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Breakout!

The Figures

The three “firing” figures come from the Gunze Sangyo line, and are some of the finest resin figures I have seen. A nice thing about this set is that all hands are molded directly to the weapons, which means you must simply align the arms to accept the wrists into the cuffs of the arm sleeves. This insure not only a realistic grip on the weapons, but also forces you to align the arms in such a way as to elevate the weapons to the correct firing position. If you try to make the figures “aim up” or “aim down”, you will need to make minor modifications to the length of the arms to accommodate the wrists.

I completed the diorama by building a set of mock “iron doors” (Plastruct Styrene sheet and strip), then added details to the inside of the building, as the doorway would invite visual inspection. A registration desk was added in the far corner, along with various pieces of common office furniture— a chair, a filing cabinet, bookcase, etc. The floor was built of wood, as detailed in my article on the same subject (Digital Diamonds #7), and then a marble tile veneer was glued in place, reflecting the high caliber of “showmanship” used by the Nazi’s in the building of their capital city.

Piping and electrical conduit was added to the rubble – some in place along the wall, while other sections are strewn about in the rubble. As most buildings devastated by blasts have tons of rubble, much of this is covered in the photos by the extensive debris (stained plaster bricks, cat litter, and more marble veneer) which covers the majority of the base. I find most dioramas don’t have nearly enough rubble to accurately portray the real effect of a shattered building.