Ola

I would like to drop into this discussion again:
This pic was from an entry on the IPMS Nationals in Nieuwegein (The Netherlands).

Title 9/11
No figures, Just the car
This was a project that impressed me very much

Question: Dio or Vehicle Display?

Rob,
this is a very nice car built,maybe a model display but it made me remember the sad day september 11. i can call it a vignette

FAUST,

Having been present in Manhattan on 911 and having witnessed the losses and having been directly involved in the eventual cleanup and rebuilding, that police car is a very poignant diorama to me.

With the recent hurricanes in and around Florida this same diorama could be remincent of most any disaster EXCEPT for the the NYPD. This of course identifies the scene. Touching and meaningful to anyone with a heart. Yet again we are discussing the viewer and their identification with a subject. With curb side dioramas being popular with many auto builders this diorama has taken the step into the realm of real and historical significance.

Ola

Well I see my thought confirmed. In my opinion this is more a diorama then a vehicle display. Even with the absence of figures the image is so strong it tells the story of devastation on that day. This piece stands out(for me) by it`s simpleness and still tellign the story.
Well above is of course a good hint for my next question: What is the role of figures in deciding a project is considered being
(A) a Dio?
(B) a Vignette?
(C) a Vehicle Display?
And what if there are no figures present?

Greetings all;
For me figures are a tool. In 2003 I submitted a 'diorama' for competition at the IPMS Nats. It has been seen here in the Albatros feature. Titled 'The Order of the Wooden Cross.' It detailed the wreck of Albatros D.V fighter D.2042/17 without any figures.

Its condition or ultimate placement was questioned by the judges until one of them noticed the photograph of the wreck that I had included with the display. I had used this photo in duplicating the placement of the components. Once the judges had seen the photo it was clear that I was duplicating a historical moment. Since there were no figures in the photo I believed that it was not nescessary to include them in the diorama. The impact was the pilot did not survive. The parachute from the aircraft was still intact and could be seen on the wing as if picked up an set aside.


Now back to what makes a diorama. The modern use of the term is a minature or full sized replication of a scene from history. Aside from depiciting Cromagnan man or tankers, the eating of raw meat is not a requirement. After all; '...flyers are gentlemen and do not dig in dirt...like peasants...' Ok , ok ...too over the top. The essence of what makes a diorama is;
1. The story.
2. The objects that convey the story.
3. The viewer.

The story must tell the human condition.
The objects must convey the story well.
The viewer must identify with the story enough to share in its effects.

Some say the simplest diorama is the most powerful.
The more powerful an image the less you need a title. The tough part of the equation is the viewer. They will undoubtedly come from a wide variety of people and experiences. The closest thing to real life that people readily identify as truth are photographs. Shep Paine says that he doesn't like to duplicate a photo scene in every detail. But I like to show the image in 3-D and thereby tell the rest of the story. often it is what is just out of the camera lens range that can be employed to tell this story. The image of war is crowded with the the results of combat. ruined streets, death and shattered lives. Theheart of war is the struggle to survive in short 'courage to face the enemy'. The honors, the medals the heraldry are simply the trappings.

The test is can we recreate the the moments that most affect the outcome of war. With plastic , resin and white metal we forge the scene sculpting the ground work, getting the faded colours right, the facial expressions and flesh tones. Then ask yourself will it be memorable, will the work you pour into it be remembered? Or will it be just another Verlinden knockoff? Even if it is marked only by the one person who it was made for(the builder or the viewer) then you have done something. Then ask yourself could I do better next time. The most critical questions you can ask are ...what is the story? and ...did I convey it well? The probables are the possible stories that can be told.

Ola jackflash

Indeed you see the use of figures in diorama`s the same as I do. They can add to a story but in my opinion if the image visible is strong enough they are not really neccesary and often even distracting from the thing you really want to show.


Yeah that is quite true though there are exceptions. A lot of dioramas you see are not really pinpointed to an era or an event that actually really did happen. In this I mean that not from everything you make are pictures to back your story up, sometimes not even written text. In this case you see more of a suggestion of what would or could have happened on that location during that time. To give an example:


