Hello everyone.
I just finished this diorama for a school project. It is supposed to show Canadian soldiers advancing in Italy. It shows a German retreat, with bits of scrap metal and armor, and empty shell casings left, as well as a pak 40. The guys are a mix of old and new. The badly painted guys (in brown) are actually British from Normandy because I ran out of time while making this (I only had a week). The one soldier in khaki-ish clothing is a dragon commonwealth soldier. I painted him much better than the others in my opinion.
If anyone wants to know how I did any of this, just ask. Here are some pictures. By the way, the colour in the pictures is off. I always find taking pictures of a finished model is harder than painting it.

Well done, congrats for finishing your first diorama.

It is very good for a first, especially the figure painting, faces and weathering. Improvements for next time: Careful not to create empty spaces such as those in the top left and right corners.

Most modellers paint the diorama frame black or dark brown, that way the viewer is less distracted and it doesn't feel like the action is boxed in.

Photography: I always take my photographs in the naturally brightest room of the house, my shed. I have some white curtains on the windows which diffuses the sunlight. If you have a pergola or veranda, you could take your photos there. Anywhere where there is diffused (not direct) sunlight. Also, try to use a piece dark blue cardboard as a background. This will bring out the diorama's true colours and give your photos a professional look.

Good Job

You're figures are great - don't do yourself down...!
I'd echo what Chas has said about the dead spaces, but otherwise I am envious - I wish I'd been allowed to do stuff like this as school projects... (It would be even better if were allowed to do things like this as work projects haha... )

Keep it up

Rich

Thanks guys! And about the base - I wanted to stain it but I ran out of time. So many things to do
For some reason it was an english project. We had been reading a novel called "the other side of the bridge" , and one part took place during WW2. I was assigned to marriage and pregnancy, but then our teacher told us that the assignment had changed from a poster to something 3d. It was perfect! I managed to bug her enough to get switched to Canada in WW2 and I was assigned battles and equipment. Lucky me.

Exellent.Job well done.
Keep up the great work.

lucky you! everything looks great-especially in the allotment of time given. I see an A+. I wish i could get projects where building a sherman or a tiger would suffice.......

I just got it back... 100%! I actually had a 98% at first because my teacher thought I bought everything
I'm sure it helps that she has no experience with miniatures.
Thanks for the compliments guys. Feel free to point out stuff you don't like; I love to learn.

Nice job, especially the figures show a lot of guts, for many (a lot !) modellers can build fantastic vehicles, but they don't want to face figure painting. You did it ! And the result is good. But what can be done better is to take away the shine on them. A matte varnish can do the job. Simple but effective.

About the sandbags (Tamiya's) : before you start a new project, throw them in the bin !!!
I recommend you to buy Milliput Standard and make your own sandbags (much better than those stiff ...things).

About the gun : the muzzle break is quite blackened, but the Germans used white powder, instead of the black, used by the Allied troops. So this didn't cause black smoke. But I must say, it nicely done !

You have a good feeling about composition and this first diorama demonstrates your talent, your next project will be GREAT !

G.

while I haven't finished my own yet I 'd have to say pretty good for a first time brother!......i ehco the milliput comment, pre-made sandbags look horrible because they have no illusion of weight,............I think the blue backdrop is a nice idea mayeb mix in some faint imagery too

1 MORE THING.............I Applaude you for doing one of the Canadian soldiers in Italy, the Canadians deserve this kind of recognition, some of the bloodiest fights were of the Canadians in ITALY.......

Looks great, I still have to get into dio's myself. Absolutely a good piece of work. One note on composition though, if you don't mind from someone who fancies himself a bit of a sketch artist: the action is very much linear, going from left to right. That's OK, but to create a bit more tension you could place one or two elements a bit more diagonal to the line of action.
Keep it up and share your work with the rest of us!

Great work. As for the warm colour cast try adjusting the white balance on the camera to the tungston setting instead of daylight it will cool the colours down to a more natural colour temperature

Ian

What an awesome school project!!!
I still can't master the art of painting figures
good job
Evan