Well i have been busy working on my dio and wanted to post some update pictures and get some feedback. The dio is probably about 80% complete with finishing work needing to be done to the figures and the water...And i have a bit of work to do on the balsa wood frame as the celluclay separted from it leaving gaps that i have had to putty. Also...the mule near the tree will be anchored to the tree.
Anyway..have a look and let me know what you think..
Mary

Detail in ground work is super nice and u seem to follow strictly ur teacher's lessons. The scene looks good and if the zombie soldiers get some heads i think it would even be better. I need to see some more weatherin g on jeep and uniforms, some water disturbamce in the dipped wheel area, some stuff from the jeeps throwed out like 1-2 jerrycans, 1-2 boxes, some rope and the likes . I think u re getting there pretty well !!!! Keep it

G'day Mary
Excellent job so far, the groundwork is great, i like it alot better now its more full of foliage and trees.
The sign is a nice touch too
As for the figures, ditto to above, there looking great as well.
Cheers, keep it up

Sister,
excellent work and 2 conclusions ;
1. i started to believe diorama skills are really infectious and get closer to Kev
2. i started to envy your dio skills

very good work.congrats sister.

Mary,
Looking good no complaints about the ground work it is looking good. Would have to agree with Costas I think the jeep needs some more weathering. Muddied up from the ditch. May be a little more ground work around the jeep. The ground around the front of the jeep where the bumper had to scrape along the ground as it came up the otherside of the ditch? A little bend in the bumper? The figures are coming along...I know you are not finnished with them yet. Lookin" good girl.

Mary,

I love your groundwork!!! When is Kevin gonna schedule some classes for the rest of us? LOL :-) :-) :-)

I think the lads have already noted most of the itty-bitty issues... i think also the Jeep might have snapped the wire strands on the fence - just an observation from putting my uncle's quad bike through a fence similar to yours on his farm... :-)

Looking forward to seeing the next instalment!

Rudi

Mary,
The groundwork is exceptional and composition is terrific, with one caveat. Just a suggestion, but from an artistic standpoint I'd lose the donkey in the corner. Having it stand so close to the tree, in such a small corner of the dio, really makes the eye compete with the premise of the action. Also, it (the donkey) faces away from the action, complicating things, as well. After you've pulled some weathering on the jeep and figures - giving continuity to the scene - this dio will be extraordinary I'm sure.

Keep up the nice work,

Mike

Hi Mary,
The groundwork is excellent, congrats. The vehicle and the figures look very well at this phase.
Waiting to see the finished work..

Hi Mary,
I think over all it looks great. Maybe a little more weathering on the jeep but i am sure you will do that. What kits are the figures from?

Mary
one thing i just thought of...
The Mule seems in such a relaxed trotting pose, chained up or not, it'd be trying to run the hell out of there as soon as it saw the jeep crashing into the embankment as it is.
Up for some leg repositioning? :-)
Cheers

Nice update, very please with the progress.
A couple of thoughts I have when I see it. Five guys would fit in the jeep but that would leave no space for any boxes or anything.
Maybe a trailer to fill the space behind the jeep, that's where the boxes and stuff may come in.

gee mary what can I say- it is coming on nicely and I see everyone saw alot of good things & just a few tweeks (only if you want to do them). I laughed at the sign, like the trailer idea and stuff all over the road behind (possible some contraband or maybe a home made still as in MASH) also I have just had occasion with a donkey in the forests behind my suburb where I ride and the blasted thing actually was braying at me-gave my mates & I a huge scare and they are very loud so how about the donkey braying with his mouth open facing the jeep actually the cause as they swerved to miss it- just an idea
Ian

Mary -

Concur with others. This has beautifully done groundwork, and the foliage variety really adds to the appeal. Maybe a little more pronounced "skid" marks in road? To add to "Slodder's" comment about too many figures for the one jeep, maybe they are coming from another one to help? Or having the trailer added in is a very good idea. with it about to go over.
I'm wondering if a stretcher failing off the jeep would tie in with the "Mash" idea with even a patient falling off? Such a great diorama and presentation has the viewer really thinking, so just some of my thoughts. Terrific job and can't wait to see it in final form. Thanks,

Blade48mrd

Mary:

Really looking super. One of the factors I'm so impressed with is the composition. Even the darker section in the road between the tire tread areas leads the eye right into the action. And how the barbed wire fence is angled, it also lead the eye right into the action in the center. (And I hope I'm not implying that the strongest element of a composition has to be in the center of the base. IMO, that wouldn't be true in all cases.)

