Nice dio...

maybe you should put the guy who's sleeping on the moto (form miniart) on the side of the road near the trees... he's blocking the road where he is now...

Hi guys ,
Another small update.
First,yes the French had huge vats of Tamiya paint. .
The road is already blocked. That's why the scout commander is trying to see how long the line up is.Therefor he decides to have a nap.The guy in the Willy pulls over to talk to the priest.Road may be backed up for miles.
Remember this one small section of a much bigger scene.
Anyway,here's a few new photos.Finish the figures and the cart and pretty much done.

Tom

Makes sense to me. I like all of your figure placement. Good inter-action going on and nobody is pointing so far !
J

I think it helped that you've recently filled-in the area in front of the napping motorcyclist. This is looking more like a real cluster f*ck now! ... uhh ... traffic-jam!

Very nice work!

—mike

Jerry,
How do you find time for comments on mine?
I certainly appreciate them, considering your current project. It is just incredible the work you've done. I thought I had a lot of figures to do, but nothing compared to you. Spent the last 2 days going through your pages. Don't know why I didn't tune in after the first.
Anyway mine. I think is done. Going to try and get some outside pics tomorrow.

Tom

[quote]Jerry,
How do you find time for comments on mine?
I certainly appreciate them, considering your current project. It is just incredible the work you've done. I thought I had a lot of figures to do, but nothing compared to you. Spent the last 2 days going through your pages. Don't know why I didn't tune in after the first.
Anyway mine. I think is done. Going to try and get some outside pics tomorrow.

Well yours also has a boatload of work put in it,that's for sure. Plus,me building all those vehicles would take about a year. I am very slow with them for some reason.
This scene is awesome.
J

Tom , very busy build , very good work , ...... very , very cool !!

Thanks guys,
All the vehicles were built before hand. Had dios in mind, but they stayed on the shelf for while.That's why I don't weather them a lot until I know were they will be.
Cloudy and rain here for most of the week,but I'm going to try some outside pics today.
Check back in a few hours.
Jerry my problem is just the opposite. Figures is what slows me down because I'm not that good at them.

Tom

Hi Tom ,

congratulations , great build and a very dynamic scene it's like i can hear the joyful people yelling to their liberators ...

Kurt

Thanks Kurt,
Well I think I'm done. Still might add some stowage.Anyway need to give it a rest and come back to look at it.
Put some flowers on the road as if they were thrown.
Finally got some outside pics today although cloudy.

Tom
[img]http://put.url.here/image.file[/img]

Thanks for posting the new pics man ! This is such a cool cool scene and really tells a story that you can instantly understand ! The pics are well done as well,taken from ground level and not the usual birds' eye view we usually see. Or,in more modern terms the "drones' eye view !
Nice dio and certainly a load of work for you. That's a LOT of stuff in there.
J

Amazing work! Such a story and all the details.

And I thought I was doing well...

hi there!
i was rapidly scrolling your post and suddenly told myself: "hey, someone's posted historical pictures of a similar scene to get hinspiration from" but , actually, they were the pictures you took outside! great diorama indeed! you did a wonderful job.
may i suggest you to add some flags waving? is seems just logical that someone greets american liberators with some american and french flags, and it will also ad some more colour to the scene....
well done indeed!
ciao
edo

Yes !! Excellent idea ! I also thought just a little something was missing from this scene as I have seen the newsreels so many times and this is what is,in fact,missing !! The flags. They would make this excellent dio even better IMHO,
J

Hi Tom - another great build by you! Really nice work - I've got to say, your 4th picture down from the top is very convincing - something about it reminds me of the photos we see of actual events -

Looking forward to your next build
Nick

Hi Tom,

Fantastic concept and execution & agree with all comments including about 4th pic down, perfect. If I’d put in as much work as you have I wouldn’t be particularly interested in nit-picks - if so skip the following & just bask in the adulation!

Yes tricolor flags (not sure the locals would have been hiding many stars’n’stripes) and a couple of other suggestions:

Glossy clothes - if you’re using acrylics, mixing a bit of Tamiya X21 or any kind of flat-clear with the pigment dulls it and takes the gloss away. Also regarding “scale-colour”, some of them (e.g. the kid’s yellow cardigan) are too bright/intense. Those vehicles in reality were seriously travel-worn but there’s no sign of it, fine-powdered brownish pastel chalks would help and on the road too - easy to apply with a soft brush without having to move anything. Notable in those Liberation newsreels are the mademoiselles throwing themselves at anything American, but maybe there aren’t many hotties available in 1/35 in white summer dresses…?

