So just a small build blog for my very small vignette about two boys, a beach, and a runaway kite.

The picture below should give you some idea of the tension in the diorama. The sign was inspired by the fantastic and famous "Keep Calm and Carry On". With a little photoshopping, it became what you see below.




As always, thanks for reading and please feel free to provide comments, questions, constructive criticism, or encouragement.

Hi Raul,

I'll be very interested in what you do. I just finished reading "Spitfire Summer" about the build up to the Battle of Britain. A moving book of snippets from diaries and official documents put out by the British War Museum.

Build on Mac Duff!

Peter,
Thanks for the interest in my little project. "Spitfire" sounds like a good read. I'm very fascinated by civilians during wartime, particularly during the London blitz. I'll be posting some pics of the boys next.

Just posting to reference/inspiration pics for this vignette.

Boys with kite




And a little painting of a serene, lonely beach. I love the washed out colors here, the yellows and blue of the sky. I want to play with these colors in the vignette. The shrubs provide some surprisingly bright shades of green as do the small yellow flowers in the otherwise pale palette. Since I can't add sky blue in the vignette for obvious reasons, I will probably look to add it somewhere else.

I like the idea
and the fact of building the dunes and beach grass,
I've never seen the construction of a field of this type


saludos
Domi

OK two quick postings.

First, my kite. The kite was made with some small metal poles welded together in a cross shape. Then I applied aluminum kite "sail" over them. Pressed down for some effect and then sprayed the whole thing with
Mr Surfacer 1000 for some texture.

Second, some experiments with balsa wood to make it look like gray washed wood you'd find on the beach. The sign will hold the "Danger" posting above. I used a very like coat of burnt umber for the wood followed by Payne's grey with some silver in it. I experimented with several looks.





As always post up thoughts, comments, or suggestions. Don't be afraid to be critical.

Next up, I'll hopefully get to painting the kite and posting some pics of the boys. Then making the beach sign. I'm sort in a race against time since I'd like to entire this diorama in a local show here on April 2nd.

Hi Raul,

I like the idea, its original, I hope to see the finish soon. I am curious as to how you plan on making it seem that the kite is loose.

Regards,

Vlad,
I have a few ideas for that. One includes a clear plastic pole that I'll make into a stand. I don't know if that will work but that's what I've got now.

Hi again!

If I may suggest my idea , you could use the rope connection as a support. Instead of using the colorless plastic pole you could make it seem that the rope (the one used by the children to hold the kite) is dragging on the ground ahead of them. Using thin wires (three strands) to make the rope, should give it enough flexibility and strength to support the kite.

Regards,

Very interesting Idea mate I like the idea it's origional. Nice work on the kite so far.

Jaymes

Hey Raul, I really like your plan. I agree with vladimir for the idea of the rope draging ahead of the boys. Wood post, I like the 4th from the left. Hope to see more soon. Good luck.

Hi Raul !
Beautiful concept you got going there, my friend ! The "rope" idea suggested by our fellow "armorama" members is an excellent way to depict the "flying" runaway kite . Will you be using commercial figures for the "boys" or sculpting your own ? The book "Let's Build A Diorama 2" has some fantastic ideas on how to simulate the grassy vegetation seen in your beach reference photograph. You should browse through it and try out some of the techniques . Looking forward to the next steps, my friend. Cheers !
Kenneth .

Guys,
thanks for all the great idea and encouragement. The wire idea is actually pretty good but I do have to see if I can find a wire that is thin enough to imitate string but strong enough to support the kite. I also want the kite to extend past the base so that's going to be a concern.

Kenneth, I'm using the running boys by Verlinden. I have them painted already so I'll put up some pictures maybe tomorrow. I'll definitely be checking out how to do the tall grass tutorial since that is a concern for me.

Stay tuned.

Raul, if you need some real thin wire, I have a bunch, can send you some. I used it for a box kite in a ving. Just twisted 3 together and paint.

Here are some updates.

