before I get bombarded with suggestions... these are the closest to what you show, But I would prefer the model dog to be nose to the ground sniffing a can or rubbish...

at least these look mangy:
http://www.figureinternational.com/NEW%20RELEASES/diciembre%202005/pages/43%2012%20Dougs%20Original%20DO-35A05%20Running%20Dogs%2054%20resina%20Esc%20Douglas%20Lee_jpg.htm

this is a little to pretty but the barking pose is very similar to pic above.
http://www.figureinternational.com/NEW%20RELEASES/diciembre%202005/pages/41%2012%20Dougs%20Original%20DO-35A03%20Goat%20&%20Dog%2054%20resina%20Esc%20Douglas%20Lee_jpg.htm

Nice pics by the way... got any of the birds?

Adam

Here's another option for the dog (but the chosen "camo" looks a bit weird to me )

MK35 item #F102:


HTH

Frenchy

Those dogs in the links are far too cute for the ones in my AO. Most were vicious American hating curs.

As for birds, there's little in Iraq I didn't photograph.

just caught up with this blog and I'm speechless! an absolutely phenomenal build with a wonderful attention to detail. Most of us (and myself very much included) would be chuffed to bits with any part of this, yet you can hide away mini-masterpieces (such as the garage) where they will hardly be seen.

Superb and very inspiring -- very much looking forward to following the rest of this

Cheers,
Ian

Welcome aboard outerarm. I had to say of all the profile avatars on here, so far I find yours the most disturbing. lol.

Adamskii

This continues to be one of the best dios I've ever seen. I really think that you should add some dogs though. When I was over there,dogs were always in the picture,even in the middle of nowhere. They would be easy to portry,unlike the other things that remind me of the place,ie,the smell and the FREEKIN FLIES!!
I also agree that you should get a book together on this. Shep Paines book was good and it is a legend but things have progressed. He liked to use what he called"creative gizmology" but you actually go the extra step and make all of the details accurate. The whole effect of all of your work causes ones eye to be fooled into believing that one is glimpsing reality.
And don't be hard on yourself for the figs,they look very good. The only suggestion that I would make is to maybe make your contrasts just a tad more dramatic. Use a few spots of black in the shadow areas and a few spots of off white on the highlites? The scale makes this needed something like the way that theater people make their make-up a tad extreme to project into the audience. Hope that I am making sense.
Lovely work,
J

wow @ the Saipan beach diorama. Thats so good that It almost makes me wanna quit. Breathtaking, If you havent seen it please go check it out.

Just some quick updates.

Toyed with making the plaster bags out of epoxy rolled thin ( was making spall liners to cover the sandbags and had some left over so tried it out.) Not too bad, will give them some paint and try some decals and see how they go. I still think paper would be best to use but have that problem of texture consistency



the other update, is I have painted the vehicles base coat ! Give it overnight to dry proper and then the cam schemes...



Also started work on the figures for the vehicle crews


The dogs are definitely going to get some looking into after easter.

Cheers folks..

Adam

Hehe, it is one of Tim Burton's Martians from 'Mars Attacks"!

Thanks for the detailed description of the figure work and where you have sourced your figures from. I prefer modelling the modern era and finding suitable 1/35 scale civilians (and civilian vehicle) is somewhat tricky. I wasn't aware of the Firestorm ones and, with a little work, they look quite versatile.

Cheers,
Ian

Dear Adam,
The picture with the geese is great. Just as I remember: dirt all over. It shows an old shoe in the background!
And the everywhere present black shopping bags.
But: you made us all clear that you are a master of the detail!

Looking forward to your next photos.

Happy Eastern.

I've just googled 1/35 dogs and found quite a few sets here:
http://www.milminwh.com/54mm_animals.htm
Hope it helps.

Just came along some pre-painted brilliant looking 1/35 dogs if they can help. Just scroll down a bit until you reach them.

http://www.mannysdiecast.com/

hey folks,

just some updates on the vehicles. I know its not much of a diorama update, but I have been working on these the last few days, and I thought you like to see what the vehicles will do to the dio. They are just base painted in the three tone pattern, still have some overspray and other cleanup to do with them, but once thats done their ready for weathering.

So heres some pics with the painted vehicles in position!

Adamskii









Adamskii

coming along well but you may want to revisit the LAVs steering on two of those models. as i understand the engineering, the two sets of front wheels turn at a spaced ratio to minimize strain on the transmission and excessive tire wear.

even at the slightest pitched turn the second set of front tires pivot:


if you've ever driven in four wheel drive on dry ground and turned hard you can imagine how 8 wheels would have a hard go if only the front wheels turned. should still be an easy fix at this stage. cheers, bd.

