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Dioramas: Large Scale
Dioramas with large scale (1/16 plus) subjects.
Hosted by Darren Baker
10th Mountain, Afghanistan, 120mm Deyun Fig
PolishBrigade12
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Washington, United States
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Posted: Monday, May 30, 2011 - 06:29 AM UTC
Hi Guys,

I've been working this dio for some time now, almost a year. But, I recon that's faster than my "Hue City" dio, 10yrs, HA! This dio depicts and entry team of the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan. All the figures are 120mm from Deyun. The sculpting was pretty decent for the most part, but one need some serious surgery. I'm nearly finished and wanted to share it with yall and get your comments and get more eyes on this, see if I'm missing anything. I know there's plenty of knowledgable guys here, so fire away if you see something has been missed. Thx for watching Guys!

Cheers, Ski.



















henkp
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Posted: Monday, May 30, 2011 - 06:44 AM UTC
great job love it
henk
spetsnazgru
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Lebanon
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Posted: Monday, May 30, 2011 - 07:03 AM UTC
good idea, but the writings on the walls are in arabic, like "house for sale" and another one reads "Yankee, go, the beginning"!!, and why theres Al Zarqawi pic in Afghanistan?
maybe you should change the name of the dio to 10th mountain, Iraq?
1stjaeger
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Posted: Monday, May 30, 2011 - 07:14 AM UTC
tons of fascinating little details wherever you look! The broom, the water tab, paint with brush, etc....I love it!!!
Photos (especially low angled ones) are brilliant too!
The figures are very nice (who makes them btw?) and painting is superb!!

The whole scene is not typical for Afghanistan, and I wonder if it wouldn't have been better not to be so specific for the title.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed viewing the pics a lot!! Thanks for posting!!!!
Congratulations
Cheers
Romain
retiredyank
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Posted: Monday, May 30, 2011 - 08:53 AM UTC
I'm no expert, but in MHO it looks great.
PolishBrigade12
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Posted: Monday, May 30, 2011 - 12:29 PM UTC
Thx for the comments guys.

Jamal, Romain, You are not the first to mention Iraq instead of Afghanistan, but I will probably change the pic on the light pole, just had an extra pic. My photo references are from the Kandahar area, not all fighting was done in the hills. There's plenty of green and decent housing in Kandahar actually, but like Iraq, the streets are a mess. The camel sign, speed limit, posters and for sale sign are just artistic license as far as that goes. My only problem was uniform pattern before the change to digital, so I'm cutting it close as far as timeline. Below are a few pics for discussion purposes only.

Henk, Matt, thx for the kind words guys, greatly appreciated and I'll post the final soon.

Cheers, Ski.

All images for discussion pruposes only!








1stjaeger
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Posted: Monday, May 30, 2011 - 07:56 PM UTC
You have a strong sense for colour balance which I admire!!

Interesting pics there too!! Thanks for posting!

The LAV (? I'm not an expert on modern vehicles) in the second is unbalanced..wonder why!?

And that village....a hard nut to crack if you are the attacker!!

Cheers

Romain
Adamskii
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Posted: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 12:12 AM UTC
did someone say photo realism ?

very very nice. I love the groundwork. I love that the perspective / story can be told form different angles.

10 years on Hue City? did you do 30 minuites a week or something ? lol.. Where are some Hue city pics

Will any of the soldiers have a combat shotgun ? either underslung, or on their back or being used as a "masterkey"?

Will you be painting the shoulderpatches? or decalling ?

Great work - 120mm lends itself so well to figures. Anyone releasing a 120mm abrams any time soon

Adam
PolishBrigade12
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Posted: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 03:59 AM UTC
Hiya Adam,

There wasn't a shotgun for these guys upon layout, but that would have really added to the scene, now ya tell me:(

I think you're gonna have to scratch build that Abrams, would be a fun adventure. The 10th Mtn patches (subdued, raised) are on the left shoulders, not visible in these pics. I'll get pics of that angle in the final photo shoot.

This was not an easy layout to consider for an "entry team" and the limited figures to work with, not much in 120mm that really work together. I had to make the base at an angle to show multiple sides, there's really no front to this dio. But, this base gave me the opportunity to practice some of the new techniques on structures, ground work, clutter, (Thank you for your assist with that Adam). Just soldering the gates and iron fence took a week, but it was fun actually filing in betwixt all those rods and runs. I love working with 120mm figures, painting is a blast, but this build was more about the base and the idea with the figs giving me an opportunity to put them all in one scene. This has been a fun build without a doubt.

Hue City pics are here; http://www.track-link.net/gallery/7245 Not as massive as your Aussie dio, but just as fun without a doubt.

Thx for your comments Adam and Romain, greatly appreciated.

One of the funnest parts was learning the "salt and hairspray" method and making this barrel.



