I'm sorry but I just had to share this once I'd stopped laughing after falling off my chair. Most of you must have seen the varied attempts at dioramas for sale on ebay but these are without a doubt some of the funniest and the worst that I've seen to date. A couple of months back there were one or two builds on there that were superb that wouldn't have looked out of place as a feature on here, especially a Villers Bocage one which was a reproduction of the classic knocked out Tiger and panzer IV in the street. As soon as I saw it I knew what it was and the guy started it really low. I emailed him to express my admiration for it and it turned out that he was moving and there wasn't room for it in his new flat. If it wasn't for the fact that I don't think it's ethical to buy others work to show in your own home and would never buy someone elses models (defeats the point of having a hobby for one) it would have been worth buying. He'd not put a reserve on it and it went for about £50. Tragic as it was superb and it didn't even cover the cost of the kits.

Now I'm not in the habit of putting down anyone's work because I know my work's not brilliant but when people say "professional" I do think that's quite offensive TO professional modellers when they're this bad. I can only aspire to be as good as some of the guys on here let alone professional modellers but looking at this guys work? I'll let you have a look at it and decide for yourself.

This joker's asking £125 for each dio! That's $164.28 at the moment on exchange rates. Panzer Meyer radio halftrack? Hmm 251B in 1944 with Wehrmacht plates, front wheels for steering completely missing and what looks like chain of the gauge you'd use for the anchors on the Tirpitz and where is Panzer Meyer? That's before you look at the whole thing. Maybe Panzer Meyer wasn't actually in 12th SS Panzer at all according to this guy.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WWII-German-Sdk-fz-251-6-Halftrack-Panzer-Meyer-Command-Vehicle-Diorama-France-/282597254243?

Check out his other "creations" as I'm sure you'll be amused. I was

Well, some are willing to pay 222 million for a soccerplayer so who's crazy now

Looking at the other things he has for sale it looks like he is a wargamer and did these dio's on the side.


.... but whatever the background or reason I will agree they are not professional quality. If somebody wants to give him the money them, well, more power to him I guess.

He is a footballer! Don't use terms from over there

"Pro level" but the halftrack is missing its front tires?

Looks like it's supposed to be some kind of 'battle damage'.

As always, caveat emptor!

And yes, I have noticed many 'professional' builds on ebay - but only 'professional' as in asking money for it, not for great quality. But then again, if someone buys it and is happy good for them I guess.

I followed the link plus looked at some of his other stuff. My first thought was picking on his work in an open forum was a bit tacky but when I read his descriptions I think he opens himself for criticism. When you use terms like “Superb - Amazing Detail” you leave yourself open.

I must admit that when I noticed one of the Chieftain crew members I started channeling Monty Python "Tis But A Scratch". "Just a flesh wound."

David that's what did it for me, the self appreciation. There's a guy on there who builds on a regular basis and just does it for cash. Not historically correct in anyway shape or form just does it for the cash. He'd put on there one time a dio he'd done of Omaha "Why is noone buying this? It took me 4 weeks" etc etc so I emailed him saying it could be because of the inaccuracies and listed some of them. After that we became quite good friends and I sent him all of my Tamiya figures and ones I got with job lots that I bought off there so he could use them in his dios and save a bit of cash doing it. He made the differentiation between himself and people like ourselves as he said "you peopple are proper modellers". I'd sent him the link for Armorama and he was in awe of the work on here. By his own admission he wasn't bothered about historical accuracy, he just wanted fast turn over and to sell. He knew his limitations and never put comments to "big up" himself so to speak. He said he would have liked "to do serious modelling like you lot do but it would take too long and I wouldn't get the return on my time" which was a fair point. What got me about this guy is he appears to think his work is fantastic! The dio with the Tiger I don't really understand as there seems to be about 4 unrelated things going on. Is it some sort of surrealism statement? I've seen another dio on there that appears regularly under the "pro build" banner of an early Tiger with the Feifel filters in panzer grey allegedly in Normandy. It started at £225 and over the last year has been steadily reduced to £125. Alas everything about it is wrong. Maybe I was wrong to bring it to peoples attention but it just made me chuckle. There we all are researching, buying AM stuff,practicing our techniques and trying to learn new ones, really trying to get things just so for our own appreciation and enjoyment and then you get some joker throw some paint at a kit and he's a pro. One really bad modeller actually put "Better than a lot of the crap on here that you'll find". I was shocked at the arrogance!