The title of the above "dio" is "RASPOETITSA" well most people who I say that to think I`m nuts. Simply because they don`t know what Raspoetitsa is. Raspoetitsa is the russian name for the end of the Authumn start of Winter where the first snow transform teh roads in huge mudpools. Everybody knows what happened to the germans when the winter started to come and all the vehicles came stuck in the mud. The whole german advance was slowed down. Everybody has seen pics or other footage of this. Now the above dio could be part of that period although I have never found a good pic of a BMW with sidecar in such a situation. I also added a little funny note wich most people (to my surprise) actually saw. On the Drivers side there are 2 boots stuck in the mud and on the passenger side 1. Besides the story of the BMW stuck in the mud you suddenly get the funny (weird word when talking about Barbarossa) suggestion that there are 2 german soldiers in somewhere in Russia that are missing their boots. In my opinion the story is strong enough to overcome the lack of figures. And it also tells the desperate story of the winter in Russia and the slowdown of the German march towards the Kremlin.
My Problem with working with pictures is that you are often bound to what is visible. What I usually find more fun is making a 3D picture #3 or 4. SO lets say you have 2 pics available as reference wich are taken in about 5 minutes after each other this means you have a complete battle before it and quite some time behind it. You can imagien what would have happened with that vehicle before the pics were taken. I did this with my Airborne Jeep dio. Instead of completely copying one of the two pics I had I made picture 3. This gives you a little freedom in building and still you keep your dio quite good in the historical aspect.
The viewer is quite important to how th dio is accepted but then again we can dig out the different kind of viewers and their knowledge about the subject. I for myself am mostly a ww2 1:35 builder and I haven`t built 1:72 in ages. Therefor I have no clue what goes around in that world. When I`m at a contest and looking at the Airplanes there they don`t say me that much (have no affection to them) I can only judge them by the painting techniques used. I have no clue of the superdetailing of AC kits etc. Of course if you do AC then you know all about it same goes for ships, armor etc. Then you also have people who don`t do modeling at all they will look in a different way to your models and dio`s. How will they translate the story. In this lies the power of a Simple to understand dio (in my opinion. Not only will a simple (but strong) dio catch the eye of the judges and modelers at the event/contest or whereever you want to show them. they will also be correct translated by the audience consisting of non modelers.
A well known phrase in the Advertisment and commercial world: "If you can`t reach them quiet you won`t succeed screaming either.

JackFlash said : "...The modern use of the term is a minature or full sized replication of a scene from history..."




Again Faust we are dealing with the same part of the equation...the viewer. When the title is esoteric is the feeling or the story truly conveyed?




Yet the same BMW conveys a time in history...the WH number lets the average modeler know that it is German. The rest of the scene conveys the possible locations.... The Russian title may convey the exact front where this is modeled for but how many viewers will speak Russian?




Very sensible. But you see the photo borders as limitations...I see the photo borders as the realm of possibilities and event probables.




I completely agree. For me though the more human the event the easier it is to read the story. What we as humans leave behind after an event often tells more about us than we realize.




One of my favorites is Walk softly but carry a big stick.

Here is a bit of fun about a diorama.
http://theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17084
Where oh. where has my little dog gone? Oh where oh where can he be? With his tail cut short and his ears so long...oh where oh where can he be?

I was out at the Lafayette Foundation 's new home at the Platte Valley Airfield several days ago. I had come to deliver 12 of my most recent models for display and to watch the maiden flight of our refurbished Fokker D.VII now marked as DDN. Mike Powell our A&P mech and the Foundation Prez Andy parks where checking out the models while I was going over DDN. My mother was visting from Tennessee and she stood in amazment strolling around the many uniform displays. Suddenly Andy and Mike chimed intogether about a local enthusiast that had brought a model by wondering if I could repair it. I said that I would try and they brought it out. Immediately I recognized the 7" X 9" X 4" clear acrylic box. It was one of my builds that I had sold through an aircraft specialty store in Westminister CO. back in 1996.

The fellow enthusiast and pilot had it on display in his hangar when it was knocked off the shelf. somehow. My displays are all housed in these boxes where the base is also clear acrylic and covered in a simulated ground turf. Then the cover is glued to the base. Two schools of thought here;
1. Easier to maintain.
2. If it gets dropped, you know where all of the pieces are.
Appropriately it is a dio of a crashed Fokker Dr.I. Now its come home to roost and be put back 'shipshape in Bristol fashion.' Here are my original photos for your perusal. Thanks to our very own PeterL these can also be seen at;
http://wwimodeler.com/esc/dr1.html

On the subject of dioramas, here's a bit of fun. Titled the most memorable builds and dioramas. It is WWI of course. The medium is models. This is one of the most popular threads at the Aerodrome.com . Enjoy.

http://theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3550

Greetings all; The following is a storyboard layout using various figure. (While most of the figures can be viewed here under the figures title for Copper State Models.) This is a story based on fiction narrative characters created on the aerodrome.com off topic title.

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16458&highlight=Ginger

For aircraft dioramas and some great how to information I would like to recommend...
http://theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16792

Most of you may already know about this but Finescale website has an interesting dioramas title. Some interesting insights there. Though not much on WWI.
http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=19

For the diorama crowd I thought I would add some fresh images of one of my detailed builds.

http://theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3584

Greetings all; Continuing the theme of aircraft dioramas I thought to add a gallery of great builds by the master modeler and painter Robert Karr. Enjoy!
http://members.aol.com/karrart/avart/gal11.htm

JackFlash to Armorama base;

Greetings all, In the recent months I have been working on a new website and have it finished. see my links below. In the mean time I tried to do some catch up reading and have seen this thread flourish in its reader attraction. Well done all.

Now let me ask are there issues that we have not covered that you find of interest pertaining to aircraft dioramas?