Whatever, you’ve made a masterpiece as it is, congrats.
Cheers, Tim

Tom

Congrats are in order, you have a nice diorama here that tells a cool story and it all fits together as well.
Thanks for sharing how the vehicles have been done and waiting for awhile. I suppose the weathering of vehicles is essential when they're applied in a war story, but they look fine in this setting. BRAVO

Tim great tip on adding a flat clear to dull the sheen, hadn't realized that. I assumed you'd have to use a flat color when needed.

Sincerely,
Dave

Thanks everyone,

The idea of the flags is great. Wish I would of thought about it.Do what I can and let you see. Not many figures are posed to hold them. It's great that more eyes on here can give additional advice.
Tim, everything has had a coat of clear flat.Will spray again and add more pigments.

Tom

Hi Tom & Dave,

Aha I gave up on spraying a final flat coat years ago as it never seemed to work properly, maybe operator-error as it must work for some others(?). X21 is actually called Flat Base – being an additive – rather than Flat Clear which I take to mean a separate coat.

I should backtrack a bit to explain. Apart from essential oils in the metals range plus a flat black, my paintbox only contains one jar – Mr Hobby Flat White (acrylic)- and 5 tubes of student-quality acrylic paint as found in any art shop, the cheapest works just as well as the most expensive: black, white, mid-blue, mid-red and mid yellow. All colours of the rainbow are there, and so much cheaper than those little glass jars they want you to buy scores of. A colour tube typically lasts 3 to 4 years making around 7 or 8 AFVs plus a bunch of figures each year, the white & black maybe 2 years. Cheapskate & proud of it.

For figures I first put on a coat of Mr Hobby Flat White – you could use any primer but the white’s a useful base for transparent flesh washes on the face & hands, the fewer coats the better and this one multi-tasks. Then I add between 5% and 10% X21 to the paint-mix and dilute so it goes on with a soft brush without pooling or collecting round fine details. Sometimes need a second coat but not a problem. Mixed colours are preserved in those great little airtight plastic canisters rolls of film used to come in, they last over a year in there at average room temp – very handy, the flat base separates out but just needs a good stir and a touch of re-dilution.

X21 does take some practice and testing to get the proportion right; too little and no flat effect, too much and the paint just goes weird and even satin/glossy again. I’ve tried other manufacturers’ equivalents but ended up going back to Tamiya’s as it always works. Particularly with figures it can’t stand much handling or it goes satin-ey so hold ‘em by the boots or helmet.

My custom acrylics go onto most flat enamels fine – even over Humbrol Metallic Aluminium which I use to prime all AFVs, so it shows through after distressing the acrylic topcoat where required.

I have tried spraying it but was uneasy about gumming up the works. I just prefer brushes.

Cheers, Tim

Tom

I just realized you have a group of soldiers which all have their heads nicely turned towards to their left. Were these repositioned with that purpose in mind, or you simply chose and placed figs where they best fit to help convey the msg?

I really enjoy viewing this piece you've created, it's well balanced overall and there's a lot to look at.

Tom
That's really helpful to me, how different builders use different techniques to finish their little "people" Thanks for sharing.

Sincerely
Dave

Tom
That's really helpful to me, how different builders use different techniques to finish their little "people" Thanks for sharing.

Sorry, I meant Tim

Hi guys,
Dave, not sure what your talking about the turned heads?
I do believe figures need to make sense and have to face in the right direction to what they would be looking at. Yes in a lot of cases I turn their heads.
Anyway, as I mentioned, not many of the figures are posed for flag waving. The only one really was the older guy with his arm in the air. Added them to him, the woman walking and the little girl.
Some very quick outside shots that are not to good, but the flags do add a lot. If I'd thought of this earlier I would have changed arms.

Tom

Hi Tom!

Overall, the scene captures a moment very well and I really like it.

However, as I was looking over your photos, I noticed it all looks too "clean". There is very little weathering to the vehicles, personnel, even the road. I think it would add to the feeling of the scene if you add that element.

I have also noticed that most all figures by most all dio guys here are clean shaven. I know that beards were not allowed and men shaved as they could but there should be a two day growth and at least a "5 o'clock" shadow on some of the soldiers. A beard or two on civilians wouldn't be out of place either.

Now as to Lydia, the tattooed lady, maybe she would make an appearance somewhere LOL!

Just my two cents...