Joaquin's wall is coming right along!! That PE looks like a lot of work! - but, the results are strong - the whole thing looks very good -

Looking good - keep up the good work!

Cheers
Nick

Hi Nick, thanks for stopping by and the positive comments. The fence along with the initial planning for this board has been complex for me as I have seconded guessed all my steps over and over again... Wanting to not fail or make mistakes prior to execution on all these pieces to avoid additional expenses or needed replacements eats up my time...

However, once it's all thought out and the actual build begins I find satisfaction based off the end results thus far. Problem is keeping it going, each little step takes so much time for me that once I complete it I tend to walk away from the project for a while. Not sure if this is a norm for some modelers out there but it is hard to just grind it out 100% of the time non-stop. I love the building and painting aspects of the hobby but I didn't know how difficult and time consuming it would be to actually create a 76" X 16" piece of the world. LOL! I admire all the fine work you and a lot of modelers do and share on this site. It's amazing to see the rate of speed in which you guys knock these award winning looking dioramas. I use that as motivation to finish what I have started and to keep going - even if it's at a snail pace but then again it's not like there's a due date so it's all good.

Thanks for the continued interest on my build everyone.

JGphins

Some of the most stunning diorama's I've ever seen at shows took years to complete. This is no different I presume. It is stunning as of yet I am thoroughly impressed with your attention to detail. You are truly talented at this don't give up.

No worries man. I have the same problem with large projects. My solution is to do one or more small projects in the middle so I get a sense of completion. This keeps me motivated a bit more.
J

Totally amazing work.
I have and will probably not attempt a dio of the size and detail your doing, but I like Jerry tend to do some smaller builds on the side during a large dio.Wether they are the dio related or different ,they tend to give you a break and come back refreshed to the project.

Tom

The biggest difference between work and a hobby: work is done at somebody else's pace. Hobbies are done at our own pace. Semi professional procrastinating attention deficient perfectionist and fully licensed lurker here. I work on springs for a WC 54 for a while then jump to the windshield of an MB then it's on to the seat backs for a WC 56. This hobby is as much about the "doing" as it is about the "done". Which is good cuz I haven't finished one in many years.
Joaquin, I think this one means a lot to you and your desire to get it right is part of what makes it so real. Don't rush yourself, enjoy the journey.
TL/DR- be happy and work at your own pace!

Hello again gents, thanks for the feedback. My break time is over, feeling refreshed and will get back to working on project shortly. Time to pour the plaster on the 2nd block, paint, and weather a bit. I'll post update pictures once it's completed. Thanks for looking and feedback, always very appreciated!

JGphins

Beautiful progress man, interesting subject matter I'm not too familiar with. Your work is a reward to us all in the accuracy and attention to detail, keep it up Joaquin!

Really needed to hear these comments w/ regards to work progress, pace, and completion. I too have a kinda-sorta large dio in the works and this exchange really helps in keeping the flame lit. Thanks gents!

Cheers
Dave

UPDATE!

First of all, hello to all my friends & the entire Armorama community. My last pic update was 6/28/16, was away for the last time on Army training. I ETS 12/7/16. Really happy to move on the another chapter in life. Unfortunately I got injured during duty & suffered a herniated disc L5/S1 bulge with nerve damage. Remedy was to get operated, which I did 12/6/16. Everything went well, recovery period might be a while but I'm home getting better everyday.

I wanted to share 39 pictures of my last progress on this project. I intend to continue working on this till it's completion. Here we go:

Glued foam section phase two - done


Here's the portal with the aforementioned lion of Allah statues and possible positing locations for a pair...
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Glued sidewalks - Phase two:
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Test fit front walls & portal to glued sidewalks:


Prime, paint, weathered Lion statues:
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Again, determining the statue poss locations...
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Mosaic tile & retaining support installation:
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That's all folks!

I have a lot of catching up to do looking at all your progress since I've been gone so I'll make sure to look yours up soon and leave comments. I am sure you guys have made a ton of good progress.

Hope you enjoy these updates, as always, please feel free to comment. Thanks to all for stopping by.

Happy modeling once again!!!

First off Joaquin thank you for serving our country while my family and I sometimes take for granted the freedoms we have in everyday life .

Ok enough Hallmark moments , sorry to hear about your injury and I pray for your speedy recovery .

Glad to see you modeling again and the wall looks beautiful , details are fantastic !!!

Welcome back, Brother. Sorry to hear about your military career ending with an injury, I'm hoping you have a full and speedy recovery! Man, your Mosul project gets more and more impressive with each update. Great additions to the mosque wall. Where did you find mosaic tiles that small?

First off bubba,congrats on the ETS. It is a huge milestone and now is the time you get to decompress.
I had sort of the same end to my career,with an injury sending me out the door into the great civilian wilderness where nobody is in charge and everybody is out of uniform. LoL
Good to see you are mending and that is apparent looking at the excellent progress you made on this awesome dio. Really nice evocative gate you made. This will be epic when you get er done.
J

Welcome back, Joaquin! Glad to see this is up and running again - and hope you are too! Sooner than later - looking forward to seeing your wall planted into a big dio!

Take care and looking forward to your progress -

Cheers
Nick

Hello again gents and many thanks for taking a look and the comments.

Cheyenne,
Thanks brother! It was an honor to wear the uniform and represent our great nation during the last 10 years and one that I will never, ever forget. Especially all my brother and sisters whom I shared time with downrange. Lots of pride in getting many of our sons, fathers, brothers home safe to their families.

White4doc,
It's great to be freaking back brother, thanks! As for the mosaic tiles, they are 5mm in size and real glass. After many hours of web research I found these on ebay, they ran just under $10 for a bag of 400 pieces in various colors.

