I am looking to build a Normandy diorama around thee Tasca Sherman Firefly VC. I am envisioning doing an at rest type scene. For the diorama I have acquired the following pieces:

Tasca Sherman Firefly VC with figure which I’ll be using as the loader
Ultracast British tank commander.

I envision these two positioned as such:



I have also acquired the Gecko Models British MG team marching


And the miniart French village house


As well as the following two ultra cast figures. Where I envision the sitting down guy leaning against a tree talking the guy with the cigarette




The vision I currently have is that the village house will be an HQ of sorts with the tank crew at rest outside and the MG team either returning to or leaving the house. I have mapped out two possible layouts but I am open to any suggestions as this is my first crack at a diorama

An idea worthy of following for sure. Don't recall seeing the Gecko figure set before. It may just be the box art, but their helmets look more like WWI. My vote would go to your second layout, but I'd add another tree at the side of the house behind the tank. Looking at their weapons, I'd have the group coming towards the house as if to fortify the HQ idea you mentioned. Look forward to your progress!

Here is some of the progress so far.







The Sherman is more or less done the build and paint phase. Needs washes, filters, weathering, etc. And the barrel camo net needs a bit of work.

Stowage will go on the rear engine deck. Right now it is held together with sticky tack so I can move it around till I like it, and flex the tarp properly. The tea mug will go up on the turret with the loader

Figure faces need to be painted and I’m trying to learn how to do faces watching lots of video.

The tree was my first attempt at a wire tree. Not sure if it’s a tad on the short side though scaling up it would be about 13ft from top of foliage to base.

The MG team does have WW2 helmets but I have read comments that the artist rendition is a little skewed from what’s in the box so while the picture looks a bit like WW1 helmets you do in fact get WW2 figures. Still waiting on the MG team, one of the ultra cast figures and the house to arrive before I can progress.

I may start in ground work soon leaning towards scenario 2 of the MG team coming to the HQ reinforce. I might also add a table with maps and such to the house interior to show battle planning

A third option is the MG team marching down a road next to the house the tank has parked at as such:



If these ideas are poor and anyone has any other inspiration for a diorama of this type I am open to suggestions.

Last idea I think I’ve had and probably the one I’ll do with. I will have the machine gun crew plus a few rifle man from the Tamiya, British infantry on patrol set marching down a rural road. The tank crew will be at rest on the side of the road by the house and I’ll add another tree with two paratroopers from the black dog set discussing plans as shown

Hi Matthew,

This is looking good, excellent Firefly, what did you use for the foliage on the barrel?

I like all the sketches you've put together with your various ideas, I think it's good to try and visualise up-front what you're aiming for as you evolve your diorama.

Will keep checking this one out.

Cheers, ,

G

Last idea I think I’ll post and then I’ll choose one. But this last one feels the most natural to me in terms of troop movement flow and fitting pieces into the diorama so it feels like a natural scene



The foliage on the barrel is this stuff from Michaels though I am sure similar stuff can be found at other stores as well

https://canada.michaels.com/en/woodland-scenics-scene-a-rama-scenery-bags-plants/10260227.html?cm_mmc=PLASearch-_-google-_-MICH_Shopping_CA_N_CatchAll_N_N_N_N-_-Generic&KPID=go_cmp-6523310328_adg-78089271573_ad-383778177991_pla-293946777986_dev-m_ext-_prd-10260227&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqcrZweyQ6QIVBhatBh0Ilw30EAQYASABEgITNPD_BwE

There are plenty of folks who will tell you that you should never have the building aligned with the edge of the diorama. I am not one of those people.

You must act and dress exactly like us if you want to be a nonconformist!

I think the composition of your last option looks good, you've got enough angles with the road and the vehicle to make it look interesting.

By the way, the beret on the guy in the first image looks like it deflects shots better than Sherman armor.

I think I will be going with the last option. I didn’t want the building aligned with the edges but it was hard to rotate it without opening up a ton of dead space that was hard to naturally fill. Here is the last one roughed our a bit:





The taller tree needs to be redone as I didn’t like how sparse the branches were and how lanky it looked. The figures were just put there for size and only a couple of them will be used, I am still waiting for the two paratroopers taking by the tall tree, the fourth tank figure and the MG team to arrive, as well as the house.

Can't wait to see another progress pics! I also learn a lot from this thread! It will be an admirable work & good luck mate

Hi Matthew,

It's interesting following the transition from 2-dimensions to 3, it starts to bring everything to life, excellent work, .

Cheers, ,

G

Great stuff, very interesting planning & I second all of Robert’s (18Bravo) comments, rules are made to be broken. Close-quarter combat while balancing on giant poker chips too, sheer genius! But seriously you’re right the trees need beefing up even if they’re damaged (psst everyone forgets to strew the smashed branches on the ground) and keep thinking in terms of low-down sight-lines for final photography – sometimes a fantastic dio proves un-photographable because some goodies obscure other goodies from every angle

Mostly finished the house, this was my first attempt at a vaccuform kit. Found it rather challenging. But I think it turned out okay, needs a bit of putty.






I plan to paint it soon but I am waiting for some compressor components for my airbrush to show up. In the mean time these arrived today so I will start work on them.

Got the base coat on the paratroopers done. Still have to do the faces, and I’ll probably tone down the beret as it is a little red for my taste. Still have to blend the camo too so it isn’t so stark. I am open to suggestions on how to tackle this.





The parts for my compressor and the MG team arrive tomorrow. Plan for the weekend is to basecoat the house and paint the MG team