Well, I finally finished my first dio. The tank is Tamiya's 105mm Sherman, the figs are from the kit, and the base is made from Celluclay on a picture frame. I used Sweet n' Low for the snow effects, which didn't turn out too well-the "flakes" were too big. The trees are rounded basswood with Bragdon branches.

I'm not really sure what to think of it. Too me, the whole thing seems to not work together. All the elements (tank, figs, base) look good separate, but together, something seems wrong. Oh well, I guess everyone has a first time.













Sorry for the poor photos. I'll try to get some better ones up soon.

Thanks

Hi Samuel,

You made a nice effort on the Sherman .
What is wrong here? For once , very wrong is the placement and even existence of this fallen brances of the fir.They don't fall in one piece like that, nicely laid around the tree. Occasionally one entire piece can break , but normally the dry slowly, brake by the wind and fall in pieces, needles first than the rest. So take them away and keep them for another project.
Better would be to do another fir with them (perhaps with only branches on the top part) and replace the badly detailed branch in the middle.
Replace the fallen branches with very small pieces of crushed branches (from tea or so) to fill the ground a bit.


Then i would turn this whole layouta few degrees, but a small fir in the opposite corner and voilà, that's better :-)

Good luck for the next one
Cheers
Claude

For a 1st diorama it's a good start - shows lots of promise and your own eye is telling you something is 'amiss' which is another promising sign. Keep up the good work.

I would offer that the snow on the inside of the tracks shouldn't be there. Under the drive wheels there shouldn't be any snow, the wheel would have knocked it off.
With the figures, they aren't blended into the ground. There would be some degree of snow on the boots. Plus you could add some footprints to help blend them into the ground.

Hi Samuel,

In my eyes, it would look better if the tank looks like it is ploughing through the snow instead of 'floating' on the groundwork. If you are only tring to depict a slight snowfall then I recommend that you press the tank into the ground a bit more. (the ground would have been soft because of the moisture).

Awesome work though. My first diorama ended up a bit large and distracting in my eyes!

Chas

Not an expert on these things but your main features are running paralel to the base the dio would look better if you angled the tank to the base i think it would take away the "flat" look that it gives me, other than that its well executed.try baking powder for snow the grains are smaller

I think all in all it was a good effort considering its your first go at dios. I wouldn't be too hard on yourself as its still a fairly presentable dio.

As John said, the angle in which you place your main element versus your base makes a lot of difference. A simple thing like having a road and tank run across rather than parallel to the front view of a dio can be quite significant, minor details nothwithstanding. Apart from what has been mentioned above, having terrain helps. For example, had the embankment been a little higher where the trees are it may help frame the dio a bit better or making the road a corner with the tank rounding it would have added to the dynamics.

I may be wrong but I think most of us look at dios initially at the overall presentation and see what the story is about. After that most viewers will then look at specific points that interest them, AFV modelers will focus more on the AFVs present, figure modelers would focus on the figs and somebody like me would look at the groundwork.

Still its a good first go and you should give yourself a pat on your back.

Gday Samuel
Not bad at all! (I know it's a double negative;)
The others have touched on a few good pointers. To me it looks a little too symmetrical, especially the trees. Pine + dead tree + Pine. Tank in the centre front. Then three evenly spaced figures. The ground work really looks good, although another thing to observe is the extent to which the whitewash has worn off the 105. This could indicate the end of winter and the thawing of the grounds. Just food for thought on contrasts for the base and AFV. Even if you ran the slope on more of a angle to the base, it would mean the pines' reposition, and subsequent change of view.
You maybe could have had the tank coming through the trees? The dead tree looks a little out of place, as I imagine the pines are part of a plantation or forest and should only feature like types? could also be talking outta my hat!
Regardless, I hope all this helps you on your way for your next diorama
Cheers
Brad

Thanks so much for all the help, guys! Keep 'em coming!

Good point, Scott. I think I'll try to scrape some of the snow off the inside of the tracks. I've got Tamiya's weathering powders with the "snow" color in them, so I'll try to put some snow on their boots.

Thanks, Chas. Since I haven't glued the tank down, I'll try to use my Dremel to make the tank sit in the ground more. I had already done some of it, But I agree, it wasn't enough.

Again, thanks for all the kind and helpful comments!

Another thing I wanted to complement you on is that your first diorama included snow! Snow can be very difficult to pull off and you did a fine job.

Well done keep on doing dioramas.

It actually is a very good dio for your first one, it looks much better than my first one did years ago. Try and remember that each part if the dio is a dio in inself. Break it down to each segment.
base, vehicle, figures and then combine them to make a story. Someone said that you should angle it, which is true, never have it parellel to the front of the base. The road and forest should be seperate, do you use a foam insulation for a base? This can be cut and add levels to your dio.....just a few tips but overall a very good start.