Thanks, The principle you refer to is called the "Ackerman" principle I think. The pictures may not show it but every one of the three vhiles has the second pair of wheel at exactly half the angle of the front set - Check the build logs I did and I extensively photographed the modifications for all three vehicles, and can assure you it has been addressed. the light and shadow, plus the black of the wheels may make it look like its not turned, but it absolutely is.

about 1/4 way down page 1 shows what I did.
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/169096#1419069

This link , bottom of page 1 has the three veicles lined up showing their all got the paired axles turned, 2nd pair 50% of front pair.
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/169413&page=1

The biggest issue I had was thet the fitters aslav had the wheels facing the wrong way, and Ihad to turn them from the right to the left ( from the diorama switch around). Involved breaking 4 axles and resetting them at opposite lock.

Thanks for taking the time to quesry something that doesnt seem quite right, I will have a close look in the morning to see if any of the linkages had broken from handing and the wheels are offset to where they should be.. Amazing how much stuff is breaking off from handling..

Adam

Hullo and Happy Easter people,

Just an update on the street market. I have had a design problem gnawing at me (as previously mentioned) about the market. It bothered me how the guy selling the stuff in the street got it there! As it goes when you research it a bit more , alot of street vendors have some some form of cart. Of course the usual donkey carts etc, but also alot of hand carts.

Like the ones in the pictures below...




As you can see they often sell straight from the cart too. these carts end up lining the street with unpacked boxes etc littering the ground around them.

So I built a cart last night to just see what the effect is...



I love it! Except the cart is a little over complicated. I have pulled the wheel frame off and am rebuilding it today to a 3 wheeler without the stand pegs. the wheels i am using are pressed steel rims from a landrover kit in 1:43 scale. Interesting how the real carts make use of modern ruber tyres and not traditional wood wheels (ruling out using almost every single model cart on the market).

I will also build a second "wharf" cart. the really low ones with the small trolly wheels.

Have a great Easter..

Adamskii

I've been following this dio and I just love it.

Concerning the necessity of a cart.. here in Egypt there are a lot of vendors who just have a couple of baskets that they bring to wherever they plan to sell by bus or microbus and just sit there all day, and then pick up and leave at night. So, I'm just saying that the cart is not absolutely necessary.

But if you are going to have a cart.. maybe it would look better with motorcycle wheels. I've seen carts with wide car tires and rims.. but those are pulled by horses, mules or donkeys.. but if it's a cart that the guy pushes himself, it becomes really difficult to push it around with those thick wheels.

In any case, you're doing great work.. keep the updates coming.

Hisham

Hi,

Great work so far!!! It looks really good!

Personally I think that smaller wheels would be more appropriate especially if you are going to add a third wheel. And instead of the stand pegs, I suggest you use bricks to lift the cart off the ground.

Regards,

Thanks guys,, your observations from daily life are quite invaluable to me interpretting what I see online.

I wanted to post these pics several hours ago but ran out of time and had to go to the inlaws for Easter Lunch....

I destroyed the earlier cart - it was only a trial build, and i too didnt like the scaleand fit and also the design(as I mentioned) was overcomplicated.

Here is the 3 wheel version I made



TOTAL FAIL.

I didnt like it at all and it was looking out of place. yet i still liked the principle. SO I started from scratch and built as exact a copy as i could from a pic that i did like...

heres the pic...



And heres the cart..

i am happy with this version and will now paimt and weather before assessing it again for fit.



Will take a pic of it on the dio for reference. but its lower and smaller than the others, and actually looks more "real" to me.

EDIT ... here's the pics I promised..





Adam

Adam, liking this new Cart, alot simpler and believable. The others looked a bit like Xzibit had been let loose to Pimp-My-Cart, far too bulky and complex, but like i said, this new one is the ticket, well done!

As far as the dio so far since i commented last, i had to change me dacks when i saw everything put together and painted... this thing is just mind blowing... prepare to win whatever category you enter it in at ANY of the comps here.

As I mentioned before,this is what is so good about your work. You are spending more time fussing over a vendors cart than most guys do with a whole combat vehicle. This is what sets this dio apart.
J

LOL @ pimp my cart, goat style...

Thanks for the comments guys. Always appreciated.

