Alright, After dreading for some time to post my mediocre work in a forum full of stunning dioramas, finally pulled my courage to post my work in progress on my Syrian Civil War diorama as seen on the famous ANNA News footages. This is my first diorama which has more than a terrain with grass and stones.
Everything you see here are all scratch built except the models themselves.
Kits Used and will be using:
DML BMP-2 and T-72M2 kit (I know it is not the right variant Syrian army uses, but wanted to make use of the model I had) .
Modified DML Russian Spetsnaz figures to represent SAA .

Scratch built details:
Base - MDF
Building -Plywood,styrofoam and plaster coating
Tree- Root of a dried home plant sprinkled with some herbs
Electric Pole- balsa wood from hobby lobby and the insulator is from sprue ends.
Small wall-Styrene sheets
Paints used are -Tamiya and cheap acrylic paints from walmart.
Sand bags - Das Pronto
First I made a cardboard mockup of the layout and based on the trial I made some modification.

Here are couple of pictures of where I am today.


I painted the arabic word for peace on the wall and wanted to show the irony by bullet holes on them..
After a little bit of weathering did a quick check with the vehicles in place.


The details yet to come are
1.Figures with a sniper's nest inside the building
2.More ground rubble and mangles steel beams, wood , bricks etc
3.Doors for the windows
4.crushed jerry cans and drums.

I am not good at this , so any comments , feedback, criticisms welcome.
Regards
Vivek

A couple of close-ups of my vehicles.

No need to be bashful here!! Plus your work is very good so no need to feel bad at all. Post away!
J

Hi Vivek,
Don't give posting a second thought,It's looking quite good.
Just my opinion,but I prefer your mockup layout better.I find the vehicles to cramped together and and not fond of anything overhanging the base.I see dio's as the world being a massive cake that you want to cut one small piece out of and keep the decorations on it.Sounds like something I might have said back in the 70's after a couple of J's .
Keep your progress coming.

Tom

Tom really appreciate your feedback. I will see what I can do. The mock up had a larger base , But then I felt there was lot of unused space. Also it was not representing the reality in Syria that I have seen in Anna News. I agree with models hanging off the base. I will be arranging them so that they don't

You may want to consider losing some empty space by cutting it off.There's no law saying the base has to be square.

Tom

I must agree with Tom....your dio is too crammed! Imagine the scene in reality...how did this happen, what are the intentions of the "actors" and where are they heading, resp. what are they doing!??

If you think there is too much "empty" space in the mockup...then fill it with a low/crumbled wall giving shelter to a squad of guys banging away. You can also add to the rubble piles..that helps too!!

Anyway, I would not dare moving heavy tanks into narrow streets without enough infantry providing cover! The long gun prevents the turret from turning in all directions and the view tank crews have over periscopes is close to zero when the air is filled with dust.

Such tanks are utterly ill-suited for urban combat in dense zones.

Just a couple of thoughts!

Your armor looks great!! You obviously put a lot of effort into them (and it shows!!), so you must match the dio to that high standard!!

And if we can possibly help you...!!

Cheers

Romain

Actually if you have watched any of the videos done by ANNA on youyube this layout is not that far fetched. I was a tanker for about 14 yrs and I have had to throw all learned doctrine and tactics straight out of the window when it comes to understanding the Syrian armored warfare doctrine. They shoot over, next to, right behind eachother with total disregard. They bunch up like I would never dare in urban terrain, and shoot first and probably dont ask any questions at all. It is a sight to behold. There losses in tanks/IFV's must be incredibly high. So dont count this dio out totally.

Romain,
I greatly value your feedback, don't get me wrong . But like Tim said above, I came to this conclusion after seeing 20+ videos of Syrian Urban battle fights in ANNA news. They operate and are operating in very very narrow alleys and streets and literally scraping their sides to the walls . Like you said about visibility and dust issues , Syrian warfare defied all that docrines. Please if you get a chance ,see the youtube videos of ANNA News like this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUcDnveTF1w
or this one for example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTprrCVhRSM
I am open for suggestions
Please don't think I am challenging your feedback and please don't stop giving me one in the future.
Regards
Vivek

Hi Vivek - nice build so far! I can say that I agree with the comments above that the base could be too small. I can't speak to the tactics of street warfare with armor , but do think the layout looks crowded - maybe just an optical illusion, but it looks like your tanks are almost hanging off the edges (?)

This might sound a bit unusual, but you could splice more surface area onto your base - you could build a bigger overall structural base (or project out from what you've already built) then fill in the corners to get them to the right level. As for any unsightly exposed seam (where existing meets filled in area) you can fill them in or camouflage them with other debris, boards, pieces of sheet metal, rubble etc. The same might go for the "new" spaces you're creating - low walls, more debris, burned out car etc...I only suggest this because your overall concept (and what you've already built) is really good!

