A quick review of Euro Modelismo issue 242.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Dear Mr. Cooper,
Having read your review, I would like to thank you due to your will in reviewing Euromodelismo 242. It is not easy to analyze the diorama about "The Pianist" because the scene recreates a gruesome piece of history. We certainly share with you the maxim that “Less is More�. To be honest, I would never make a diorama like this.
But I think that the art of making dioramas is the art of telling stories and this is a great story. The scene represents a frame of the film titled "The Pianist" directed by Roman Polanski. There is a style of modelling focused on harsh realities which is expanding day by day. No doubt, this diorama is a thought-provoking piece of work.
I would like to apologize if we have caused you offence with this diorama because it is not our proposal. It is a matter of inviting the audience to think about our history.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,

Rodrigo Hernández Chacón

Rodrigo, thank you for your kind reply. I appreciate very much your willingness to explain the thought process behind the editorial decision of using the diorama in question. It was not so much that I was offended by the content but more that I fear that a certain segment of the modeling public may overlook the story and simply be attracted to the 'wow' factor of the gruesome scenes in the diorama. I understand what you say about the increase of dioramas that depict harsh realities and there is surely a place for this type of thought provoking work. My only disagreement may be that I am not convinced that the place for this type of artwork is on the cover of such a fine publication. All the Best, Rick

Very occasionally do I actually buy Euro Modelismo. Not becaus of its lack of quality (the contrary), but in fact due to the difficulty of actually getting hold of it here.

Now that said, it is a magazine with some superb articles but doesn't always have enough to capture my personal interests.

Now, my dos centimos regarding the controversy over this feature piece. At the outset, it's not something i'd personally tackle unless it was part of a collaborative Project and part of some educational intenThe closest i've come have been some vignettes based on the Warsaw Uprising. Simply put, I wouldn't feel comfortable tackling this or, as an example, a diorama based around the liberation of one of the concentration camps.

Do I defend this kind of diorama? Yes, 100%. Would I, if I was editing a magazine, put it on the front page? Probably not. Would I if I was editing Armorama run a feature on it? By now, i'd be chasing down the modelers responsable and inviting them to publish here.

I share the viewpont of Rodrigo. Dioramas ARE about telling stories. War is not some kind of sanitized game. For a long time now, i've been pretty hacked-off at the portrayal of Axis subjects in a form which would be understood by the Nazi propagandists themselves. Particularly alarming is the peculiar material coming out of Japan with what looks like fetishism regarding German uniforms and rock-jawed comic book nazis. Far more alarming IMO.

It's easy to shock, it's more difficult to present a snapshot of the horror and reality of war. I haven't done it yet, but I am considering a vignette of the 'reception' given to collaborators by members of the FFI in 1944. Not pretty, but a part of the story of the liberation of France.

So, in conclusión, i'd suggest that the modelers involved in this Project are invited to submit their photos so people can judge for themselves.

Hell, if you need a translator for the Project, i'm available!

Not to be tilting at windmills here but; I think we are all in some kind of basic agreement. Rodrigo says he wouldn't personally build a diorama like this one, Jim says the same (although he is thinking about it), nor would I. My only quibble, which if I read Jim's reply above correctly is somewhat in agreement with me, is that I did not think that the piece in question should have been chosen for the cover or the feature article. Jim, I agree about some of the deification of the German military in the Far East is more disturbing. I appreciate the thoughtful comments from all.

@Rick, I was checking the Acción Press Website yesterday, and it seems this is a 3-part feature.

No, I don't think there is any real disagreement whatsoever but I woud go further by saying that perhaps people should (VERY carefully) considrworing working outside their confort zone a little?

It's not a lack of technical ability per se, just sometimes, i'd like to see things a bit 'edgier'...