Hello again everyone! It's been a while... Well, to the point: Some of you guys and girls may remember my first dio attempt.
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/57068&page=1 I ruined it, literally. I stepped onto it accidentally.

Well now I am doing new diorama(hopefully with better luck! :-)), which includes two dragon kits. 6148 - U.S. ARMY AIRBORNE (OPERATION VARSITY 1945) and 6152 - 3.7CM PAK/36 W/CREWS.

My first problem is about those paratroopers. My dio is setting in Normandy 1944, so those guys from the future! So do they have different gear than airborne in normandy? Can I use them in my dio? That kit was only US airborne kit left in my local hobby store...

Unfortunately Anssi they are wearing the M43 jacket which replaced the paratrooper's jacket.and is not suitable for Normandy. As far as I know the M43 jacket was used by US Paras from September in Operation Market Garden so you could move your dio to then

Damn... Maybe my next dio is taking place in Normandy. What was the jacket in Normandy 1944? M42?

Why those M43 jackets have different colour? Cos' in Band of brothers and WW2 games I' ve played these normandy jackets and trousers are tan coloured. M43 is much greener.

U.S. Paras at Normandy wore the M1942 jacket which was a tan colour. Some veterans held on to this jacket until the end of the war. The M1943 was an olive green colour . www.atthefront.com is a good site for U.S. uniforms
[/url]http://www.atthefront.com/[/url]
http://www.atthefront.com/us_uni_M43jkt_main.jpg
M43 Jacket
http://www.atthefront.com/import_parajkt_main.jpg
M1942 Para Jacket

Thanks again Pat!

Can somebody please post or link pics from dutch buildings and houses? I mean thatkind of buildings, which are in city. I didn't find any... Tried google, this site and digital dioramas

First pictures...





Those spots in the cobblestone section are very annoying... Some advice how to fix them? Many layers of dullcoat didn't quite work. Say also comments, if you like..

-Cortez

Hi there Anssi!
The ground work looks really good!
the cracks at the stones makes it very realistic!!
As for the spots you mention maybe if you paint them with a grey colour will do the job!But then again you destroy the whole thing!
Hope you fix it at the end cause it looks good allready!
Cheers!!

Maybe keep the spots a brown shade albeit darker, to show as earth through some cracks in the stones etc
Can even add a tiny bit of grass or weed
Cheers
brad

The overall street is nicely done. The yellowish spots can be fixed with a bit of thinned brown/gray paint and a small paintbrush. Just load the brush and touch the spot. Slow but effective.

Questions about the diorama - what is the story? Are you going to have an AT in action with some more relaxed GI's on the otherside of the street... Will there be a wall, a hedge row or something separating them?

What is going to be at the end of the short street section?

Be careful with the area in the corners. Plan to fill that area with something.

Four American soldiers, who are pinned down inside building...
What becomes to the short street section, there will be an wall which is attached to that building. With my english, it's hard to explain. I'll make somekind of sketch tonight, so you guys see really whats going on...

Cheers,

-SgtCortez

Scanner makes probably your life much easier... I don't own thatkind of machine so I had to use Windows paint instead of pencil and paper. What a pain in the butt!

Well here it is

That question mark means, that i dont know yet how to fill that area. Your ideas and suggestions are very welcome!!

Cheers,

-Anssi

To fill that space, how about another building, perhaps a town hall or similar looking over the square? Maybe a statue ot fountain etc. A parked car? Just some ideas that came to me.

EDIT: 500th post!

Maybe you can place a destroyed civilian vehicle, lots of debris or vegetation, like a city park or something like that, if you don´t want to start another building.....
happy modelling

Street section is now finished... Few pics of it.





Go to my gallery if you want to see more pics!

Tell me what do you think... Does pavement parts require more drybrushing? What about those cobblestones, are they too red?

Still some yellow spots, I'll fix them with brown ink combined with grey paint.

Cheers,

-Cortez

I think the colours are good as base colours but they need more variation. All pavement stones aren´t grey and all cobblestones aren´t that red. Mix a lot of colours and paint them randomly. Otherwise I like the idea and composition so far! Keep it coming!
Cheers Andreas