Strange, as he announces 8.50 shipping around the world and even free shipping for orders above 29 € (worldwide)
http://www.minia-cn.com/boutique/

The shop looks to be situated in Switzerland, not France. (does not make a difference to you)

I am by the way still following this thread and am still as impressed as before regarding the realistic look of your buildings. This is inspirational, that's the least I can say.

Greets
Claude

When I tried to register, The US wasn't an option and he cited shipping costs as the reason when I contacted him.

Hi Nick, great project, wish i had half the patience to take on something this detailed. Can I ask you for the contact info for the supplier you found for the foam board?
Regards,
WalleyV

Hi guys - thanks for checking in -

Hi Barry - "pinterest" eh? Thanks - I'll check it out - sounds pretty cool

Hi Claude, glad to hear from you. I've been enjoying your books too...in fact they're contributing to a new plan I'm cooking up....I'm not sure about the rest of you, but the planning for these takes me a while - looking at pictures, kits, raw materials..talking with other builders, reading, google searches, looking at other builds posted here, and drawing and redrawing - and, finishing this build

Hi Walley, yes, this project has required patience and endurance! "...must - keep - building....must - keep - building...." Haha! I'll post the name of the foam shop in a day or two (don't have it handy now) and hopefully a couple of progress pics - weathering tonight - to your point about patience, each wall gets assembled, primed, painted, rusted (acrylic), dust wash (diluted acrylic), filters here and there, track wash for rust, and finally OIF wash on bolt heads....piece of cake :-)

Thanks for your comments and having a look
Nick

Nick,

I tried sending a link to it from my phone. Let me know if you got it (or not & I'll try from home later)

Matt

Hello - this week at work was a bit more complicated than i bargained for, so no time for posting - i did tho have time to do some building. Almost all styrene bits and pieces - many of the same general part (of course not the same, so no bulk cutting etc...special cuts for each module - darn!)

Please take a look:







This is just like (well, not really) building a kit I suppose - this thing is going together in modules -stryene+laser cut windows (some asked about the supplier - check out Rusty Stumps Scale Models - i dont know if Walt will go for lots of custom stuff, but he has all of my patterns in CAD), paint, weather, install....then repeat and repeat!!!

The truck btw started life as a typcial trumpeter M1083 - i converted it to a 6X8 (added a lift axle), added a fifth wheel and winches. It will eventually be used in the dio - for now - delivering materials (haha)







Above you can see inside, outside, and how this tall wall sets in the rest of the building. Eventually, maybe this week? I'[ll add the "other wall" on the other side of the building, mirroring this one.







Before i could install, the wall with the curved roof - all of the yellow "metal" framing needed to go in. The logic behind all of this is that I wanted a clear span in the front half of the building, so I went with the wood frame bow trusses - in the back, the geometry worked out such that i could easily fit in ground floor framing and not disrupt the "shop" - and, it seemed like a fun thing to build!!!

And, Matt - look and you'll see one of those jib cranes! great idea! I guess I'm embarassed to admit, that crane etc was a pain to build!!!



i included the one above just because i like it - at this point, the the hoists, trucks and a few more shop floor tools/etc are getting glued in -



And the last shows some more of the area that needs work. So - - a key problem of me now is to decide where the second floor deckijng will go - I don't want to block views of too much on the first floor - in particlular the RG-31 scratch-somewhat-converted into a MK5 (i want to be able to see the doors!!!!

I'm ok covering over the back half of the M0178 - the action is really up front anyway.....

OK - and as a final note the name of the foam board company in the US some asked for is: Model Plane Foam - modelpalnefoam.com

I haven't oredered anything yet, but i must say, the guys there have been really nice - i've had a few questions about glueing etc - and they've been on it!

Ok - thanks for having a look -

cheers

Nick

Awesome!! Intimidating!!

Hi Romain - thanks for stopping by. Thanks for your first word - as to your second, that made me think a bit - I will confirm the build itself has from time to time become intimidating (!) that is: "what in the heck do I do next?!" The plan for this week is to finish the area over the drive aisle -

Thanks for having a look
Cheers
Nick

unbelievable, great work.

Can you please take a couple of shots of that fantastic trucks?

Intimidating in so far as it sets a standard hard to reach for us common people!!

Cheers

Romain

Nick,

I love it!!!! There's so may styles of the little Jib cranes, & some are a (*^()^ to build.

Sorry I didn't stop by earlier but I actually managed to stay off the computer Sunday & Monday.

I appreciate the name of the foam company. After seeing that Here's another option that might work: Fanfold Extrused Polystyrene Insulation I'm sure the other box stores have it as well. You could alos make a hot wire cutter & use the thicker sheets available as well.

I still say you are just posting pics of the real thing!! That is ree-dik-oo-less.
J

If making dioramas was something like doing Karate , you'd be a master in martial arts , really you would have a black belt Nick !

Congratulations !

Greets Kurt

WOW!!!!

Nick this is an unbelievable build man. Absolutely stunning! I LOVE the photos taken outdoors. It really is the best way to get natural light. You know you are doing something right when every comment begins with the same thought... this is real, not a model right?

