Hey guys, My first dio is done! It is called "Unsere Letzte Hoffnung" which means "Our last hope" in german. Sorry about the bad photos also. Comments and criticism is welcomed. Tell me what you think.

It's way too tough to see the attempted close ups. I think you need to stick to overall shots.

I'm afraid alan is right about the photo's, the close ups are very difficult to judge.
Overall the concept looks good, I like the way you have placed the tank and the figure, and the way your ground work doesn't follow the circumference of the base. That tree looks very good, but I think you should add some snow to the branches as there seems to be a lot of snow on the ground.
Because of the picture it's difficult to see, but it looks that you have the crater and the earth around it quite nicely done. I do think that the rest of the ground work looks like it needs that last touch to finish it of, but that is hard to see in these pic's.
Your Pzr III looks nice, but where are the turret doors gone?

The rest is very difficult to see, but it looks that for a first dio you have done a good job.

Henk

The Commander of the tank took the doors, of course! Well actually my brother got ahold of the tank and broke it up pretty bad. I put what i could find back together.

yeah without doors in the winter would be a showstopper! I like it, and have to agree with the others on the tree and maybe you could put some gloss in the mud in some areas to simulate mud. What did you use for the grass? it doesnt look like the WS field grass, but i could be wrong.
ian

I wish I could see more too. The tree looks pretty good. I agree it could use a little dusting of snow. You could also make the dirt look a little more muddy. The tank looks pretty good too. I also like the grass. It looks similar to what we have around here (WI) this time of year, which is fitting. Same time of year (close anyway) and similar climate.

I really like the concept of the dio too. I like the idea of the Lanser moving through the scrub, passing a knocked out tank. The layout of it is quite nice. Perhaps the turret doors were knocked off from a shell impact or internal explosion. Who knows? I will let my imagination take care of that part of the story.

Nice job.

Good job you have done there mate, I like the tree very much would you mind telling us how you did this.
Although I understand that your tank got damaged by your brother (lost many of my own to my sons) the likelihood of a tank commander taking doors is remote if all that was wrong is the track had come of the crew would fix it, if that could not be done because of enemy action then that would definatly rule out your door theory (and that armoured doors are really heavy) and there would be easier ways to render a tank unserviceable.
I'm sure with the great people on this site maybe someone has a spare set of doors or maybe could come up with a feasible solution
Looking at the overhead shot the track that has come of the tank seems to be a little narrow or is this just the angle of the photo
I guess I had better hurry up and start my dio if you guys are finishing yours already and to such a good standard, I could probaly have twice as much time and not get it as good as this one
Cheers Robbo

did the germans still use panzer III in ardennes 1944?

I'm not sure but I think they used almost everything they could get their hands on......for example, in Arnhem (1944) they used old French tanks for the beginning of the war....

TsunamiBomb, I think you've made a nice dio! I agree with the others about the photo's (and the turret doors) but I'm sure you'll be able to fix those problems. So be sure to post new photo's, because then the people here can give usefull comments!

Grt

It's a little difficult to make it all out, but from what I can see it looks good.

SSGT1SHOT

Alright, you guys asked for more pics, i got you more pics... The pics are still pretty bad because most of the pics i took exceeded 600mgp. Tell me what you think...

Your diorama looks very good! I think it is quite an accomplishment because most people see dioramas and are overwhelmed and think that they can never do something like that. You took on the job and completed it successfully! Congratulations.

i like it, the figure looks good, in the blurry photo's he looks like he's actually moving re using mk3 in the bulge they used older vehicles i have photo's of an armoured car of blitzkrieg vintage captured by the u.s.

Harrison,
few questions/tips..
What camera do you use?
Does it have a macro setting?
Can you set the apparture or shutter speed manually?
Do you use a tripod?

Using a tripod is really essencial to be able to use a large aperture which gives you a large depth of field. That is a picture which is sharp from front to back. The tripod stops the camera from shaking, which is what causes a blur.
you take the pic's inside, but you seem to have got the lighting sorted. no harsh shadows, and no discoloration because of the artificial light. Get a tripod, that will improve your pic's to start, or put the camera on a pile of books to steady it. Also when taking pic's from dio's, try not to get half the table in the shot.... . try to compose the pictures so that all detail is included without distractions from the background. You have got the right idea with the pic's where you have shot from 'eye level' so keep trying and you'll get there. Remember, if you have a digital camera, you can take hundreds of pic's without it costing anything.

Good luck
Henk

well done T.B i love it, simple yet complex.
your grass is excellent, bravo

matt

Thanks for the great replies guys, I worked on my camara skills and made a vignette. I posted a topic over it. Go check it out.