hi guys i feel very bad has i have copyed someone elses work about 2 dioramas i will put the pictures up when my digital cam comes in 2 weeks . i have put alot of work into them & copyed one from a book , the people will be still credited for there work, is this a bad thing to do. ( coping )

When you say 'copied' , do you mean bit for bit copied or just the general scene and some of the figures/vehicles/groundwork? I think we have all at times 'copied' something from a diorama we have seen, it is indeed a great source of inspiration..
As long you make it clear that your diorama is yours, and don't try to pass it of as someone else's work, I don't think there would be a problem. After all you have build your dio yourself ( I presume) and therefor it won't be an exact copy of the 'original'.
If 'copying' would be a big issue, there wouldn't be many Shermans or Tigers to be build. Perish the thought..

Remember..." Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery "

Cheers
Henk

There have got to be plenty of people who have been inspired by other people's work. We have all seen tank crews loading up ammo or soldiers marching through the woods. I would imagine that of the thousands of dioramas built that there has to be two very similar setups

I've been in this hobby for many moons.....
and when I see a good diorama, vignette, or model, I've been know to try to capture the best elements in my works also.
Since the majority of us try to do this by imitating the "masters" there is nothing wrong with it. Kind of like following a type of school in the art feild.
I may never be a van Gogh, but it doesn't mean I can't try to paint like him.

hi Len

seriously, i think there is nothing wrong in drawing inspiration from good dioramas done by others

waiting for your pics!

Len, that is really silly... Even if you do 'copy' the general situation of a diorama, inevitably the final work is going to be yours.

Let's take an example of this. Blockhaus has been giving us loads of ideas and images of buildings recently. Why? To pass on the experience he has in this field. Therefore, you are doing what everyone else does - get inspired by other work/techniques etc..

Now, you may have done it better, you may have done it worse but at the end of the day - it's still your work...

If you have any doubts about that, what is better, using someone else's ideas as inspiration - and doing something, or worse, sitting there agonizing and doing nothing?...Jim

iN MY OPINION TRYING TO COPY AN EXACT SCENE IS EVEN MORE DIFFICULT THAN CREATING ONE NEW OF YOUR OWN.oops Sorry for caps.
So no need for apologies , since u have made the dios with your own hands, But better work out more on your ideas, i think that this is better fun even

Costas

I also agree with what has been said. It is still your dio whether or not the idea behind it is yours or not.

Ola Len

The best way to learn and master skills is to copy stuff from people you have as example. Looking how they do stuff. When copying like a scene in a dio you can learn some really valuable stuff about composition and layout. By trying to exactly copy a tank you can learn a lot from scratchbuilding to painting and weathering. Same goes for figures.
It gets quite problematic in the Figure business. Let`s say we take a napoleanic soldier of which we know that the uniform he was wearing only was available in 1 color. Everybody paints it that way as everybody wants a figure that comes as close to reality as possible. Assumably not everyone is assembling and painting the figure at the same time so people who started later on their fig see some in progress pics online and take some inspiration of that. They decide to add some of the techniques in their own fig. this would mean that everybody is copying everybody...... I wouldn`t doubt too much about this copying stuff. As Jim already said. In the end it is the result of only one man who is not the guy who made the dio you copied it from.

hmmm, im with you guys, we have all really learn the most from seing other p[eopels work, i believe.
BUT, as for copying, well, i dont think anyopne would like to see the scene in a dio rec-created down to the very last exact figure....but then again i dont think anyone would really go out and do this
cheers, thats my 2 cents

copies or mimiced? If you gained inspiration from one and tried to make your own version then no big deal. If you tried to mimic of duplicate the original to 'pass off' as the original then you have a problem.

I have seen lots of dioramas and no two are quite the same. The scene is similar, layout and composition. But ultimately the trees will be different the tone of the building color will be different, cobbles won't match etc etc.

Imitation is the highest form of flatery.

Mmmm. Tough one. I think we always try to emulate the masters. Nothing wrong in that.

You're not trying to pass the work off as your own original work, so I don't see any problem.

When you post pics of the work I should really like to see pictures of the original as well. Will be interesting.

I think the fact that you feel bad about this says tons about your morals. Your morals are defintely in the right place!

IMHO; copying is not a good term here,lets name it recreating. you see a diorama in a show or magazine , you love it and want to build the same as original to have it in your own shelf. as you may know, there are so many artists making the reproductions of Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Monet,etc... and so many people having great pleasure and honor to have them at home...I believe it is an honor to build a diorama that other modelers will make the same scene taking the original as reference...so go for it and please bring us the photos of your own and also the original that we can compare

Warzone -

The others have stated the situation most eloquently and I agree. You've already shown your integrity in stating that you've "copied" the idea or theme from someone else's work. But as the others have said, it is more taking inspiration from, imitating, building on someone elses work rather than "copying" in that sense. I think we call that process education or learning don't we? And isn't that much of what this site is all about? I'd personally be honored to have someone from this great group of people feel that something I've done or contributed was "worthy" of being copied. I admit to feeling quilty when I choose a topic or model that someone else has already chosen, but then it is me building it not them. If the "guilt" is still there, I try and add something unique or personal of my own. If someone built something for me or I took credit for something I didn't do myself, then there is a "right vs wrong" issue. Hey when it gets right down to it, everything we build and everyone who builds models is "copying" from an original in one form or another. No ro for it and enjoy,

Blade48mrd