To the Victor the Spoils - This is one of my old dioramas which was never one of my favourites, so it sat on an open shelf and got very dusty. After repairing a busted model today I took this one down to the modelling desk, carried out some repairs (the chassis is now 95% CA) and give it a good clean up and added some pigments to the rubble; before taking some pictures. It is the very old (and horrific) DES Models kit of the Diamond T and the Dragon (?) V1.

You are your own worst critic. I rather like the scene you have depicted in spite of the vintage of the kits used.

One of the coolest dios I've seen! Very clever and all is so well done. Weapons collection point,casualty clearing station. Booty being hauled away. Nice!
J

Really fine scene!! Lots of stuff to see and all of it blends wonderfully. As I view it, using "older" kits isn't an issue because creativity beats mediocrity every time. One detail I especially like is the look on the face of the woman refugee. Don't expect any sense of humor here.

Very cool dio! ... Dibs on the Buzz Bomb!

—mike

Kudos, it is a fantastic dio. The amount of detail is incredible, and yet you can tell what is going on in the scene very quickly. Brilliant job!

Old models or not, This is a great Dio that tells a great story with interesting things to look at.

Robert

Just one little question... why does an American vehicle have a couple of Tommies driving it? just curious... the rest of the work is incredible... nice details in the equipment gathering area... and I think the Jerry is being treated very nicely considering most towns would have strung him up...

Hope all your "old" work is as cool... thanks for posting!

Thanks for your comments. The British had many Diamond T tank transporters on lend/lease:

http://allcarsnewz.com/photo/im/diamond-t-980/08/default.htm

How can you say bad,I think its great nice attention to different detail never mind the old kitts they look great.

Hi ,

well done ! Very beautiful diorama and the paintwork is great !

Kurt

Fantastic Work love the motion of the scene
depicts and interesting time at the end of the war

Great job Ian,
Did you find it hard to cleanup an old one?
I have many and I took one down yesterday for reference on a new build, very dusty, yellowed decals,ect.
Yes the British had many vehicles on lend from the US.
All in all it's a great dio and very original idea.

Tom

Hi Tom - yes it was a bit of a pig to sort out. I bought it from e-bay and there were many parts missing - A lot of the repair work is hidden as it's underneath:

Old or not it is still a great dio.

Absolutely fantastic. The dio is a work of art!

One off the wall question: the piano going to the sgts mess, is that based on fact or fiction?

For my money - extraordinary fine work! It does not matter if the kits are old or not - newer models do not a quality diorama make.

Fiction - although I'm sure that many such items ended back up in messes in the UK/USA.