Great job Adam!! I appreciate very much how you explain and describe every construction step and every item you use.
I cannot wait to see it finish!
Moreno

Right on Adam, work the figures in between tossing the ball to Hamish, he'll learn how to paint soon enough. Once you get crankin on the figures you will excell fast, it ain't that hard, as you know. When you get a chance for those sheets, no hurry. You can check the link below for the latest on the Afghan dio, had to redo the camo pattern on the first two figs, too tight of a pattern, but it's coming along and need to close it out. Got a chicken coop ta build, go figure. Outside work will soon push my brushes into the bunker not to return till the next snow fly.


Cheers Brother, Ski.

[url=http://www.migproductionsforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8795[/url]

http://djiti.production.free.fr/main_menu.html


Scroll down and there is a figure set: US soldier and Mideast kid - thought you may like. Great shots of your diorama - love the updates every time.

-Felix

Adam,
That is one massive build you have going on. Everything is comming out great. Every time I sign in I am looking for your build log to see what elese has been added. Keep up the great work and looking foward to your next updates.
Tom

hey folks,

another update as its been a while. Ihave been toiling away at the small details for the garage. Its far from finished but took a few photos as in progress shots. have lots of details to add yet, especiallyrags and oil spills, gravel and dirt to the floor, posters and newspapers etc .

the shop has had the counters painted, and when I finish the garage i will moveonto th shop and its wares and fittings.

upstaits have painted the walls (inspired by the ruin pic I posted a few pages back) and started etailing the plugs and light switches etc.

On the roof/ outside I have stacked some bricks for the workmen doing the repair work, and gravelled the tiles.

Overall I gave it a couple washes of oils and will airbrush them down later especially the roller door which is quite grotty and needs less contrast., a good dust coat changes everything!

heres the up dates..
the shelves for the garage (sooo much time required to do this - main reason I been quiet lately)

A modern alloy ladder i scratchbuilt

the floor/ walls of garage and other details

with the ladder in place

the shelf above the roller door gets some boxes and stuff

the shelves in place

shop fittings

test fitted

stack of bricks and some rubble onthe roof

and from the back.

going to hang some pictures on the pink wall, and have to add light fittigs to shop etc.
more details work on front but will lea until its finished.

more soon - I need this building fiished by Sunday night (14 weeks to the competition!!)

Adam

I'm so total engrossed in this one Adam. Excellent work and your road method has inspired me to give it a try.
Just one thing (I know I always have a "one thing") but I believe 10B never went to Iraq plus I know the old M113 can go almost anywhere but I don't think She would have made up onto the top floor like in the last picture.
Thanks for inspiring me to sit down at my workbench after putting it aside for two years.
Cheers, John

LMAO @ 10Bravo not going to Iraq...

Glad to hear your picking up some hobby tools again! Check out the pics I posted in the renamed ASLAV forum, maybe some more inspiration there too ? https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/120708&page=20

its amazing how the little throw away lines of "just one more thing" can lead to a whole page of dicussion. But thats what I like about doing the blog - I can be challenged at a stage in construction where there is opportunity to correct mistakes (rather than presenting the finished product and getting told I made dozens of omissions or mistakes...)

Cheers n stuff,

Adam

Yup been following that thread for a while now. Saw all the photos you put up. Most are from the early years of AMTG. I posted some of my bogged pictures on this thread https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/169673&ord=0&page=1. Funny you mention that it looks like all we do is bog our vehicles. I think it's because when we do it is the most exciting thing to happen on patrol so we get shutter bug happy.

Been following your other threads on the vehicle builds as well.

Cheers, John

This is just plain awesome Adam.

Cannot think of what it is to come as your attention to details is beyond the real thing!

Keep it up!

Adam,
All I can say is WOW. I continue to be impressed and inspired by your work. Although I think my wife would kill me if I undertook a project like this. Keep it up brother. Awesome.

My eyes popped out ! Very realistic stuff !

What Guy said, this is a real Masterpiece you got real talent man.

Thankyou for the kind comments. always appreciated.

