Here's a few pics of my dio for the contest. For the base, I used 1/3rd of a block of dry floral foam, covered with the plaster strips you see in the bottom photo. The figure is test fitted for the sake of the picture.

I'll write an intro for the dio later...





If, for some reason, the pics don't show up you can see them at my album here: Yoda's Hut

YodaMan

Cool YodaMan!

Whats even cooler is that I see a couple bottles of Folk Art in the back ground!!!
What figure are you using? Whats the final plan going to be?

Anders, the figure is from Dragon's US 101st Airborne Division (Bagstone 1944) He's #3.


... Winter. Cold. Harsh.
The sniper huddled against a wall for protection from the howling wind. He looked about his surroundings. There wasn't much to see... or was there?
He was in the corner of what used to be a small guardhouse. It had been scorched by fire weeks ago, probably before the harsh winter set in. The sniper pondered what kind of battle had taken place at the nearby village to render it, and this guardhouse, almost completely destroyed.
"Keep watch down the road" his commander had told him, "a small German supply convoy may try to pass through this village tonight. We'll be back in the village, preparing defenses."
The sniper recalled the words scornfully. He'd been out here for hours freezing his rear end off, watching for enemies that probably wouldn't come. Day had turned to night, and the temperature was dropping. About now he would take any action he could get, to take his mind off the numbing cold.
A furious gust of wind whipped by, and brought with it a sound.
Vehicles.
Someone was coming. The sniper stiffened, and looked intently down the road.
...dark shapes... they were moving toward him. He raised his rifle and looked through the scope. Yes, he could see the dim outline of a truck.
Minutes passed.
The truck was nearer now... there were more dim shapes moving around it. Soldiers. The enemy.
The sniper hoped that his allies had finished preparing the village. There would be a battle tonight.
He slowly raised his rifle and took aim...

Hope you like it!



That's just a rough sketch. The big 'x' is where I'm going to put a tree stump. The bottom of the building will be made of brick, with snow drifted against the side. (lots of snow in this dio!) Window placement is not finalized, the sniper will be shooting thought it, or it will be on the other side of the shack.

YodaMan

Hey Yoda!

I really like the story That airborne guy sure looks good, are all of them in that set that good? Better then normal DML standard?
Keep us updated on your progress:)

YodaMan
The ideas I really like!...
the fugure is sweet!
I think the sniper should be looking throught the window with a burt out window frame.
From the first photo it looks like there is gonna be too much empty space...you could use this space to show that its very boring at the post.
Whats going to be in side the house???
How are you going to show the veiwer that the germans are comming???

Good luck Cris

P.s it sounds like its going to really good! :-)

Yodaman,
Interesting figure. i know a good title : wasn't there a Warren Zevon song : "Roland the headless Thompson gunner ?"

Jan

Ahem! In my first post I said, "The figure is test fitted for the sake of the picture.
".... :-)



That's what I was thinking, too.



That's one thing I thought of, too much empty space... But I think it will retain visual interest. In my poor illustration, the chunck of lines on the left is going to be a road. I'll have it covered with snow, and there will be tire tracks from jeeps and trucks going through. I hope that will add some visual interest.
As for what's in the house: Debris. I wnat to put a small chair in there, so the sniper can have his winter camo draped over it, and his secondary weapon resting there too. I might put a small heater (broken) in there, but I'm not sure.


Ummm... I haven't figured that one out yet.
One thing I thought of was to create a small map the the sniper has with him. It would show the small town, the guardhouse, and a nazi symbol to show where the Germans were expected to come from.
Two other ideas I had:
-have a damaged crossing arm laying on the road
-have a signpost in front of the guradhouse. (with the name of the small town)

Here's a building question: If the outside of my guardhouse is brick, would it be the same brick layer on the inside? Or would there be wood paneling?
...or if you can help me get a vague description of what the wall would look like, I'd appreciate it! (:-)

YodaMan

Hmmmmm Airborne.... Bastogne.....1944.....

Hey wait ...I think this guys is only just a couple of streets away from my dio...... I sure don't hope he's got his sights on that little shed a couple hundred meters down the road........ There's an American in there....... I hope my figure lives to tell...

Yoda,

Very, yes very nice idea. Quite some quality that figure !!

I really like all the stories that our contestants add to their ideas. I can feel his cold feet and the tension that makes his body shiver....

Nice one Yoda.... I'm sure this will be a topper !!

...How 'bout a radio... He somehow should be able to warn his brothers in arms, or not?
Isn't the idea of a sniper against a column a little bit too much? 2, maybe 3 shots would be all he could bring out before they would get him!
...Just a thought...