I've built a lot of 1/35 Armor kits, and since many of them are from units I've been in, taking the next step and turning them into a diaorama is a natural progression. I've painted 3 or 4 figures, but they've all been OOB in terms of their poses or action.

My question is once you have a specific "theme" for a diorama in mind, how do you go about:

1) Determining exactly how to "pose" each figure to make it do what you have in mind.
Example: suppose I want to have a soldier kneeling down and putting a fuze on an artillery shell. Short of actually putting myself in that position and then "remembering" what that pose looks like, what's the best way to figure out where arms, legs, hands, etc are?

2) Once you've got in mind the position, how do you actually modify the figure to reach that pose? (Heating, cutting, some combination of both?)

The construction of the figures I want to use seems fine. They're just not doing what I want them to do.

:-)

Tom

Hey
Well you've started with the best place - a theme or concept from there it's implementation.

Here are some things I do.
1. Look for an OOTB figure as close to the pose as possible, that reduces the amount of surgery I have to do.

2. As far as posing - there are a few options - head to the art store and they have posable art 'dolls' that you can use. If you have kids, snag a GI Joe, lastly - have a friend snap a photo and work from there, and really lastly search the internet for a photo....

3. As far as actual surgery. I usually use a razor saw and cut the figure at a joint. I usually cut off a bit more on either stump to give me extra room for posing and adjusting clothing. I then drill a small hole in each stump and insert a short piece of wire and glue in place. This gives me some support and a bit of a structure to play with the pose. Once the limb is positioned the way I want I fill in with putty or milliput and sculpt the clothing folds. I do this with hands A LOT. If you look at Tamiyas older figures there is usually an unnatural bulge at the wrist where there should be nothing. I cut off the hands drill out the cuffs of the sleeves and wire/putty them back on. This gives me the ability to pose them more naturally too.

To follow up on what Slodder said I recently got a book by Steven Zaloga, Modeling US Army Tank Destroyers, where he shows doing that kind of thing. I've never tried it but Zaloga makes it look much easier than I would have thought. What he suggests is to start with an existing figure. Remove what you're not going to use, and insert wire rods where you want the arms and legs. He then uses existing hands and feet from other kits or aftermarket, to put onto the ends of the limbs. Then build up with some kind of modeling clay, etc. I was impressed by what he could do. You might look for that book, or another like it. The pictures tell it much better than I can.

Thanks! Those are all great tips. I had wondered whether there was some sort of posable figure, and forgot about GI Joe. I'm betting there are a couple down in the basement somewhere.

It may be a while before I start on any dioramas because of the "backlog" of kits I have. But once I get going, I'll probably be back for more.

Tom

Back Log of kits - Boy thats a natural state for me. #:-)

The only thing larger than the back log of kits is the back log of ideas that drives the back log of kits. It's a vicious cycle.

I've got it all figured out. Since I can't possibly die until I finish them all, as long as I keep buying them faster than I build them, I'm gonna live forever! :-)

Tom

:-) :-)

Wish that were so! Good Luck with your figure mods.

Hi There,

I have a bunch of spare figures and instead of keeping them together I have them all divided up one bin is heads, the other left hands, right hands, right legs, left legs etc. I also have them divided up into British/Canadian, German, paras, etc. I then marry them up into poses that I see fit. I use putty then to fill in the obvious seams. If this doesn't work then I use the techniques stated earlier.

Cheers

Ray

Don't bother trying to heat figures to re-pose them. The plastic at any joint is too thick and you'll wind up with blobby tentacles. At which point you'll start to scavenge arms and legs anyway.

I've had some good success, after much practice, with using heat for posing figures. The key is to make a cut in the joint to be bent. If you're straightening out a bent joint, use a razor saw (always) to make a cut inside the crook of the elbow and then carefully heat the joint until you can gently straighten it out. To bend a straight joint, make a "V" cut in the back of the part to be bent, heat, and gently bend. After that it's just a matter of putty and sanding to smooth and blend.
Like I said it takes a lot of practice and can be a bit hard on the fingertips, but it does work.