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Sokol

My future is in French steel

Nine months after writing my last article I am very happy to say that I still don’t have any fun while doing my dioramas. I have some fun with my wife and new born baby, being with friends –but when I am doing my dioramas it’s just like I connect myself with something very personal, something that keeps me standing and costs less money than alcoholism or therapists.
Doing those lightly or out of fun is therefore out of the question.

Knowing the virtual looks of incredulusness I am getting from fellow modellers every time I hint at this, I wish to add that fun is somewhat there in the process: when I am writing those articles I have a tremendous amount of fun!

But I realize being so openly serious about my dioramas has got only good sides, I can’t allow myself to produce a truly bad diorama so I give 100% of myself in the building process.

So sure, technically I am still not up there with the great diorama masters. Sokol’s idea is not the best I ever had, and then the diorama is pretty small if you consider that eight months of work were put into it. But I also consider this diorama (like the one I did before) as a year long exercises where I experimented new techniques.

Indeed I will use everything I learned from this experience in a next-ish diorama that should really kick a__. But then I don’t consider Sokol being too bad for an exercise which still leads me to think that my future as a diorama maker is in French Steel.

I usually fill my dioramas with deep hidden senses, some kind of invisible ink throughout the scene which makes me love my own work more than what meets the eyes. Here there is none, it’s just some big burst of light chasing the ghosts from the ship. And a weary father pinning some clothes on the wire.

As always, nothing could be as accurate as possible without a good bit of help from the friends: so I wish to thank Peppe Giuffrè who saved my neck for the second time in a short amount of time with yet more plans and pics, Mr David O’Meara for bolts and astounding display of comradeship, Edward Pinniger, Jim Baumann, Mark Gunny and everybody at Modelwarships and Kitmaker for support, other kind of thanks to Rudi Richardson for language, Engin Kayral for Turkish galleys, Rusty White for trust.