Great build, layout and execution seems excellent as well!
However, and I hope you don't mind me saying, I think that the frame you are using is really distracting from the piece. It just doesn't feel like it connects to the rest of the diorama with its big size and "extreme" features. Just my opinion of course
Either way I look forward to seeing your next update

@ Mike
Thanks for the compliments. It does quite well to my satisfaction.
Oddly enough here in the Netherlands half of the country is experiencing snow this weekend and to Dutch Standards quite a lot as well. But as I'm living in the North I still have to see snow that is doing it's best to reach the ground and stay there. That said... It is still cold here. But the sun is out and a ham in the oven. Things could be far far worse

@ Johan
Thanks for the compliments. Really appreciated. As for the frame it kinda bugged me as well. Been looking at it for days. I made the base look distraught on purpose as it worked pretty good for all the other diorama's I did but here it doesn't work. But I'm not replacing it... It was the only frame I could find that matched my dio idea. And the change of finding another frame that has exactly the same opening for the picture is incredibly small. Which would mean completely making the groundworks over again. Instead I think I respray the frame in the same matt back as the base of the groundworks.

Hi Robert,

Great job so far. I've followed the construction of the ground and also the arrangement of the various part. Also the rocket launcher is very well done.

Now I'm following the paint of the figures.

Maybe only the frame I would like to change, but I made worse than this...

Cheers

Giovanni

Hi, Robert, Hi, guys

I keep you following the progress... You're taking good care of the poor soldiers with that Sambal Manis... keep'em warm BTW, I like your tools.

Warm regards.

Hey Robert, another nice vignet you have there. One nice thing is that it tells a complete story which many people miss. So far all I see is great. If I might suggest one addition, how about a small dog sitting beging for a hand out. Would kind of top off the show seeing that a lot of animals were turned loose because of the lack of food, or even ended up in a stew pot. With or without, it still is a great vignnete. bob d.

Ha Robert, I like the color you added to the fence wood. but I am troubled by the sharp square saw cut ends of that old gray wood.
here is a picture of the bottom of the door of my 30+ year old garden shed for reference.



I think you need to "distress" the ends of those old planks, top and bottom. you could use a wire brush wheel in the Dremel and then add some black ink to the result.

Ola Guys

First of all. Happy new year to all of you. And thanks everybody for the replies.

@ Giovanni
Thanks for the compliments. Really appreciated. At the moment the figures are painted. And the dio makes good progress. More on that in the update I plan to follow up this reply.
As for the base. There are 2 definite camps. Those that like it and those that hate it. I'm still hovering between the 2. Probably as I said before I will spray it matt black just like the base. Overall I think it looks nicer that way.

@ Gabriel
Something got to keep the boys warm during a cold morning. Sambal Manis does that job perfectly

@ Bob
Thanks for the kind words my friend. I have given your suggestion about the dog some thought. As adding an animal had not crossed my mind till that point. And then started rummaging through my collection of diorama stuff I accumulated over the years. And picked something out of there which I think might even work better then a dog. More on that in the update following this post. I'm still pulling the pics through Photoshop

@ Jonathan
Thanks for the suggestion mate. And actually it cuts wood as we say in the Netherlands. I only needed to look at my own garden fence which looks similar and only has been standing for 15 years. PLenty of proof that I listen to other people every now and then in the next post.

More to come lads... More to come.

Update time!

Starting off with a pic of 2 of the players in this piece finished. The third should already be in this pic but he fell off the holder when applying the matt lacquer so I had to strip him and actually completely repainted him in an evening to keep up with my schedule.



And to go with the suggestion of Jonathan. I took the knife to my fence and started carving and cutting. Then remade new and deeper woodgrain. Drilled nail holes. Repainted it and applied new weathering.



Another piece, the makeshift table is finished.


And another piece of evidence that I really do listen to people is the following. My wife made thise picture while I was working on it as she found the level of concentration I put into such a tiny piece funny.


That little thing on the block of styrofoam is a kitten that I found in my stash. A very tiny kitten at that. I also have several dogs. But I think the kitten translated a much sadder story. (I'm a cat person if you were wondering still )


And here is the full cast together



Also the open Ammo crate next to the Hammer has been finished.