1stjaeger
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Posted: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 04:05 AM UTC
I suspected the fence to be scratched (not much out there, it isn't 1/35, is it!)

That makes the achievement even greater!!!

Simply love your dios!!!

Cheers

Romain
PolishBrigade12
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Posted: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 04:27 AM UTC
Hi Romain,

Here's a pic of the fence and gates almost done on the base, testing the layout. This was all hand soldered, scratch-built. I used brass rod for the fence and rod and sheet brass for the gate. After considering the gates in the middle east I came up with a generic design based on the arched entry found in a photo from that region. Most courtyards are walled in, but I took the liberty of showing an "open" setting for my dio to show more of the scene and the palm, etc. Hope that gives you an idea how this was done.

Thx again Romain, Ski.



1stjaeger
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Posted: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 - 01:41 AM UTC
Brilliant job on that fence!!

Congrats on the layout too! It really does allow for a view from different angles!

I stand by my verdict ....beautiful dio, great show!!!!!!

Cheers

Romain
youngster
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Posted: Thursday, June 02, 2011 - 01:27 AM UTC
Hey ski

Very interesting vignette that contents nice little details. I love dios full of action like your one is!

How did you do the arch and the streetlamp? Are those scratchbuilt or bought?

Regards
PolishBrigade12
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Posted: Thursday, June 02, 2011 - 03:22 AM UTC
Hi Beni,

That arch is made from construction foam, blue, used for insulating foundations, etc. Sure beats using plaster like I use to, a real time saver. I found an article on Mig's forum by Per Olav where he showed how to cut and etch, etc. Sure makes it simple to build nearly anything you can imagine as long as you don't bust all the rules of physics. Hope that helps Beni.


Cheers, Ski.
PolishBrigade12
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Posted: Wednesday, July 27, 2011 - 04:02 PM UTC
Ok Guys, after a long work break I got a chance to finish up Baby Huey (figure #4) and felt there was something still missing from the dio, so I added a bird for the bird bath. Yall can name it cause I have no idea what the heck it is, but after 6hrs of tinkering this is what I've come up with so far. Maybe an Afghani Vulture?? Still need to finish painting the beak and add a few touches, but it’s close to being done. I raided my wife's craft box for a bag of feathers and glued them to a bird formed blob of Tamiya putty. Not bad I recon for an amateur sculptor, HA!

I need a few days to go over Baby Huey to make sure I haven’t missed anything and then work over the punch list for the base and close this puppy out after the 1yr mark. So, if yall see anything I may have missed please feel free to mention it, on Baby Huey, that is.







I cut a pasted a copy of the 10th Mountain subdued patch onto a Word doc and shrunk it down to the size needed, as well as the CamelBak logo for his hydration pack,(lettering only). I don't have the fancy decal paper yet, so it'll have to do for now







Thx for watchin Guys. Cheers, Ski.

P.S. Sorry my photos are still a bit grainy, but I'm still not sure of the exact setting which will not show that after cropping, etc. Any ideas?? I'm open to suggestions.
stansmith
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Posted: Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 03:16 AM UTC
this truly is fantastic! so much detail!
PolishBrigade12
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Posted: Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 03:22 AM UTC
Thx Stanley, just about got er done.


Cheers, Ski.
Plasticbattle
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Posted: Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 07:54 AM UTC
Very nice Steven. Composition of the scene adds so much to the natural affect. Good angles and and size, not to mention the details contained. Nice figurs as well. Nice one.
PolishBrigade12
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Posted: Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 09:40 AM UTC
Thx Frank, hope to be done soon with better pics, not so grainy next time.


Cheers, Ski.
PolishBrigade12
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Posted: Saturday, July 30, 2011 - 06:30 AM UTC
Ok Guys, we now have a full crew ready for the base.

Thx for watching, Ski.



stansmith
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Posted: Saturday, July 30, 2011 - 01:58 PM UTC
those figures truly rock!!!
PolishBrigade12
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Posted: Saturday, July 30, 2011 - 05:49 PM UTC
Thx Stanley, glad ya like em. Sure has been a fun build so far.

Cheers, Ski.
stansmith
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Posted: Sunday, July 31, 2011 - 12:09 AM UTC
how've you done the shadows and highling? what colours did you use?
stan
PolishBrigade12
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Posted: Sunday, July 31, 2011 - 03:02 AM UTC
Hiya Stanley,

There's an extensive write-up on the following links if you care to read them, but the basic oils are Burnt Umber for shadows and Titanium White for the highlights. Hope that helps.

Cheers, Ski.

http://www.track-link.net/forum/modelling_figures/4549

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

stansmith
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Posted: Sunday, July 31, 2011 - 09:26 AM UTC
thanks for that steven, it was really helpful!
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