My wife was away for the weekend so setting aside the list of DIY jobs she left for me, , I started on this Dio. It depicts a German fighting patrol in retreat. To show that they are in retreat I have two figures firing back in the direction the patrol are retreating from.
the figures are Masterbox , Tamiya and Dragon. I want to add maybe four more. I don't plan on adding any Russians except maybe one advancing stealthily along at street level. Lots of clean up to do still on the brick and block work and lots more rubble to add.







I maybe have to send my wife off on another weekend to get this finished

EDIT: and of course all the figures will have heads.

That building looks bl***y amazing and the action poses,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, wow!

Nige

Ola Pat



I was just about to ask that...

All kidding aside. I like this a lot... Great action. I love the way you have multiple levels. And the building and the rubble looks already very good too. It shows exactly the rubble you expect when a building likes this comes down. Looking forward to seeing this one finished.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Hi Pat.

Looking really good. I love the dynamics of the composition.

I only hope your wife goes away for a few more occasions so you can get this finished.

A great start. Very inspiring.

Although you are probably going to add just figures, I'd love to do something similar but have the snout of a big nasty T34 or Tamiya's new JS2 just coming into view, hence them in full flight.

Had to laugh about putting aside the list of DIY jobs aside, I have a "to do list" which somebody keeps updating. The trouble is for every job I cross off as done, two more (at least) replace it.

Alan

This one s going to be great! Lots of action & I like the building (or what's left of it). Cool idea.

Oh, I don't know. Heads are over rated!

Hope you didn't get in too much troubel with the better half for dising her "Honey, do" list for a little while! Looks like women are the same all ver the world.

Jim

Nice job there Pat...unless I'm mistaken that's the MasterBox Signals Troops you're using....probably the best set of poses I've seen in a long time...

Thats a weekend project? Wow, you keep busy. Great project! Love the elevation, motion, and action.
My only comment is the guy firing back on the front side. I would shift him back about 1/2 an inch. If he were in retreat and stop to cover his unit he would not have put himself in a position with no escape other than a 10 foot drop.
In the 1st photo,move the guy on the right about 1/2 to 1 inches left and it will give him an escape route after his 'mates' have crossed and moved on.

amazing work so far Pat! just one question; what do you have underneath the rubble and debris? is it built up from styrene?

good thing you ignored that list


regards
thomas

I love it Pat! Good to see some of your work...
The multi levels are super, and I know you mentioned you 'might' use one Russian figure, but I think it is a more telling scene with only the Germans in full retreat... The one enemy 'stealth' figure thing has been done to death before! You could allude to the unseen enemy in the title of the diorama maybe?
'Red storm brewing' or something even cornier
Great stuff
Brad

Another question looking at this nice project again. Have you made the building yourself? Or was it use of a commercial kit? Either way it does look very good.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Hello Pat

It looks to be the start of an excellent diorama. I can see the drama and urgency of the rearward movement from the pose of the troops thus far.

My only criticism thus far is regarding the soldier firing the MG from waist level. Sorry, but I am pretty certain the only people I've seen fire a MG like that is Mr John Rambo. That is to say that the comment is only relevant if your lad is firing the weapon - he could be simply moving into position to provide cover fire...

John

Pat,

That looks fantastic, I can't wait to see it progess , really outstanding Composition thanks fo positing them ,

Jerry

Wow, thanks for all the comments guys.
Iain yes one of the sets is the Masterbox signal set, they actually gave me the impetus to start this project.


Scott I already had a lot of the bits and pieces to hand, I've been casting slabs of plaster every time I get the chance so it's just a matter of carving them to fit. I think you're right about the guy on the right.

Brad, yeah, you're right the Germans on their own tell the story.

Robert, Yes the building is scratch. I made the underlying structure from Plywood so it is hollow. The gap between the buildings is filled with styrofoam and the rubble at the front is covered styrofoam too.

John, I may leave that MG figure out altogether as I don't think he fits with the other figures.

Thanks again for the comments guys.

So far an excellent scene, the animation of the figures is brilliant and really gives the feel that they are running for their lives!

which masterbox set did you use incidentally, they look to be very good.

Keep us posted this looks to be an excellent scene.

James

Pat,

Awesome, those figures have been 'applied' very well to this diorama. I don't subscribe to many topics but this is one I will be watching closely!

Only one little thing. The figure closest to the guy firing the MP40 would have to be Spider-man to make that leap! I suggest moving him to a better jumping position. Otherwise, this might happen:

Looking forward to updates!

Chas

This set here James: German Signals Personnel
They're proving to be a very popular set, see Robert Blokker's(FAUST) work on them in this thread




Sorry to tell you this Chas but he's not going to make it

Lool
Excellent work Pat !
I'm impressed that you realized that in only one week end !
The guy is the first plan is great, just as if he were just land on the rumbles.
I second one comment : there is too much guys on the left side.
And finally why not replacing the guy with the mg by a hitted man, falling wounded ?

Best and keep up the loevly work

Julien

Pat this is quite beautiful. I wouldn't change a thing.
This is frame from a 8mm reel. This is one of the hardest effects to accomplish in modeling convincingly - ...... action.
As for the mg'er - leave him, desperate situations call for desperate measures, even if they are not the wisest choises of action at the moment.
We all have seen or heard of the lone infantryman picking up a mg and firing it at the enemy from the hip in comic books and movies.

Sergeant MITCHELL PAIGE of U.S. Marine Corps fame won the M.O.H. for just such a " Hollywood, comic book, Rambo " action.
With no less a water cooled 30 mg and quite a few belts of ammo over his shoulders on Guadalcanal, about 150 lbs. worth.
I'm sure one of the master race could have used a mg 34 or 42 in much the same manner .......................... but maybe you're right, after all they weren't Marines.

Pat, everything looks great, finish er up the way it is, it's a snapshot in time. No real need for a Russian in there. The action of the Germans running away from the building tells it all, I mean after all they aren't running away from a spider !!!!
The first pic. really got me, the different levels, rubble, running Germans, etc.
Glenn

I'm in Cheyenne's camp on this one. Don't change anything as you're on a roll with it and you don't want a rivet to get in the way of a great story. Everything looks great so far. I'll have to check out those signal truppen. Didn't really trust the box art I guess. Best creatively destroyed building I've seen in a while now.
Quote-"Oh, I don't know. Heads are over rated!" Ah, so true in an election year...........
Cheers!

Shaping up nicely Pat.

Man...this one is great...i love the way you pose the figures and the structure as well

AWESOME work, Pat, you can really feel the desperation those guys are in, running for their lives.
Will you mind if I use your idea to make a dio sort-of like yours?
Cheers,

Marek

lovely sense of movement you've achieved there, you can feel the panic in the scene... I think the previous comments about scrapping your MG guy would be for the best - I've seen footage on youtube of Bundeswehr soldiers firing from the hip with the modern day equivalent of the mg42 but it certainly wouldnt be much use in full flight as it took a good deal of strength and discipline to fire accurate, short bursts....with the Ivans coming for you, you're just gonna RUN!

Other than that, I think you're really onto something with this and I wish you all the best for it in future - look forward to seeing more!!!

Excellent diorama, buddy. NIce action with the figures, a few may need to be relocated per otoher suggestions. Nice work on the rubble, broken beams and bricks and such. Well done.
I would have one German tossing a grenade as that would be a standard practice to keep any pursuing enemies at bay.
Keep us posted on this amazing piece of work. Great stuff.