This is my first diorama attempt using the old Tamiya Panther that I have been working on testing out techniques, including building a diorama base and zimmerit. Ultimately the diorama will also have the Dragon Norrey en Bessin figures. The base was done with the guidance and assistance of Houston armor club members. I know the tree could be fuller, but that will have to wait for another diorama. This is also my first attempt to post pictures to a thread, so hopefully it will work.

Impressive groundwork kbm !!

The tree fuller ? you may be right, but even if it's not filled with leaves...it doesn't bother the general layout at all.

Impressive base for a first attempt !! You'll make it to the top in no time. If you could spare the time, you might write us a little article on that groundwork ?!

Eagle makes a fly-by to salute this great first effort !

This is a very cool little dio. I like your layout and groundwork very much. Very nice composition
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Good work, very good base. Only one thing, try to do holder the tank

hi, nice work, especially the trail of the Panther is great, I can't wait for the pics with figs

Laurie

Very impressive first dio indeed. Love the old leaves and branches laying around. The tracks are excellent also. One could say the tree may be "fuller" but It looks like an old decaying tree with a little life left in it .....
Likewise for the panther .... a fine model.

One would need to be very nit-picky to point out faults in this dio. The people who guided you with the base know their stuff ..... fair play to them. A few nice figures now, and this will be a fine dio .... and for a first dio is remarkable. All the best!

What can I say?? i do not believe for a minute that this is your first dio base, that looks impressive, the falen leaves, branches color of the gras, spot on.

Please tell us how you did it

WOW! and this is your forst dio, looks great even if it isnt finished, wish i had the skill like that when i did my first

I'm with the others when they say that's incredible that this is your first attempt. Wery ewll done keep on going (and posting) like this!!!
Ciao

The base looks truly realistic! Fantastic! A small point is that it might have looked better balanced if the barrel was not protuding so much over the edge of the base, but this takes nothing away from the quality of the groundwork which is amazing.....well done!

Vinnie.

Nice work! To make it look better, try adding a tank commander on the hatch or rather close it. This will make it look more alive.

I agree with Vinnie here. Hanging the barrel that far over the edge may make transporting your gem a bit precarious. Otherwise, it looks great and is a real life example of what can happen with the support of a group of modelers.

Thanks for all the positive comments. I will try to, as briefly as possible, sum up the process up to this point in time.
From the start of getting back into the hobby about a year ago, my ambition was to build dioramas for the models I built and toward that goal I had done a great deal of reading, both on the web and also Shep Paine's Diorama Book and had gradually been accumulating various materials. I found that the biggest hurdles to overcome were my own hesitation about diving in and giving a diorama a try and finding the time to actually make the groundwork. A diorama building class offered by a professional modeler and fellow armor club modeler (Jon Baker) offered at my local hobby store (Hobby Island), was the perfect opportunity to overcome both of those obstacles. With his guidance and advice here is how it came about:
The base came form Hobby Lobby and I drilled holes in it to increase the hold of the groundwork, stained it, and then applied 3 coats of polyurethane over a period of several days. Masking tape was applied to the sides and a bit on the top as I wanted an irregular edge along the top of the base.
The groundwork is a combination of Celluclay, Durhams Water Putty (purchased at Home Depot), water and Elmer's White Glue, mixed to a pasty consisitency, colored with Hudson & Allen's muck powder and then quickly spread on with a putty knife and contoured to the base. I wanted a type of country road running through the diorama and that was shaped and Woodland Scenics ballast and cat litter was added for texture. The Panther was lightly pressed onto the road to make track impressions. Then, while the base was still wet, I added a mix of static grass: Woodland Scenics light, medium and harvest gold static grass flock (mixed in a large plastic bag) and H & A summer turf sprinkled on top. Then added H & A Forest Litter scattered about as well as branches and other residue from the bottom of the bag that held the tree. Then inserted clippings from various dried plants (purchased at Hobby Lobby and Garden Ridge Pottery) about as taller grass/bushes and wildflowers.
The tree is from Sweetwater Scenery (purchased at a local model RR store) and is one of their armatures. Placed white glue on the branches (leaving one totally clean as a dead branch) and added marjoram, forest litter, and some Woodland Scenics fine leaf foliage. Allowed that to dry for a bit and inserted the tree armature into the groundwork and then worked the groundwork up to the tree and added a couple of pieces of bag residue for tree roots. Excluding the prep work on the wood base, total working time: about an hour. I allowed the groundwork to dry for a couple of days, then did a light mist of hair spray.
I am currently working on the figures: the tank commander from the Panther kit and Dragon's Norrey en Bessin grenadiers. The barrel hanging over the edge is probably unavoidable due to the limitation of the base size. I will update as the figures are completed and the diorama comes to completion.

Vert impressive,congratulations

great work, i think the tree looks fine and the ground work is excellent.

try opening the pics before you take the info required. if you take the info from a thumbnail it will stay like that.

infact here you go.......




Nice work on the figures, the photos are a little bit blurry, but one thing i did pick up on was the injection seams. Its better to try and either file them away or cut them away with a sharpe blade.

Thanks for the help Martin. I was trying to fix my post and decided to just start from scratch and they had already popped up. How did you get the pictures to appear in the post?

I saw the injection/molding lines when it was too late to go back. Chalk it up to the experience column for future reference. Also, as for the blurry pictures, I am still learning to use the digital camera and close ups.

These are the second group of figures that I have tried and first attempt at German camoflage. They are the Dragon Norry en Bessin figures and will go with the Panther ultimately. Still much to be done on them as I have been sidetracked lately working on a Marder III for the my local armor club's October meeting group build.

WELLDONE!
u know what, i cant wait to more of your work!
common man....i want more-more-more.
maybe bigger dio and more action in it.

Truly, madly admire your work!