Dear fellow model kitters!
I've started building models 2 months ago, almost by accident (found an old kit in a drawer). I hadn't done it since I was 15! I'm now 30. I thought I was a little weird to spend my precious and rare time on this, so was confirming the bad looks my wife, friends and colleagues would give me when I would talk about my new passion, since I found this armorama site! I have to say it is really a thing to read all your posts and realize that I'm not the only adult to have this passion for modelling! Not to mention how far down my jaw drops when I see the pictures of the most talented folks!
I have made so much progress by reading tips in the last month.
OK that was my introduction, please to meet you guys, now let's move to the serious stuff.
I'm working on this diorama of a German camp, including 2 bunkers, 3 or 4 tanks, a field kitchen, a hospital, a "room where the weapons are stored" (don't know the english word for that one), 2 vehicles, an AA gun on top of the big bunker... not to mention the 50 soldiers that would inhabit the scene.
Ok, I know that I got carried away and that I am starting a little too big, but that's the picture I had in my mind.
I haven't received most of the kits yet, but I have made some good progress on the bunkers.
So I wanted to post a couple of pictures and get your initial feedback.
I'm interested in any suggestions to improve, or make things easier, or whatever!
I have made some progress since those pics were taken, so I'll probably have another shooting session at the end of the week end to show you the new stuff : bunk beds, bunker painted, small trees, a new truck, doors for the small bunker...
Ok, wrote this and realised the pictures are harder to attach than I thought :-) :-) :-)
So I'll figure out how to post them and come back to you
In the meantime if you guys have any advice on :
- What is the best wire to make barbed wire? I used 0.4mm section electrical wire, but that looks still a little too big. If I,m trying to use smaller section, it is impossible to work the wire, it breaks...
- For my paved road out of lentils... can I use dry plaster to make the joints, and then wet it once it is applied between the lentils? Or do I have to mix the plaster first with water, which is going to be a little more complicated?
- Is the color of the german helmets really a different green from their uniforms? I made a lot of research on the web and it looks like an obvious yes, but I thought I'd ask your thoughts...
- Does it make sense to you to add an AA gun on top of a bunker? I'm not so worried if it is not exact in terms of history, no worries if no bunker ever had this, but I was wondering if it would look good. OK, I guess you need to see my pics to answer this, so I will work on posting them instead of chatting up...
- Anybody has tips on paintings of bunkers?
Looking forward to hearing from you...

Here's the pic :

Very nice so far, the vehicles are great!

For barbed wire, there is an excellent tutorial here:
http://www.armorama.co.uk//features/107

As for the uniforms and helmets, there was a huge variety in colour depending on when the uniform was made, how much use it had etc. Helmets are uniforms ranged from dark grey to olive green, with a lot of camouflage patterns seen on some.

That's about the extent of what I know, sorry I can't help with the other questions.

EDIT: Forget to mention, welcome to Armorama!

Hi. I can say taht your dio even in its starting progress looks great. Good thinking in using those styrofoam boxes to make bunkers instead of dumping em. I used the same boxes once to make a Spanish shore fort, but i dumped it half way... As for attaching pictures i had the same problem too before our fellow modeler chums explained to me how to. About the helmets, i really dont know, i always use field green and german grey for my figures. About the AA gun on top of the bunker im pretty sure there were such structures with additional concrete walls around the gun. Ive seen such a case in the PC game Commandos 2 and 3 (dont remember about 3, not sure). About barbed wire, try using silk threads after dipping them in water glue or painting them with acrylics. Have fun.

Hi, Ropi. Sorry that I can't offer you much help coz I've never built anything like this! Good luck. Seems a major project.

About the AA gun. You might get some accurate feedback if you tell us what sort of AA gun it is. I doubt an 88 would be on top of a bunker like that, though I maybe wrong.

Have you tried copper fuse wire for the barbed wire? I think it's a bit more flexible.

Finally, again I'm no WW2 armour expert, so don't jump on me, but isn't that SP gun American? Looks like the 155-mm Long Tom to me

The gun I want to sit on top of the big bunker is the 3,7 CM FLUGABWEHRKANONE 43 SINGLE BARRELLED
Actualy I think I will need to bug you guys with that one too : it is a photo etched kit. I have never built photo etched so I have no idea what the technique is! Yes, i did check the posts and I still cound not find the info.
Can you use the same glue for those? Do I need to get specific tools to built such kits?

Good catch for the US tank David, I' impressed! I haven't even received the german tanks yet, so I'm using some other models to get the feeling of the scale...

Welcome to Armorama - glad to have you here.
I want to make not and give credit to you on the amount of research you have done already. The most useful tool we all need to remember is "Research"

A few commnets on your diorama. The subassemblies of the base are going to need to be connected and unified, how are you going to do that?
The lentel road can be covered with drywall putty, or spackle (same thing different word). The stuff you use to fill seams in household wall seams.

Wire for barbed wire can be found in old computer cables. Strip back the insulation and you'll find a number of different sizes.

Paining the bunkers would be easiest with an airbrush, base coat of dark gray then two or three lighter overtone coats. Then a wash/filter and lastly highlights.

Look at other dioramas and photos and check out all the 'stuff'. A compound will have piles of gear stored all over the place

Thanks for the feedback here are some more pix and questions :



About your question on the connection between each block, I was planning to put clump of grass, as you would find on the side of buildings. However I've never built any yet so that may not be realistic. Am I making a mistake here and not going the right way?

The AA gun would sit on top of the big bunker, is that a good idea?

Indeed I have plenty of gear ready to be painted, + the field kitchen that I'll put next to the smaller bunker, with some tables and a crowd of hungry soldiers, I hope it will look good!

This Kitmaker thing is confusing

Hey Ropi! Nothing like diving in the deep end-This is some grand scale!!
Best of luck seeing this one through
On top of your obvious amount of research may I suggest using the search engine for the Armorama site on specifics such as the barbed wire, realistic grass, paved roads etc. as we have all been through the same initial dilemma (Some aren't completely through this stage!;) Even for the building of kits with Photo etch. (It won't be complete PE, but have it included to complement the kit) Use CA glue for this, by the way
(better brands though)
Hope this helps
Brad

I built that as a 1/76 Matchbox kit when I was around 11! The only WW2 US vehicle I've ever built! Had it for many years and was quite proud of it, which is why I remember it. What I've forgotten though is what it was called. Just remember the gun was a Long Tom.

Thanks all for looking!

So I'd still like your advice on the gun. Do you think it will fit Ok on top of that big bunker? I'm planning to add a little wall around it and an access from the back of the blockhaus...

I now have some kilometers of barbed wires.

But i had to ditch my cobblestones road... sank it in plaster! :-)
I'm going to go for a full plaster road, but that's going to take a while!

How would the ack ack gun get on top of the bunker w/out some sort of ramp?

Hey Roger,
Let me show you my plan :


So a part of the bunker is burried in the hill, the bottom right part on this plan.
The road in green is actualy going up as you go toward the bottom of the plan, and the dirt road in blue is still going up, to the top of the bunker, from the back. I'm even planning to put some trees up there too.

Do you think it will look good qnd realistic?

I've been considering making the bunker a V2 missile lauch pplatform, we have a lot of those near my hometown. But the V2 are really too huge.