OK, I got a plan now The T-34 I'm building will have the bedspring armor on it. 'Duel' pops in my head looking at this.












It took me a few minutes to get the balls to cut the legs off that squatting Evolution guy

Hi Greg,

This is a nice split level concept. Look forward to developments.

Al

How cool is this,

Greg,

I like it! will look pretty cool when done.

The scene looks pretty cool. Great idea.

Greg:

COOL!

Wow! It's 007 up in that turret, and what fine form he has - just like he's at the range! "Now... Targets UP!"

But sadly suicidal for the panzerfauster! Were he to fire that at the tank anytime soon, well... his pals could maybe use his boots, etc. etc. No time to duck the blast. Too bad you can't get the tank further away! Maybe the dummy was just way too much in a hurry to try his luck! Now, if maybe the guy were still down the hole but sliding the manhole lid off, in prep for what you have - it would be more believable (only to me, of course!). (The Russian would still be approp, IMO, as he could have seen that lid move and was readying to catch the rabbit about to pop up...) Just saying!

But very cool and imaginative, and the figs look super nice!

Bob

great scene Greg

Very exciting scene. Looking forward to seeing it completed!

This is awesome! Where did you ever fine a sewer vignette with Germans in 1/48?

Thanks a lot guys. I've been wanting to do something with this Sewer for a number of years now. @Jeremy - It came with the 3 Germans for $25 from Greatmodels but it was a few years ago. The company is Jaguar.


'But sadly suicidal for the panzerfauster!'


True I agree with you, but I think it is hard to show realistic combat ranges on a model diorama without taking up an entire shelf space and I need compact.

My thoughts are the tank is still in motion while passing the manhole and maybe the panzerfaust guy set up a little prematurely. His attention is on aiming while the commander has spotted him and turns to pick him off. Is there anyway to show that the tank is in motion??


I was thinking of adding a brick wall or side of a building along the length of one side??

Thanks for all comments and all help always appreciated

Greg:

Hey! Yeah, the crack about the suicidal short distance is, well... really not something which you could do much with...

But I DO think a couple of things could really make your story and dio sing (IMHO, of course!):

1) Tank in motion... hmmmm. How about creating a couple of mud-puddles (approp for Berlin ca 04-1945) and have the tank going thru one - make some stuff splashing up from the tracks. This would "guarantee" a sense of tankly-motion.

2) Tank in motion... putting a dog running away from in front (crossing the street?) or a sov trooper jumping out its way could also be really good as an indicator - and the sov trooper could raise a viewer's eye-brow as "wow... that chump missed that sewer and its rats!) - or a sov caught pointing and yelling from around the front / side of the tank could be pretty compelling, too.

3) Another possible arrangement which invokes things in motion is actually to NOT have Mr. Panzerfauster ready to fire... but maybe still hauling his weapon up outta that hole. Right now, he looks like he has all set-up and had time to take aim and flip his trigger-bar up and get sighted-in... All of which alas collapses time! (He would NOT have pre-armed his weapon before getting it up out of the hole - really dangerous to try that stunt with this thing! Getting the manhole-lid moved (The tank would not have crossed an open hole, I don't think...), himself braced up on the step and the tube into position and orienting and aiming and prepping the trigger do all take a few seconds - and he looks like he is fully set in, so he's been up for 10 - 15 secs already. Ergo the tank is stopped in front of him. He is way too close yet prepped to shoot!)

So, if he could be caught more in the act of trying to get in place, as if he had JUST POPPED up, would go a long ways towards conveying tank in motion.

Really want to add some action and dramatis to this (beyond, of course, the flaming event about to maybe happen...)? Find a sov figure who / which is prepping a grenade and maybe running with one! Have that guy coming down the side of the tank - he would be rushing to drop a bomb down onto those guys in the hole after Mr. Comrade pops the first rabbit!