One modeler suggested agitated response or action on the part of the mule. I can see his point. However, I feel that would require major surgery and be a very difficult and time consuming thing to do. So I would think quite a while before deciding to take the saw to that Mizzou mule. However, I might turn the mule to face in toward the composition rather than away from it. This is a very minor point I'm making about the way the mule faces, Mary, and not really necessary — mentioned more or less just to get you thinking about composition. Obviously, you understand how to place elements on a base. Very nice presentation. And one that require a great deal of work with all those eyecatching elements.

Congrats,

MASH 4077! LOL! That's looking great.

This is really a fantastic dio! I love the groundwork! Very well reproduced! For what it seems there is lots of action behind the jeep. Are you going to center all the action there, or will there be any other figure on the dio?
Cheers and happy modelling!
Prato

Mary: Gee what an accident, those GIs sure got their heads sliced off :-) . Seriously, you got a beauty there, but I noticed something about the color of the GIs uniform, they seem to be different or is it just the picture. Overall nice detail...

Cheers

hmm, looks good mary the groundwork is awsome, does kevin help you out?

iam jsut curious, are you trying to portray what wil happen to me now that i have my driver license? lol

Frank

Hi Mary;

I agree with the above comments regarding the uniforms and jeep needing a bit more weathering, as well as five GIs fitting in a single jeep. However, the groundowrk is absolutely superb.

Keith

Mary, I agree with the posts about tearing up some of the ground work around the front wheels of the jeep. You could even lose a guy but that takes away from the scene i think. All in all You have a good feeling for what you are doing, I think it is excellent so far. Looking forward to seeing your next steps. Cheers Kevin

Looking great so far Mary, and I echo what the others have said.

One thing that does bother me is the state of the jeep, its winsheild, and the location of its driver.

Depending on the speed of the incident, I would suspect the following:

1. damgage to the jeeps suspension.
2. damage to the windsheild by the drivers head as there are NO SEAT BELTS.
3. I think the driver on smashing the windsheild would either have gone through it - no plastic laminates, knocked it into the down position on his way through, or have been thrown back into his seat, and thus slightly slumped and wounded?
4. The jeeps suspension, should be canted. IE the rear left wheel should drop down, the right rear, pushed up, etc.

If it happend at slow speed, then the drive musta been drunk, and where is the beer bottle? :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Looks great, keep the pics coming!

Great job Mary, I hope you get this finished in time! Its looking great so far!

Sticky, your absolutly correct on how the windsheild and everything should be smashed. But there is only so much you can replicate in modelling, I think how mary put a bullet threw the windsheild shows enough of what happend. Another issue is that she only has till tomorrow to finish this diorama.

T, That is has to be finished tommorow is a good reason not to do it, that its too hard to do is not. Canting a suspension, cracking a winsheild are very doble things, just takes a little effort and perserverance.

First i just want to thank everyone that has taken the time to have a look, critique, or comment. I really appreciate it.
To explain the dio a bit better. The scene begins when the jeep loaded with its passengers, are slowing to come around a sharp curve in the road. As they begin to make the curve, a shot fires at them from out of no where, enters through the front windscreen and hits the driver in the right shoulder area. So...the wreck would not have been a wide open impact type of thing , but more of the vehicle is already slowed to make the curve ..but because of the driver sustaining the shot, he goes off the road. The scene shows after the soldiers that were in the jeep have exited, they are in the process of trying to locate where the shot has come from..

Hi Mary I really think you got a great dio going here. lots of action. If you mix a little white glue into your celluclay mixture when mixing it will help it not seperate from your base. Also roughing up any wooden part the celluclay will cover helps it to stick.