So I am loosing sleep wondering whatever subject i should choose for my next diorama.

I promised I would do techniques build of casting your own plaster buildings, and will do that regardless, but after that i need to focus on the next major diorama.

I find myself doodling when bored and here are two ideas i been working on that have merit ( I think).

OPTION A - IED AMBUSH aka "killzone!"

Era : Iraq, Fallujah ? operation iraqi freedom..OIF
The first is a departure from my safe subject matter, and therefore a challenge to myself - an Action diorama - Subject matter : an immobilised US armoured vehicle (probably an amtrack) in a street by an IED, the tracks thrown, with the occupants clearing out of the vehicle and mounting a counter ambush/ contact with the enemy ambushers, all concealed within the ruins ofthe surrounding buildings - a real killzone. the us soldiers would be fighting back but dealing with casualties and being caught off guard. the enemy would be insurgents with RPG's and Ak's shooting down on the killzone while sustaining their own injuries. A bloody battle scene with lots of tension and action and your eyes dart back and forth in a hurry to see it all.. the diorama would be a cross section of a street, with buildings left and right, and the IEd in the middle - very symetrical, but balanced. here is a picture of the doodle..



I have so much stuff left over from my street diorama that this would'nt take too long as I have most of the plans, and most of the accesories already - plus Ihave heaps of soldiers and insurgents spare form a diorama i abandoned a while ago - but there have been some fantastic insurgent and US modern figures released recently that would suit this dio well. i dont normally do action dios as I generally think they look cartoonish, but at least the story presents itself well and the audience likes a bit of step change from the normal passive vehicle patrol or campsite...

OPTION B - Australian Bushmaters in AFghanistan (operation slipper)

ERA : afghanistan circa 2009/2010 Tarin Kowt ?
Ok this one would work well as a sister diorama to the operation catalyst one, and would occupy the same sized base (90cm x 38cm) The story would be more passive than the above option again but only because i havent got any Australian full body troopers yet and an action scene would need dismounted infantry. So I was thinking river crossing - after seeing that awesome water work by the Clerveaux river diorama, I would love to attempt water again. The landscape would be a stoney grey sandy colour - lots of stones and rubble and mini escarpements and banks and ledges around the features.. a couple of big feature stones in the riverbanks or mid stream, and some on the mounds aswell - perhaps with markings or graffiti on them. The river bank would have remnants of the Russian invasion with possible a T55 with the turret blown off half buried in the muddy riverbank, at quite a list (tilt), with the tracks blown off, and lots of rust but very wet (inspired by that seawater diorama of the sherman) and bits of reed and grasses groing through it, across the river, maybe the turret lies upside down on the bank also half buried by years of river flows or shifting rubble. the two bushmasters would be turning the corner onto the bridge but cutting them off would be a goat herder (think mig arab farmer) with his wayward animals blocking the way.. here is a sketch..



This diorama would give me opportunity to try water, get back to landscapes (my preferred style) do a blown up T55 with complete interior albeit destroyed, animals, and of course a pair of Bushmasters on patrol.. hidden amongst the rocky slopes could be other animals such as hares or birds, opportunity for maybe some building debris and roadside signs and markers. The bridge would be a modern engineering solution - possibly by the Australians or Dutch? 3 x concrete pipes buried in the riverbed with the road going over the top. A simple diorama but well executed would look superb.

I have several other idea but these keep boiling to the top. I would like to do Vietnam diorama "firebase Coral" with centurions with dozer attachments in a the firebase with a sentry post and artillery piece dug in, the Aussies on piquet or filling sandbags, lots of barb wire. etc etc.. This idea might happen because I want to build my centurion before the bushmasters are released, for the Land down under campaign.

Anyways, thats my ideas... am interested on your thoughts. I kno I might get alot of technical no's and whatever about the US in fallujah - but ts not important- theplace can change, the vehicles can change - its the nexus of the idea at this stage and the feedback will shape the final plans. A fancy way of saying these are drafts..