Hey! Sudden hot-flash! This scene could become very plausible if only that tank were not heading directly away from the hole...! "Rats" could conceivably sneakily pop up from a sewer adjacent to the tank's movement path - for that side-shot under the fenders (sure kill) - and the tank guy could easily be the guy who just saw this and is trying to do what you have him doing - save his crew! So if there's some room on the "set" and the tank could be just a few inches "left" and diagonal to the hole, almost every prior "carp" could ease away!

Just some ideas, and probably not very easy to make happen!

IF I were trying to fix this... I'd think the simplest would be the mud-puddles, which would certes convey by splashing things in motion right now.

It'll be great, whichever way you go!

Bob

Greg: An argument similar to Bob's #3 could be made for the tank commander. The tank commander has already identified the threat to his rear, decided on his pistol, drawn his pistol and taken aim. A lot for a short time. Perhaps the tension would be elevated if both (Panzerfauster and commander) were racing each other to make the shot and not yet at the shot point. Just my 2 cents.

I like the title "Duel".

Happy Modelling, -zon

Greg,

Love the interaction of this - it makes a refreshing change from the usual static displays.

Now, I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but I'm not sure that the smoke discharging canisters on the rear of the T34 were in use in WW2, being, I think, a post-War equipment. However, I'm happy to be proved wrong!

Good luck with this one.

Brian

Very thought provoking. I think I like the weapons at the ready to clearly show the drama of the situation as it is.

I could change the base to maybe more triangular or something so that the T-34 could be positioned to the side. Love the muddy puddle idea (especially near a sewer) and will need to research how to build and paint that though (magic sculpt with glossy brown paint?).

The built T-34 is not the one being used - just to help me plan the scene. I'm building a new one with the mattress spring armor.

The idea is great indeed.

Only doubt which i have is that the soldier with the panzerfaust and the tank are maybe too close. If the rocket would hit the tank also the German soldier would be killed by the burst

Anyway, great job, I'll follow

cheers

I know what you’re thinking:.. “Did he fire six shots, or only five?”.. Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself. But being this is a Panzerfaust, the most powerful tank killer in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?”... Well do ya,... punk!!!!!!

!

I like the concept of this, it really is a very engaging scene. I reckon combat distances are, as Greg said, difficult to do in scale terms, especially with something like this. I reckon the muddy puddle idea is good, perhaps some 'scenic water' fibres would be a good idea. I've never used them but Deluxe Materials make a set for creating waterfalls etc, you might want to have a look at them to see if they would be of any help.

Yes, that's a thrilling and dramatic scene!

Hi Greg,

lots of ideas there. My only thoughts are to distance the tank a little more from the panzerfauster. Nothing to stop you adding a bit more disance between the two combatants.

Cheers

Al

nice work so far. Love the detail on the sewer walls.

paul

W.r.t. those who think the tank should be placed further from the panzerfaust. Realistically, I agree, it's too close, but in a diorama adding realistic combat ranges will really detract form the need to tell a story in a compact way. If you look at some of the best dioramas out there (many mande by David Lee) almost all of the best ones are overly compact, from a realism point of view, but work well because the eye can see it all at one glance. I like the various ideas to enhance the appearance of movement and the idea to put the tank transverse to the firing axis of the Grenadier is also good, but resist the urge to spread things out. The best dioramas tell compact stories, even if it pushes scale tactical realism out the window.

When I saw the first photo I thought "Now, this is a great start to a diorama" because I could see the story it was telling at one glance. Keep the compactness & then add a few small things to enhance realism if you really need to.

I've been in enough AMPS diorama judging teams to know that this is the sort of thing they look for, so just passing it on.

Paul

Actually, I would opt for "Bend over and spread your cheeks" in place of "Duel"

Master Gunns

Greg: for the splash, the left side bar sponsor Diorama Shop.com has some tutorial videos about using a cut up water bottle as an armature for the splashing water. He did larger splashes, and used their products, but the concept would probably scale down. the video is down the page and for a PBR boat. HTH.

http://dioramashop.com/shop/step1.php?number=50

Happy Modelling, -zon

Just a note to say that I really like the whole concept for this diorama. That, and your execution so far has been very impressive. I'll be looking forward to seeing the final piece. Very nice work.

Jim
Large Scale Armory