Hi Claude!
This is looking beautiful, as usual. You never cease to amaze me!
Question: What cork board did you use for the cobblestones? I really love that idea but I am having a hard time finding the cork board itself. A hardware shop here where I am in the US, Home Depot, only has it in 1/4" rolls and it's a HUGE thing and somehow, I don't think I'd need that much!
Hope your building this weekend is making great progress!
Also, would you ever do a private showing of the model for someone if they traveled to Luxemborg specifically to see your dioarama?

Thanks Thomas,

Of course i will show you some more pics abot the setting. I just finished the two houses but i think i did not take one single picture this week.
About the permanent setting, no news from the city of Clervaux, i don't exist for them. I will relaunch their awareness after the expos in fall.

Hi Brandi, Thank you very much

The cork i use is 3 mm thick ( is that 1/8"?). You can of course use 1/4", you just need more material to fill the space between the stones.
You have to look further in your Home Depot style shops. I know this huge rolls, but there should be smaller quantities available, like packages of 10 sheets or so.
A very cheap pinboard is an alternative.

Of course you can come to see the dio if you pass here, just need to know that the room it stays in now is getting smaller by every module and freedom of movement around is also. For the moment i have a good foot around it and with the next module i need to push one side completely against the wall.

Ok, enough talked, it's pigment time!

Hey, i f...up again, i wanted to make my roof weathering with Gouache again, but yeaterday i made a nice oil wash first. LOL! Do you think the roof takes a water based weathering now? Of course no! Idiot !(myself) So i am using pigments. No problem

Hi Claude. A pleasure as always to see the latest progress. As good as the work is, its your dedication to this project thats the most impressive. Wish I had some of that!

Thanks Frank,

No problem with the dedication, i am just to much in a hurry now to finish for the expos. I will be happy when this calms down a bit as now it looks more like a second job and not a hobby anymore.

I made a big step towards finishing over the weekend as i finished both houses and fixed them finally.

I just took a handful of pics yesterday evening at 11 pm when i finished a long modeling day, without tripod, so just one is worth showing, but you will get the picture


I will ad the common down gutter and do some connections for the electriciy for the left house.
The railing is a Royal Model item (actually two of them as one was not long enough).
I will grout the cobbles now after fixing the gate on the left side (see one of the post above).
My main goal before the exopos is then achieved.
I will concentrate then on some more painting and weathering and putting a bit of life in this. (a handful of figures, Jeep, Dodge, trailers..)
Finishing the back of the houses (only terrain work) is secondary but i will probably finish most of it also.

I will have choices to make regarding electrification. Because of the separate modules, a coherent system is not possible. So you should not be surprised when you see some discrepancies.

I have one more week before spending a 2 week holiday in the scottish Highlands and i do not know i will do another update (watch my blog)until mid August.
I might go for plant hunting there, who knows :-)

For european modellers i am happy to announce the presence of Dio Clervaux at the "Scale Model Challenge " in Eindhoven on Oct 17.
(you know already about Euromilitaire on Sept. 18 and Virton on Sept.25, links on my website). See you there!

I hope you like the view of this last update. Let me wish you also already a nice summer.

And, forgive me for that, i have still a few books to sell!

Cheers
Claude

I really like the update Claude, the street looks excellent.

Martyn

Claude
Looking good as normal. Have a very happy and restful holiday. Looking foward to your next updates.
Tom

Thanks guys for the comments,

Thanks also for taking the time to respond, this looks as hard this days as building the dio, looking at the answer/view ratio of the discussion.

Over and out until end of August

Claude

Hey Claude, looking good as always. I wish I were still living in Europe for I would surely be at one of those shows to see this thing in person! It is truly inspirational. One idea on the electical wiring would be to make it cut and hanging as if retreating Germans had done so, or by adding some damage as if a random mortar had dropped.

Keep up the work, looks unreal; but all too real (if you catch my drift!)
-Mike

Wish you the best on a much needed break from the project. Looking forward to your return and hope you are able to gain a fresh perspective on this awesome project

Hi Claude!
I hope you and your family have a very nice and relaxing break from everything.
Enjoy your holiday!

Thanks guys for the holiday wishes, well, two weeks of traveling Scotland are already history now and since my return 10 days ago i put certainly around 100 work hours into the dio.
Unfortunately i took only half a dozen of pictures so don't expect to much of this update .
I am approaching the deadline for the Sept. expos, so the main focus was now on putting a bit of life into my dio. Not easy as i already mentionend as the overall concept will possibily change a bit after building trhe next modules (possible proximitiy of advancing soldiers does not allow for much civilan stuff).

Here is one picture as proof of some work done.

I finished a Jeep converted to a Medic evacuation vehicle and having a litter on the hood. I painted the three soldiers.
I also build with the addition of a bit of photoetch a Dodge (the Italeri one). The roof is not yet painted.
(By the way, anyone knows a ready made replacement for the Dodge headlights?, the original ones are full plastic, or do i really need to drill out and fill with 2K glue.
It will be place near the first house, where the Mom and girl are waiting for the grandpa to be accompagned by a soldier down the stairs (you remember, perhaps).
This soldier will now have the Dodge waiting for him and an Officer nearby (painted already)
I also finally painted , after 10 months, the tank commander.