And this is where we stand now All the brushwork is done. All tha is left is some airbrushwork. Some more weathering and adding grasses and foliage. More to come... more to come.

Hi Robert,

Firstly Happy New Year mate!!

Everything is coming along nicely, a little bit envious at the speed you work at. I'm assuming that you are painting with oils for your figures?

I'm glad you followed the advice from Jonathan, the fence looks really aged and battered..The beauty of a forum, people see things in their own perspective, the different eyes helping out every now and then!
The photo frame looked good before the scene started to get busy.
You coud build a balsa wood frame and place it over the existing one? There is enough height protruding above the base to accommodate this.

The addition to the kitten falls in line with all of the other details that stand out so dominantly here. No magnifying lamp?

Excellent stuff mate, this just gets better with each update!

Grtz,
Shay

Happy New Year to you buddy!
Nice to see you back as I said earlier. Lovely additions to your vignette. Love the straps for the Hammer and all of the excellent painting.
Small question though,is there any way to tone down the hem seams on the overcoats? The coats and buttons and all the edges are wonderful but maybe the seams are a bit overdone? If you look at a real coat would it look like that?
The work on your fence is super nice and looks waaay better than before.
Looks like you are in the home stretch. Wish I could say the same with any of my projects. Hehehe
J

Happy New Year Jonathan!

The fence really looks top-notch! The vignette in general is progressing very nicely — a great little story with lots of character.

—mike

Happy New Year from Vienna too Robert!

Sorry to be late joining in the comments! I find your idea, concept and rendering top notch!

You've taken great pain in highlighting details and thus bringing "structure" into your work!

Congratulations so far m8!

I must admit that I can see Jerry's point regarding the Mäntel.

Allow me one question: are you outlining the details in oils?? If not, you must try it! It allows for a partial removal of the dark colour, allowing for a more differentiated stroke of the brush (without losing the contrast!).

Cheers

Romain

Happy New Year to you too Robert !

That's a nice update for sure ! You already know my comments about the lamp hahahaha but i forgot to say something about the fence.

It is Okidoki ! That is a real worn fence , nicely done Joh ! Love it !

The cat is also a masterpiece , it's a very nice touch to the scene .

Kurt

Happy New Year Robert. The up coming event has really picked up the pace. Your cat was a better idea than the dog, don't see many in builds. I have a few of them but nothing as grand as your little one. Where in the world did you find one so small? Would love to get my hands on a few. Kittens can be tucked away in the most un-obviuos places which make them stand out even more. Great fence by the way, looks like it was around since Napoleans time, just really fits. I must admit also that I wish my figures came out as good as yours. Waiting for the curtin to go up for the finallie. bob d.

Ola Guys Thanks for the replies and the new year wishes.

@ Shay.
I have learned myself to work very fast when neccesary. And 99 percent of all the brushwork you have seen so far is done with Humbrols. The 1% that is left is done in oils. I thin everything down with turpentine from the DIY store which makes the Humbrol dry much much faster. That way I can keep this pace.
As for the kitten. I have a big magnifying lamp. I have all sorts of other magnifying devices but I'm lucky to say that my eyes are still good enough for the majority of my aintwork but I have to admit that with items the size of the kitten I use some cheap reading glasses which helps me see and paint the details better.
And the base just received a coat of matt black and looks much better now.

@ Jerry and Romain
Thanks guys for the compliments. On the last update.
Regarding the seams in the Greatcoats well. This was where something odd happened. Because I did all the pinwashes there with oilpaint and at first they were not all that strong. Untill I sprayed everything in matt lacquer and up they popped looking much deeper then I planned. That said. The photo's make them appear even darker. It is not that bad in real life so I keep it this way.

@ Mike
Thanks for the compliments mate really appreciated.

@ Kurt.
Hehehe my ledbar-headlamp And thanks for the kind words mate.

@ Bob
Thanks to you as well my friend. Well I have set a deadline for this piece at the moment I started it. As I planned to have it built and finished in my holiday. Which ends the 4th. So I have a few days to go. I'm glad you like the kitten. It was one of those things I found in a stand on one of the events I visited through the years. I believe it was the stand of Unicorn models from Belgium who do a range of cheap small dio items.
The fence will become even better. I have something planned for it. But that will be something for a following update.