Adam

Based on your most recent dio, I'd like to see either dio. That being said, there are few dioramas that are convincingly built that show action. I feel that you have the ability to pull off an OIF ambush scene and do it very well. A firefight in Nasiriyah or Fallujah would be tremendous!

I vote for the action diorama.

When can we see the build log????

nice drawings i use to get in trouble 35 years ago for making drawings like that in grammar school

Adam,

wow, your brain si really fast: you have just finished your Aussie's in Iraq masterpiece and are already thinking about the next one!

All I can say: you are really spoiling us!

As for my vote, I cast it for the ambush/action diorama.
I had tooled myself with the idea also (and have gone and bought a good deal of stuff for it), but my skills are currently not up to the challenge (figure painting, DCU or ACU patterns, etc.) and plus I was thinking of showing only one side of the action (the infantry being ambushed), so I will definately look forward to see how you will tackle it (and get a little bit of inspiration from it, if possible).

Oh, yeah, this time you can use plently of hooded locals

:-H

PS= truth is both are great ideas (would especially like to see the half-sunken T-55 - a dio in itself) , but with the date of release of the Bushmaster being continuously pushed forward, you may end up with no vehicles if you choose to go for your second dio!

I like the first option. Challenging yourself is the only way to learn. I think you can do it with a little patience.

Hi Adam

I'm sure it will be another great project, whatever the subject ...Anyway if you decide to go for a AAV dio, maybe this video would inspire you regarding damages (even if it deals with a landmine, not an IED...) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjw_XOkLcOQ&feature=related

HTH

Frenchy

adam,
I like to see the IED/ambush
john

Adam ...ok this a little ways from Iraq ... what about a Blackhawk down dio ? ,,in the center of the yard where they had that huge fire fight to protect the chopper ..plenty of buildings to build and blokes all over the place ..crashed chopper in the center of the square and since you love your vehicles you could time it when they where getting picked up ,,theres your Humvee's ,,VAB's and some trucks .. kiwi's idea of making our Aussie mates lives alittle more annoying lol

Cheers
Phill

I vote for the first option Adam

Hey Adam,
I'm for the second idea. It's similar to the concept I have based on an actual creek east of TK. There is two T-69's, one on each side of the creek. Unfortunately I can't find the photos and my laptop that I normally work from has died. I have seen pics online of one of the T-69's. It is on the east side of the creek and north side of the road, with a house and a tree right next to it and kids playing near it. I'm planning on doing it if the Bushmaster model ever comes out.
But just for a change of pace plus the fact that you have most of the gear already, try the action one.

Cheers, John

I have considered doing a black hawk down dio - considerations include scale - would have to be 1/72nd max. the area around where the hawks crashed is quite open (according to the movie). If we go down the burrow on this we see an unfortunate problem growing and growing. Modern military figures in 1/72 scale? hmm maybe. the Black guys in 1/72 scale with appropriate equipment ? not unless I want to convert those Hal branded zulus..
And the size of the diorama @ 72 scale would still barely encompass the crash site . And to be honest I cant sit through the movie withouthitting fast forward alot. Find it boring second and third time around. Its good for african reference of technicals etc I guess, but taking hollywood as reference is dodgy at best. I dont want to do 1/72 scale. If I was to do a crash scene diorama - it would be the chinook crashed in the COD4 level "crash" and recreate a scene from the game - now that would be cool! I know I could easy do the buildings/ streets etc, but for the effort i would rather do a fallujah 72 scale dio with the streets and the bradleys rolling in and armoured columns moving through the streets with us forces clearing buildings with rooftop battles and stuff..

Your idea is certainly one that gets suggested alot. I dont think anyone will ever pull off a good BHD dio in 35th scale unless they really accept it will be at least a 5 foot by 4 foot minimum size base just to get the front line of buildings in around the the crash site. One building and a crashed chopper wouldnt be good enough for me - would have to be at least 3 sides of the square surrounding them and that wouldnt do justice to explaining the tight alleys behind the buildings with the roadblocks etc..