I havent really done much technique blogging on my painting so far - basically because I have no idea what I'm doing and and have no real technique - I just sort of do what feels right and paint. I'm not sure if i ever paint two things the same way ever so recording a step by step seems kind of pointless.

I guess if I was to try and list a sequence it would be
base coat (acrylic if possible)
dark wash (oils / thinners - nearly always burnt umber and black)
base colour again but a "dust coat" to return normal colour (wash filters the colour)
let it dry for a while - at least a day
drybrush with base colour and highlight colour mix,
Add any decals (like on the paint tins in the rack etc)
dust coat with appropriate dust colour

and then I dont like it and usually go back and do another wash, base coat, dust coat, drybrush etc..

I am a terrible modeller because I am terribly impatient. i dont like waiting for layers to dry, and usually go straight over the top.

As for another technique I guess, With so many resin parts to paint the task can seem quite daunting. So I divide them up into 3 sections - street refuse and details, building details and fittings, and market /store details and fittings.
the picture below was taken about a week ago, so before I painted up the garage and accesories, but the yellow lines show the division of the three sections. these are just the diorama details not already fitted, and do not include the vehicles or their acesories (which would form a fourth section)



Alot of parts, but working in stages it isnt too daunting. So tonight/today I am working on the store. Last night/yesterday was the garage. So here is all the resin parts needed for the store. What i do is clean each part up, drilla 0.5mm hole in it and insert a cocktail stick with a dab of cyanoacrylanalite on it (super glue). this gives me something to hold onto while painting. I stick them into a piece of styrofoam which ends up looking like a mutant echidna. that way as i work, i can remove a part, airbrush it, at stick it back without touching the part.


Thats kind of my update for the day i guess. Cant do much more tonight as the accesories really need overnight to dry before I drybrush them. I have made all the boxes for the store and detailed a few other things. Hopefully some pics of the finished store tomorrow to go with the garage.. then on to the first floor!

Adam

This is absolutely fantastic work, David. Great to follow this diorama come to life.

Looking forward to see more

...

Incredible outstanding Adam..I'm really impressed!

man, i love the details in this build!

adam, you are building something amazing, i look forward to seeing the finnished article, keep up the great work

Evening folks, Saturday night update.

Well I know alot of you have commented on hearing me voice my thought processes. So you might enjoy this little dilemma I have created for myself. Also Thankyou all so very much again for the kind comments of appreciation!

Basically I have too many accesories and not enough shop/store/grocer whatever. And it is a very fine edge between a Western looking shop and an Arab one. The many pictures I have (please no more!!) of Little grocer type stores in Baghdad look almost identical to European ones in some cases, while others look like what you would expect. I guess I am building something somewhere in between. Either way I am happy I have struck a good balance, and although the shop is not nearly cluttered enough with small trinket type details, that will change as they come in the post.

So the layout of the shop is giving me pause. Have stopped tonight as I need to think what I want it to look like. I love the counter in the middle of the shop, but it screams Western design and layout. When I remove it and place the stock on the floor it looks real good but I miss my counter and register.

Heres two pictures of two possible designs... be advised that there are about a squillion combinations of the stuff on the floor and I am exploring most of them, Its just the counter that bothers me at this stage.

with counter

without counter (and more stock on display)


heres some of the items that get moved around - its like paying dolls house (so my wife teases me)


I am leaning towards no counter, but have to convince myself overnight. Will probably look at too many reference photos and want to change everything.

Something else that I have put alot of work into ( Oh my god how long it takes to paint all this and then individually label each can..) but I am not sold on, is the stock on the wall shelf. I like the idea of general clutter and a diverse range of goods including tobacco, but theres not enough Arabic writing. The cans are so small it does'nt matter. I will go buy a calligraphy or technical drawing felt tip oen and write Arabic numbers on the off white stone jars like prices or labels, Then It may feel less Western. that said with so many tens of thousands of Americans in Iraq, and all their Aid assistance, alot of Western food finds its way into their shops. Even Oreo's.

Anyways here the shelf.


And some other pics to show what else I been working on .
While painting I started the street merchant stock at the same time as it could be interchangeable with the shop. Who knows where everything will end up ?