Jerry,
LOL 4 Real - "Nobody in charge & Everyone out of uniform" - true statement! It's going to take some time to adjust to civi life style but it's all good! The update pics are of work done prior to surgery. It's hard to sit or for that reason be in any position too long with the back surgery still so raw but it continues to get better and stronger daily. Soon I'll be able to do work on the project.

Nick,
Thanks my brother I appreciate the kind words. When I heal I will work on the side & back walls then set plaster foundation to even out the ground space and the gate/walls will be even leveled.

All this down time during recovery will provide plenty of thoughts on next steps and ideas for the project. Only been one day home resting and I have a thousand ideas - lol. It's great to be home!!!

JGphins

Welcome back, Joaquin! Here’s hoping for your very speedy recovery.

That’s a great update on your project! I enjoy your attention to the smallest details. I am eagerly looking forward to more on this most impressive diorama.

And I can’t say it enough … thank you for your service!

—mike

Hi Mike, thanks brother appreciate the comment and continued interest on this diorama.

I decided to take on a small task which will be required to fill in space on my block one side street area. I am attempting my first scratch build building, it's going to be an Iraqi market place. There's nothing out there on the market which I'm satisfied with nor those it come on the required dimensions for my space so that's that. I will draw the market design based off my on site experiences as I remember them to the best of my knowledge.

Here are a few hours of the initial progress thus far:

First the drawing and then the cutting of brick lines and the opening for the metal door siding completed.


Then applied light coat of plaster:


A little Mudstone initial painting:


Followed by a little detailing. Painting various earth tone colors to bricks, india ink wash:


I'll set this wall to the side and start the front wall tonight. Thanks for looking & happy modeling!

JGphins

Joaquin,

Looking good, Brother. You've really done a lot with that hunk of insulation board, it definitely looks the part.

Hey Doc, thanks bro. BTW, what's going on with your dio? Last I remember you too were doing lots of work on foam boards... Have you made any progress?

Here's a bit of work on the front shop wall. Took me a while to get it to look a little like what I wanted but I think after adding on a few advertisement ad signs, electrical cables and pipes that it might work out to my satisfaction. If not, I'll trash it and start over.

First cutting & plaster:


After the plaster set, a little sanding then more plaster:


A little cutting in cracks, bricks, and more cracks...


A little concrete paint, india ink, and Steele wool to reveal faded edges...








That's all for now. Need two more walls to complete building the I'll work on setting conduit pipes and corrugated garage doors before gluing it together. Then roof and crown and final details. Hopefully the effort pays off because I would hate to trash the hours put in to it...

JGphins

Joaquin, just noticed this thread. That gate is a work of art. Superb detail. I have to admit I'm a fan of big dioramas as you're spoilt for choice as to where to look and you can also have a few story lines happening within a big frame. I'll be following this with interest. Hope you're on the mend after your op mate.

Joaquin, just ran thru the threads and all I can say is great work for your first dio right out of the shute, but it's clear your choo-choo skills have transferred quit well on this big beast. I'm lovin the fine details and it appears you haven't missed a thing. Bravo Buddy!

Standing by for more. Cheers, Ski.

Update: 122016, Scratch-built Iraqi Shop...

Hello community, just wanted to share planning phase progress on the shop. But first, thanks to all whom continue to view and follow my progress. Very appreciated.

Karl,

Thanks for stopping by, glad you find interest on my project. It's currently at 40% completion rate and 1.5 yrs vested thus far. The completed dio dementions w/b approx. 78" W X 16" D. My recovery spans 90-days but after 14 days post-op I'm feeling great, thanks!

Steven,

Thank you! I strongly agree, many years of scale 1/87 HO model railroad does help. The 1/35 scale project is obviously bigger meaning more detail but I see it as more space to work with. I enjoy putting in the extra efforts and vision in attempts to create more eye candy.

Onward we go:

Have to scratch build about 5 Ad signs. Here's the first one. Also had to figure out a way to adhere plastic to foam since regular plastic glue or crazy glue would melt the foam and I didn't want to glue the Ad signs flat to walls...

Added metal frames, long L shape, will be pushed in to foam wall and adhered with Elmer's glue.

,,

Pending weathering, will dirty it up, add real rust plus powders, and lots of other details...

On to walls, had to level by cutting wood feet crowns. Will add plaster later, paint, and weather...



Before gluing walls 1 & 2 together, various planning of items and their placements arranged. Here's a pic of some of those items:

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Pending: other 2 walls, overlapping roof, roof crown, bird's nest of electrical cables (typical in this part of the world), weathering, and various other required details before completing. The vision of what it will turn out to be currently will be to my liking but have to wait and see the end results.

Till next time & thanks for looking!

Happy modeling !

JGphins

Wow!!! You´re getting a real iraqui street. Great job with walls, weathering and decoration.

I´ll stay tuned

Thanks Nacho!

Continued progress on Iraqi Shop:

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Thanks for looking & Happy XMAS to all!!!

JGphins

Hi Joaquin,

Best wishes to you and yours!

Your project looks great - thanks for posting your WIP images - lots of cool scratchbuilding going on here - with nice results! I have to say, our workbenches look a lot alike - haha! The shopfront is really coming along.

Looking forward to your next update -

Cheers
Nick

Hi, Joaquin

Merry Christmas to you and yours, Brother; I hope your recovery is well on track. You're definitely making good use of your forced down time. Every update brings something new to like in it, all that's missing from the pictures is the "aroma" of Iraq and the flies. Everything looks the way I remember from my days in "Beautiful Downtown Fallujah" (with apologies to Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In).