Frank Glackin (Plasticbattle) describes his creation of a Pacific Theatre diorama for the Tarawa landings using DML''s M4A2 Tarawa Sherman and Marines.

Hell of a Way to Die Feature



If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Superb!
What else need be said? Congratulations on completing such a terrific scene, Frank. Thanks for sharing your progress and finished project. Well done! Dave

i really like your dio. great work on the sherman, love the weathering. the figures are equally inspiring.

just one teensy suggestion though, the palm leaves are a bit off. in the pacific, your palms will most probably be coconuts or something similar. coconuts (and most other palms) have a trunk which tend to be slightly curved and have several leaves at the top. anyway, these “leaves ” are actually called fronds which have a central “spine” with blades running almost symmetrically along both sides. the fronds radiate from around the top of the trunk. check out these pictures to get a better idea.

http://www.biocontrol.ucr.edu/Photos/Levuana/DSCN0416.JPG
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/people/visitors/letourneau/tarawa/54-2131.jpg

Fantastic dio, and great article. Thanks Frank!!

Rudi

Hi Frank,

Great looking Sherman and I like your figures. Thanks for the build article, very easy to read and provides a lot of useful hints and tips.

Excellent stuff.

Al

Splendid way of putting together the Sherman and the Gen2 figs.
I like the layout and presantation. Thanks also for the clearly written article.

Cheers
Claude

Nicely composed which really gives the dio a feel of tension. The work done of the figs and tank is excellent Frank.

Turned out great Frank.
Thanks for the interesting article.

Good work Frank, I followed this as a blog, nice now to have available as an article - it may spur me on to finish my own Marine M4A2.

Great dio!

Thanks for the taking the time to put this together, Frank.

Great project. Classic PlasticBattle. Well done, not what I expected when I read the title, really made me think which makes it that much better.

Great job

Thanks very much Bill for getting this up. Cheers.
And also thanks very much guys for all your kind comments ... much appreciated. Im happy with the way this turned out .. and it looks quite impressive in the display cabinet. The high base and name plate draws attention, for which otherwise is quite a small and compact scene.

Steelskin ... it never even entered my head to look up images of the actual leaves. I just had an image/idea in my head and went with that. I will know for the next time. Thanks for the tip and images.

Frank is a master. Another in a long line of impressive pieces of work.

I kneel.


Steve

Great job. It looks fantastic!

Thanks for the article.

Nice diorama, nice article, nice pictures, all in all that's a pretty nice thing you have been doing here Frank, congratulations and thanks for sharing!
JB

What a beautiful piece Frank those figures are superb and tie in perfectly with everything, what else to say but great work.

Ron.

Once again ... thanks very much guys. All your fine comments are very much appreciated. Im glad you like it. Cheers.

it was really a minor nitpick frank. and like everybody said, the dio really is amazing. i guess i only noticed because i come from the philippines and, coconuts being our top export, we’re quite intimately familiar with it…LOL!

Nice work, Frank. I'd like more info on using thin plastic for the tie downs on the pioneer tools. I hate PE, maybe this will work for me. Again, really nice work on this one.

Patrick

Frank I have seen many piece of yours and your attention to detail and colours always impress me - lovely piece from an Artist's eye view because I do not know tanks or marine's info so know nothing say nothing
Ian

Outstanding Frank.
Pity you can't be a master modeller and a palm tree expert.

Thanks to all you guys who took the time to post .. thanks a million for your very kind comments! They are very much appreciated.


I must say its the sort of nit-pick I like and want. Little details like this are always great to get (just wish I had it earlier ) so dont ever apologise for offering suggestions. When building scenes from the pacific, and Asia, input from people like yourself Steelskin is always appreciated.


Hi Patrick. The right piece of PE in the right place, is great, but PE is not always the perfect solution. I got the idea for the tie downs from an excellent Pacific sherman by Dinesh Ned. He used very thin plastic sheet. The image below is one I saved from his images on ML.



I dont have any plastic so thin, but I use lead foil and have been very happy with it. Easy to work with, easy to shape and holds its shape well, and takes paint easily. The buckles are from Aber, whohave a full set with different buckles and are perfect to use with the foil.





Belts painted


If theres anything else that you need to know, just ask.


Thanks Ian. Im quite lazy when coming to lot of details ... some guys really go to town with small details and add loads of them ... but I try to make the few that I use, stand out. Colour on the other hand, is something I love playing with. When finished, my models are usually quite vibrant .. maybe too vibrant .. but its what "comes naturally", nothing I set out to achieve.


Working on it mate, working on it

Beautiful work Frank, very nice indeed. Thanks for sharing.



Bob

wow i hope you dont mind copying some of your ideas .... ive been building for 2 years ,oh and i lived in the tropics and there were a couple of trees that match yours perfectly !!,palm trees come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.. thanks again