More to come... more to come.

Great progress Robert, it looks very nice (erg mooi!).

Maybe needless to say, but maybe you can apply some mud on sole of the shoe of the kneeling guy. And maybe some mud on the bottom of the coats.

I like the kitten (I am a cat person as well, my cat agrees ).



Jelger

Ola Jelger

Dank je wel voor de complimenten. (Thanks for the compliments) Glad everybody likes the kitten.
No worries about the mud. I just airbrushed the whole groundworks and soon I can start putting everything together. Then I will tie everything together with several weathering washes and pigments. The soles and the underside of the greatcoats will be dealt with.

Beautiful job. I'm in the "change the border" camp but understand the difficulty of replacing the current one with one of the appropriate dimensions.

I would paint the frame matte black. The silvered design is distracting. Blackening the frame would add to the starkness of the scene and force eye to the subject(s) of the dio.

Kitten is a nice addition. (cat guy here) A dog would have cluttered it. In this case smaller is better. Maybe closer to one of the troopers or the breakfast table hunting food. Lots of latitude there. Save the woofer for a Panther or Tiger based dio.

Have you considered adding a few pieces of bent wire to the fence boards mimicking half pulled out rusted nails? Very short very few keeping it subtle.

Is it me or are the ragged tops of the fence boards distracting? Not the broken one but the others? Seems that type of damage is consistent with having been broken off or rotted from the bottom. Or.......am I wrong about this?

Overall a beautifully executed example of unique subject with a minimalist view. Hard to do as there is always a tendency to "add a little more 'stuff' to improve the product.

Tony

@ Tony
Thanks for your reply
Yeah that's the problem with the border. The base is specifically made for this frame. I could get a different frame with the same photodimensions but the opening inside the frame is never the same. And I don't fancy rebuilding the groundworks all over again. But I can report that the base is now matt black like the rest of the base. By the way it was not silver underneath the black. The black was originally sanded back to the primer. But it did not look right.
The kittens place is already decided as you can see in the picture. This is a composition thing that, at least to me, feels right.
The ragged tops of the fence planks is copied from my own real garden fence which seem to rot faster from the top then at the bottom. And it kinda looks like this. I guess the cheaper the wood the faster it rots. And looking at it my garden fence was constructed from the cheapest wood around. But with what I have in mind with the front of the fence the distraction of the top will not be a real issue anymore Thats the reason why I have not yet installed the broken and bend nails because they will damage.
As for your last remark I'd like to end this post with an old quote from the realms of advertisement. "If you can't grab people's attention talking calmly, you won't get it shouting either"

Hi Robert,

You have done it beautifully...... and quietly. The kitten is fine. I didn't realize it had been permanently placed.

I was speculating on the fence from the second picture. As the fence it isn't in position yet, it is only speculation on my part. I live in a rainy area of Northern California and our wood fences rot fairly quickly, and do look similar to your representation, especially those made of softwood.

Looking forward to seeing the the completed dio.

@ Tony
It is not that the kitten is already fixed in place allthough the hole where the wire from the kitten goes into is already drilled. But the reason the cat is placed there is because it is the most logic. A cat is always closest to the human with the can.

And yeah we have the same problem here in the Netherlands where rain is more common then sunshine usually. Wood turns green fast and starts rotting not long after that.

Good morning Robert,

After another look, the kitten is in a logical spot. Our cats seem to get under foot if we are eating standing up, regardless of having food available seven twenty four.

Incidentally cats were very popular with the German ground troops in Russia. They are small, easy to care for and plentiful which was particularly desirable as the izbas and dugouts German troops lived in were very crowded, particularly in winter.


I've followed a number of your builds and read many of your reviews. This is the first opportunity I've taken to comment on and thank you for them. The information and techniques you share during the builds has led to improvement of my my skills.

Thank you and Happy New Year.

tony

It's looking great man. As others have said, it is very enlightening to watch an artist at work.

In case you are counting votes, I like the picture frame.

Looking great, nice work on the figures. FWIW, I like the frame, it's different and will set it out from the other 'scene in dollar store picture frame' dioramas/vignettes.

Jim

Very nice, I like the idea of missing fence slats.