Hi everyone

Its been awhile but I suddenly felt the itch to get moving on this simple dio. I will be using the Tamiya Panther A (you can see my build log here: strict oob of Tamiya's panther ausf A and a couple of dragon figures (also here: Gen 2 Wiking Grenadiers

Since the vehicle itself is not really an accurate representation (no zimm, old tamiya oob) I'm not trying to depict any specific scene or battle, but more of a general feel of cold, and maybe something more...

I think it is very important to sketch out ideas for dios first, to get an idea of the layout and composition...

First I started out with a bunch of very basic sketches of different ideas


I know I want the Panther to look like it was abandoned in a relatively hasty manner, off the side of a road embankment, and I want it to look like it was there for awhile, a few days or even a week. And I want the two figure to be going in the opposite direction, cautiosly, up the embankment, to envoke the frequent attack-counterattacks that took place in this region

Once I got a layout I liked, I sketched it out in a bit more detail


Then I got out the figures and the tank and roughly laid them out to get an idea of what this would look like in 3 dimensions


Then finally I made a last fairly detailed drawing to use as a reference through the build, I know I wanted a bit more dramatic angle for the composition so I raised the back end of the panther up a bit


I want to keep this relatively small and simple as its my first real attempt at a diorama in years, and also I just don't have too much time available for modelling right now...I hope it doesn't look to minimal in the end!

Next step, cutting the base to size and creating the basic groundforms...

Nice sketching. The tank and troops go well together but it's a pity we can't see the front of the figures. Could they not be making their way down the slope?

Hi Pat,

Well I hope to place them so that you can see them over the rise, the standing guy will be at the crest of the embankment with the guy struggling to keep his balance right behind.
I don't think it would work the other way, just because of the way the figures are posed, with their front feet higher than their back feet..sounds strange to say in plural!

Nice idea! I think the layout of the dio is cool, well thought out.
Some debris of the harsh fighting would look good scattered about the scene, maybe some Russian equipment, to show how fluid the front was in that area.
Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Paul

Looks a great idea, I especially like your planning drawings, whenever I do sketches it's all square boxes and stick men

I'll keep an eye open for your progress on this dio....

Jason

Sounds like a great idea and a nice scene. I'll be interested to see how you do the tree.