Been working on my spine board last few days, blogged about it on my aslav with bar armour post.

Back to work in 24 hours...

6 weeks to the comp....

Im really worried now!

Adam

PS pics of the spine board..(Australian version) more on the other blog.




Adam

Nice work on the cart and the spineboard. Did you AutoCAD the spineboard template?

Also, in an earlier post I noticed some street damage at the edge. I'm thinking you could fill in some "dirt" and let it be a massive pothole or something.

Happy Easter and thanks for sharing. -zon

Hi Zontar, the damage around the edge has been a constant problem since day 1, I have been able to catch most pieces and re glue them but a couple escaped my attention so i always planned on revisiting the edges and tidy up. There will be a small card wall inserted between diorama and base, and then back filled with the same road slurry/ plaste mix used to make the road. then just matter or colour matching the road and the repair with the airbrush.. its that easy...nothing could go wrong.. lol..

I used "paint" to draw the template, and nero to enhance the images.

ADam

Hullo folks.

Well im back to work tomorrow after a 12 day break. I havent done as much as I would of liked but I havent been too bad either. ALot of work was in the vehicles and that stuff wasnt on this blog.

Anyways a couple of updates. Firstly, the cart is primed and ready for paint, and I built and primed the second cart - the flat bed one, using the smallest castor wheels i could find. If i get a chance I have a figure already to go with this cart and might paint it up so its being pushed across the street in one of the dead spots.

here they are. (reference pictures are above )




Now the next big update I guess Is I have been stalling on doing the street electrical work as it is probably the single most difficult challenge yet. I dont have any poles on the street to run the cables too, and the light posts have'nt been built to accomodate them either. I planned on running some cables between buildings across the street, but it still didnt seem enough. Also the mounting points for the cables on the buildings is still a grey area, but i want to convey that feeling of kaos with the wiring.. I just didnt know where to start.

I have photos of streets without poles, thats no big deal, could just forget about it altogether.. but thats not me. So after much consideration I have decided to add a unique Iraq/ middle east designed electrical pole to the street. but.. to have it damaged in keeping with the destryed building theme. This will allow me to load it up with lots of wires, but they can be cut and dangling, not going anywhere, maybe a handfull still do but most will be a big birds nest of a mess.

heres some pictures I using as reference and ideas.


I could of just done a round pole.. but wheres the challenge in that! As it turns out the box section one is perfect.

So to build one of these..(there are no aftermarket ones). two lengths of I beam from the scrap box. and a heap of angle iron shaped plastruct.

In the pic above and below you can see a timber pole with a taper i have in the spares box for such an occasion, and almost used it. the timber pole is from a Viking longboat wood ship model kit. It belonged to my uncle who died several years ago and built models ships in secret.. my Aunty gave me his stash afterwards and to this day I been using the timbers for project after project. Model ship kits are a great source of shaped timber. ( the viking ship was missing many parts and instructions and its this kit I been cannibalisng for years - not the sealed ones) Anyways.. cheers unlce Derek, Think of ya each time I borrow from the box.

I started by taping the top of the poles together - didnt want to glue them just yet in case this technique didnt work. I marked out where I wanted the angled joins to go, and measured and cut the smaler irons to length.

I started at the bottom and worked inwards - this seems opposite to what logic would ask, but if you start at the narrowest point, as you down you unintentionally make it wider and wider until its oversize. at least this way dictates the 'splay" at the beginning.

Almost done one side

turned it over and worked my way down this side ( wasnt going to splay as the other side held it in place now)

overhead view of the pattern..

the cross members at the top, and the insulated couplings. The insulators are borrowed from the old italeri telegraph poles kit.

One last thing ... i wanted it to look like a tank had run into it - or at least a truck or something in the conflict. So I held it over a candle and softened the abs plastic up and shaped it until I had what I thought was an ugly bent pole! the bend has two benefits - first it adds interest and makes rusting/ weathering more challenging/ rewarding. Second, it moves the pole away from the building it stands next to, which was never designed to have a pole there - and the sidewalk is rather close to the buildings overhang..






I'll paint over the next few days with my rust mix of acid patina over iron suspension. The "rigging" still wont happen for a few weeks yet, I want to add a small transformer to the pole, and another gang of insulators on the shaft. Also depending on feedback - the pole might go altogether or need other mods.

thats all for tonight folks..

Adamskii

realy realt realy great work a small detail the wheels on the cart
if i see the photos of the real cart the tyre are almost slicks but for the rest keep on the good work
henk