Yep absolutely incredible. If you could let us know a bit about how you get your photos i for one would appreciate it. The hardest part about posts here may just be the way we capture the images and present them. I know for myself that my photos often leave a lot to be desired and frequently don't give an accurate representation of the build.

Again. WOW!!!
Dave

Romain, Matt, Jerry, and Kurt - thanks for stopping by - sorry about the delayed response - I'm home with the flu!!! Feel like nothing good! I promise to try to have more intelligent responses in the future :-)

Welcome Dave - per above, sorry about the slow response - I think your questions about photos are good - between coughs, sneezes etc etc....I've tried to define a few key considerations - but will post them later! For now - back to the aspirin, cough drops, and OJ!!

Thanks for having a look
Nick

i cant add more compliments cause you had em all,good job

Nick,

Hoping you're feeling better, & working on it some more!!!

Hope you feel better right quick brother. I almost know how you feel. I just am getting over a killer cold myself. Head feels like it will explode!
J

Wishing you a prompt and full recovery!

Best regards from Carinthia!

We have around 5 meters of snow here! I'll take some pics..but I cannot post them from the tablet, so next week at the earliest!

Cheers

Romain

Hey guys - thanks a lot for checking in! I'm well enough to be at work!

During lunch right now - doing a post as quickly as i can! sorry if typos occur! I did make a bit of progress, you'll see below. I was also interested in Dave's questions about taking outdoor photos of dios, so, i addressed some of that subject too - Please have a look:





Last week was a real drag!! I'm glad the Olympics were on TV - i would have lost my marbles otherwise - the only model work i finished was most of the rough framing for one wall (i know - not much to show) but, a step in the right direction -

I also thought about Dave's questions about my photos. I boiled the answer down to 6 key answers: scale, shadows, colors, textures, details. Number 6 is vantage point.

I try to remember, when shooting a dio - consider it a real "event" - versus, shooting a vehicle, which is an object in space.

For an "event", I think about the photo as being some part of real-life (ie not too ofen you'd be floating 65'or 20m above anything, nor would you see a "giant" (1;1 scale) door or window in the background).

For a dio you are taking pictures of something you are theoretically a part of/walking around in - battle field, or autoshop.

Whereas, for an object, the intent is to show the "thing"
whatever it is from whatever angle/vantage point you think is right to best illustrate whatever your point might be. Obviously, you still don't want grossly out of scale backgrounds..

Anyway - here are some images of my big 5 considerations:



Ha!! its 1:72 scale afterall!!!! - uhhhh..no its not - penny is just closer to the camera than the truck (Scale)



you get cool shadows outside! (an old 1/35 dio of mine)



Colors pop!



It's easier to see textures



Details can be seen..



I take pictures of my dios on this park bench. I've figured out there are a few things to keep in mind.

There's a white sign, which tells you to pick up after your dog - in the backround, as well as a few light posts that, if not careful will really screw up your scale - they look huge when compared to 1/35 scale.

Next - i might look like a loon, but I essentially crawl around this pedestal (with the dio on it), with camera in hand - looking for the "right" shot - realigining the dio as i go to get the right light and to keep from casting huge shadows across all of it.

finally - a little comparison - four pics - the same subject, same day. Outside and inside:










Thanks for having a look - I hope to have something more cogent next time!

Back to work -

cheers

Nick

I also like to take pics from the ground level and to use backgrounds. This is important but it also helps loads if you models and buildings look brilliant like yours' do!
J

I agree 100% with Jerry, Nick. your work is stunning. I showed my mechanic at work the photos from the first page of your post this morning and he was blown away that it was 35th scale and not real life!

Not meaning to hijack a thread, but I'm curious about camera and settings used too? If you have time to respond. You too Jerry.

Architecturally this build is Ridongculous. Have you been working off a set of your own "blueprints" or just line drawings and creative storyboard type images?

I'll be coming back here often, between my own work of course..

Dave

Nick,

Thanks for the tips! I might look at the yard in a different light to do the same. (Thinking I'd get in trouble if I tried taking pics in the parking lot at work)

Hi guys - sorry about my lack of recent work - the dreaded flu was a pain all around - no work, or model building either - just feeling like crap!

All of that said, I'm slowly getting back at it, and have a brief post for today - covering the painting and weathering of the styrene wall shown last time, and, new walls and other parts.

Dave - - I really don't know too much about photo stuff. I don't change any settings; just keep taking shots until they look right! The biggest consideration I make tho is the background - is whatever it is going to screw up the intended scale of the image/model? - if so i don't take the, pic, throw the pic away, or do enough cropping to save whatever it is i'm trying to show. Anything out of scale (or dramatically out of context like a dog or whatever else)) in the background hurts the credibility of the picture.

For today, no fancy photos - please have a look:



Last time this wall was shown, it was just styrene - here it is painted and weathered up.



Looking at the post above - you would guess i got nothing done in a hurry - you'd be wrong(!) these few parts seemed to take forever to get done, and done right!! square, flush etc....i'm guessing it was my flu hangover -







And above, you can see all of the parts installed. Pulling these together was slow - now - I'm trying to decide if i want to keep going with second floor headaches, or work on another truck for the shop - we'll see...

thanks for stopping by and having a look!

Nick

Nick,

Slow progress is better than no progress. I'm still waiting on the plastic to get here... UGH