There's a sucker born every minute. A fool and money are soon parted. Both seem apt.

Is the beauty of the bay, anyone can sell anything at any price with any description ... the fool is often not the seller but who buys...

I doubt he is the builder. He appears to be a seller who markets collections and models obtained from others.

And I thought I was bad!

This is my 'favorite' of his. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WWII-Diorama-Detailed-Professionally-Built-Downed-Messerschmitt-Troops/282595818449?_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20160323102634%26meid%3D99244bd55ae74bafb58b1725b468ce3e%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D282597254243

Farther down in the Panzer Meyer ad, it does say that the front wheels are missing, but still... And that 109 dio looks like it was done by someone who's never seen photos of a real plane crash. Definitely not "professional" and "superb detail" is an overstatement.

Caveat emptor.

This guy definitely isn't a pro except in the broad definition that someone who makes money selling could be a pro. It does remind me a a fun story:

Two friends used to - maybe still do, haven't talked to them in years - go to MasterCon and win Best Of Show or many golds. They'd later sell their models on eBay. One typed up a description referring to the other as a "master modeler". Some dude balked at that, demanding to know how that title was bestowed. The indignant reply was pretty funny, something about 'the modeling elves' and Valhalla. And a suggestion about the complainer and the horse he rode in on.

Model railroading's NMRA does have a peer-reviewed program wherein one can earn the title Master Model Railroader (MMR). AFAIK, no modeling entity bestows that title. Modelers tend to know who is masterful and it is a term of respect and admiration.

Blah blah blah...I think my friend's description of Master Modeler was justified considering the number of MasterCons he won or placed highly in. But this eBay sale ain't it!

I have to wonder what this stuff (I'm trying to avoid using words like 'crap') would look like after it was mailed to the buyer(sucker). ARG!

Don't like to slag other people's work either, but..."Detailed And Professionally Built" obviously have different meanings for he and I.

Some people buy Picasso's and other modernistic creations (for example a blue brushstroke on a white background) for millions of dollars and claim they are fantastic and sublime creations, so yupp - there are suckers everywhere.

The winners are the "artists" (and "art experts") who can get people to buy it.

I guess that is where their genius is - not in the art itself, but in the ability to sell pure rubbish art and make people believe it is wonderful.

Slightly off topic.. sorry..

In this guys defence, he has clearly stated in the product description that the front wheels are missing from the half-track.

Considering that modellers get paid for some of the awful looking models and dioramas on show in various museums, I guess there is a market for these things as well. People who visit sites like this one are most likely not the buyers they are directed to.

I think this is a rather strange discussion. In these times of marketing the most [auto-censored]ty products are advertised as "the answer to all your ptoblems" or "the best of the best of the best" when elections are coming up we see the same process and the products get bought and the politicians elected. So here's a guy marketing his product. So what. Do you really think a van Gogh so beautifull and unique it is worth 100.000.000 and then we let "modern art" out of the discussion.

