Just finished my first diorama with figures. Not the best but it's my first with firgures. Dios are not my strongest side but I'm proud of this one:

http://one-step-further.net/mastdio.html

Hi Charles, I took the liberty to post a couple of pics here for all to see.

I think you have a very nice vignette there! The forest and groundwork is top class and very good looking. What did you use to make the pine trees?
The figures and equipment have a fine basic paintjob on them, in my opinion they only need some weathering and more depth, but it´s something that you just have to try out to find the way that suits you best. Generally a dark wash with sepia brown or raw umber does wonders to skin parts. Then drybrush with some colour lighter than your base colour. The same goes with equipment. Camo clothing can be blended with pastel chalks. Pastels also fade contrast and make figures fit in the surrounding environment.
You´ll find all the tips on this site I´m sure!

Just a few thoughts. That´s a very nice one to be your first figure dio!


Cheers,
Toni

hi ti,
i like it, a very good ground work and the trees are fantastic...very goud vignette!
only once i think you have to do a weathering work on the figures
regards

Thanks for the comments. I do agree with everything. I'm aware of this weak side of mine and hopefully it will get better. Thanks for the positive critics.

The pine tress were done using the article I wrote. You probably did not read it. Here it is:

http://www.digitaldioramas.com/2002/issue5/dd_pinetrees.htm

Cool subject, I like it a great deal.
There are some very constructive comments above.
On the figure I would add a bit of a shadow along the lower jaw line, between the fingers, under the lip, side of the nose etc.
The way I do this is to use Tamiya Flesh as a base, then mix a bit of Flesh with Tamiya Red Brown and go with a very light color and have it fairly thin (wash like). Apply that, let it dry, then darken with Red Brown, apply in a smaller area in the crease more. Repeat until I get the shadow I'm looking for.
I kept it simple on the technique as a starter point. There are more advanced techniques for figure/flesh painting as you get more confidence give them a try.

Don't forget to paint the hair. I usually just give them a touch of dark brown or black if its hard to see. If its easy to see I'll give it a slight drybrush with a lighter shade of the base color.

The rock is great, I like the moss, the trees are very convincing. Well done.

The ground work is very cool and i likethe figures

Thanks a lot aal. I'll get better at this. Hopefully. Great ideas I'm getting from you all.

I think it looks really good. Esspessially for your first.
O, and P.S., Cheers on your first dio.

Thanks Howitzer. I'll do my best on the next. I've done a few already. I just have to add the figures.

I would like to thank all those you made constructive critism. I'll try and do my best next time.

hi, It looks great, especially the groundwork and trees are wonderful!! The figs are good too and the radar or satalite is very nice!!

Laurie

Thanks for the support Laurie. Much appreciated. :-)
BTW, love your site. Great looking dios. Very inspirational.

I'm working on my other dios that I have already finished; trying to add figures to them. So check the my site in the dio link.

Okay, here are a couple more. Let's hear it guys. Am I getting there?






The rest of the pics are here

Everything is SWEET! the only thing that you can do still is to try and matt your figures a little better since they shine a bit to much, I have this problem as well!
Well done and I can't wait to see some more of your work.

CHARLS for a dio i would say the groundwork is fantastic but as could be said the figures arent the strongest point of the dio. Like you i am good at one part of the dio and bad at the other. I am ok at the figures but my groundwork leaves alot to be said. I have had some experience with figures myself and could add that the faces need more depth to them. Add a darker tone of ochre or flesh tone to all the recessed areas of the face with the paint thinned substancially because you dont want thick paint to ruin the details. then build up the tones lightly around the raised areas of the face aswell as other details and so on sorry i dont have any pics to show you.

charls could you give me a little advice as to how you did the ground work for both the dios my question is mainly aimed at the shrub and the sand /gravel ground
thnx for all help

Thanks for the advice guys. I know painting figures is my weakest point. I'm still trying my hand at it. so forgive me for the looks of it.
For the ground work , I simply use the real thing. The shrub is crumbled up dry moss leaves which I work into the ground by spreading it at intervals. The dirt is the real thing. I simply spread some glue around the area I intend to cover then taking an old spice jar I sifted the dirt onto the glue. After I have waited for a couple of minutes I then spray the area with an earth color or desert color spray paint.

Does anyone want me to do an article on it?

yeah you should do an article it would be good for me and other ametures out there.

Okay guys, I'll see what I can do about doing the article for a simple ground work.

Another great model. I see what everyone was talking about. The figures are not that bad but do need a little messing up. What I impress about is the mast and ground work. That ground work is really good. The forest floor is superb. How did you do it? Any tips, maybe an article...?

In those second set of pics the figures look better, I think anyway. That ground work of yours just blows me away. Great work. Love the armor vehicle. Again, your model designs are very different from many I've seen. It seems you find models that are rarely seen. That I life. Seeing something completely different. Nice job.

Thanks, but I'll be leaving painting figures alone for a while. I'm going to be concentrating on my armor models.