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Dioramas
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Japanese invasion of Malaya DIo
gbarksdale
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District of Columbia, United States
Joined: January 15, 2008
KitMaker: 53 posts
Armorama: 52 posts
Posted: Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 04:46 PM UTC
Hello

This is my second diorama and it's set in Malaya in Dec. 1941 during the Japanese invasion.

I'm going to try to add pics from my Kitmaker Gallery, but if they don't show up, you can click on "my photos tab"

Thanks.

G

















youngc
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Western Australia, Australia
Joined: June 05, 2007
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Posted: Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 05:03 PM UTC
Excellent work there mate. Some great action and movement going on.

Some areas for improvement are the palm trees. The trunks look quite good, but the fronds need to be cut a lot finer. Some more branch/twig structure in the trees would also look better.

The figures are quite good, and I like the sweat patches, but make sure you clean up all the seam/mould lines.

Well done with the muddy river, that looks spot on.

Very well done for a second diorama!

Chas
gbarksdale
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District of Columbia, United States
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Posted: Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 05:09 PM UTC
A couple more photos:



gbarksdale
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District of Columbia, United States
Joined: January 15, 2008
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Posted: Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 05:12 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Excellent work there mate. Some great action and movement going on.

Some areas for improvement are the palm trees. The trunks look quite good, but the fronds need to be cut a lot finer. Some more branch/twig structure in the trees would also look better.

The figures are quite good, and I like the sweat patches, but make sure you clean up all the seam/mould lines.

Well done with the muddy river, that looks spot on.

Very well done for a second diorama!

Chas



Thanks Chas. I really admire your work and I appreciate the comments. You're absolutely right about the fronds and twigs, etc. I realized that too late. And the seam lines, as well.

Thanks again!
okdoky
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Scotland, United Kingdom
Joined: April 30, 2007
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 02:34 AM UTC
That just looks so good and catches the movement so well. When you change these to black and white they look so like real WW2 footage.

That says a lot when you can fool people with a photo. Would be good to see the photo montage in black and white.

Fantastic

Nige
newdriftking
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England - North West, United Kingdom
Joined: September 20, 2008
KitMaker: 365 posts
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 02:51 AM UTC
thats a good looking dio, nice action in it.

How did you do the muddy river? The reason I ask is thats similar to what I want to create for my dio. So any advice would be helpful.
gbarksdale
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District of Columbia, United States
Joined: January 15, 2008
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 02:52 AM UTC

Quoted Text

That just looks so good and catches the movement so well. When you change these to black and white they look so like real WW2 footage.

That says a lot when you can fool people with a photo. Would be good to see the photo montage in black and white.

Fantastic

Nige



Thanks Nige. I actually have several of b/w photos, but didn't upload them. Maybe I will.
padawan_82
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United Kingdom
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 02:52 AM UTC
excellant dio! didn't even notice the sweat patches till i read chas' post then had to take a second look, fantastic! love it. keep up the good work
gbarksdale
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District of Columbia, United States
Joined: January 15, 2008
KitMaker: 53 posts
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 03:01 AM UTC
It was late when I posted last night, so I didn't get into any of the details of how I did the dio. So I guess I'll do that now.

First the tank and figures are 1:35 Tamiya. The tank is spray-painted, since I don't have an airbrush. I learned a good lesson -- never use a hair dryer to dry anything near those rubber tracks! I did, and it split in half. However, I was able to staple it back together and you can't see it.

The base is 1/2 inch plywood overlayed with a couple pieces of foam board. The groundwork is celluclay mixed with coffee grounds and a mixture of different brown acrylic pants from the craft store.

The water effects were pretty simple. I painted the base a mud color then put three or four layers of clear silicone caulk over it. The palm trees are twigs wrapped in masking tape and spray painted with a couple layers of different colors. And the palm fronds are silk leaves from the craft store that I cut and shaped and spray painted with a couple different shades of green.

I have to say that virtually everything I did on this dio was a result of lessons I learned here on Armorama -- thru the tutorials and thru asking questions in the forum. This site is fantastic and a great resource!
gbarksdale
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District of Columbia, United States
Joined: January 15, 2008
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 03:18 AM UTC
Thanks Paul and Ant. Ant, as I pointed out in the previous post, the water was actually very simple. I was nervous first, as it was my first stab at making water. But the silicone method worked perfectly, I think. There are a lot of good tutorials on Armorama regarding how to make water. I read everyone of them, I think!

