Brandi: great work overall. I really like the way you "scorched" the wall paper on the blown out building. nice furniture too. My only comment is that the exterior wall plaster has a little too much texture. you might be able to sand down the gesso, but that would ruin your paint job. Anyway, it all looks good.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Hi Zon,
I thought the same thing about the building and looking at it now, I actually dislike it quite a bit. I think the wallpaper and stuff came out really well, but you're right, the gesso is a bust. I am actually in the process of redoing the buildings because I feel like I finally have a handle on this whole modelling buildings thing. I think these next buildings (made of plaster) will look much better and take out a lot of work because...they're already plaster!
Thanks for reading. I always appreciate comments!

Small update. I made some serious progress with the buildings! I got the drafting done for all of them and built the frame for the cafe's 3 walls, woohoo! The plaster is drying in the frames right now, I'll leave it overnight and get it in the morning.
AND!!!!!! got the rest of my figures today!!!! I placed the order with SprueBrothers last night and emailed them asking if I could just come pick it up this morning (they are only 30 mins from where I live) and they said yes! So I went in and here's what I got:











And today at Home Depot, I got this badass knife!


Here's the new music shoppe front wall:


and the cafe, drying:


Whew! What a nice evening of getting some work done! Only have the destroyed building's walls to do now and then I can start working on them (hopefully the last time for re-dos!!!)

Question: I'm looking for US Para 506th/101st decals for the figs and am having a hard time finding them. I am also looking for 6th Fallschirmjager decals for the german paras. Any ideas? I thought I saw a set from Archer, but now i'm not so sure...

Brandi: I believe Archer does press-on sets. You might also look at Eduard. I think they do some in etched brass, but are pre-colored. Don't have a store for you at the moment.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Oh I like those walls ..they turned out very very nice ..this dio has now takin a whole new route and the end result will be much much better .its gonna look very bloody nice
Good score on those bits and pieces ,,but be warned ..that furniture set needs alot of cleaning up and the set i have i replaced the table tops with bass wood ,,the kits ones just didn't cut it for me and the sets of draws don't go together to great too .
Needs a little bit of work but the end result is worth it
Keep it up Brandi ...

Phill

Great progress, I have got to try that method to build houses!
Looking forward to those figures!

Wow,

This is some way serious diorama building. Great progress so far. Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.

Cheers,
Dave.

Hi guys. Well, it's 6am and I can't sleep anymore, so what else to do on a nice quiet saturday morning than update a bit and build?
Zon: thanks!! Didn't know Eduard did any such thing, I'll check at spruebros and see what they've got (they carry darn near everything!)
Phill: thank you for your compliments! I managed to crack the wall a bit yesteday cleaning up some plaster from around the window frames, but super glues works nicely for it, so it should be like new this morning. And yes, these walls are by far my favorite, looks a lot less amateurish (even though I technically am one!), and I can't wait to nail down the airbrushing and airbrush the color on, I think it will look quite good.
Hey Vlad: good to hear from you! And thanks. I am going to have to practice some painting before I get into it, or the figs will look ridiculous, I just know it. hehe.
Dave: Thanks a lot! This is a large undertaking, especially for my very first dio, and let me tell you, I'm learning a ton. Lots of mistakes. Lots of figuring out what works best for me. Tons of fun and frustration. lol.

Ordered two more things last night from Military Miniatures Warehouse. Wanted to get the bass, too, but it's still out of stock. I figured might as well grab this piano while I can. I could easily spend a ton of money at this website, it's all so amazing!!! Wish I could find some more musical instruments, If anyone knows of any more, please share!


and I got this airborne private:


Mostly cause it's really well sculpted from the photo. Can't beat that!
And also, some of the Verlinden figs I got are not going together so nicely. Actually, without a TON of modding, there's no way I'll be able to use one full set of legs, which is really disappointing. They used to be such a good company, seems like they have been slipping. Ah well. Cest La Vie.
See you guys soon with some photos, hopefully!