I hate this laptop - half the keys dont work. lol.

Adam

The word easy could never be used with a dio of that size but because us modelers are not a normal group of people we would have to make the buildings bigger so they have depth which of course makes it even bigger .
Some day someone will build it for sure and it will be classed as huge ..the Hawk in 1/35 alone is a biggin and like you said every bad guy would have to be custom,,can't remember ever seeing those guys in kit form ,,then there's the vehicles ..couple of humvee's would not be enough ,,oh it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and the cost ,, not even going to try to guess that one .. go with Killzone Adam .. try something new ,,time for a new challenge matey

Phill

[quote]f I was to do a crash scene diorama - it would be the chinook crashed in the COD4 level "crash" and recreate a scene from the game - now that would be cool! I know I could easy do the buildings/ streets etc, but for the effort i would rather do a fallujah 72 scale dio with the streets and the bradleys rolling in and armoured columns moving through the streets with us forces clearing buildings with rooftop battles and stuff..
/quote]

Replicating all that rubble after a nuclear blast? That would be epic!

This comes pretty close:


Sadly i've never managed to find any more pics of this diorama. I'm not actually sure if its supposed to be Mogadishu, but I guess so.

Hi Afv_rob, that's a brilliant diorama. I can find nothing wrong with it from the pic provided.

Howeveer I do not associate that with a black hawk going down from the mogadishu disaster but a general black hawk crash. These things crash all the time, and I can think of 4 or 5 occasions alone that just involved Australians in lthe last ten years.

A couple reasons why it does'nt full fill my definition of proper BHD diorama - firstly where are the "skinnies" ? It fits the perfect description of what I said a Half effort would be - 1 building and the helicopter - so does not provide enough "context" totell the story. Thats the bit thats hard because the 'context" would require whole streets laid out. Also the kerbing is painted yellow white - this is something more middle east and not African as far as I know, so that alone makes me firstly think of Modern conflicts middle east ie Iraq. And, for war torn mogadishua, where warlords and gangs rule, where there are no civil services such as trash collection, where is all the rubbish for mogadishu? Burnt cars etc. lastly the helicopter looks to be tangled in the power lnes, I dont recall either of the two crashed BH's getting tangled in power lines ( but I go by the film not the book)..

SO as far as I can tell thats not a BHD dio, and if it is, then its taken a few good artistic liberties, but I would say it detracts from the story as there is no context or is misleading. Perhaps more pics would tell that story better? I stand by my comments, a good in context BHD dio would need to incorporate streets and buildings with the skinies and rubbish road blocks, otherwise it would look like just a crashed black hawk diorama.

Something I thinking about, the Afghan diorama doesnt seem to get much of a nod from people, is this because its Australian vehicles? if that was a pair of Strykers or a Humvee columm would that make a difference? ...

Adam

Adam i don't think the Bushmasters are the reason ,,, hell the bushmaster is a big beast of a vehicle ..i wouldn't mind seeing one or two in a dio .. i think what the reason it could be is that there aint any buildings in it lol everybody loved your last dio ,,count me in on that too .. so i am thinking that the reason the first one is getting the people ..buildings and all of use wanting to see what you come up with this time so we can copy it lol

Phill

In my humble opinion, the first option wuld be maybe more interesting and original than the second one. Furthermore I think that it would give you the possibility to made a very dinamic and dramatic scene

Anyway I'm sure whatever you'll eventually choose, it'll be a stunning job

cheers

Action scenes usually fall flat, so I'd love to see how well one could turn out with some serious modelling skills behind it!

Thats basically what i'd say. Ive never seen a good action diorama, but if you last dio was anything to go by, I think if you did one I'd finally see a decent action diorama.

Afv_Rob/ callmehobbes.. I agree wholly on the principle of action dioramas falling flat. I wonder why this is... this will require much thought before execution because obviously you can't just stick some figures shooting on a board and call it action!

