Wow! So we can finally see the full extent of your project!!!
Impressive!!!

The "in action" figures (MG team etc) are great! Congrats!!

Take a look at the Apotheke......it is almost completely destroyed....and there is hardly any rubble. It would be an ideal case of blocking the view right through the facade, if you had a huge pile of rubble!! Don't you think!?

Impatient to see the russkis dancing onto the stage!

Cheers

Romain

Hi Romain, thanks for the feedback.., pleased you like it.
About the Apotheke, my thoughts for the scene was to try & not have an excess amount of rubble & debris out in the street, although obviously there would've been a lot still. The thinking was that the buildings would've collapsed due to artillery, RAF etc.... at various times over the weeks/months, and so the piles of rubble may have been cleared previously. Also the 2 wooden barricades at that end of the street would've taken a fair amount of rubble to fill them....
But probably, most importantly, do you realise how long it took to stick those 2000+ polystyrene bricks down 1 by 1 in the road, only to cover them all over again.....!!!

Thanks again Romain.......

The only right word for this is obviously"epic"
J

no, no, no, not in front of the facade, inside the Apotheke!!!
No matter what destroyed the building, the rubble does not melt in the sun!

Cheers

Romain

Ouch....., ok I apologise, I see what you mean... I purposely tried to leave enough of the first floor intact so that the ground floor corners would perhaps stay alittle debris free, with the hole only in the centre, allowing for some artistic license in the shop floor. But yes you're right, in a real case scenario there would have been more of a mess......

Thanks Jerry, appreciated as always.....

Hi everyone......

Well after 14 months, it's 'almost' complete...., just afew more small additions to go. Actually had started the unthinkable & had began plans on the next project, only plans mind, not any actually hands on yet, although does buying a new model for it count...??
The Russians have arrived, & taken up residency in the U-Bahn station & above. I used alittle artistic license on the wounded party on the left, after some research I don't think the Russians used red cross armbands like the others sides did, but wanted to portray the guy as a medic. The figures are all Tamiya, with half having Hornet heads. Apart form the 2 wounded, who are from Stalingrad. Tried as much as I could to get them to 'interact' with each other, so it didn't look like they were just "doing they're own thing!!" Also wanted to make sure that none of the guys on the ground could actually be visible to the enemy, so be out of sight & not in a firefight yet.











The cargo truck is from Miniart. Tried to give it a slightly lighter colour grey, so it would stand out more from the building. At the moment it's just been painted, & the chipping has just begun, before weathering, oils & pigments are added. The kit comes with a host of cargo including barrels, bottles, crates etc..., but didn't want to have too much on board, thinking that anything of any value/importance would have long gone. Also, it would have been there a while, probably before the brick barricade would've gone up, so intend to embed it alittle in the rubble infront, with more bricks & dust on top. At the moment it's just there to show it's final position.







I still need to bulk up the fallen tree, painted the plastic surround a gloss black to finish, just need to order a nameplate for it. Hoping to have it as good as complete within the next few weeks, that new model box is crying out to be opened.....



Thanks for reading, any advice or comments always apprecaited. Cheers for now,

SIMON.

I forgot all about this (somehow). It looks amazing Simon, looking forward to seeing it completed.

I can only repeat....EPIC
J

Wow, that is amazing!! Awesome job!

Hi Simon,

glad to see some progress! Thanks for keeping us posted!!

I like your dio, especially the 3-dimensional aspect you managed to cleverly insert into the scene!! Congrats for that!
Your russians look good too!! The guy crouching near the gap with his submachine gun is my favourite!!

Looking forward to seeing more!!

Cheers

Romain

Thanks Christopher, Jerry, Mike & Romain, really appreciate the comments

Things moved along pretty quickly yesterday after the last post, the cargo truck is finished & in place, the fallen tree done, and the bottles of wine (& milk) shared out amongst the troops!!

Just need to get the nameplate on order, & I'll take some final photos......, and then onto the next one.......

Cheers guys!!

Simon
Congrats on your progress, it all looks great! The figures are spot on in regards to positioning and colors. And nice contrast with your use of the vehicles too.
Thank you for your efforts to finish this. As someone w/ far too many incomplete projects kickin' about, I for one really appreciate, shall we say, the tenacity required to "git-r-done"!

Cheers m8
Dave

Hi Dave.....,
Thanks for the comments, you're right, at times it feels like hard work trying to get something like this finished when after a days work (or more) you sit back and wonder what difference it's actually made to your piece because it can just get lost amongst the rest of everything else...... (does that make sense..??)
Well everything is complete...., here's the last few pics, just waiting for the 'plaque' & that'll be it.













As always, there's always things i'd have improved on in hindsight, the edges of the buildings with the brickwork especially, but overall am pretty pleased with the final result.









Will post the final pics in future when the name plaque is on, along with some low light photos to hopefully capture the lighting effects.
Started the 'next one' today, hopefully this one won't take 'quite as long'.....

Cheers for now,
SIMON.

Simon, these b/w photos really look good!! The harsh contrast between off-white and brick-red is not visible!!

I still think the dio could benefit from a reduction in colour contrasts, but that's just my opinion!

You mention the next project......you are a hardworking man!!

Hope you make our day(s) and keep us posted!!!

In the meantime congratulations for this one!!

Cheers

Romain

Hi Romain.., thanks for the comments as always, to be honest was abit disappointed with the quality of those final set of photos, my account limit was full to bursting with the pics from this project, so needed to reduce the quality of the final few....., have to get that sorted for the next time...

I appreciate what you're saying about the harsh contrast in colours between the brick red & the grey rubble, I think we mentioned it before... I did add some more 'dust ' to the street infront in the end, but left the buildings much as they were. I guess it's just down to preference in the end!!??

Funny you mentioned the next one......, well have had 2 weeks model rest, so the mind is beginning to wander again...., time to dig out those reference books...., alittle less going on in this one.....

Cheers!!!

That is absolutely badass! An amazing piece of work.

Lots of congratulations , Simon .

You have made a very beautiful and realistic diorama . This proves that you have thought well about every matter in a street fight .

This is one of the best scenes i've ever seen !

Greets
Kurt

My Grandfather helped sack Berlin. I showed him these pics. His reaction attests to this man as a MASTER of Diorama building. My own compliments fail to compare to the reaction that my Grandfather had. It has taken him to a place that all of us soldiers have to go now and then.
God Bless my friend, you are a true Master of the art.

Hello guys...,
Thank you Colin & Kurt for your responses, really appreciate your comments, pleased you like it..

Mr C.A.LeQuoix...., where do i start....? To get some good, positive feedabck from you is great, but to have some reaction as you did from your Grandfather is incredible. We all try to do our best with this hobby of ours, even when it means spending an hour+ creating wine labels & newspapers that no one will read.....
But having a reaction like that makes it all worthwhile....,amazing!

Many thanks,
SIMON.

Praise well earned Simon!
This diorama shows extremely clever planning, thorough research and great craftmanship!
There is no weak element in the scene, which is what diorama building is about!!

Well done indeed!! Grand show!!
Thanks for letting us watch!!!

Cheers

Romain