Brandi that piano looks brilliant !!!! hell girl that turned out so nice ,,very well done and that figure is looking pretty sweet too ..can't wait to see him painted .
Shame you fixed that crack in that wall ,i would have left it and scribed it out a little to make it look like shock damage from the air blast of a large explosion ,,but too late now lol still its gonna look great when your done
Keep it up

Phill

LOL I should let it be known....I did NOT paint that amazing piano or put together that little fig!!!! I wish. Ha. Those are photos from the website so you guys would just know what I ordered. Sorry to disappoint you. lol. But,,,,thanks?
Small update:
I am now torn between which building to use as the music shoppe and which to use as the destroyed house. I think this one will be the music shoppe now, cause I freakin' dig the window cutouts:


I got this plaster from Michaels (a craft store here in the US) called Art Plaster, and was a bit skeptical at first...turns out, this stuff is amazing. A little stronger than regular plaster of paris, and it actually sticks less to the plastic sheet I pour it onto, making it much easier to pull away without cracking.

Anyway, I like this wall, I think it turned out quite nice. It will probably become the music shoppe's front, because it looks much fancier.

I also got to work on starting the figs pretty hardcore. No one ever mentioned what a painstaking task it is to mod a ton of them and glue them, especially resin ones, when the glue doesn't like the angle and things fall off....good times. I managed to pick up a pin vise today and have used it a little, but I need a bit thicker wire to really start heavy duty conversions without the problems I was having before. Note: these are not nearly all of the figs. I don't have an exact number of how many there will be, but probably around 12-15, if it doesn't make the scene look too busy.
Here's a photo of the starting stages:

from top left: this guy will be running toward the cafe from the dirt road, careful not to shoot his counterparts! Next, this guy will be standing behind the destroyed house, pinned down by the german MG. Then, we have a little guy I'm not quite sure what to do with yet. Then, we have a dead US para (took so much work...both the green and yellow parts are Verlinden outcasts that don't like to play well with other Verlinden parts from the same damn kit!!!!) Bottom left: guy chucking the grenade through the first story window of the cafe, excellent detail, I might add, though a little on the large side. No matter, he will be all by his lonesome in the road. Next to him, we have a guy that will be on his way out of the ditch on the side of the dirt access road. Then we have another guy not quite sure what to do with just yet.
Overall, I am trying to use as many OOB paras as I can, because I already have a ton of conversions to do. My fave figs so far are the Nemrod ones (schocking, I know) due to the detail and ease of putting them together. The first guy on the top left was really easy to mod, too, actually.

And I also completed the front wall of the Cafe. It's now totally dry, awaiting wallpapering and such. I was able to get quite a bit of texture on it, but I'm going to sand it down just a bit to even it out a little. Overall, I think this one is a keeper, finally!


So, there we are. I will work some more tomorrow evening when I get home. Thanks for reading! Any comments are welcome.

Hi Brandie great progress,have you looked at the masterbox U.S.paratroops some really good poses in the set,I like the wounded trooper being helped.keep up the good work.

Hey John. Yep, got it! I'm working with it. They seem a little small compared to my larger Verliden resin figs, but I'll have these little dudes spread throughout the scene. Even gonna put up a little drying laundry (Plus Scale Models has a nice set in 1/35 scale) and might build a shed or two. We'll see how things go! Thanks for the thought. I do believe I have nearly every possible US Para that exists....talk about some nice options, at least!

Hey Bradi, Verlindin makes a few sheets of insignias for U.S. and Germans, W.W.2 . I know the U.S. set has 101st and 82nd airbourne and U.S. flag patchs. Have the german set but haven't looked at it for a long time so not sure if it has what you need. Even if I did look I wouldn't be able to tell whats what without looking it up. The decals lay down nice with solvaset. Should still be available but can't remember what I paid, don't think it was too drastic as I P/U both together. Catalog #'s, U.S.--383/ German is 382. Hope this helps you some.