I completed electric wiring including doing a complete pole and redoing the fitting on Hotel Central. This was made of plastic six years ago and not sturdy enough to support my wiring efforts. I remade it with brass


Mike, yes, that's what i am doing on the main electricity line, but the connections from house to house also ends at the module border, so i think i am ghoing to leave it unwired until perhaps permanent placement of my dio somewhere.

I also continued with the area behind my two latest houses. I am not pushing this to a max, as i always announced and warned that this may be seen still unfinished at the expos.
Planting this 50x50 space requires a lot of vegetation and time to do it convincingly
Here is a picture showing a slope getting covered by a hedge.


Add to this the setting of other details (gas pump, benches, other plants, painting of the willow and so on) you notice that i did not rest.
I am absolutely on target for the expos, only two figures to be made and they are already built to 90 %. After that, everything i achieve will be a bonus for the expo.

I need to look also to decorate my overall display, so more to think about.

Sorry again for the lack of pictures, apart the time problem and my concentrated focus on building, the room (space) does not allow anymore the correct position of a big tripod.

Let me remid you my Tour plan for this fall:

Euromilitaire on Sept 18/19
Virton in Belgium for Sept 25/26
and the Scale Model Challenge in Eindhoven (NL) on Oct.17

links to the events on my webpage.

Do i see someone from the board anywhere?

Cheers

Claude

Welcome back. Good luck at all the shows. One question how do you transport the diorama?
Tom

Claude, this is looking great as usual and I'm glad your trip went well. I too am curious as to how you transport this impressively large diorama around.

Just did a google search for "Clerf"

Got Clervaux. I just started reading about the 28th ID during the Battle of the Bulge, and there is some interesting reading about "Clerf"....same town? Same Dio?

Thanks guys!

@Rich, Yes, same town, the name changes depending on the Language (FR,D,L) and if a C is used or a K . The Luxembourg name for the town is "Klierf" and the french one is "Clervaux". The name Clerf comes from the german spelling. Hey , that's Luxembourg :-)

For a good reading especially about he battle around Clervaux i recommand "The Time for Trumpets" (hard to find) and the relatively new but very good "Alamo in the Ardennes".

@other,
Of course i need to rent a van. It must me a 20 m3 one, the last category i am allowed to drive with a "normal" licence.
The whole operation of transfering the dio from my expo room to the expo and back is indeed very difficult.

Cheers

Claude

you are my inspiration regularly your craftsmanship your works be compared as be my teacher.

adisak.

Nice updates as always. Are you going to texture the roof of the staff car at all? It looks very plastic and smooth. Is the plan to add depth and texture with paints?

everytime i think i've seen everything then you build a whole new part of this village and i'm blown away all over again! truely magnificent Claude this just keeps getting better and better.
surely you must be running out of space by now though lol
looking forward to seeing more. Ant

Hi Scott, i already changed the color (a lot lighter), but am not finished with it yet.
I have no real experience in painting vehicles and am open to all suggestions and tips (if they come in the next 24 hours, LOL)
I intended to make the usual stuff, washing, highlighting and pigments. Any other suggestion? I have some Gunze Surfacer 1000. Should i try that? Please keep all in mind that the roof is now glued on.

@Ant, thanks a lot, glad you still like it. You go to Euromilitaire?

Claude

I would do one of two things with the staff car roof.
Either add some tissue paper to give it a rough texture. Then paint that.
or
some Mr. Surfacer stippling, almost like texturizing a Sherman hull. You already have this stuff so i would probably start with this one.

Visually, in the photos, these older plastic roofs come across very toy like. A bit of texture really makes them come to life.

Funny thing, i initially tried to recycle my old staff car with the roof done with tissue paper years ago. I did not fit 100 % so i discarded it (still in the box).
I may take it out again (after testing the Surfacer) and try to fit it (without destroying the windshield as most of my improvement work went into this.

Thanks

Claude

So guys, just said, already done, there is no time to waste.
I redid the roof of the Dodge wih Magic Sculpt.
Is that better?
(again, bad pic, but should do it for now, sorry)


Here is a something i am trying to do as a last minute thing.
A little sub-plot with a few civilians who just arrived at the castle and are disembarking from the tractor.
The husband is helping his wife stepping down (well, it is not yet recognizable as wife but it hopefully will soon). The little girl ( a Preiser figure) is waiting for his turn. If i succeed my scuilpting i am sure this will be a nice scene.



I am missing the civilian decals for the Lanz (the two Lanz signs).
Anyone out there able to send me those quickly?
I contacted Plus Model yesterday and begged them to do something for me because of the publicity they soon get with the tractor being on my display, no answer yet and i am not really looking forward of getting one.

Claude

Hello Claude, Sorry, can not help on the decals. It is neat to see all the things that are going in your masterpiece! A figure sculptor too!!! You are a man of many talents.

Randy