I added some pics of my newest diorama to the members gallery. Have a look at them and tell me what you are thinking about.

PzGren

That is a nice dio with a good layout. Seriously this is a good setup.
I have a couple of Nitpicks though. this is not things I saw that were wrong but things that would make it even better in my point of view. Others will say I`m wrong but this is the way I like my dio`s to be.
Overall the dio could have a much more dusty appearance. With destroyed buildings there comes a serious amount of Dust free wich covers everything. Als I would add more rubble on the street. Bricks and Wood (planks etc.) Your building you have in the dio is a destroyed one and usually when there is an explosion (from a grenade or tankround) inside a house the rubble gets thrown several meters away this can be 2 meters but it also can get launched to 50 meters away from the building it actually came from. A couple of loose bricks here and there on the road would much more attraction to it. Put much wood in it As those buildigs had a lot of wood in it (Floors etc.)
The Tank is a little clean. More dust can be used here. a little bit paintchipping would help a lot also. You already can show a lot wear and tear by doing some drybrushes with dust colors to some dots of olive green around the white markings on the tank. I like the stuff the tank carries on the back deck and one comment needs to go out to the fact that everything is tied down, wich is often forgotten.
I would add more rubble around the house you want to show that a whole second floor came down.
The wheels of the bike were mostly black or cream white (this is really a small nitpick as it is not disturbing at all.
I would give the fence a dark wash to give the impression that it`s there for a while. I also would add tall grass at the bottom of the fence.
One Detail I especially like is the Field Stove that is laying on top of the rubble this gives an idea that it was not that long ago that the germans here were still busy warming up or having a wait. What you could do is make some coals that are scattered around the opening of the stove. you could fill the hole in the bottom too.
I also like the poster was this homemade or from a set???

Now don`t get the idea that I`m completely shooting down your dio mine are still not perfect too and I was pointed on the same things when I started out. You don`t need to change the things I wrote here in this dio but you might keep it in mind for the next dio your building. I really like the dio and the action is good and goes all the same direction too. Also the fact that you have the dio not parralel to your base but in a little angle is a pro, well done.
Though the figures might be a bit clean they are really well painted (definately better then some of mine) and the poses and their actions are good.

These would be my comments I hope you are not angry on me but learned something. I certainly did when they told me the same things in the early days.

I've just taken a peek at your diorama and I must say it is superbly executed. The gear on the Sherman is very nice. I like the figures in pose and execution. The building is well done also.
I agree with Faust as far as the 'dirtiness' of the diorama in general. More rubble would really help and a nice dusting all around.
One thing that does not come across in the pictures is 'why is the tank disabled?' Did it take an AT round, mine, ? can't tell.
One thing I would do to the poster is to wrinkle a corner - give it a smidge of age.

I'm only offering suggestions, overall the style and persentation of this are very well kept and well done. If that is your style or your selection for this piece, then - cool. Go with it.

Pzgren,

Welcome to Armorama!
I really love the diorama. As Faust and Scott said I think it could use a bit more dust and dirt. I think I would also add some broken glass to the window frames and maybe some on the ground as well. (You can cut up the clear plastic that just about everything seems to come packaged in for that.)
Once again, welcome and thanks for sharing your work with us!

Shaun

Welcome to Armorama. You are obviously a very talented modeler. I enjoyed your diorama. Great poses and layout. Following the advice of the folks who have already looked at your work will improve the dio immensely. Nice job!

