Buuurrrrrrrr!!! I'm shivering and I live in Hawaii! Excellent job Bruce.

Happy Modelling, -zon

thanks Zon, we went to Hawaii and camped for a couple of weeks, super nice people and local fishermen taught us how to hand feed the green turtles... incredible memories.

here is the start of the diorama scene as i lay out the models. for me to work on the composition i need all the vehicles made and the figures built so that i can study various dynamics in the angles, balance and how the viewer's eyes will move within the scene.

the sheets of paper are there to help me work on a neutral background, the bottom right corner is the starting point for the size of the base (which will be 19"x13.5").




though the two layouts look identical, there is a subtle difference in the figures' positions which, though minor, really change the flow and balance of the composition.

what this does for me is to envision the size and shape of the structure i want to build within the negative space between the tanks and soldiers as well as how the accessories will need to be assembled. a topdown view of the scene really helps working this portion of the project out in my mind.

one of the difficult tasks in creating a dynamic battle scene is realistic positioning of the figures and how they would be using cover, aiming and the interaction between the opposing forces. like many modelers, i've built the "tank meets jeep at crossroads" diorama and learned lots on the fundamentals of construction doing these. lately, with my last three dioramas, i've been trying to push myself to create more tension, drama and stronger storytelling in my scenes. funny thing i think my next diorama will be "guy lost holding map and pointing into the distance" just to change gears.

cheers for now and happy modeling, bd.

WOW!!!! Bruce that looks like it will be great, if only I had those skills at painting figures.

Quick question, don't know if anyone can help, but I had to watch Schindler's list in history today and have to do some homework on it, but can't remember whether he was helping the Jews by giving them a place to work or was he just forcing them to work?

Thanks Stan

uhhhh, i saw that film when it came out... like in 1993. just go to imdb.com for all your movie/tv queries. here's the link to that movie's plot summary:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108052/plotsummary

he starts bad but turns good when he sees what is going on with Jewish prisoners.

hope this helps with your assignment. back in my day we didn't have the internet so we had to copy the classmate's paper... i mean study. cheers, bd.

That is a great scene and an excellent way to portray the large invading force, can’t wait to see those Russian troops painted and the diorama started!!! Poor German troops, they don’t even have automatic weapons!

Regards,

Great choice on having the T-34 ramming the KT Bruce! Could you imagine being rammed and then roasted at point blank? Not a memory I would want to have if I lived...
I like the second layout, it flows a little bit better than the first option. Just out of curiosity, what is the object located roughly dead center? I can't quite make it out.

Once I get caught up with work and a few campaign builds I look forward to joining in on the fun with some winter and muddy projects of my own

Very cool about your trip to Hawaii, I've always wanted to see some of those turtles in person.

thanks guys for the kind words. i agree Jeremy, the second layout puts a few more guys in the forefront and appearing to flank the tanks to get to the german soldiers.

the item in the dead center is Plus Models excellent Lathe... just an amazing gem of a kit, so much better than CMK's or Verlinden's in my opinion:



no shrinkage, no air bubbles, no broken parts, hard resin but not brittle and a tiny decal sheet that no manufacturer bothers to add though greatly appreciated by this modeler. i built it for the layout as i wasn't sure how this one larger accessory would scale out with the other pieces. i added some tools, a spring and power cord for the lamp.

look forward to painting this one but i'm making good progress on the russian figures. cheers for now, bd.

That's an awesome looking little piece, great for that Soviet industrial feel
Just out of curiosity, how long have you been planning out dioramas? You have a very good sense of balance and interest/action based on all of the projects I've seen from you.

thanks Jeremy, i am a designer by trade. i do graphic design and environmental design such as bars, hotels, airports, museums, etc... dreaming of building things has always been part of my waking hours.

i built my first diorama in the late 80's. i got back into modeling in the early 90's and then i stopped in the mid 90's. i was always building armour after doing cars and airplanes as a young man. and now i have the bug again, though things have changed with the internet and all the great info that is shared and well explained.