Shep Paine talks about action, he describes with pictures developement of an action scene where in the the first pic there is a sherman with a crewman manning an MG that is aarently suposed to be jammed.. but you dont know that - he could be just shooting it.. so he developes that idea more to tell the story.. by the last picture he has the mg guns breach cover open and the crewman cleanng out the jam with his hand, the tank is at a list/ angle looking offcentre and caught of guard, and there is a wounded/ dead creman slouched over one of the hatches.. and as he aptly descibes the scene now has "drama, action" and I would say it tells a story.

taking his method of developing an idea, It would require each figure to be closely monitored for potential to "develope" a story. The hardest part will be keeping the all the little figure stories as part of a main theme and not having sub plots take over. I would love to have the CMK 4 x modern soldiers carrying the wounded guy crossing the street to cover.. or better still have a wounded guy under cover being triaged on the spot with field medic applying a drip! a drip! never seen that before in diorama. with the medic pack open and bits everywhere - bandages, scissors.. drips. The diorama could be one of contrasts, while the US soldiers are using modern methods,, behind the walls of a ruin a taliban could be receiving the same treatment but in a more rudimentary fashion.. ideas ideas.. Someone has to be on a radio calling in air support ...

Anyways.. the ideas keep coming. as a side note be advised this stage of developement and then research will take a long time, sometimes more than a year.. the idea must be solid before starting building.

Adz

I'm still in favour of the Afghan dio Adam.
It would be a chance to do something without the added effort of buildings. Plus it'll give you a chance to "destruct" a vehicle and have a go at replicating the damage and ageing of a destroyed vehicle.
It wouldn't need to many figures unless you want to depict a defile clearance drill with enginners etc. The only real hassle will be the driver, commander and shooters to fill the hatrches and crew seats.
Oh and the weathering on the vehicles will be a challenge cause of the amount of dust/mud/wear they accumulate after each rotation.
Either way both will have challenges and provide us with an interesting build log. I must admit going through the TD's since "That Aussie's in Iraq" finished.

Cheers John
put bold text here

Adam,

I see what you are talking about. And I totally agree with the approach. Also, bear in mind that since you will also show "the other side", i.e. the "enemy", also those figures will have to fall into the overall plot as well as each telling an action story/drama on their own.

Furthermore, I also believe that one of the biggest difficulties with action dioramas is that they can look very good in pictures but may fail to conceive the same "drama" when seen for real. I believe that, in this respect, Shep Paine's book is also fundamental in understanding the reason: most of the most dramatic dioramas he presents, if you look closely, are "helped" by some special effects, in most instances this is smoke (he gives a suggestion on "how to" blow it through the scenes before taking the pcitures) and firearms blasts (see the section about shadow boxes). Today, this latter can be digitally added to pictures (see the cover of Warriors OIF marines shooting). Nevertheless I think it could hold in a "display" diorama, but, as you said, early planning would be key.
Anyhow, having seen your fantastic job in your previous diorama, I still vote for this one because I think you can really pull it off!

Anyhow, as you may have read above, I had tooled with the idea on my own and, amazingly enough, thought about using some of the "small scenes" you have described (a wounded GI being tended + RTO calling for help).
Two sets are already out which may help you in that respect (I also happen to have both of them, so if you need detailed pictures or want to know specific details before buying them, let me know by PM). Here they are:

http://www.cmkkits.com/en/figures/us-marines-in-iraq-wounded-soldier-on-a-stretcher-and-2-medics-3-fig/

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/1358&adsort=on

then there is also the great blast models offering, but of those I do not have any.

HTH

There are a few exceptions to my "action falling flat" comment and as you've said it's the ones with suberbly positioned figures that can carry it off. John Rosengrant did a great one recently. Bill Horan and Shep Paine pull it of in their figure vignettes but again it's the figures that make or break these scenes.
So I guess the question now is How is your sculpting?
The other thing I'd consider would be to do a boxed dio with lighting (like Shep did for his Alamo vignette with Jim Bowie. I'm not sure how that would translate to a bigger dio.