Hello everyone, as you can all see this is my first post here, hopefully I will make quite a few. I have been building models since I was 12, but was never really serious about it. Have done some diorama work but nothing that could outlast firecrackers...

Anyway, now I am back and with a vengeance. I have a modelkit store 200m from my apartment and lots of free time. So I have now decided to get serious. I will share some of my ideas for dioramas that I have and I´d be happy if you all pitched in and told me which idea you like best.

They´ll all be built, I just want some help deciding the first one.

Here we go

Long Than ´66
Australian vs VC forces, a jungle diorama that I am dying to make, but it is also probably the most complicated.

Sweeping Helmand province
Inspired by a tv feature I saw a while ago, this will depict british forces in afghanistan resting at a farmhouse after extensive patrols.

Stryker light brigade staging
This will be 2-3 Strykers at a staging ground in Iraq, several US troops around, resupplying and such.

I have plenty more ideas but I´ll start with these.

What do you think?

Howdy Panda!

Welcome to the site!
Some ideas you got there. For a first (serious) dio I'd keep it simple and small(ish). Vietnam sounds like lots of trees, 3 Strykers sounds big, so I'd go for the Afghan theme.

Whichever you decide: post some pics of your progress!

Cheers
Stef

PS: 200m from a hobby shop would definitely kill my account...

The Afghan dio was definitely my first choice as well, it will incorporate 4-6 british soldiers, possibly a vehicle, and a small farmstead, hopefully with some goats or other farmyard animals if I can find any in the proper scale.

Still looking for opinions though so everyone please chime in

I had another hobbystore located 100 m from my apartment too but they went bankrupt

Welcome Panda! I have to agree that the Afghan dio would be the best bet for now. I like all of your idea though. They sound like great projects. Good luck and keep us posted.

-Mike

Bad news though! Went to the shop afterwork yesterday and he did´nt have any modern figures whatsoever. Does anyone have a link to a shop that has lots and lots of figures?

I ended up picking up a 1/72 Stuka and a 1/76 STUG III, the Stug will be used for a desert scene that I have planned and the Stuka is just cos I like Stukas

Hi mate. The Aussie idea sounds cool but the Afgan one is tempting.
you can find Modern british figures here
and also some rather nice Modern british on the site you i provided just have a look around

I'd suggest you start with the story you want to tell, as opposed to the setting you like or the vehicles you like. We all have our favorite vehicles and settings, of course, but a really good diorama starts with a good story idea.

This is why so many good dioramas really start with figures, and you are smart to concentrate on them first. Whatever the figures are doing will control what story the diorama tells.

I'll give you an example that might help: I am sort of a T-34 nut and also a Battle of Berlin nut. But that's not enough to construct a good diorama of one or more T-34s in Berlin. Those are only settings and elements. Before I could plan a diorama I needed a good story idea and figures that would tell that story. I finally decided on troops celebrating the surrender of Berlin, and assembled a bunch of Red Army men and women partying. The T-34s and wrecked buildings around them merely frame the story. The story isn't "Berlin", the story is the soldiers celebrating. Since I had my story first, I could construct the tanks, buildings and base in such a way as to support the main story. Even the layout of the streets and individual pieces of wreckage support the main story. If I hadn't done things in that order the dio would have been far weaker.

An alternative would have been to just build a T-34 marked for Berlin and pose it in some rubble. That would make a cool model (and I should get started on it )but it wouldn't be a diorama.


Danny Egan
AMPS
http://www.amps-armor.org

Thanks newfish Great link, do you also know where to get aussies? They seem rather hard to come by, my modelshop has ordered in modern troops in 1/35, I told him I wanted anything he could get that is modern, US, UK, Oz, German, French.

I´ve got a rekindled interest in the Vietnam war, but I also like the idea that my dioramas are telling stories that are current. That is why I will probably be doing mostly Iraq and Afghanistan dios, especially considering how many different nations are involved and the diverse stories that can be told through them.

Thanks Finch for your long reply, I agree completely with you, the dio should tell a story and I hope I can follow in that sense