First time diorama maker here

made a few basic models in the past, none really looked too good

had a lot of time this summer so i got into making a diorama


My grand idea is of a d-day beach landing, reminescint of the beginning of saving private ryan, (dark, dirty, bloody, that whole thing)


My plan is to show the entire landing point, from out into the water all the way up to a German pillbox elevated slightly over the beach

in the water there will be one lcvp that has just opened its door, and everyone is piling out. There will also be parts of a wrecked lcvp and its men are all ready on shore, hiding behind all sorts of obsticles. Im thinking this will all go on to a board thats about 2 by 4 or 5

So far ive already painted up a set of 25 or so figures (16 U.S. , 7 German) and am currently constructing the pillbox, the only thing i need is a 1/35th scale model lcvp (i will construct the wreckage from balsa wood or the like)

what i need help with is constructing the landing obsacles (mines, those giant metal cross things)

Any ideas on that, or any about my project entirely (if theres something that isnt gonna work let me know) would be greatly appreciated

Hey,
Woah, this diorama is really huge to have for your first. Italerie makes the tank obsticles. Your going to have to scratch build the wooden logs on the beach, but they arent hard. I dunno if you realise, but from the water to the pill boxes was about 300 yards on Omaha. I dont know which beach your doing your dio on. I sure hope your doin your research, this dio will really need it. In my opinion, you being new to dios makes a huge difference in whether youll stick with the making of this, or lose the project after a few weeks. This seems like a really huge dio and im not trying to convince you not to do it. But I say you start out with a small dio, and if youd like to stick with the D-Day theme. There are plenty of viginettes out there. BTW, howd you come up with your name?

Hey Josh,
First off welcome aboard. There is an endless wealth of information here on this site, and a lot of very talented modelers.
As far as your landing craft, Trumpeter just came out with a 1/35 scale landing craft. I'm not sure which type, but I know it runs about $65.00. I want to say there is also an other company that released one, but I'm drawing a blank on that.
As for your dio. I kinda have to go with T-Bo on this, that is a huge dio. and it's going to be VERY difficult to pull that off. I don't want to discourage you, if you have your mind set on it then have at it brother. As long as your happy building it, that's what modeling is all about. But, one of the basic "rules" for dio's is to keep it small, and avoid a lot of open space. What evere you decide to do, have fun, and good luck. Keep us posted with some pics too.

ok, your ideas make a lot of sense


Seeing as it would be hard to make the entire beach, and it costs a lot for an lcvp craft, my other option is to just focus on the pillbox

wether i make the entire beach of just the seawall/pillbox, the other thing i need is a good way to make the rolls of wire across the beach

(BTW, i got the name because my last name is stone and its a nickname ive had for a while. only reason.)

Josh you can make it your self - find some cut of our old computer wires get a length about .5 matre or 18 inchesget 4 lengths tie 3 lengths to a hook 20" above the deck and then tie a small weight to the other end and twirl it making a three strand wire then with the 4th wire wrap it aroud the top once superglue it then a little loop then do this every 1" then superglue the twist every inch and cut leaving the barbs - before you know it you will have several metres of wire to put over you MG post
Ian

Josh,

First off Welcome to Armorama. Like the others have said, its a great source of info, with a lot of freindly people.

Now, this dio is a huge project like Harrison and Brian said, especially for 1:35 scale. The ship that you are looking for the LCVP is not yet available in plastic. Italeri announced one for the 2005 release year, but we'll have to wait and see, it won't be cheap though gonna run you about $65-70 or more.

Last Year Italeri and Trumpeter both released LCM mk 3 Landing Craft as used by many landing forces on D-Day. Italeri's also includes the DML 29th Infantry Div figs as a bonus. From what I have read, the Italeri one is more demensionally correct and has better detail although I have yet to see it in the flesh. They both will run you in the $65-70 range for Italeri and $45-60 range for Trumpeter.