the best tip i can share is the understanding of visual literacy and the awareness of the flow or movement of the viewer's eyes. as visual creatures we read with our eyes and digest that information so visual literacy means what we garner from a scene by viewing it. without words we can "read" a scene as funny, scary, dramatic, passive, etc... so i always start with an emotion.

eye movement starts with the initial overall "establishing" view of a diorama and it's colour palette. we immediately focus on one detail and from there our eyes scan other details. how our eyes move around the scene can be controlled with how the vehicles are pointing, where one figure is aiming/gesturing, how oddly brighter items can lead us to examine them. we basically dance around from point A to point B etc until we refocus on something that needs a second glance.

having said that we have to be careful not to have "conflicting" direction. an example would be one group pointing at another who is pointing at a third location. better to have the two groups pointing/looking/fighting at each other or both groups looking at the same third location (perhaps off the diorama).

gun barrels are "huge" arrows and play a large part in directing our eye so imagine what they are aiming at and how they will lead the eye. an example is if the vehicle or artillery piece is off to one side and pointing back into the diorama. this gives you the opportunity to bring the focus into the scene and have something placed to capture the viewer's interest in the "path" of this pointing arrow. if the gun points off the scene the eye will be lead off the diorama and you have to understand the viewer's flow has been broken and they will refocus within your scene after they have used "visual literacy" to imagine a threat off the diorama.

just remember that a viewer will digest a diorama in a process from the macro to the micro. they will take in the scene as a whole and then begin looking around at the smaller details. how they do this is up to you to control and, with some planning, you can channel the process completely.

whoa, that was lengthy but it was a great question that i spend a lot of time thinking about. i hope this helps. cheers, bd.

Bruce: I agree that the second is looking better as a layout. It speaks of "assault". Also thanks for your insights on planning and visual literacy.

Great story about the sea turtles too. It's good you had a local guy there. I've been adjacent to them both while snorkeling and at the beach, but I've always heeded the "it's federal law not to mess with them" position and kept my distance, mostly because there are a lot of people here who'll will get up on you for being too near them and such. You had a really great experience you should cherish.

If either you or Jeremy is out this way again, give me a yell. I'm on the Big Island.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Bruce: Much thanks for your insight bud. I'm working on the layout for my diorama for Pat's campaign and may ask you for your thoughts on my proposed layout. I want to keep it simple yet interesting if that makes sense.

Zon: You bet Zon!

i think i'm going with second given the input. i am also playing with the idea of the T34 just about to ram the KT to see if this looks more dramatic than the full contact version (i feel it looks like it's resting there).

look forward to seeing your campaign project plans Jeremy. the planning can be one of the most fun parts.

Zon, we were on the Big Island too, both Kona and Hilo areas as well as the southern edge. we'll go back it was so much fun. saw the signs about bugging the turtles and the huge fine... only feed the turtles that came to us. heard there is more activity from Kilauea with new lava flows. now there is a diorama idea: LAVA!!!

Bruce: yeah, the volcano is going nuts. the vent inside Kilauea Caldera proper has been spewing smoke for about 2 years now. A few weeks ago I was down there at night and it had a great glow and some strange noises. It actually sounded like waves crashing. However, a new riff and lava flow opened up just recently near Puu O'o, (which has been spewing almost continuously since '82 or so). It's a bit too remote to get to easily, but they've had some coverage and it is awesome. If I had the cash I'd spring for a helicopter tour.

Lava would be a great dio. Maybe I'll concoct a scenario. I've actually been right up to a flow across Chain of Craters road. It kind of oozes, forms a crust, then breaks out and oozes more. We tossed a rock onto the glowing orange part and it bounced off. Weird stuff, and phenomenally hot.

I live in Kailua Kona just south of "downtown".

