hey guys heres a dio i finished a few months ago but just now able to photo it thanks to new camera this was my first crack at doin a blown building useing plaster of paris, i like the way it turned out overall, thanks for looking and feel free to comment in any way.

ron.

Ola Ron

Well I first want to congratulate you with this very nice diorama.
I actually cannot point out any major problems in this diorama. Maybe the Sherman could be a little bit dustier but that basically is it. I love the rubble or better said the diversity, Big chunks, small rubble and wood. All is there. Maybe you could have added some furniture from the house itself between it but I think that is more personal preference. I love the little details as to where the rubble is in the window remains and such great job again. The Action in your dio is also very good I only have a question regarding what the guy in the corner of that destroyed house is doing in pic 2. It looks kinda like he is hiding but it looks to me as if he is an Allied soldier too. He kinda doesn`t fit in the scene.
Also v a very good job on making that building. a really nice centerpiece of the dio.

An excellent job.

Very nice work! I especially like picture 5, you can almost feel the tension of the bloke (Fallschirmjager?) hiding behind the wall...

thanks guys i appreciate the kind comments its nice to get to post pictures of it finally, about the mysterious guy in the front, well he is a gi moving up with the others but inside the rubble and walls in cover he just got a little ahead but after hearing what you said i never thought about putting a gerry hiding there before but i bet that would look good and would add a new dimention to the dio also so thanks for the idea, anyway hes a better pic of him.



edit# ignore the gerries in the background there in another dio heh,,,

Ron:

Way to go. Nice dio. I like the destroyed buildings and the rubble.

Brian

I like the overall look of the dio. For historical accuracy only non-US forces used the M4A2 in the ETO.

Very nice Ron, great use of space, your building looks great as does everything else.

Great Job.

Great work mate

Very well layed out dio and the rubble looks brillant well done

Ron

excellent dio ron. i like the way you did the rubble and the bldg ruin... the tank looks great too!

...but most of the pics are out of focus... perhaps you need to get another camera..! LOL

Congratulations on a really great looking dio Ron you've done a fantastic job on the building, the kit and the figures, well done.

The one point that I might make if I may is in the composition. The whole scene gives a sense of urgency and tension with the troopers (US & German) and how they are posed, except for the tank crew who look a too relaxed and exposed to be in a dangerous environment. I would have maybe had the tank buttoned up or with just the commanders eyes and top of his head peeking out for the turret.

BTW, what materials did you use for the debris with your buildings it looks very effective?

Cheers
Darren

That is truly a fantastic Dio. You can definitely almost feel the tension and the approaching fire fight that is about to kick off once the troop runs ahead of the guy crouched behind the wall!

Care to briefly explain how you did the dio?

Very neat dio! Especially love the ruined building..Looks very real. Only comment is that why is the tank crew smiling? Overall a splendid job..

Hmm... maybe they're smiling coz the troops are running while they're in the tank.. :-) ..

Very nice dio you have there ron.! The groundwork looks amazing... Maybe you might want to give us an idea of what you used to make the rubble & stuff?

The only thing I would suggest is maybe to add rifle straps to the rifles..

Very impressive work Ron, very impressive indeed.
The Sherman and figures look great. The ruined building and all the rubble/debris looks fantastic.

It's an M4A3, isn't it?
Whatever it is, great dio

I agree with everything said above about composition and layout - very nice.
One nit pick, watch the seams on the figures. The front guy has a seam on his legs.

If you could take some clearer pictures you should submit them at least as an OD feature.

Great composition. I love the amount of rubble. Most dios you see don't have nearly enough. Couple of minor nits: The jerry can on the front of the tank should have something holding it there, rope, bracket, something. Also, the headlight lenses should be painted silver or replaced with some clear lenses.

Great job,
Shaun

It's an M4A2. You can see the single square vent on the rear deck. The M4A3 has two square vents on the rear deck

Sorry- shoulda known not to question... :-)

i'de like to thank everyone for your great feedback, all comments are appreciated and noted so hopefully i can learn from them, thanks again.

a basic run through on how this was built,
well the whole thing is made from plaster of paris, the walls i formed up on a flat board,i layed in the windows and door frame then poured around them, they didnt have to be too neat becouse i knew i was goin to beat them up a lot.
the base was a picture frame which i poured a thin coat of plaster onto then scratched in a road this gave me a base to glue the walls to also, the walls were carved seperately then glued together useing white glue
finally the fun part all the remaining plaster after it was dry was severely beat with an hammer till i had a mix of big bits all the way down to dust some of the big bits i whittled on to make them look rounder and more fitting but that makes perfect looking rubble
pile it up in place add some bits of balsa wood and any other rubbley looking stuff and glue it down,
sorry if this sounds vague but ive never been asked to explain my methods before,
this dio is the third one out of four that i have built this being my first year of model building so im still only just starting out and have so much to learn but i am enjoying the challenge each new build brings, thank you all again for taking the time to leave me your comments.

ron.

In a couple pictures, there seems to be some funky stuff happening to the left track at drive wheel. This is especialy noticeable in the 5th picture just below the runner's right hand.
Also, I don't think I'd want to run on loose rubble next to a moving tank. Way too easy to turn a day real bad, real fast.