First of all, long time lurker, but have used lots of info from this forum which i must give much thanks for. So I completed my first foray into armor modeling, and also dioramaing (actually, my 2nd ever diorama -1st was an aircraft one a long time ago which a cat subsequently destroyed). I thought I'd share A. How I made it, and B. get any tips, critiques, feedback etc. from all of you that have been doing this much longer than I have.

Firstly, the kits are Dragon;s Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.F2(G), and a Tamiya Kettenkrad, 1/35. Figures are mostly 'Doug's Originals' (which I have to give high marks to), 2 from a Dragon Tiger Kit (the 2 'cameramen'), Bedoin & Camel from Verlinden, and lastly the general is a Tamiya Rommel kit.
Base was some sort of framed cork board I found at a 2nd hand shop; I used some wire mesh to make some hills, covered everything with celluclay, and finally the temple type columns are from Michaels for wedding cakes.

Original Base with wire meshing

Columns after being busted apart, painted, and filled a bit with plaster

Columns put up with plaster base, chipped at while drying.

Celluclay applied. and dusted with sand.

And here with the rest of the bits added.
What I learned myself: Figures are a pain, and I am awful at painting faces; I apparently have to find a better way of getting celluclay to stick to the base as its began peeling off around the edges.
Note: this doesn't represent any specific time, place etc. just an idea i came up with when i saw figures using cameras.
So anyways, hopefully not boring you with too many pics:





Vandalism!

Treasure?

Sounds great but the pics aren't showing.
Are you using the [img] tags?

I think I fixed the pics?

Ah, I see the problem... I'll fix it in a min

No sir. You didn't.

Images are showing now .... for me anyway.
To fix the peeling celluclay .... fill with some plaster and white glue. I´d recommend in future getting a more "squared" frame, as these rounded/engraved frames are hard to get clean defined edges on. A simple frame painted black looks neater and more professional. Done right it not even be clear that its a picture frame.
Your composition is excellent. Nice layout, and good use of the wedding cake stands. Its not wrong or anything, but I prefer to have one storyline, whereas you have several different, with the Bedoin, the "coin", the grafitti and the photographer. Sometimes the story gets a bit lost with all the details. Figure painting will always improve, so it might be an idea to give extra effort to a few figures, rather than painting a lot simultaeonously.
The only thing that looks weird is the large clump of plaster on the Pzr IV tracks, and the back. The rest look clean. Maybe bring a add a bit of dust and sand to the vehicles as well. Great attempt for your second diorama.

Cool Idea for a Dio, I like the layout Looks Very Cool to me . Keep On Modelin, milvehfan

I really love your work.

I much prefer Dioramas showing scenes during R & R rather than conflict.

One of my favourites seen here so far!

the clump of plaster is supposed look like some of the ground stuck to the treads or something like that and was done because between the time I built the tank, and the rest of the dio I moved and in the process the tank for a bit broken up in that area so its more of a lame attempt at covering that up more than anything else.
I'll try filling in the rising celluclay with plaster & glue.

Thanks for the comments

Cannot offer any tips myself but,

If I'm seeing it correctly, you caked sand onto the tracks? I don't especially like that look and I'm not sure sand would behave that way. Instead you could do multiple things, primarily adding pigments or washes to make the low spots appear dusty.

BTW I LOVE the German putting graffiti on the column.

Hello, I have been searching for the 8th army sort of sand and armour stuff, and a great bloke called James found your dio for me. It seems a colossal undertaking with the raised hills, the arab, and can I push my luck and say have you any more photo's of this diorama ?

The diorama looks really great but I have to say your vehicles look way too new & clean. They could need some washings and drybrushing.

Hi. this is a cool scene you created. My suggestion is the figures and tank seem a little bright, and maybe some washes or dull cote would make them seem less glossy (camera lighting also goes a long way to fix this ). But as mentioned before - a lively desert dio!