Cheers
Nick

Vivek, I thank you for those links my friend!! I didn't know this "Anna", but the clips are very interesting and informative!!

And I stand corrected regarding tank tactics, at least as far as the syrian army is concerned!!

Apparently they have never heard of these little things called RPGs!!!

Amazing....and apparently it (more or less) works!! Ammo seems to be no issue though!

And you can watch tanks breaking speed records!!

All this with closed hatches!! First class drivers (probably italian mercenaries )!!

Cheers

Romain

Sure thing Nick. I will see if I can extend the base little bit with cut MDF and wood glue and mask them with debris. That's a good idea. Thanks for the feedback.

Working on the figures and will post pictures today
Regards
Vivek

Romain,
You are very welocome. This ANNA news thing has huge mass of followers in Youtube and it is second brutal urban warfare with tanks we have seen since Stalingrad I think. Tanks do return tattered from each mission but still they function. Russian armor designers have made the design robust and done their design validation very well is all I can say.ANNA news had this brilliant idea to put gopro HD cameras strapped on the turrets of T-72s and BMP-2 and they brought footages we all might have seen only in video games so far. Unbelievable !!!. And how the tank drivers and commanders see through the periscopes with all that commotion and debris is beyond me....
Vivek

Based on the suggestions given here I have tried to rearrange the vehicles little bit. Please take a look at it and let me know what you think


Also attaching pics of figures that I will be using here

Hi Vivek,

Nice build.

About the use of (armoured) military vehicles in urban areas, whole bus loads of military experts have written books about the pro´s, if there are any, and contra´s.
The basic is that no military commander likes to send his
/her AFV's in areas where vision and movement are restrited. Due to the fact that speed and movement are the key elements of AFV's.
Nevertheless, you created this dio, so, please, finish it. It is based on a horific reality, shown in many middle east areas. So, you do not have to prove it is true!!

One thing, have a look at your rain pipe. It looks terribly oversized.

Furthermore: I like your work, looking forward to see it grow.

P.

some more progress. Made the window doors from popsicle sticks. Took the small wall down and created a sniper/observation command post with sand bags .







Does it look any better ?. knocked down doors , some more ground rubble and figure painting still pending.
Please provide feedback
Thanks
Vivek

My first attempt at figure painting with oils. I still struggle with the eyes..Any pointers?



Thanks

That's not bad at all Vivek!!

Don't worry too much about the eyes! As Sheperd Paine puts it: "soldiers outside tend to squint a lot" and that would certainly be so in the Middle East as well!!

Look at people in the distance or photos showing roughly "1/35 size faces"..and you will notice that you don't see too much of their eyes.

Good luck!

Cheers

Romain

P.S.: Isn't the colour of the building a tad too dark??? Judging by the ANNA clips, I would rather paint the tanks darker and the house lighter!

Forget it! Just a thought!!!

R.

Hi Vivek,

Nice progress you made.

Please, allow me some points for consideration:

1. One of the soldiers, behind their cover, is using a pair of binoculars. Direct in front of them, within a few yards, two AFV's are executing their fair share in the battle. Not too logic, I guess.................
2. The AFVs plough their way through the devastated ruins. These ruins certainly may have created some rubble. Both AFV types are heavy enough to presh their tracks directly into the rubble. So avoid free space between the debris and the track links. Certainly, te road wheels will be on various heights. If one of the AFV's just made a right turn, quite some rubble will be piled up at the left side track.

Looking forward to see more,

P.

Romain, I had the same concern after I painted the house in desert yellow. may be I need to ligten it with lighter shade of desert yellow. As for the vehicle colors go , i used wooden deck tan which I thought was close to the colors I saw in ANNA. Thanks for the feedback

Good point Paul .Will mawke those corrections.

Tried to paint the figure in Syrian Arab Army camo dress. Any comments welcome

I wouldn't want to be one of the guys behind the sand bags after watching the video. I would want high ground. I liked the wall and tree prior. It stood out as something that has managed to survive in the middle of everything!

Vivek,

even if camo is supposed to conceal forms, you should perhaps include some dark lines, creating a clearer picture.
Diluted oil colour could do the trick easily!
To flow into spots where light does not penetrate.

And pay attention to the shoulder joints!! Arms must be correctly aligned! And there is no deep gap between arm and torso (in reality that is)!!

Cheers

Romain

All right , here is an update after couple of weeks now.
Completed figure painting, weapons painting and weathering, fuel drums , cans chipped and weathered. placed the figures to get a feel for how they look. Here take a look and provide any comments feedback.











Thanks
V