Hi Dane,
Very nice! I think the layout is well done. Looking at the way the figures are placed, I can discern the story you are trying to tell. The paint job is top notch, something that I would aspire to. As far as improvement, the only thing I can comment about is that since this is a winter setting, shouldn't the ground work be muddy? Don't get me wrong, your ground work looks very nice. I may be just nitpicking. It's just a comment that you can readily ignore. Anyway, You did a great job on this diorama. I am looking forward to seeing your other works.
-Joseph

Thanks Joseph. I love hearing this kind of feedback.

I was wondering about that with the road. Unfortunately, I am not super familiar with cold weather (I live in a pretty temperate area), so I was trying to imagine what super cold temperatures might do to a road that doesn't have much snow on it. I played with the idea of a super muddy road, but I also thought about my limited experience on dirt/mud roads that are well below freezing and how they often seem dry on top. I'm not sure if this was accurate, but I imagined this scenario given the lack of snow for a prolonged period before this.

The other fact is that I have done muddy roads before, but I wanted to try a drier, but deep, rich and moist soil.

My ideas came from something like this:

https://www.roadex.org/wp-content/uploads/elearning/permanent/3/31_3b.jpg

No problem. If your roadwork was based on the image you provided in the link, then nothing else needs to be said. You've captured what you set out to do. I am in Los Angeles but I lived in New Jersey for about 6 months during Winter. I was commuting to New York for work. I just remember how so much black slush there was when the snow started to melt. Anyway, back in the 1990s, I made a 1/35 scale Battle of the Buldge vignette using Dragon figures. This was the time when there was no internet or smart phones and the only reference I used for painting the camo patterns was the ones in the back of the box. Also, no washes or filters, no pre or post shading, no pigments or any other fancy stuff that we have nowadays. Not the best out there and pretty amatuerish. This was the result of my attempt at mud and snow.


I hope I can come close to your results when I try to make a 1/72 dio.

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No problem. If your roadwork was based on the image you provided in the link, then nothing else needs to be said. You've captured what you set out to do. I am in Los Angeles but I lived in New Jersey for about 6 months during Winter. I was commuting to New York for work. I just remember how so much black slush there was when the snow started to melt. Anyway, back in the 1990s, I made a 1/35 scale Battle of the Buldge vignette using Dragon figures. This was the time when there was no internet or smart phones and the only reference I used for painting the camo patterns was the ones in the back of the box. Also, no washes or filters, no pre or post shading, no pigments or any other fancy stuff that we have nowadays. Not the best out there and pretty amatuerish. This was the result of my attempt at mud and snow.


I hope I can come close to your results when I try to make a 1/72 dio.

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It's kind of amazing having the variety of materials that are at our disposal nowadays. Back in the day, you had to borrow heavily from model train manufacturers in order to get anything resembling the weathering process that exists now. Even then it wasn't simple because everything was either by word of mouth or in a text that you had to buy.

I think your piece looks great even in its simplicity. I am especially loving the snow and even the mud looks good too. It's fun to have these pieces as examples of how far you have come.

I did two dioramas last year that had a strong focus on mud. They were a lot of fun and definitely had me trying a lot of new things out. Here's a glimpse of me trying different mud effects.

Nice work on these last 2 dios. Here is my 2 pfennigs worth of advice.
In the last pic,the color and shape and the swath of mud through the grass look great. I think what does NOT fool the eye are too much use of gloss on the mud and also that heavy vehicle "floating" on top of the ground.
The type of mud you portrayed in the rear of the sturmg. would have that beast sinking well over the roadwheels and maybe even becoming immobile. Plenty of wartime pics exist showing the forlorn crew standing on top of the vehicle with tow cables attached,waiting to be pulled out.
HTH,and OK,I have spent my 2 pfennigs.
Another point to make is that sometimes in winter that ground is frozen solid and so you may actually get DUST coming up from the road. I saw this a lot during my mech years at Hohenfels or Grafenwehr Germany.
J

I wish ppl would stop photochopping ww2 pix, colorizing them then claiming them to be dioramas.

really, tho, that's damn impressve

That Ardennes Dio is excellent stuff, and it shows what gretness can be achieved in Braille.

PLease fire away and post your other work as well!!!

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I wish ppl would stop photochopping ww2 pix, colorizing them then claiming them to be dioramas.

really, tho, that's damn impressve

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Trakpin, how did you know?

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That Ardennes Dio is excellent stuff, and it shows what gretness can be achieved in Braille.

PLease fire away and post your other work as well!!!

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Thank you! I will get on it shortly.