Hans, you completely missed the point of the post. It wasn't to debate the finer points of capitalism vs an egalitarian society. I ssaw the dios on ebay and they were that shockingly bad I thought that they were funny when you consider the superlatives being used. I see nothing superb or any fantastic detail for that matter and by the looks of it neither does anyone else. More to the point I see no research either. It was merely pointing out someone selling what is essentially a load of badly made, badly thought out dioramas for a significant amount of money when the work modellers show on here most of the time is streets ahead of this. Also the modesty that most modellers display on here. I don't think i've ever seen anyone refer to anything that they've built as "superb" or "fantastic detail". In fact I'd go as far as to say that the majority of modellers here are very humble and take on board feedback, tips and advice. For me that's how I learn. By watching and listening to others. I don't see a lot of humility in the descriptions. I was reading a thread on I think it was Finescale Modeller or possibly another forum, I've been to sleep since then, a few weeks back where someone was displaying a small dio where things were just plonked on, there was no discernible storyline or connecting thread to the dio so critiques were politely made. The builder then came back with the most unbelievable waffle about how one soldier was looking at a boat in the distance that was carrying blahdeblah etc. Imaginary things off the board. Another soldier was reacting to such and such which once again was not in the diorama, Basically he was inventing a load of things that weren't there to try to cover up the fact that his dio was crap. If you have to explain a dio it's failed at the first hurdle. A bit like some of these. The Russian front one left me very confused as there seems to be random figures all over the place. At times we're spoiled on here with the quality of some modellers dioramas. Jerry Rutman's one example. His dioramas always have an imaginative storyline, beautifuly painted and constructed, well researched and are mini works of art. There are others but that's the first example that I thought of. I think every so often its good to see something really poor to make us appreciate not only other peoples work but our own. I'm very critical of my own work but looking at those I feel quite good about my efforts now lol

A "professional model builder" makes a living from his work-- not just a little extra cash from e-bay. Professional model builders usually work for others, or in Hollywood, architecture, or museums, and can generally work across all genres and mediums without difficultly-- most after training which may include apprenticeship. Most "professional" model builders also work from scratch, not just out of a kit box. A "master modeler" is a little more difficult to define, but one should not refer to themselves as a "master modeler" unless they can "Master" most, if not all aspects of the hobby across all genres, including assembly, finishing and scratchbuilding. One can "master" a certain aspect of the hobby, but that doesn't make them a "Master Modeler" or a "Professional Model Builder". (For a bit of humor, I often refer to a modeler who can build a vacform kit or a Fonderie Miniatures kit to a high level as "a master builder"). Quantity or longevity alone cannot make one into a "master model builder", but they can contribute to becoming one. Shep Paine was a Master Model Builder, as are some who contribute here. But they seldom if ever refer to themselves as "masters" or "professionals", which is a label that should only be bestowed by other modelers who view thier work as such. I'm suspicious of folks when they refer to themselves as a "Master" or a "Professional", without proof showing that they can indeed "master" thier work or make a living from it. This E-bay offer is proof of that-- and buyer beware. However, on the other hand, I've seen buyers with lots of cash that really don't care about quality work either-- if both parties are happy, so be it. As a side note, if you ever truly want to see what the work of a "Master Modeler" looks like, read the books "The Scratch Builders" or The "Master Scratch Builders" ---these guys are really "Masters".
VR, Russ

I've been building for 40 plus years and stopped building dioramas years ago because they are a pain to ship. I've built just about every medium out there, balsa and tissue, vacuformed with resin and white metal, plastic, metal, everything. Except legos. But I'm nothing compared to a former neighbor of mine. He was a professional. He built on commission, mostly turn of the century naval and trains. He worked on several movies before he retired from that, the last one was Titanic. But he never called himself a professional, he just called him self a modeller. But compared to him I'm just some guy gluing plastic together.

"Pro-built" is one of the more overused terms on eBay, right after "rare"

Agreed-- the only thing worse is "Pro-built by a master Modeler"-- then there's another too-- Pro-built by an award-winning Modeler". Take everything that's printed--or on line with a grain of salt. When I used to work in a LHS, we sold Dragon and Franklin Mint pre-built stuff. The distributors would often send sales flyers with the shipments we'd order. These flyers were so misleading as to make you believe the models were "hand assembled and painted" by "professional model builders". They were not lying, as there were a lot of Chinese workers employed in their assembly and painting on a production line-- it was their profession. Another overused term is "master craftsman"-- a term I saw several times on the boxes of die-cast car models we sold-- "assembled by master craftsmen". When I see these terms, or hear someone using these terms to describe themselves, I think of the guy selling snake oil from the back of a wagon in the old west.
VR, Russ