One area where I'm still struggling is painting figures. For me it's very difficult to paint those little guys. And I don't even try to paint details on the faces. I just do a little shadowing to give as realistic an impression as I can.

And the tank -- for whatever reason, the tank looks better in real life than it does in the pics. There's too much shiny-ness in the photos, but it actually has a flat clear coat over it, and the paints, etc. are flat. So, I'm stumped on that.
farizforce
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Malaysia
Joined: January 26, 2009
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 03:26 AM UTC
Hi G, I am so happy when i see this. Its very rare to see people do a scene about Japanese invasion in Malaya. Im from Malaysia btw (Malaya was changed to Malaysia when it achieved its independence from the British). Great to see this. I hope for more to come.

Thanks.
youngc
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Western Australia, Australia
Joined: June 05, 2007
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 03:32 AM UTC

Quoted Text

One area where I'm still struggling is painting figures. For me it's very difficult to paint those little guys. And I don't even try to paint details on the faces. I just do a little shadowing to give as realistic an impression as I can.


It is certainly a difficult thing to do. I am far from mastering it myself. My best advice would be:

-Invest in a quality, fine brush (and make an effort to keep it clean and in good condition).

-What type of paint are you using? I highly recommend Vallejo or Lifecolour. I spent 2 determined years painting figures with Humbrol and Tamiya colours... when I finally made the switch, my results were immediately a huge improvement. Artist oils are also very good... but I have no experience with them.

-Keep learning from the masters (there are plenty over at Historicus Forma).

The faces in this Tamiya kit are very poor quality, so it is hard to get good results no matter how hard you try. However, if you are planning on doing another diorama involving Japanese figures, hang on to the Tamiay's Japanese infantry kit! Some of the equipment and weaponry is far superior to Dragon's Japanese inf. kit.

Master Box has also just released a Japanese infantry kit... but I have not seen it yet.

Chas
gbarksdale
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District of Columbia, United States
Joined: January 15, 2008
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 03:36 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi G, I am so happy when i see this. Its very rare to see people do a scene about Japanese invasion in Malaya. Im from Malaysia btw (Malaya was changed to Malaysia when it achieved its independence from the British). Great to see this. I hope for more to come.

Thanks.



Thanks, Farizforce. I'm really interested in the Asian aspect of the war, plus I've been to Malaysia a couple of times and it's very beautiful. And you're right -- it seems like there are very few dios that take place outside of the ETO. But I've seen some good Asian/tropical dios here. For my part, I'm really more interested in building dios that reflect more obscure theaters and conflicts. Right now, I'm considering my next dio to be set during the Indian-Pakistan War in '71, or Algeria in the early 60s.
gbarksdale
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District of Columbia, United States
Joined: January 15, 2008
KitMaker: 53 posts
Armorama: 52 posts
Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 03:43 AM UTC

Quoted Text

-Invest in a quality, fine brush (and make an effort to keep it clean and in good condition).

-What type of paint are you using? I highly recommend Vallejo or Lifecolour. I spent 2 determined years painting figures with Humbrol and Tamiya colours... when I finally made the switch, my results were immediately a huge improvement. Artist oils are also very good... but I have no experience with them.

-Keep learning from the masters (there are plenty over at Historicus Forma).

The faces in this Tamiya kit are very poor quality, so it is hard to get good results no matter how hard you try. However, if you are planning on doing another diorama involving Japanese figures, hang on to the Tamiay's Japanese infantry kit! Some of the equipment and weaponry is far superior to Dragon's Japanese inf. kit.

Master Box has also just released a Japanese infantry kit... but I have not seen it yet.

Chas



Chas

My fine brushes are medium-to-good quality. I've done some oil painting (landscapes, protraits, etc.) and I use those brushes. But I try to stay away from the really crappy brushes.

And I use Tamiya paints ( as well as some Model Master and testor enamels -- but mainly tamiya). Frankly, I think they're pretty bad mostly. I've heard a lot about the Vallejo paints, so I guess I'll transition to those.
muddyfields
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Scotland, United Kingdom
Joined: February 04, 2006
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 07:15 AM UTC
Hi
Nice little diorama. Interesting choice of subject.
Well done.
gbarksdale
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District of Columbia, United States
Joined: January 15, 2008
KitMaker: 53 posts
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 08:32 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi
Nice little diorama. Interesting choice of subject.
Well done.