Sorry for jacking your thread for a bit, but it's cool to find someone that's been here.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Your "biography" is very similar to mine Bruce. I'm an industrial designer I built my first kits on the early '80, I stopped in the late '90 and I've been building models again for few years now. Also for me things have changed a lot with the internet spread. Nowadays is very easy finding pics, drawings and references and, of course, taking inspirations from there

Anyway, I prefere the 2nd lay-out. I suppose that you're going to depict a russian factory in those "withe empty spaces"

I'm very curious to see how you'll depict it

Cheers

hello again,
i have been working out the design of the structure for this diorama in Illustrator. i had a paper mockup of the first design and placed it with the vehicles and figures which i then pondered.

the issues i am considering are how to create an encapsulated building but still allow visibility of the elements within. i also had a chance to gauge proportions even though the paper mockup wouldn't stand up straight.

here are the final wall designs that i will use to begin construction:


i would like to build the main front wall as a single panel but it is over 19" wide so i may build it in two pieces. i will transpose this artwork onto a piece of foamcore (also known as foam board) and begin cutting this week.

cheers for now, bd.

THE RUSSIANS

here are the russian solders in their finished painting state. my experience painting the germans in acrylics has helped me get a bit better with this medium. i found that i was able to achieve a smoother transition in the shading and highlights that was always a difficult task with these fast drying paints. the winter jackets i sculpted turned out satisfactory given it was my first time playing with Magic Sculpt putty and i look forward to getting more practice with this material.












one of the most fun things was painting all the tiny wrinkles in the winter jackets, i just felt in the zone and really enjoyed working the tiny little shapes of the jackets' material. a nice contrast to the jackets are the little tears with the stuffing showing through which lots of reference pics show.

the figures carry a heavy load in telling the story of this diorama so i tried to treat each one as a mini project which meant they took a long time to paint. getting them all done took some 15 hours at the workbench. at some points the time went flying by and at some points i couldn't believe there was still more details to paint.

upward and onward, this project is moving forward. comments are welcomed as always and happy modeling to everyone. cheers, bd.

I really like the Russians, particularly the last one! How do you get them to look so lifelike!

Regards,

thanks Vladimir for the great compliment, i feel i have advanced in my figure painting since my return to the hobby. i still have a ways to go until i can say i can't get them any better but i think that is how everyone feels. some tips i could give is try to focus on getting the eyes just right. faces are tough to do but if you can avoid large Manga style eyes you will notice a huge improvement overall.

another tip is to avoid using straight black when doing washes. harsh black tones on seams and recesses look out of scale in my opinion. i prefer to go with burnt or raw umber browns to do shading. i mix the base colour, say russian uniform green, with burnt umber to darken it for shadows. i use buff to lighten colours though for extreme highlights i add white to the base colour.

i still think oil paints are the way for painting faces. my one best tip is don't try to do the face completely in one go. i paint the base colours in acrylic, let that dry overnight, then i "rough out" the shadows and highlights in oils. i let this dry overnight and then the next day i refine the oil paint. the first coat of oils will be near dry but still wet enough to blend with the new paint added. also, it gives you a chance to see where the faces need work as i find staring at them too long just gets me nowhere.

hope this helps. cheers, bd.

Bruce: your russians look ready for the fight!! I think you are right that eyes are key.

On your building, are the two lower sections in the drawing to be either side of the archway of the top part? Or are they a separate building? Just trying to visualize.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Да Брюс!!!



stunning figures

thank you guys for kind comments, much appreciated by this humble modeler.

Zon, the smaller walls are indeed for the main large wall. they will be placed on each side of the arch way corridor. working on the base at the moment, lots to do as this project is huge.

cheers for now, bd.

Looking good. Can't wait to see how this develops.

Bruce: that will make for an interesting slot view down the corridor out the archway. Take care in selecting what is in front of the archway. Also, seems like the back of the archway might be a good place to put the "For the Motherland" banner or some other minor focal point as part of the original buildng.

Happy Modelling, -zon

getting some progress on the diorama, the base is construction and ready for paint and the walls have been created from foamcore:



going to get some base colours painted onto the base and continue with the application of cork bricks to the walls.

cheers for now and happy modeling, bd.

Bruce: The buildings and base look good. I like the manhole.

Happy Modelling, -zon