Hi guys-

Here are a coupla shots of my Cover-Up dio... many thanks to the fellows who helped me along on this. This dio represents my first real attempt at a dio, as well as figures.

Sorry about the pictures... I hate artificial lighting... so I'm gonna take a few more after I finish.

Still gotta weather the flag, and junk in the gun pit - but anything else jump out at ya? I'm all ears - comments and critique are welcome.

Thanks-
Jeff

Nice touch with the leaves. Be sure sure you get plenty in the corners and crevices of the gunpit

hey jeff, a few thingsdo stick out for me, your 88 is it the right colour, to me i looks to plain to new , and the amo boxes could do a little weathering. also the tress look a little odd. everything else is perfect, i love the tank and us soldier, it tells the stroy well.

cheers

You have come along too good , and after weathering the flag i think you dont have much more to do .. Good work

95% done means you have many final shots to do :-) groundwork-leaves, mud,building of models, dead germans,88, ammo are all well done but everything needs some more weathering and I think thats the 5% left.just one thing;why is the X-factor flag is on the corner. I think the flags position can be better;maybe on the ammo cases,maybe under a dead german(something like he is trying to hold or cover his flag after being shot)

Very nice indeed, I agree with the others just a bit more weathering, and maybe the trees could use a bit of light grey drybrushed over them to break up the monotone color. The tree branches still seem to have that perpendicular branch to the trunk pattern that kind of throughs me off or maybe its having the groups of branches starting at the same levels on the trunk, just food for thought for your next project, I am by no means an expert, these are just personal opinions so no offence intended.Other than that an outstanding effort, can't wait to see the finished version and more work from you. By the way what did you use for the fallen leaves? Cheers Kevin

Jeff - boy this is coming along nicely.
Don't you love the last 5% take about 70% of the time #:-) Do you ever really finish a diorama???

One thing I'd like to see is some mud/dirt on the top edge of the wall, spill over from rain, or scrape off from guys climbing in and out of the pit, sepage through cracks when its wet.

Thanks for the feedback guys - I appreciate it all :-)

hehe - I agree about the trees - they do look a bit odd... lol I made em from scratch, so there is a bit of a learning curve there. The trees in my RMG dio will be better, based on what I have learned form this project. I will go back and dry brush them a bit with some grey... good idea jackhammer.... :-) I'll try to more closely match the color of the fallen logs - those are real sticks. Perhaps that will make them stand out less. The fallen leaves are spices from the kitchen.... parsley flakes. I sprinkled them on the base and then airbrushed them to get them to look the color of leaves.

Graywolf - the flag has been a pain in my ....ummm you know.. for a while now. :-) I really don't know why the flag was placed on the top of the berm, other than I was trying to sort of symbolize the finality of the scene. The dead Germans and the GI standing on the Nazi flag and all..... I have gone back and really muddied the flag up, it looks more ground into the dirt now... I think that helps a bit.

Slodder - you are soooo right... hahaha this last 5% is the hardest to get "right"... lol I must say that doing dios is far more complicated than it looks #:-) Good suggestion on the wall - I'll see what I can do about it before this weekend..... maybe some nail holes in the wooden boards and some dry brushed "mud streaks" would look cool.

Thanks again guys... you all have been very supportive and helpfull. I truly appreciate the honest feedback - good and bad. I have no way to get better unless you guys tell me what you think could use a bit of work.

Thanks-
Jeff

Looks good mate, the flag is great, so is everything else, hmm, im not sure about those trees though cheers

Lord Nelson aka Da Guitar Dude

The concept of this dio speaks volumes Jeff, and the layout is really well balanced. The fallen flag under the GI's boot is a nice touch that came out well for you!

For your first dio, you have to be pleased as it combines skills related to figs, ground/detail work, the arty piece, and the M10. Lot's of goodies for the eyes to look at here :-)

About the only thing I would mention for your possible consideration would be the addition of rear deck stowage/gear etc on the M10, and perhaps some drybrushing on the 88 to bring out the detail even more. This is good stuff. Congrats.

Steve

One thing I like using for weathering wood - burnt umber oil paint and terp. Keep it thin you can always add more as you go. Smudge and smear it on and it absorbs into the wood and IMHO looks really good, you can alter the tones, and pigments too if you want.