I scratch built a ceiling fan from plasticard and some spare parts from the Verlinden street lamp set.


Cant glue it in though until the first floor is glued down!


heres the stock/ boxes that go in the shelves under the Kiosk desk


Some of the Arabic posters from Real Model and Dioart


The second floor got some attention too, painted the gold picture frame and added the patriotic poster/painting. Also put a small table and wicker basket under the stairs. That dead space inder the stairs will be hard to do anything with , but I am thinking of putting some stone jars there and one with a small palm plant growing there.


Outside I have added a junction box and started some of the hard cable tracks.


thats all for today! I am behind schedule I ought to have the shop finished and be on first floor. Will need to sleep on the small problem.

Adamskii

i realy love it keep on the good work
henk

Fantastic, I love your many small details.
They give this dio so much LIVE.

Very well made, I love the details. I was wondering how you made the lamp in the store?

Regards,

Adam, the detail and all the extras are killin me man, lol. This is really intense and you better be publishing this one, would be a shame not to. Master Class work Brother, Master Class! You'll have to clear the kitchen table and comendere it from Moma cause I can't imagine where it's gonna go after you are done. Beauty Bro, keep it rollin.


Cheers, Ski.

P.S. I've book marked this to forward to guys who need lessons on interior and basic detail, perfect example of not a detail missed!

Hi folks,

been along week working double shifts, so squeezing in what I could with what little time I have had. Also my computer crashed very bad, and I lost alot of the pictures i was working on at the time (crashed during image transfer from camera sd card and wiped out card and the folder!). Anyways heres some new updates, and some overview pics as I dont think I have posted any for a while?

So I been busy working on building C, I want it finished and as of tonight its about 98% done. All I have to add is the signage out the front, dust coat the roof details, and add some power cables (when the whole street is ready its one of the last things I will do...)

One of the details I scratchbuilt this week was an awning (blind) for the terrace. I used apiece of tissue cut to size, glued onto two wooden spars and wraped around them. then I painted them with acrylics, washed and painted some details on with masks. i just added some stripes and kept it simple as every stripe was a risk of tearing the tissue and I didnt want to push my luck. Hers some in process pics (the first ones were lost in the pc crash and this is where i recovered from)

removing some masking tape

the brown lines added

a few red lines for colour and variation


given a drybrush and dust coat, and added to wall.


I also been working on the roof details, and although all the construction photos are lost heres the water tank and pump. It is made from a Thomas teh tank engine oil tank car with all details stripped off, and some strip styrene wraped to give the contours. The pump is from the royal models water tank, and the stand is scratchbuilt too.


the rooftop..


back of building C nearing completion ( a week late). note the shop i decided to go without the counter, and the ceiling fan is installed.

building C and the yet to be super detailed building B

the back of the diorama showing all 3 buildings


the front of building C (minus signs and electrical work)

building B and C..

different angle..


looking up the street ( I forget the overall picture layout sometimes I get so engrossed in the micro detail I forget the macro)


the old figures chestnut... heres some potential figure layouts - its gettig very crowded. PLEASE no more figure suggestion! my wife will kick my butt clean off the planet if I buy any more figures. I have too many as far as I am concerned and have to cull some away, although when I piant them I think it will cull itself as theres always a few that look woefull.

the large group of mostly men hanging around teh street corner, and a merchant selling some wares ( these boxes for disply only)

the other side of the street has a reasonable number of people and will have the other merchant selling wares along the kerbing.


So thats this weeks update. I am waiting on a tonne of deliveries to update a few things. I am happy enough with building C to park it for now and move back to building B. I guess you could say that the buildings are built but they each need to be super detailed, just like a tank does. 1 down 2 to go.

First to clean up the model room, its a pigsty with paints and materials everywhere. .... .

Adam

Very very impressive incredible so far. Im excited to see the end.

This dio is MINDBLOWING!

The size and scope is simply amazing and you have executed the details extremely well. I'm excited to see this one finished, although where you will find space to display it in your home is of almost as much interest!

Cheers.