- it does suit 1/35 though I think they're meant for use with 28mm figs.

Great work, thanks for sharing.
Blackwater

hi everyone,

got some work done on the base construction over the weekend, used some of the lessons learned from my Jagdpanther diorama to get this built. the ruined wall is definitely form over function as arches are structural weak point but the shape of the arch seemed to call for some delicateness especially for the tiny size of the base:







going to paint it with Vallejo acrylics and then weather with oils and pigments. then add rubble and some last minute details and then it's done. going out of town soon so i hope to at least get the oil painting laid down so it can dry while i'm away.

cheers for now, bd.

nice work on the base....I'm looking forward to seeing what you have planned with the dio.

Bart

Yo Bruce,

Nice update! Nice base for the the diorama...good job on the arch and wall!

Looking forward to see the rest!

Greetz Nico

for those interested, here's an update that shows the middle stage of the base painting. base colours were airbrushed with Vallejo acrylics and then a variety of different hues were brush painted on different stones. then an oil wash was laid down. some drybrushing with oil paints was brushed on next. then a dark wash was applied and some light sand tone was sponged on.



at this stage it is left to dry for 2 days (i'm going out of town so it will get plenty of time). it looks quite sloppy and garish at this point but that's to be expected, the next stage is weathering with more oil paint for rain streaks and then Mig pigments to distress it and get it looking more toned down as well as unify the overall colour composition so that it doesn't look like three different items butted up against one another.

just thought i'd post an update even though it's looking a bit cartoony right now. cheers, bd.

Awesome job on the base. Can't wait to see it done.

Man...I really like this model. You did a great job painting and weathering both the Tilly and the building. I'm looking forward to seeing your finished product.

Jeff

That looks really good Bruce, I look forward to seeing the Tilly in place

Simply fantastic. I am truly inspired.

Base is looking great...I like the colours you've picked for the wall.

thanks so much guys, the kind comments are always so encouraging. i been away from my hobby bench for nearly a week and i am blown away by all the progress everyone has accomplished on all the various projects that are ongoing. kudos to all my fellow modelers for getting so much done (it must be just as cold where you guys live as it is at my place).

more pics coming soon as i am very keen to finish Breakdown so i can start a new huge diorama project for a model show in May 2011. cheers for now, bd.

hi everyone,
worked some more on the base and it's finally far enough that i can call it complete. though i could work lots more on this project i recently bought lots of new kits so i think this diorama base is done.

this little scene gave me the chance to practice some different paint techniques as well as experimenting with the order in which weathering was applied, something i found very interesting and which i hope to learn more from.






next is to add the vehicle and the figures once the paints have had a bit more time to dry. thanks for dropping by. cheers, bd.

This is looking great Bruce! It's always a joy to watch your projects come together, especially your conversion/scratchbuilding and your painting techniques for buildings

amazing!!

As usual Bruce,in my opinion you did an amazing model setting.
Your dios inspire me a lot.

I'm waiting for the next step

cheers and thanks for share

thanks Jeremy, Mayta and Mauro for the kind words. as usual i had lots of fun putting this one together. cheers, bd.

Hi Bruce,

Your work is truly great and inspiring, as I have said before I can’t wait to see it completed. Just like the Tilly the base is very nicely weathered.

Regards

hahah i love how you added a nice big black patch where the tilly "puked" up a nice amount of oil. good job. also i love the way the posters are tering off the wall/ very realistic.

thanks Vladimir and Erik, i appreciate the kind feedback. more info on the posters for those you haven't tried playing with them, the posters came from a Miniart kit that included printed italian posters on a rather thick sheet. i cut them out and rubbed the reverse side on an emery board (the type for filing your nails) to thin them a bit. i mixed white glue with water and then soaked the paper posters in this for about 2 minutes. the white glue starts getting cured pretty quick so i wouldn't leave it too long, just enough that they get nice and wet.

i place them on a paper towel to get excess white glue off and then put them on the wall. at this point i press paper towel on them to get excess white glue/water out and then i burnish them into the stone grooves with the back of a set of tweezers so they sit nice and snug on the wall. i then tear and distress them as well as fold some corners using an X-Acto knife. they usually set very nicely after this and the paper can be shaped as you like and will stay like that once dried. hope this helps those who haven't played with posters before. cheers, bd.

Yo Bruce,

There is a very natural depth in your work. Nice to look at...it really come to live.

Try to put some more detail in the rubble, like items form the ruined church...broken cross, wooden chair,etc...

Nice work so far!

Greetz Nico

Nico, that's a great suggestion and i will keep an eye out for items i that i can add to this scene. the little extras really add so much to vignettes.

in the meantime, here is the tilly diorama Breakdown completed as of this weekend (i need to set up some sort of photo booth for these things)...












thanks for checking in on this project, as always i had tons of fun learning and practicing different things. comments are more than welcomed as i learn from feedback what works and what doesn't from the input of fellow modelers.

i already jumpstarted my next project on the weekend and will start an indepth blog for what will be an elaborate diorama that (if all goes well) will be entered in a model show in the spring. cheers and happy modeling, bd.

Worth waiting for Well done Bruce it's a little stunner.