Just to help out with the broken window glass stuff and the rumble over from destroyed wall

As have been said before this is a very very fine work on that dio. I believe that you have much talent on painting and building, but still maybe have a lil fear in weathering dusting and destroying !!!! I understand that these lil precious babes you build , dont want to look like 100 years aged, but thats what war does to everything, from humans to all objects. So keeping up the comments from all the experienced guys they talk i believe that in a war scene and assuming that the area have been bumped from the battle, the rest of the building walls probably would have been hit by bullets of lightes guns or tank shots, blackened by explosions or possible fire, that poster is hardly to be untouched and that brand new (and is very nice) the bicycle would have been a lil ..more used , and some more rumble stuff on the road, and of course lots of dust and weathering on the armor and the uniformed guys also. But these things are not mistakes. These are things that can be made easily (if you want of course) and will add a lil more realistic look in the scene. But i believe that youre a very talented guy and i d like to see more of your work

Costas

Hello guys,

thanks for your comments of my diorama. I'm not angry of your criticism. I hope I can learn something from you guys and I tray to make it better in my next diorama.

The answer of the questions:
The poster have I found somewhere in the internet and the reason for bailing out is a engine trouble.

My next work will I post when it is finished.

Welcome onboard pzgren. Great dio. Great painting skills also. I have to agree with the statements above ... my personal taste would be a little more dust, rubble and overall weathering. Everything looks so neat and tidy! But none of these comments take away from the work you have created. If thats your personal preference, go that way. Enjoy first and please your self. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to seeing more!

Your fgures look great...nice highlighting. You did Ok for initial rubbling aound building but as has been pointed out needs to be out in street. I would take a bit of cat litter (small grain and grayish color) and litely start sprinkling it around. when you get it to an acceptable level spray some white liquid glue over it to hold in place. Do the same for dust. Need to dirty up your tank and figures a bit...sometimes the dust from dropping the cat litter helps, also the white glue tends to dull up the tanks. There are some companies that make bags of rubble with different colors in them like a brownish,a grayish, and a brick. I prefer to use those

Hello,
after your criticism of my diorama I have overworked it a litle bit. I added some more rubble, wood and dust around the dio. Thanks a lot for your tips. It looks much better now. I changed the pics in my gallery. have a look.

pzgren

Ola PzGren

It`s good to see that you have taken the advice of others. And in my eyes the dio is much much better now.
Looking at the road you can tell that something exploded there in that building and it`s a good balance between the rubble and the wood laying around. I also like the overall dusty appearance (on Dio and Tank) great touch. One of the highlights for me is the Layer of Dust on the fieldstove laying in the rubble and If I`m not mistaken I see the coals and ashes laying on the ground, wonderfull.
The Poster that got one corner ripped of is nice.
Here are some pics visible:



I really like the next shot


This dio turned out to be a stunning one by all the addjustments made and the pics are really nice too

Pzgren, first of welcome to the site . I have just had a good look at your dio and would like to add a few comments... First of all, the positioning of your figures is first class, the crewman climbing out of the Sherman is very well done in particular. The other wounded/dead crewman is also extremely convincing. Animation (a very difficult task indeed) deserves a 10/10... You have also managed to do something many people forget about, tie everything down! Your tie-downs are well done and the spare gear, though sparse, is well executed. I'm not 100% in agreement with the others about the quantity of rubble, I think (for me at least) you've got a good enough balance, at least on the road surface....
On the debit side, a couple of comments... by that stage in the war (I assume we are talking about 44-45), many crews had taken to painting over the large white stars on the hull/turret sides. The large identification numbers were also becoming rarer... The Sherman just looks too factory-fresh, I'm not saying it should be dunked in a mud-bath, but it really should be dirtied-up a good bit more....The tracks are also too 'pristine' for my taste as well. Regarding the buildings, you have done some excellent work on them although one thing that would bring them to life a bit, would be the addition of some shards of glass in the window panes... It would also be an idea to think about creating the hint of some flooring in the buildings, at least to break up the 'line' of the facade...Apart from that, well executed, well-planned....nice dio, Jim

First of all welcome to Armorama.. I liked your dio and quality of the photos. It is obvious that it needs some weathering to be more realistic. I read the critics of 3 modelers that I really respect their opinions(Faust-Slodder-Jimbrae).I absolutely agree with them. I believe I improved my diorama skills with the critics of Armorama and you will see in time that you will learn a lot and get a great help with the forum posts.
best regards