This is not only my first diorama but also my first attempt at photographing a model. I used a Verlinden resin building/base, DML's 1/72 Hornisse, and figures form Caesar Miniatures. Everything was painted in acrylics and weathered with oil paint washes and MIG powders.

Your comments and suggestions will be welcomed.

Thanks.

Brian

Nice Dio,
Your Dio is great composition and all the soilders position are quit nice.

Did you using the finished tree & floor?

Cheers!

Thank you. The tree was from a Woodland Scenics foliage set. I'm assuming when you say "floor" you mean the base. If so, the cobblestone base was part of the Verlinden building.

Brian

this is a great first diorama and like my friend above mentioned it has a well thought composition and story. for feedback i could see the potential for even more weathering on the road to help create more interest. i like how well your tree came out, these are not easy to pull off.

it may be the pics fooling me but (and i apologize if i'm wrong) is that a big a-s fingerprint on the left side of the vehicle near the rear? i didn't notice at first but it seems to be in each pic and if so you may want to dab some more weathering in that area.

hope i'm mistaken and thanks for sharing, the efforts of painting all those windows so neatly paid off. cheers, mh.

I agree with everything said. It is a well done composition and effectively delivers the story to the viewer. As MH has said, a bit more weathering would do your diorama a world of good. The one thing that does jump out at me as a bit odd is the position of the dead German. His pose is at odds with the dynamic elements in the rest of the scene, but on the flipside stranger things have happened...

All in all a very well done piece, especially considering this is a first

You're absolutely right about the big a-s fingerprint. I thought I had wiped it clean before taking the pictures, but the pictures really magnify the blemishes. After the pictures weer taken I wiped it completely clean with water and re-applied the powder.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

Brian

Thanks Jeremy. Can you recommend something specific in regards to weathering?

Regarding the dead German -- can you please explain how he's at odds with the rest of the elements? I had envisioned him as having gone down while falling back from the Hornisse as the Americans advanced.

Thanks.

Brian

Nothing major, just the base as MH has mentioned. Some irregular weathering would help break up the "sea" of rectangular shapes to add interest to the viewers eye. This may sound odd, but it can actually add life to the scene. The Hornisse itself it weathered beautifully.

Regarding the dead German crewman, his body is definitely placed in the right position and I understood exactly what was going on because of this. The actual pose of his body is oddly orthographic which is in contrast to the dynamics of the other figures and the scene as a whole. His head is tilted wonderfully. The arms and legs are just laid out a little too perfectly, a little bit of subtle or not so subtle variation would cure this, even if it were just a slight bending at each of the elbows and knees. You've actually already applied this concept to the Hornisse by varying the angles of the hatches and the gun as opposed to leaving the gun straight and the hatches open to exactly the same angle.

Keep in mind that these and the fingerprint are just small details being nitpicked at so to speak to help you on your next diorama. This piece is excellent as it is, which means your next diorama project is very likely going to be outstanding mate

Thanks Brian for your replied me for the finished scenics tree and base.

I agree with Jeremy regaring to the deadman and fingerprint.

Only a bit observation, from my personal point of view. The building can make more painting from gun fires or bombs damage. (Just notice)

But as what we said, overall look great.

Looking to see more dio you make.

Cheers!

hi Brian, i had a feeling you had your finger on top of the problem. you can consider putting rubbing alcohol on the model and then dusting on the powder to help with adhesion.

here are two basic how-to videos that can help with different pigment techniques:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGA32YSK9Uw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx1e6ooh8PA

as for the dead figure, first i really like that you didn't do a big pool of blood. we can have a long discussion about the reality of war, the use of gore and how it is to be handled in a diorama. my opinion is to "symbolize" that a soldier has been wounded or killed but to stray away from depicting bright red crime scene splatter. just my view, what would be consider a romanticization of war and one i can understand is idealistic.

second, Jeremy pointed out all the great things about the pose, especially the tilted head. this ties in with the road weathering. if there were more debris and gravel the downed figure could be nestled in this rubble. perhaps the one thing that Jeremy has mentioned is the symmetrical arms and legs. had one leg been bent or an arm crooked it would create more visual interest.

one thing you can still do even though the scene is finished is take the dead soldier and run his back on some sandpaper to flatten him down so he sits even better on the base.

third point, you asked what can be done to add weathering to the road. consider you used a light buff tan as a wash for between the cobblestone. close to the sidewalk and in some areas here and there add a wash made from Raw Umber and Burnt Sienna mixed 70/30 to make it appear like some areas have dirt and some have dust. you can check out my attempt at cobblestone here or search flickr.com for pics of cobblestone which gave me inspiration.

again, great scene and look forward to your next project. cheers, mh.

looks good. sense of action and drama.scale is way too small for my clumsy fingers!

Thanks for all the great feedback guys. I really appreciate the comments.

Jeremy H -- I agree that the dead German figure is a bit "static". It's from a Pegasus set (German infantry in Berlin I think). I guess I could have converted it some to get something more realistic but was a bit overwhelmed by painting 9 figures (the most I've ever done at one time) and he was kind of a last minute addition. Thanks!

Hellhound -- Without having made the connection until just now I've been following your Jagdpanther posts religiously since the beginning. I love what you've been doing with the building and the cobblestone base. Truly something for me to aspire to. After painting the cobblestones about 6 different and random colors I did use a burnt umber or burnt sienna oil paint wash on them, followed by a dusting on MIG powders. If you could only have seen my first attempt at the base -- solid, one-color gray cobblestones, black wash, light gray dry brushing. It was so harsh and unrealistic.

Regarding the dead German, I think I will try to pry him off the base and sand him down to lie flatter. I knew from the start that this was a problem but gave in to the desire to just finish the diorama before starting back to school (I'm a teacher and coach) because I knew it would be hard to continue on it once classes started back up. Weak excuse . . . I know. And thanks for the youtube links!

Once again, thanks to everyone who commented. AS I said earlier, this was my first diorama and my first experience photographing, but it was also my first time posting a project. Now I won't be so hesitant to do it again and may even think about joining a campaign.

Brian