Another option you could consider if you wanted to save some space, is use the DML 1:72 scale LCM mk 3. Ive built this one up and it goes together very quick. This one is a waterline model. Trumpeter also released a 1:72 scale LCM mk 3 and I have this one as well, but shelved it because of lost interest. The Trumpeter kit doesn't come with any extras, but the DML kit comes with 12, 29th ID figures, and beach obstacles.

The scale of the diorama is huge. If your still content on doing it this large, then by all means don't let us stop you, but I think that you should "tone" it down a bit.
Or an even better idea. You could make the diorama in sections and they could be placed together to represent the whole scene , but could be take apart for storage and transportation.

Just a few ideas to kick around.

I'll leave it at that for now.

Regards

Matt

Don't know how this would look but I've heard of modelers using the binding from spiral notebooks as a base for the sprial barbed wire...maybe you can look in to that.

Eddie

sounds like a grand idea!
Ive veen working on a HUGE diorama myself, Not as big as yours. But what i figured out was, when you draw your plans the things in your mind seem alot bigger than they really are!
My dio was planned to be 6 feet by 4 feet and i kicked that down to 2 1/2 by 1 1/2 and that was pretty big still!

all i can suggest is do a small side project! I know that your going to get burned out by the diorama, So one day work on yout BIG project and the other say work on your smaller project.

Keep us update!

First of all - welcome to the best site around. As you can see, ask and you shall receive.

I must admit, this is very ambitious for a first diorama. If you are patient and willing you can do it. My recomendation is to ask a lot of questions and test a lot of the techniques on scraps or sampl pieces first. That way the end result will be what you're looking for.

Water is a tricky topic and a foam laden beach is trickier yet. I would spend a day and look through the features in the FEATURES/Diorama section of this site and get as much information on ground work, water, and scratch building as you can. There are a lot of features in the Dioramas, Digital Diamonds, and in the Armor section also that will help you out a lot.
I know there is a feature on barbed wire that you asked about in there. The previous post is helpfull too.

Above all ask you questions here and you'll get feedback.

No big deal on the name....

Welcome to the Big A . My first dio years ago started out as a Pak36 and crew and wound up with that, plus 15 figs, a half track, farm house, stone wall, etc, all on a 4' X 4' base. And yes, I did get discouraged at several points, but enjoyed the finished product. So you can look at it either way. IMHO, since you've got all those figs done, keep going, but if it gets too much don't quit altogether. Just put it aside and work on something smaller. As for the barbed wire, I did it the hard way for years till I got here and found some really good tips. Try "Barbed Wire" in the "Search" option. Keep us posted.

Art

Sounds like a huge project!
Check out this link for some information on the obstacles, bunkers and the defense-lines:
http://search.eb.com/dday/browse?browseId=5

I think you are wise to alter the scene to GI taking on the German bunker. You can fit a lot of Saving Private Ryan action into a much smaller scene. Remember that dios do not require everything come from the hobby store. You can use any material you like that looks good. Logs and obstacles can be carved from wood dowels or even cut from small branches found in the yard. Barbed wire can be made from strands of copper wire with the barbs tied at appropriate intervals. Bunkers can be made from cardboard covered with plaster. Your possibilities are limited only by your imagination

Heres some of my work so far. Critique all you want, i need the work



Here are some sandbags i made from a cut out rag that was rolled and had the sides tucked in, looks decent with all the different tones



First attempt at the bunker, has only one coat. Made from styrofoam with spackle on it for the concrete texture. Still needs a lot of weathering and some small items to go with it (guns against wall, mounted MG, maybe a table with map?)

hello and welcome as everyone else has said. am also sort of a first tim er myself adn my ideas were always huge but putting them on paper before tackling them made me change my mind alot. draw your ideas out adn see the size of base you have then you will see the enormasity of your dio.
now the figures you have is that all you are going to put? because of so and your dio is the size you say it will be there will be alot of open space even with some beach obsticles.
so just some things to ponder over and feel free to ask anymore questions thats what this is here for
good luck!
Graeme