Hey Bob. Thanks a lot, I'll check that out.

Look for a company called Nemrod their in France but make several sets of US Paratroopers, Squadron and Great Models web stores have carried them. Hope this helps.

hi Juan. I actually have a kit from Nemrod already. I love it, it's my fave so far. He's the top left one, actually. Thanks for the tip, though.

LOL, Learning by doing, isn't it!
You know it now, always pin everything, even the hands

Good work on the houses.

Greets
Claude

Hi Claude. Yes, yes it is...sometimes frustrating, but always satisfying.
Thanks for the compliments!

Nice progress, glad to see some progress on the figures. Hope to see a progress shot of the whole diorama (buildings in place and all)!

Looking forward to seeing more as usual!!

Regards,

Hi guys! Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US! Lucky for me, I actually got to spend a couple quality hours in the craft room working this week, and things are moving along. Finally feels like I'm gaining momentum a bit (until next week when school is back in session for the final 2 weeks ......) and things seem to be going well. I'm loving where this is headed now. I've got a little update for you guys, so here we go!

The dead guy so far, still need to find an arm, or, most likely, sculpt one. Should be fun. He's a mix of 2 Verlinden kits that had some outcast parts was able to salvage. His body is a little crooked because he will be laying on some debris, to make it look more realistic for the scene and add some drama and a sense of loss.


I got my US Paratrooper Private kit in, and he's fantastically well sculpted...one of the best I have ever seen so far. He'll be a nice addition to the dio:


And got the Plus Model piano together, first time ever with photo etch parts. It came with more stuff, but I wasn't feeling like having candles and stuff on this piano would really make sense, since it will be in the window of the music shop. This was a PITA...had to cut off a huuuuuge resin piece on the bottom. That's what Dremels are for!


And, finally, finally got started painting the outside of the cafe's walls. This is a shot after grey primer (wish I would have used white) with Tamiya acrylic Ocean Grey 2 and Sea Grey on, thick then thinner as I went on.


Progressions with the layers of colors:


And the final product with some Vallejo white, in about 3 really thin layers on top to lighten it all up and kill some of the gloss. Love how it turned out. Nearly exactly what I had in mind:




And started working on the destroyed house interior, getting wallpaper and primer down for some paint. Also cut some strip wood to make some mouldings for the "chair" and bottom near the floor. Should be pretty sweet when I get it on there and painted:


That's all so far, but making steady progress a little at a time. I hope everyone is well, and thanks again for keeping up with my first build.

Very nice going Brandi . its now starting to look like something is happening don't it ? lol been there many times ,,all this work and nothing to show for it .its still just a pile of parts ,now the fun begins ..turning it into a dio can't wait to see this really start to come together .that will put a smile on my old mug ,keep it going .we are all watching

Phill

PS ,, i want your piano to look like the one in that pic

wow its really starting to take shape i love it
cant wait to see the figures

Great progress, still interested still lookin!!

I've done a little work between writing papers and studying and playing Skyrim (awesome game!!!) and here's what I have so far...the Cafe is getting further along! I'm so excited about it!
I got the window frames in:


then, I added in the clear plastic stuff for "glas" (I tried resin, but it makes a mess and still comes out bubbly for me...just don't have the knack or the patience for it):






then, i added the wood paneling:


got the windows all done:


and now it's drying as a building:






this only took maybe 4 hours or so, and I'm really happy with it so far. seems to be coming together quite well!
Thanks for watching.

Meeting my son online probably :-)

Good work on the houses! I am eager to see what you will do with the music shop.
I am doining the bike shop right now, so i know it's not an easy undertaking to do a shop with interior!

Claude

Oh i love how this is going .. really made some head way with the shop can't wait to see this on a dio base ,,really can't ,, this is gonna look so sweet

Phill