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Dioramas: Buildings & Ruins
Ruined buildings and city scenes.
Hosted by Darren Baker
French Town house finished.
Henk
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England - South West, United Kingdom
Joined: August 07, 2004
KitMaker: 6,391 posts
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Posted: Monday, April 17, 2006 - 06:09 PM UTC
Hi all,

I'm calling this finished, Apart from one or two things which will depend on the figure's i'm going to add. i'm thinking either a sniper on the first floor, or some troops looking around the corner... maybe a defensive position.. but that's for later. .

I took Ken's (GenAbrahms) advice on the roof, and turned it into overlapping strips of lead. I've also added the wall light that comes with the kit, and a scratch build electricity box, which will have some wires added.



Hmmmmm....
It shows the tall pic's on their side.. they look better in my gallery..



I'll work on the pic's

Cheers
Henk
HONEYCUT
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Victoria, Australia
Joined: May 07, 2003
KitMaker: 4,002 posts
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Posted: Monday, April 17, 2006 - 06:19 PM UTC
Gday Henk
Turned out well!
The smoke stains look the part
Are they doors or windows at ground level?
Is this the finished base or will there be a road attached? Would want a road with the pit grate in use there!
Cheers
Brad
Gunny
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: July 13, 2004
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Posted: Monday, April 17, 2006 - 06:21 PM UTC
Looks GREAT, my friend!
I've been following the progress of this house, Henk, and I really like what you've done with this kit...Thanks for taking us on the tour of this build, it was a great ride!
~Gunny
AndyD
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: December 01, 2004
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Posted: Monday, April 17, 2006 - 06:25 PM UTC
Insane Henk.
Looks awesome - blockhaus might have some competion.. :-) :-)
Are those window and door frame the mini-art offering?
nato308
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Iowa, United States
Joined: October 23, 2003
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Posted: Monday, April 17, 2006 - 07:23 PM UTC
Henk looks great! Would love to see some interior pics too!
Konstruktor
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Zimbabwe
Joined: February 06, 2006
KitMaker: 22 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 07:02 PM UTC
I love all of the carbon soot on the exterior.
KellyZak
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British Columbia, Canada
Joined: August 19, 2003
KitMaker: 641 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 07:13 PM UTC
Henk, this looks way cool! Did you scratch this? The blackened/sooted areas looks spot on, balconies and windows look great, and the addition of the propaganda on the wall really adds to it. How tall is this? Man, I know I'd have to use alot of plastic to make the display case for it! Lovely work, love to see what you finally choose to use it in!
cheers
Kelly
Henk
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England - South West, United Kingdom
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Posted: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 07:41 PM UTC
Thanks guys, The photo has put itself rightway up now.. computers.

Anyway, here's a few more pic's, i'll get some better close-ups of the interior later





Bradley, the ground floor are large windows, hence the sign 'Cafe-Bar' .. i will add it to a larger dio in the future, but for now I'll leave it as is.

Andy, those are indeed the windows etc that come with the kit. All I did was add rubble and wooden floors and the roof. As for Blockhaus, I don't think he needs to worry about competition... I wish I had half his talent in scratchbuilding structures.. .

Kelly, the walls are by MiniArt, as are the doors and windows and the street/wall lamp. I scratched the floors and roof, and added rubble. It's 15.5 inches high or 40 cm's in universal metric.

Thanks for all your comments, they are much appreciated

Cheers
Henk
Grumpyoldman
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KITMAKER NETWORK
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Florida, United States
Joined: October 17, 2003
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Posted: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 11:22 PM UTC
That looks great Henk.....
Is there a feature in the future?
cheyenne
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: January 05, 2005
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Posted: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - 01:58 AM UTC
Great build Henk, it just proves that attention to detail a little t.l.c. and your creative mind can turn an oft debated vac. kit into a work of art.
Cheyenne
Blade48mrd
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Washington, United States
Joined: September 03, 2004
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Posted: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - 02:15 AM UTC
Henk -

Truly outstanding and an beautifully done work . Every detail is brought out so well and adds to the whole scene. This provides a great inspiration and perfect example for a future 'Arnhem' setting diorama I'm in the initial stages of planning. Agree with others that this needs to be a "Feature" article. Thanks for sharing,

Blade48mrd
thedutchie
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Ontario, Canada
Joined: February 01, 2005
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Posted: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - 02:34 AM UTC
Henk:

What u got there is a great build. The posters are awesome and the black all around the building give it a nice beaten look. When I look at your building it reminds me of one of the buildings in Saving Private Ryan in the small french city at the end. great job.

