Hi lads, finally i completed my first ever model and diorama. I bought a Brit Challanger before this one, but i havent finish it yet as I switched my allegiance to German armour

Well, i dont have a title for it yet, but the idea was 1941 - somewhere on Eastern Front where snow had just started to fall.

Kits are old cheap Tamiya Hanomag and 37mm anti-tank gun. I dont have an airbrush yet, so the result was not as good. Also i didnt fill any seam The smaller tree looks like a Lego tree ; and the sandbags look like a ruined building

Any critic welcome !

Thank you all Armorama forum posters, Favorisio, screamingeagle, gr8voyager, slodder, that milliput sandbag guy, that swedish guy in Figure forum, and everyone !! It wont win any competition, but Im very proud of my work - this proves to be a "fun" hobby. Can't wait to buy my next kit !! (any suggestion ?)

PS. sorry for the photo. Was my first time using a digital camera on a model (:-)

http://groups.msn.com/armorama/toonarmysfirstalbum.msnw?Page=1

Toonarmy

That`s a really good firsttimer. I love the scene. The subtle use of snow there is very good.
From what I can see in the pictures is that your hanomag and your pak are both very well painted and I love the action in the dio

I wish my first timer looked that good instead of that it was actually one bunch of cr.... ahum
yep''

Congrats dude I like it

I echo Fausts complements - very good. Very solid first diorama. The action is good and well scripted creating nice focus. It's well layed out and nicely composed.
The paint looks fine. I actually like the sandbags for your first dio. Hey they aren't Tamiya's stock stiff square bags (I've used'em too)

A couple of things I would comment on for consideration on #2. Dig up the grass where the Honomog traveled.
Add a bit of extra grass at the base of the sandbags so they seem heavier as if they have been smooshed into the grass.
The guys manning the PAK would have dirtied up or ground in the snow inside the legs of the PAK. I would either add some earth tone to the snow or make little clumps just outside thier working area.
The edge of the base could use a touch of color, black, brown, whatever color. Just somethnig to frame it nicely.
By no means are these things major problems or anything I haven't done. Just things to consider next time.

I love this shot -


Be proud of this work - best of all you had fun!!

Yep, gotta agree, you made a good job of this. Much bigger a dio than i would ever tackle for a first time. You can rightly be proud of this mate. Continue to have fun. :-)
How about a newer kit next time, maybe the Marder IIIM? I am hoping to start one soon, I believe they are pretty good.

Roger

PS - Shame about Barcelona

Yes, this indeed is a very nice dio. You executed it well. Keep it up. One thing though, next time try not to clump the snow so much. Since this is your first dio I will let it slide #:-)

Well, since Toonarmy is from the land down under, he may not be that familiar with the intricacies of a first snowfall. Heck, with any snowfall!

Tip of the Fosters to you!

Ditto on all the good comments. The action is good, all the figures seem to be focussed on the same area and things are consistent.

Some artistic thoughts for your next project. Try to keep the elements at slight angles to the edge of your base, it's more pleasing to the eye that way. Instead of railroad trees, try to find Armand Bayardi castings of dead trees and tree stumps. I don't know if they're available in Oz but you can get them fromhttp://www.milminwh.com " TARGET="_blank"> http://www.milminwh.com or http://www.sentinelminiatures.com " TARGET="_blank"> http://www.sentinelminiatures.com .

hi toon, great job for a first time I remember doing the hannomag years ago when I lived in OZ .Ive just baught that 37mm looks like a nice kit. keep up the good work

great first dio! :-)

My bad! I didn't notice he was from Australia. Hopefully he has seen snow on TV

WELL DONE, nice fisrt try.
just have to agree with the rest of the board...
i like the action that takes place and keep it up..built more dio..i surely cant wait to see more from u... http://groups.msn.com/armorama/sicktunezbasicdioramas.msnw

THanks for the comments & encouragement ! And yes, you're right, although ive touched the snow of Blue Mountain, but its just not the same with real snowfall

I really love those dioramas of yours sicktunez. You have the art of photography ! What company made that injured&bandaged soldier figure ??

Ya I have that Tamiya kit with the MG34 soilders.

Nice work with the sand bags- very realistic. Did you scrach build them?

With this in mind, i think you have scored full marks from me! Enjoy your building, and if some hints come your way over the course of your next few dios, try and incorporate them into the next dios. Thats the easy way to learn and improve your skills.
I like this dio very much and cant really add much more than what the other guys have said:
Another thing that might help, and is very easy to do, is to tidy up the base sides a bit. It really can make a big difference. Sand them off a bit and then add a satin black or a deep timber stain or varnish. It makes it more professional looking! And its still not to late!

Matrix, i used milliput for the sandbags. I painted them in random desert yellow, khaki, flat earth, and tan. Then i brushed a moderate amount of umber pastel chalk.

I'm fixing the base sides now as plasticbattle has suggested Maybe i'll order a small plaque or something later, once i have a good title for it.

Is glass-case the only way to protect finished diorama from dust ?

uau! this is your first diorama? very good the scene is well thought and executed! oh god i wish my first dio ends up good like this one

see ya

I'm going out today to buy that Hanomag.

Toon, as you can see from the comments, you were a harsher critic of yourself. My tip is on tree building. I get some twigs from a real tree and super glue them together to form the main branches of a miniture tree, then I get some ....ah hell the label fell off...it's called candy tuft at the craft stores here. (they usually dye it weird colors and the ladies use it in flower arrangement i chose a yellow color) Anyway I spay it green and break off half inch or so pieces and super glue those on. Takes a while but comes out looking realistic.

VERY NICE DIO AND EXCELLENT WORK, CONGRATULATIONS

ROBERTO

Good job. There is much to be said about showing off a "first".
I noticed you said something about "cheap kits". The guy who taught me some tricks back when I was grass high to a kneehopper said just this: "yeah I can make those cheap $5 a hundred green army men look good, and you can take a beautifully sculpted figure look like doodie...now pay attention!" Keep at it, pay attention to everyone here with "no life"...KIDDING....sheesh...I do this stuff too.... and look at what they are doing, and never hesitate to ask. Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question, just stupid people.

Cheers to you! I have been at this off and on most of my life...and I still don't have the juevos to show it off.

I just bought both the Pak and the Hanomag.

Yay.,..show us when youre done with them !! ood luck.