Thanks, Shaun!
newdriftking
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England - North West, United Kingdom
Joined: September 20, 2008
KitMaker: 365 posts
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 08:36 AM UTC
again, this is a good looking dio. I'm gonna try the clear caulk method for my water but I'm curious as to what colours you use for mud? I know it will be browns but what..

I have tamiya's earth and a couple of browns but not sure as to how to use them.
gbarksdale
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District of Columbia, United States
Joined: January 15, 2008
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 08:58 AM UTC

Quoted Text

again, this is a good looking dio. I'm gonna try the clear caulk method for my water but I'm curious as to what colours you use for mud? I know it will be browns but what..

I have tamiya's earth and a couple of browns but not sure as to how to use them.



I used craft paints for the mud (very cheap acrylics). Basically it was a mixture of a yellowish-brown color (can't remeber the name) and just a bit of olive drab green. I just mixed the colors til I came up with something I was happy with.

I also have tamiya's earth color. That should work if you mix just a little of it with Tamiya's desert yellow, and maybe a mall drop of olive drab. The color should end up more on the yellowish side. Hope that helps.
GregCloseCombat
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California, United States
Joined: June 30, 2008
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 09:20 AM UTC
Wow, you killed the groundwork - very awesome. The tank I think could improve next time by making sure the mud stays in the deep recesses of the track (stuff your mud on there and wipe off the outer tread with your finger or something). The colors on the tank seem bright and maybe just add a little dry Mig pigment would tone it down. That water is the best!!!!! Congrats
gbarksdale
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District of Columbia, United States
Joined: January 15, 2008
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Posted: Friday, June 05, 2009 - 09:41 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Wow, you killed the groundwork - very awesome. The tank I think could improve next time by making sure the mud stays in the deep recesses of the track (stuff your mud on there and wipe off the outer tread with your finger or something). The colors on the tank seem bright and maybe just add a little dry Mig pigment would tone it down. That water is the best!!!!! Congrats



Thanks Greg!

You're right about the mud on the tracks. I wasn't too happy with that. this was my first weathering attempt on a tank and it's definitely a learning process. One thing that bugs me -- I put the celluclay (with the paint already mixed in) that I used for the ground work on the tank to represent mud. It turned white on me! Still can't figure that out.

And the colors do look a little bright in the pics for some reason. They look fine in real life. Maybe it's the bright yellow stripes that skew it in the photos???

blyedee7
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Joined: October 06, 2005
KitMaker: 6 posts
Armorama: 5 posts
Posted: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 - 03:03 PM UTC
I just returned to this forum . It a great diorama.
I maybe wrong but I do not think the Japs use Chi-ha in Malaya 1941. As far as I know Type95 Light Tank HA-GO was the main tank and another bulkier type I cant recall.
However still a great diorama.
retiredbee2
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Florida, United States
Joined: May 04, 2008
KitMaker: 757 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 - 01:21 PM UTC
Me thinks this is very nice work, and it is one of your first attempts. Evryone has pointed out some great things about it and some not so great points. I liked the detail on the bayonet scabbard on the one soldier but you truly should take a little time to remove the mold lines and also use paints on the uniforms that are dead flat. Cloth does not shine. If it does , use another paint. Great story and theme. None of my models are perfect either. Be proud of this dio, you earned an attaboy..........Al.........
beachbum
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Joined: March 05, 2004
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Posted: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 - 01:30 PM UTC
A very good effort especially considering its your second go. What catches my eyes is the composition and balance which is well done. You have your tank up front and as most viewers view dios from left to right just like the way we read something, you've planted your figures to the front right. Very nicely balanced.

I wouldn't worry too much about painting figgies though coz that will improve with practice. You may want to consider using strings instead of tape to simulate the growth rings on the coconuts if you are thinking of another jungle dio. Run the string up and down whatever you are using for the trunk. Cover it with diluted PVA soaked tissue paper and paint.

Looking forward to seeing more of your dios.
retiredbee2
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Florida, United States
Joined: May 04, 2008
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Posted: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 - 01:39 PM UTC
By the way , I just looked at your eastern front dio in your gallery. Another very nice and interesting set up. Good job
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