Cant wait to see some figgies hunkered down in/on/around it.
jackhammer81
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Nebraska, United States
Joined: August 12, 2003
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Posted: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - 05:01 AM UTC
Henk, you have done a wonderful job on this! Everything looks picture perfect. Definitely turned out a gem. I especially like the cracks you added to the sidewalks! Cheers Kevin
HONEYCUT
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Victoria, Australia
Joined: May 07, 2003
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Posted: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - 05:39 PM UTC

Quoted Text



Bradley, the ground floor are large windows, hence the sign 'Cafe-Bar' ..




Mr Meerdink, I think you cheated! When I posted about the doors/windows on the ground floor, I coulda sworn there was just one pic in your initial post; the top long shot... Buggered if i could read Cafe/bar at that distance :-)
KFMagee
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Texas, United States
Joined: January 08, 2002
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Posted: Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 12:15 AM UTC
Wow - I'm working on the same peice right now for a German magazine, and we have almost replicated the same interior design... down to the colors! You haven't been peeking over my shoulder have ya? The only major differences is I didn't do mine as a "burn out", and I did my roof with the HANSA rafters and tiles...

Great work., btw...

KFMagee
Henk
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England - South West, United Kingdom
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Posted: Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 12:49 AM UTC
Cheers Dave, I have most of an article done, as I was going to submit something when it was basic built, but I got carried away and will add a bit more to the text, such as how I did the weathering, and submit as a feature. Fingers crossed..

Hi Cheyenne, this was great fun, but as I've limited myself to such a small base I havn't got much scope for any 'added' extra's. But I'm going to make up for that when I do the Hungarian Country House next. The 'garage space is screaming for a lot of accessories, some of which I have allready waiting... think bycicle... (NOT Tamiya btw.. :-) )

Thank you Mike, looking forward to your 'Arnhem' dio. Mind you, the 'Belgian House' from MiniArt would be perfect for that, as it has a very 'Dutch' architecture and brick texture.

Thanks Brian, those posters come with the kit (every MiniArt kit) and they are excellent scaled down copies of real war time posters. These posters are from another kit, as this kit comes with French movie posters..

Cheers Kevin, those cracks were part of the base, but a few washes really make them stand out.

I most certainly did not Mr J. :-) :-)
The first picture was originaly on it's side, don't know why, but that seems to have sorted itself out.. .

Thanks Keith, isn't it always the case? You work on something for ages, and then some smartass goes and posts the same kit just before you... :-) . I would like a peak at yours, but I don't suppose you can post any pics prior to publication? Which magazine is it for?

Cheers
Henk
Henk
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England - South West, United Kingdom
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Posted: Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 10:25 PM UTC
Two more pictures, one of the street light, and one of the roof/gutter. I have more pics, but I haven't had the change to upload them.





Cheers
Henk
Plasticbattle
#003
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Donegal, Ireland
Joined: May 14, 2002
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Posted: Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 10:39 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I've limited myself to such a small base


I like this ... a few figures included, this will be a smashing little dio. It must look great on the shelf? It actaully can be shown from both sides and look good! Remember this if you add figures. Nice one Henk!
HONEYCUT
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Victoria, Australia
Joined: May 07, 2003
KitMaker: 4,002 posts
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Posted: Friday, April 21, 2006 - 04:37 AM UTC
Henk I know you are calling this finished, but now you have posted the last couple of pics, (esp. the one featuring the roof) I think there is room to 'age' the roof a little more... The lead is good but looks like it is too new... Lead has a tendency to go browny with a white-ish edge where the rain would run... Also the gutter interiors would be full of fine soil, bird $hit etc. Just a thought, as I figure this would be viewable when on display...
but all in all what would you rate the kit overall?
(If you haven't already!?)
Cheers
Brad
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