Hello everyone, here are some pictures of my Brecourt Manor Assault diorama. I've been working on this for a couple of weeks now. I thought I would show my pics from the beginning. The diorama will be 2'x4' with a trench system connecting two AFV Club leFH18/40 Howitzer guns and an MG42 nest.

Any tips, suggestions and criticisms would be appreciated. This is my first major diorama like this and I am learning along the way.

This is all for now.

Hi Tim,
You are def. off to a good start.I like how you have the grass looking so real,like it really is growing out of the ground.I would really like to know which type of grass product you used,and how it was applied!Best of luck,look forward to the next post!Cheers,Shay

Well done - nicely layed out and it is coming along very well.

Two things - one and foremost - If at all possible do NOT use those Tamiya sand bags. Go to Micheals or AC Moore get some sculpty bakable clay and mold your own - its easy in expensive and the results will be sooo much better.
Two - if possible scribe in seam lines over the dawn on lines on the trench side panels. It would be even better if you could slide them out, cut them into individual boards and replace them. They are nice and well done but adding that detail will really make them shine.

I was going to create a post about this question I have, and on my way to do that I saw your pix...
Very good start you have there!
And my question is :
I'm planning to use styrene sheets to make some buildings, coz I can't be bothered making my plaster.
How do you prevent the styrene from being eaten by the paint?
In my last attempts I have tried to cover it with plaster, but the plaster then gets so hard to scribe, because it breaks under the styrene and is then all messy
I used styrene as a base for some grass like you did, and my brown wash ate all the styrene!
So I'm wondering if there is a secret (using white spirit instead of turpentine?) or if plaster is really the best way...

Very nice start! I may be wrong, but didn't all the guns point the same direction? I thought they were all zeroed in on Utah Beach.

Keep it up!
Dave

Hey Tim,
I really like this, and I think youre off to a great start. Two small things to think about. The first is what Dave already mentioned about the direction of the guns. I too think they should both be pointing in the same general direction. The second point is the headless german figure in a few of the pictures. Not sure if you have him there for scale purposes only, but he is dressed for winter. The conflict at Brecourt Manor was in early June so he would get pretty hot! Any way, I hope this helps, and please keep us posted on youre updates.

Tim,

Nice layout and apparently well planned. I must agree with Scott regarding the sandbags, however there are some very good techniques for creating your own which can be found right here in the forums. I look forward to seeing future development.

Jay

It's looking really nice. Great start. I agree with Scott on the sandbags and wood planks. Also how are you going to fill all the dead space in the back? Keep up the great work, it's looking great.

Cheers,
Salvo

Nice start, the layout is great. Where in the diorama are the prone machine gunners? I was trying to get a fix of where they were in relation to everything else, but couldnt.

Apparently, one of the 4 X 105s was pointed in a more NW direction, perpendicular to the other 3... This logically would have been the most northerly of the guns... So Tim's layout would be accurate enough
But Tim, I really like it! The idea is great and has most peoples interest because of its' featuring in Band Of Brothers. (You know the HBO miniseries? ) Agreed on the sandbags too... You could really make these something visually pleasing to contrast the grassy expanses...
Cheers
Brad

Great looking dio, so far, Tim.

A couple of things I'd like to add, and these are just observations and not based on historical knowledge -- but shouldn't the trenches be a bit deeper? At least shoulder height? I don't remember how deep they were in pix I've seen of Brecourt, but these seem too shallow to move along when under fire, unless crawling. Also, the grass while it's very natural looking, seems a bit neat to me. Again, correct me if this is what it's supposed to look like. But it looks like the dio is in the middle of a lawn or football pitch.

Good luck and show us more!

Actually they were 8.8cm guns at brecourt manor, if you read the book "Band of Brother's"

Tim,
Your dio is coming out great

No they weren't. If you read it, it says they were 105s. I have the book in front of me.

Dave

Tim, beautiful start, well laid out, concise, well thought out.
Yes loose the Tam. sandbags.
The Tam. sandbags are a great example for you, your doing such a great job, I or we wouldn't want to see an excellent build be marred by those bags which is something to remember as you progress.
Don't adhere to the lines you have drawn out - be flexible, constantly stand back and look at your work and think, " is this how that would look ? "
The guys and gals on this site have helped me alot when it comes to constructive ragging, I'ts a great help.
Scott also made a good point about the trench supports and horiz. boards - they look too uniform as if they just got them from Home Depot. Scarf and mess em up some, distress them to look like raw lumber.
I'm really looking foward to this build because It's big and a challenge and will be incorporating many types of media - trees, woodwork, groundcover, ordinance, figs.etc.
Also you have an excellent start and looks to be going in the right direction.
Great work - Cheyenne

Ya could use acrylics...

Thats a great looking project going on there. Looks really interesting and good from here.

Thanks for sharing

Thanks for all the compliments and suggestions. I will try to answer all the questions.

The grass is model railroad static grass. I spray a mixture of white glue and water on the Styrofoam and sprinkle the grass on top.

I agree the sandbags don’t look very good. I will give your suggestion a try. I also saw a tip on the forum using tissue and filling them with sand or ballast.

The trench support walls were scribed already, it may not show up very well in the pictures.

Nicoropi, I used acrylic paint on the Styrofoam. I used an earth colored basecoat and then sprinkled it with the grass.


As for the gun positions, I am following the diagram below found on the following website:

http://www.members.lycos.nl/bandofbrotherse506pi/dick%20winters%20medal%20of%20honor.htm



Parks20, that figure will not be a part of the diorama. Just as a sense of scale for the trenches.

Salvo, I’m not sure what I will be doing with the back area. I might add another machine gun pit or something.

Mech-Maniac, here is a picture showing the prone machine gunners.


GenAbrams, I’ve wanted to do this diorama ever since I saw the mini-series when it first aired on HBO. When AFV Club released the /40 version of the 105mm howitzer, I then had the main pieces of the diorama I needed.

spooky6, my only real reference for the trenches is the BoB mini-series. It seemed like the trunches were dug in about waist deep, with a dirt berm to give a little more cover. That is what I am attempting to recreate.

Again, thank you for all of the compliments and suggestions.

Tim