Hello,

This is my first real diorama. I have used alot of great techniques that I have learned from this site. My figure painting isnt the best, especially in the faces. This is a Tamiya PAK 40 with Crew. If I was to use Tamiya figures next time, I would put a better resin head on them. It is still a work in progress as I need to finish groundwork, painting some additional details. This is just a preliminary layout to show you the idea. If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate them.

For what it's worth, that is one of Tamiya's earliest sets. Their recent figures, while not at the very top of the pyramid these days, are still far better than those early ones.

Otherwise... Looks good.

Maybe add some more variation on the groundwork. Some little shrubs, different colors of grass, etc. The dirt area of the lower section is also very monotone.

Also, on the gun, maybe some soot marks around the muzzle. There also appears to be a fairly big seam line down the left leg of the gun.

Thanks for the reply and suggestions.

I have added some additional groundwork of a different color to both the grassy area and the dirt in the actual firing point. The seams on the trails of the gun seem to be weld marks, when I was building the kit, my first instinct was to sand them off, but after looking at pics online, it appears that they are are actually welded seams. I will be adding some soot marks to the spent shell casings.

I realize that this is in progress, but maybe if you have not already thought about it here are a few suggestions . My 2 cents worth. Place a couple of rifles up against the logs and place an ammo box or two next to the machine gun. Place an ammo belt in the gun as it would be ready to thwart off any ground attack by infantry. I used to have problems with the back of the Tamya helmets and I can see that you are experiencing that also. Instead of cutting off the helmet from the sprue, snip it off and then very gently sand the little stub off with an emry board. It helps to eliminate that nitch along the edge. As the position does not appear to be a hasty position, there would be lots of other gear placed around it. Use your imagination on that one. I like the piece of wood that the loader is using to shove in the round and the logs under the sandbags. It's a nice little dio and looks like it will really look great when you are done.............Al

Hey Art. Funny thing, that kit was my first dio also. The logs holding the dirt back, I'd put in a few uprights to support the weight from pushing them in. If it is wood in the loaders hand, I'd switch it for a heavy cloth. Kind of hard to hold a round object on a flat peice and push it in place. Another thought, the loader is tossing the empties to the right off the shooter, maybe the other side ( left ) as it would be real hard to toss them to the right . Just assume his position and you'll see what is meant. I usually check with my own body to see if a pose will work. Look through the site here for ideas on adding stuff like packs and such. As pointed out, the ground is pretty monotone and needs some more color and roughness. These are just a few pointers in the direction you want to go so I hope this helps in a constuctive way. Nice dio and have fun.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have been out at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma for the past week. My battalion just received the newest howitzer in the Army- M777A2, but that's a whole newdiscussion! I was not able to take any pics of the work I had added to my dio before I left, but will post some pics when I get back home on Saturday. I appreciate all the suggestions and have been looking for some some pieces of additional German equipment to add to this dio. I ordered a Verlinden MG34 set to replace the tamiya one in the photos, as the Verlinden kit comes with a belt of ammo and a couple of ammo can and ammo drums. Can anyone help me out pointing me to a kit that makes some decent K98 rifles, water cans, etc? I was thinking of adding a radio somewhere in the dio, but then I would need an antenna and probably some kind of generator or other power source. I really appreciate the suggestions that have been given.

While there are several companes that make 98k's I'd go with Hornet as these are probably the easiest to find and pretty much anything from Hornet s quality. BTW overall, for your first dio, nice job. I wish I had the interweb when I first started doing dios 30 odd years ago.

Here are some updated photos with the improvements to the groundwork. I also added some support beams to the logs. I am not sure if I am going to keep the foliage at the front of the gun, I may add some to the barrel to help camo and break up the lines. Let me know what you think.

The grass banking looks much better in the second lot of pics, but the area behind the gun is way too flat, neat and tidy, with a lot of 'dead space' to fill. Ammo crates, assorted boxes and personal equipment, a bit of vegetation etc. shoud help remedy that.

- Steve

Better, but I would give the logs and supports a wash or two of grey (look at real weathered wood, it tends to be pretty grey), and the sandbag in front of the left wheel of the gun has a pretty noticable seam, I'd get out the xacto for that. Overall, it's looking decent for your first dio.

Actually , sandbags do have noticeable seams. They are generally burlap sewn together. The dio is looking much better though. To me the lichen foliage in front of the gun looks bad. I never use lichen because it really does not seam to represent any kind of foliage in miniature. The idea is good, just maybe try something else for the camo. Looks like you did a really nice job on the gun itself. The log supports are a good improvement. Get your imagination going and ask yourself......What can I do to make this seem more real ? After a while you will do great on your own and not need so much suggestions from others. Take care........Al

To echo the previous poster, lichen or a ground-up foam product are really bad products to represent grass. You really should grab a bottle or two of Woodland Scenics static grasses.

Hi Art. Better looking now. The Lichen can be spruced up by adding some leaves to make it fill out as a real cutting would. This would be replaced as the leaves die off. You can P/U some of woodland scenics leaves. Be sure to paint them as the dye they use fades after time. I would add some brown to the area behind the gun. Also if you have some available, some ammo crates and ready rounds. A little sprucing up and you got a nice peice there.

Cool, that was my first diorama too! Your's looks quite a lot better than mine did!

zaltar

While I am at home on leave from my current deployment, I took advantage of the cold and snowy weather and finished up this dio. I didn't have time to finish this before I left for overseas.














All in all, I really enjoyed building this and for my first dio, am pretty happy with how it turned out.

hi Art, this a solid build for your first diorama with lots being attempted vis a vis materials and groundwork techniques. i hope seeing this first project come to completion gets you into trying more dioramas. the improvements made did make this piece even better. keep it rolling. cheers, bd.

First off, I think it looks really good and the improvements really add to it. Areas That stand out that might need to be considered. The equipment colors, I'm no expert so feel free to correct anything I say, look off. I think most of the equipment shouldn't be Gray, but either Dunkelgelb or German Field Grey (but not the ModelMaster grey) based on the color scheme you chose for the Pak 40. The clash in colors just looks...off. Same with the uniforms. Tamiya makes a much better Field Grey. But I don't blame you if you don't want to repaint the figs, I know I wouldn't. If nothing else, I'd repaint all the Grey equipment so it doesn't match the uniform colors. It just doesn't look right. One last touch would be to weather the Gun, figs, and equipment. It all looks to clean. I usually add a wash to everything to make it look like its been out in the field and also tie everything together visually. Just my simple input and overall I think it looks really good!

Maybe you could add a net made from gauze. Place it to the front and pass the barrel through it . If available, most planned gun emplacements would have nets to help hide the gun from distant observers and aircraft. Roll up another net and lay it to the side of the position, as that would be the one that they cover the gun with when not in action...............looks good so far.........Al