This is a splitup from the RSO with boatbody thread I started over at armor see here . It was the planning to make the vehicle only but eventually the idea for a dio came up and the thread started to get more and more into the dio surroundings. Therefore I decided to split it up. The original armor thread will deal with the vehicle mostly... this thread with everything else.

For those people who have not yet seen the work so far. The idea is to have this vehicle

An RSO with boatbody floating in the water with some german soldiers fishing on their day off.
A scene which more or less will look like this


To liven things up a bit and make the atmposphere that of leisure I decided to add a lot of stuff. A lot of it came from he scrapbox


But also a lot will be scratchbuilt. And I actually alread did a lot of scratchbuilding for this project.
I started with an umbrella which you find on terraces and such... This was my first scratchbuilt after a a year of no modelling



To fish you need a rod. I was first thinking of givng them both a branch but if you take the time to get the RSO somewhere in the water and taking the umbrella yo might as well take good fishing gear with you



And this leads me to the progress of this evening. I started to scratch the tacklebox/seat which I eventually have to do a second time.





I also started modding the figures arms. Everything is still moveable so I can still play with poses a bit till I'm satisfied




And I made the temporarily roof of the umbrella.. I made this to see if my template was right... I'm currently waiting on an answer on Heineken in the hope they can tell me a bit more about the umbrellas in those days




Lookin forward to your feedback.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Superb stuff Robert. Love the shade. I'll be watching the figure reshaping with keen interest.

It will certainly raise and eyebrow or 2.

Really nice. Now you got me thinking about fishing!!!!

Love the fishing rod, and all the rest.

I like the off the beaten trail that you have taken here, very fun.

this is Kayser Sose, now tuning in on this channel as well...

A nice, light-spirited dio. Excellent!

Absolute killer work Robert!! Fantastic fishing gear. Great figures in the making. The one with the puppy in shirt, who makes him?
Really enjoying this one all the way through.
Cheers for angling!
Rick

Lookin' good Robert!
Maybe the only thing that doesn't fit into the scene is the fishing rod. It's 40s, it's war - doubt German soldiers had such rods. Generals - yeah, maybe, but ordinary soldiers? My father once told me how they made fishing rods out of nutwood branches back in 1970-1980. So I'd guess branches with thread would be your best choice.

I'll have to disagree with you on that one Joris.

My grandfather told me stories of his time in Egypt & Italy during the war, you'd be surprised what they lugged around with them, especially if they had vehicles at their disposal...

Long time no see mate! Hope all is well.....Great start here, I really like the idea.I'm looking forward to seeing more

I like this a lot. Great work, and best of all, it's original. Not the typical diorama you see. Watching this with a great deal of interest!

Ola People

Thanks a lot for the replies... and so many of them as well. Itis absoltely appreciated.

@ Murdo... I'm watching that figure reshaping thing as well. I have not really done it before... so I kinda learn as I go along.

@ Mark, Bob, GEM, Warren and Alex.
Thanks a lot for the kind words. I really appreciate all f them.

@ Rick
Thanks on the kind words on my work. As for the figure with the puppy in his shirt. Both figures are from Masterbox from their Skatspielers set. Review of MB's Skatspieler Nice set for a nice price... even standard they are nice figures.

@ Joris and Donovan
Well I have based the whole fishing rod thing on tales from my grandfather. He served in Indonesia as a cook with the KNIL shortly after WW2. He always had a vehicle available to him and he was carrying a lot of stuff around with him. Stuff that could be usefull with the cooking business... but a lot of stuff was not really neccessary but nice to have. One of those thing was a Fishing rod as he loved to fish.
In the 40's a fishing rod was no longer an item for the rich people. I more or less thought that a soldier could buy one from his money to use it for his days off.

@ Andy
It is absolutely a long time ago mate... Hope you and you mateys are doing well... if you speak them greet them from me. And thanks for the kind words.

@ John
Thanks for the compliments... They really mean a lot to me.

Now that is just cool! What a great idea! I wish I was that creative.

Ola Mikey

Thanks for the kind words... As for creativity... I'm pretty sure you could think up this kind of stuff. A lot of my inspiration comes fromeither pictures or looking at the work of great painters.. This project is more or less inspired by Norman Rockwell's art. Normal people doing normal stuff

Nice work on a fun project. I was going to do something like this using a Schwimmwagen. I had to have some surgery to rebuild my shoulder and hand so that was put on hold. I'll definitely keep an eye on this one.

You're correct on using the fishing rod. By 1930 fishing gear was easily within the price range of the average person. However, like watches there were some expensive high-end equipment made. However, old spincasting reels typically had their handles on the left side for some reason. Reversible handles were not common back then.

The spinning rod & reel looks very nice. Since he has a tacklebox, it fits better than him just using an improvised cane pole. Of course, his buddy might not be as lucky and have to use a cane pole and coffee can of worms.

