Hi all,

Just a test to gather some input on an idea I'm planning on getting underway with tonight.

Based on reference photos showing the aftermath of tank battles in Villers-Bocage I have designed the front of the main building for a diorama I'm workin on, set in either Bocage country or Caen (Undecided at this time !)

obviously, there is a degree of battle damage to be added for which I have reference also. I just want to run the architecture past you all - after all, you're the cream of the modelling crop

so here it is...



all feedback gladly taken on board!

cheers
Jon

Will it be a stand alone building or a row house? If it's a row house be careful how the detail work in the 'sign section' transfers across the facad. On the image it 'hangs' out over the edges, in a row house it wouldn't.

hi slodder,

it's not so much a row house, it's part of a row but it juts forward. The row depicted in my reference was all over the place tbh, I guess as the village grew new buildings popped up here and there. The overhanging sign is very much open for change anyway, as i'm not sure whether to go with that, or include an awning (the stripey material ones) for some nice colours and textures on the diorama.

From all the research I have done on the French cities the architectural design would be consistant. This is an on going research area for me but in my opinion it works. The only thing I see and it may just be the way the graphic is displayed, the door looks fat in comparison to the heighth. The width you may want to shave done a touch. The sign plae that goes accross the building is good as is but if you want a little variati0on they sometime angle them down in order to make easier reading for the pedestrians to see.

Paul

The design is correct to represent a generic French house. However I believe that it can be more interesting to add to our buildings characteristics that make them more original. Here I give you some examples of French houses of the time with forms and very original volumes there am interesting from the scenic point of view. I would also like to make notice the quantity of signs that they have painted in the walls.These things are not but difficult to make that those but generic but I believe that they can add a lot of originality to a diorama


the second photo is taken from www.cpa77. com these page have around 13.000 postcards of northen France towns 1900-1930
best whises
Carlos

these are the kind of responses I'm talkin about not just suggestions but samples!

in response to your comments paul - the drawing is pretty much orthographic so I can incorporate angled signs. I know exactly what you mean though, as some "quaint" old english sweet shops etc here in the uk still do it.

and Carlos, thanks for the fantastic reference pictures and link I will be incorporating some new features into the building that's for sure.

well after the input, I've started designing the bakery into a more interesting corner structure. I really liked the parapet with the sign shown in the above source pic, so I have pretty much included it as-is with a slight change to the sign and a few dimensional things that are still well and truly open to change (haven't even took pen to foamboard yet let alone cut anything)

As it's just a sketch at the minute, the perspective is more than just a little off in places, but you get the idea (hopefully lol)

The main frontage with the balcony would protrude a bit from the row, but not too much...the rest of the cafe will carry on to the right.



what do you think?

Yep Iike it Jon! Think the angled building makes for more interesting viewing in a dio. Is this going to include your M4a1?

yes mate, it is indeed. The sherman is going to be knocked out though, as the dio is set around Villers-Bocage when the allied advance was halted.

It will be set on the corner with a bakery and a cafe, with the sherman having took a hit and rolled over the wall and into the cafe's large window. (I THINK, so far this thing's changed shape a hundred times!). Also, winging it's way to me as we speak is a DML Tiger 1 late production, so I could put one of Wittman's tigers in the dio too. I also have some Waffen-ss at rest, so they'll be standing around checking the tank out.


here's how the corner (minus the patio outside the window) would have looked BEFORE it was damaged..




please excuse the roughness of this last sketch, I am doing this at work !!! If I get caught, my career will be the only advance getting stopped - not the allied one!

Hehe Jon :-)
Think it will make for great viewing. Doing a dio of a bogged M4 myself, which I guess follows in a similar vein to halted progress... (Hopefully Warney will continue to halt England as we speak... :-) )
Brad

:-) :-) :-)

there can be no halting England Brad !! you already know this

I think the first cuts might be made to the foamcore tonight! wish me luck!

Very nice, it has developed well. Good luck, I think you will do great!

Looking good John, that's shaping up to be one diorama alright.
Good luck..

Cheers
Henk

Hi Jon, good work , now your house have more character :-)
what about a chimey and a dormer window in the roof?:-)
Carlos

hehehe blockhaus, you're trying to kill me aren't you :-)

there is a chimney to be added, it's on the latest version of the plan!! Dormer roof - well, it could be there, but I'm planning on having most of the roof structure caved in or burnt off, as a sherman has just rolled into the front of the cafe and there's been some fierce fighting in the town.

maybe the dormer will make an appearance in the rubble though depends if I can stand the sight of it - I have so much stress designing dormer loads into floor structures at work that the word makes me shiver!!

thanks for the support guys

Ey Jon, not ,I´m not want kill you
only that you have the best house that you can do :-)
carlos