Here are the two boys.

The big brother.
[imghttp://gallery.kitmaker.net/data/26423/Big_brother_1.JPG[/img]





And now the little brother-- he's the one chasing after the kite.



And here are some pics of the finished kite and the early stages of the sign. The sign hasn't been weathered yet so it doesn't quite have that gray beaches look, but that's coming next. The "Danger" sign is the one I made on Photoshop and the smaller one about taking photograps is from an old Verlinden map/sign set.





Next I'll be posting from pics of the weathered signs as well as some rusted barbed wire I've
been working on meant to separate the mined beach from trespassers.

Comments are welcomed and encouraged.

And I do have a forum question from some of the members who have been here longer than I. So I posted this diorama in the Armorama forum but I realized that it doesn't have any armor in it so it really should have gone into the Historicus forum for dioramas. Would it be in bad form to post a link on that websites forum? Would it be considered rude as hogging up forums? Is there any way to cross post?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Raul,

The figures look really good, very well painted! I can’t wait to see the finished diorama. Have you decided on how to make the kite float?

Regards,

Hi Raul I'm hoping more pictures of this wonderful idea


saludos
Domi

Domi,
Glad to hear the encouragement. In fact, I'm looking at putting up some pictures today or tomorrow. Real life issues--work, kids, wife, more work-- this project for too long.

More to follow soon.

OK, after a bit of a hiatus, I'm back. Life got in the way of my hobby, but hopefully I'll be able to get some work done on this diorama in the next few weeks.

I'm at the stage where most of the individual components are done and I need to just start putting it all together. This is not a particularly enjoyable thing for me since I'm not an expert on the actual groundwork so I'm always worried about ruining things.

I'm mapping out the diorama as seen below using a piece of paper posing the figures and some light sketching.



As you can see, I'm not worried about putting the kite on the base because it will actually be off to give a sense of a chase. To the north-East of the big brother you see the sign that will bear the "Mine" warning and I added part of a rowboat from the old Verlinden set to give more of a beach setting. I'll weather the rowboat to make it seem like an old fishing boat.

The inspiration for the boat came from the pic below. I'll probably be adding some abandoned fishing tackle and old nets.



Next will come the grass and I'm using some frayed rope that will be embedded into the ground.
The rope will be died green and frayed a metal brush.



The video below gives a pretty good idea on how to do it at about the 3:00minute mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77GB_OxeVcE&feature=related

I'm debating on whether to use modeler's clay for the groundwork or celluclay. I find that I can never tell when celluclay is going to crack and warp so that it's difficult to work with. Modeller's clay is a bit more expensive but I have total control over the groundwork with no cracking. It is, however, difficult to put in the grass afterwards since the clay dries hard.

Thanks and all comments and advice appreciated.

Hi Paul
Great work. I like the poses of the two boys, captures the action!
Looking forward to more.
Regards,
Garth

real nice very different!

real nice concept....looking forward to it..
for the groundwork why dont u consider using plaster of paris mixed with a bit of sand...that will give it strength and u can drill small holes for putting the grass...

OK, after a long delay and hiatus due to real life issues (i.e. work) and other builds, I am returning to this diorama and hopefully finishing it within the next month.

I've collected most of the necessary components and now all that is needed is actually putting them together.

Below you'll see pictures of a wrecked boat that I will be placing next to the warning sign. I used the "hairspray" process to make the paint on the boat looked weathered and stripped.


This is the undercoat of the boat to which I applied hairspray and then painted over. Once that paint was dry, I used a wet brush to "strip" some of the paint off as below.




I now have some sturdy wire to hold up the kite. My next move is to make some grass out of hemp and then begin piecing this together.

hi,

what a great idea, the figures look fantastic where did u get them?

good work all round I will keep an eyer on this one.


Paul

Paul,
Apologies for the late response, the boys are from Verlinden I think. They are pretty good. I really wish more civilians and civilian vehicles were made-- boats and cars.