Hello Robert, Wonderful details, the drawer in the tackle box is my favorite. Very good story line

Randy

@ Gab
Oh that must be a wonderfull sight with guys fishing from a Schwimmwagen. Pitty to hear about the shoulder thing though... hope all is well?
You are exactly confirming my thoughts on the casting rod... The oldest version I could fin online was dating from 1880 somewhere (probably they were there even before that but my research did not go that far) And my idea was that in 60 years surely they must have found a way to make them cheaper.
The handles on the left issue I was not aware off. Thanks for that and quite simply fixed as well since the handle fell off two days ago. I also noticed from my own work I forgot to add the metal wire that makes the thread spin on the reel neatly. Which also will be added.
I also like the suggestion very much about one guy using the Spinning rod and the other one of those ordinairy three piece bamboo rods. And him sitting on a little bit different tacklebox... or maybe a stool of some sorts. And have him one of the smaller wooden tackleboxes which you cannot sit on. I want to give the idea that they simply decided to go fishing and took some random stuff with them. A bit like a German Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John. They would do this kind of stuff.

@ Randy
Thanks for the kind words... The drawer was a story in it's own... it is very small... and it was really fiddly to get all the small section walls in. However,... not as small as with what it will be filled with... That will be much smaller.

Hey Robert fantastic idea for a diorama and excellent scratchbuilding!
Just a thought... You might want to change the fishing reel for one of the older centre-pin types, these were the most commonly used at that time. The fixed spool reel that you have built didnt become widely available until the late 1940s.

Regards Paul

Ola Paul

Thanks for the compliments and also thanks for that bit of information on the reel. Something that is easily made. Will replace the reel for one of those center pin versions.
Thanks

Robert, the Fishingwagen dio never went beyond the early build stages and was shelved about 12 years ago due to a simple operation becoming very complicated (4 surgeries in 6 years and having to learn how to write and tie my shoes again). Anyway, I've recently returned to model building after the hiatus and still have most of my stuff. Regretfully, I gave a number of kits to coworkers that I now wish I had not. Anyway, I'm focusing on getting my stash under control. I still have the schwimmwagen and might try to do the fishing thing eventually.

By the way, Paul is right in changing to the casting reel. Casting reels were more common back then. The design was pretty common and I have seen pictures of the old tackle my grandfather and his brothers used back then. You should be able to use the same rod, just turn it over and bend it the other way. Also, I would suggest at least one use a fishing bobber in the water. It would really add to the sitting back, relaxed attitude of the scene. And if you have them, add a few beer bottles. Maybe put a few chilling in a bucket and a few empties scattered about.

@ Gab
Sounds like a rocky road when I hear about the surgeries needed to get the arm right again. And that road includes the recovery. So hope all is well after that long time.
Still would love to see the Fishingwagen hope you pick that one up some day.

I am already planning to replace the reel for one of those centrepin types but I;ma bit puzzled by your info on the rod. You say that I have to turn it over and bend it the other way? Did the old rods have the wire loops on top of the rod and the reel also on top of the rod.This is when you would hold the rod in your hands when using it?
I so far have only found pictures with the wire loops pointing down instead of up and the reel also hanging down. Would love to hear about this.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Hello Robert
A great idea and wonderful subject matter.
Well done.
Regards
Garth

Robert, The surgeries did not work because my nervous system is an "anomaly". It's from an old sports injury that healed oddly. I have about 50-60% use of my hand. The limited use is why I took a few extra years to come back to the hobby.

But back to the fishing rod. Okay, because the spinning reel hangs under the rod, the guides located on the bottom of the rod. To change over to a casting or single pin style reel the guides would be placed on the topside of the rod with the reel. I think the rod you made will work simply by turning it so that the guides are on top with the new reel. If you can bend the rod straight (or bet with a fish on it), it'll keep you from having to flip the guides around. And before I forget, the handles are on the right side for casting reels.

The rods can be just about any color. I had a bright yellow one at one time. One of my boyhood friends had a lime green one. I'd suggest black or stained wood. You'll have to adjust the rod's bend. Your fishing rod really does look good. Guides are metal and either black or metal finish. Some had ceramic inserts (white or red) to reduce wear on the line.

Hope that helps because I'm starting to confused myself at this point. I'd suggest looking at some existing rod and reel combos over at a site such as www.BassPro.com or www.Cabelas.com. These are new designs but the general layout is basically the same. Plus, they should have some retro style fishing items as well. As is, your fishing rod really looks good and I'm probably over-complicating this more than I should.

Hi Rob,
great idea for a fishing dio, reminds me of a fishing dio in one of the mags a few years ago where a Tank commander was fishing with his 'Elephant' SPG crew watching!
A word on the fishing rod & reel is that the centre pin reel was more evident in the war years and the fishing rod was used as you have shown it 'european stlye' as in game or fly fishing, with the reel under the rod. GAB is right with the reel on top of the rod if it was in the states or GI's doing a bit of fishing in the ETA countries.
Hope this helps!
Mark