OK this is the first pictures of the dio on the table, Deception: Operation Titanic. The basis for the diorama is dummy paratroopers “Ruperts” dropped in the early stages of D-Day. The scene is intended to depict the early hours of June 6 in or around Dieppe, France, approx. 65 miles to the east of the landing zones. Scheduled for inclusion are as follows: Dragon’s Sd. Kfz 251 “Nue,” two Kublewagens, 2 Zundapp KS 750, and the Ketternad. The second two floors of the interior of the hotel will become a field command post with officers and NCOs confused by the arrival of a recon patrol with a collection of “Ruperts.” At this point, I have a number of troops and some civilians that will round out the scene. This is in the first stages of assembly so there is not a great deal of weathering and details such as signs, posters, downspouts, power lines, and such yet added. However, I am interested in any suggestions, comments or input.






There are more pictures of in my gallery.

You want suggestions ? I've got only one for you....just keep up this great work. Excellent building so for !! This will become something beautiful !!

Wow, great work so far. Looking very good.
Street signs???? Later on pigeons...

just what he said...just keep up the good work, its huge! but not too huge, did you scratchbuild the buildings?


if not, let me know where you got them from, i like the streetwork too, i only have one suggestion, i think that painting the tables and chairs would brighten it up, maybe a white color, but dirty it up so it looks like its been used.

also, it looks like something is missing in the corner of the street (adjacent to the blue wall) just seems to empty...

keep it up!!

Jay, beautiful!! I agree with Slodder needs a few street signs. I can't wait to see how this one comes out. Very exciting project!!! cheers Kevin

excellent work on the scene.buildings,roads and all details look awesome.all i can say ;please keep sending photos in every stage.

Really nice. I especially like the "giant bear" in the background ploting his next move! :-)

Very impressive, the buildings are outstanding. I hope mine come out as good as yours. I haven't seen that type of quality since Bob Letterman's book.

I can't wait to see the update's it is going to be intereasting to see how the theme plays out to the story.

Happy Modeling

Thank you for the encouragement.

Shain:
The buildings are all scratchbuilt. I have yet to paint the tables, but you have confirmed what I had been thinking regarding the dirty white.

Monte:

The bears have been tight lipped about their next move.

What is not shown in any of the pictures that balances the scene is a small area that hasa rather large tree add multiple elevations to the dio.

Wow Minuteman I was actually waiting to see someone peek out from behind the drapes as your buildings are just superbly realistic with or without weathering. Considering that they were scratchbuilt its even more amazing. I can't even imagine how many manhours went into those.

You will be writing a feature explaining to clueless building newbies like myself the secrets of your buildings, won't you?

looking very very good so far, its a large project!!!

maybe adding another larger vehicle (one more sdkfz?) would be a good idea, since the scene is very large!!!

keep us updated!

Wonderful
Cannot say more

Costas

Just outstanding! It's filled with small details already.
One thing I noticed was the drapes in the windows. They look real! Each hangs a little differently than the others. Great attention to detail. Please keep the pics comming.

Chuck

This is the corner that I failed to shoot before.

what did you make the buildings out of? they are just amazing!!!

Shain,
All of the buildings frames are made from basswood strips, covered with 1/64 inch plywood and then drywall compound. The only exception is the blue-walled section which is I used tile styrene; I saw this in a 1910 postcard and thought it looked different. The doors are all basswood again with transparencies cut to size for windows. The windows are a combination of styrene strips and basswood. The roofs of the two larger buildings are Plastruct embossed sheets and the the smaller building is just individually cut shingles.

The building design is a combination of techniques inspired by Shep Paine and Keith Magee

WOW, excellent job so far, your work with those buildings is brillaint, cant wait to see it done!
cheers

That looks great, like the others, can't wait to see it finished.
Hope you keep posting the progress photos.

Excellent, awsome, bravo, well done. I cant got over how big that dio's going to be. where do you keep something like that. And how much will something like that cost over all in the end.

Oh Mother,

It is not about the money Actually I have been keeping track of the items for the dio minus the kits that are included and I have not invested much over $40.00 to this point, many of the items, such as a gallon of drywall compound have satisfied my better half, so it is worth every penny.

Like so many other of the comments, all i can say is WOW...And that doesnt begin to express what i think many of us want to say. The buildings are wonderful. Very superb craftsmanship. Keep up the good work and keep posting pictures of the progress.
Mary (++) One other question..the patio furniture..tables and chairs...did you scratch build those and if so what did you use?

Nice job on the buildings. Where did you get the street lamps.

One suggestion that is probably too late at this point but streets are humped in the middle to allow for drainage and yours appear to be pretty flat. Also, a storm drain or manhole would be a nice touch as well.

Thanks,

Mary the table and chairs are made from 1/16 x 1/32 basswood strips.

Bob,

Funny you should notice the lack of crown to the road, It started with one, something about reworking it a few times seem to leave the road a little flat...

I see.

So where did you get the street lamps?

Bob,

The street lamps are "O" gauge railroad accessories the brand is escaping me however, they come in a pack of three with light bulbs, $5.00. A slight modification of the base was required which reduced the height from 12 feet to 10 3/4 feet (1/35 scale).