Hello all, if you read my previous topic about my dog destroying my Sherman, you will understand the inspiration for this (1/72 scale) diorama :-). I'm going to create a street in a small French town around D-Day plus a few. It's a work in progress, I'm still waiting for my Hasegawa kits (US M3A1 Half-Track w/ Crew, German PzKpfw VI Tiger I Ausf E and German SdKfz 7 8-ton Halftrack) and a few LinkaWorld molds to get here. The diorama will consist of a few intact shops/houses as well as a few destroyed ones and a damaged church (with a sniper in the tower).

The figures I'm using are from both of Pegasus' Waffen SS sets and German Mortar Crews set, Ceasar's Late War German Infantry, Armourfast/Hat's German Machine Gun teams and Pegasus' U.S. Rangers on D-Day. Just a few (or a few more ) poses from each box of Germans will be used, as well as one mortar and one machine gun team. The rest will be recycled into projects to come (Keep an eye out for a big Stalingrad diorama later this year).

Here are a few pics (just on white board) of the 2 Shermans I will be using (and some of the figures in random spots).









- John

Is it going to be that bloody is this a tryal?I guess the dog just wanted you to do something with those shermans:-)

Gday John
What is the scene of? What I mean is it going to be a destroyed Sherman from the current battle, and the US forces getting beaten by the Germans arriving en mass? Otherwise, you could have the tank destroyed by hitting a mine, ringed by 'warning tape' indicating this...
Cheers
Brad

Wow that is going to be some action scene.

I should've explained the actual scene itself better, I'm waiting for a Tiger I to have hidden around a corner, that just shot at the Sherman. I'm gonna have the Americans bogged down in the middle of the street, with some 101st paras fighting their way through some destroyed buildings to help out the infantry. Here's a small map made in MSPaint of the scene...

Hmm...next time I want a battle damaged tank I may just cover it in dog treats and give the little bugger a minute with it. :-)

Seriously though, great idea, and great way to salvage a ruined Sherman!

I like it!

Could I borrow your dog?


Jeff

lol Try peanut butter, you might just not get it back.






Better yet, you can have him! :-)

WOW I cant wait for it to be done, I really like the action, and how bloody it is

Just a few pics of the progress I've made...I changed up the map plan, I'm not gonna build the damaged church for this diorama, instead I'm going to keep it more urban. I'm going to have multiple buildings with a few cross sections of road and a statue in the middle of a rounded section of street. The town will consist of:

- Boulangerie-Patisserie (2.5 stories on top of the shop as well)
- Boucherie-Charcuterie (2.5 stories on top of the shop as well)
- Tailleur (3.5 stories on top of the shop as well)
(a 3.5 story house inbetween)
- Floriste (3.5 stories on top of the shop as well)
- LA PETITE AUBERGE DE "town name" (Inn's name, 2.5 stories high)
- Cafe-Bistro (2.5 stories above the Café)
- Row of 4 (3.5 to 4.5 story) row-houses



(Pictured above is the Inn and the Café structures...very incomplete)


And here's a few of my many Germans to be included...





The buildings' details will consist of LinkaWorld Plaster castings for windows, doors, stone and brick, slate roof tiles, etc used on various buildings. I'm also going to print out some old wallpaper for the interiors and I'm in the process of scratch building a crap-load of furniture and other small details for the diorama. The backs/sides of the buildings will stay exposed, for viewing of the interiors.


- John

COOL! are the figures going to be on those bases? I would advise against it.

No sir. I'm going to cut them off and touch up their boots when they're ready for permanent placement. I was going to remove them from their bases before painting them, but tried to paint a few that came without bases to begin with, and realized how much easier it is to paint them while still attached to their bases.

I love the in progress updates.

The size is huge, I know there are more buildings to come so it won't be so open. Looking at the drawing you have to remember this is 1/72 scale and its not a physically huge diroama.

I like the idea but I'd get rid of the statue in the middle. Put something simple like an obelisk for a war memorial there. I've been all over Europe (France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Czechoslovakia etc) and have never seen a statue that huge. Statues are generally about normal size plus a third. Not 40+ feet tall. The statue is the one thing that lets it down. Aside from that it's looking good.

But I like the statue so much. I guess I was overtaken by the size of modern statues http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/liberty/worldstatues/statues.htm#spirit, especially how us Yanks in the colonies like to over-do just about 'erthang. I'll look around for something smaller/more subtle...I better use that statue one day or it'll be all your fault . Looking for new things to use is part of the fun anyway...


- John

Just a quick question, if the Sherman has only been shot at once, why are there 3 Holes?

Some damage was done by my dog, and I just tried to change it from looking like puppy teeth to actual damage to the steel. Maybe that little Zippo has been hit 3 times. I wonder if I should make it on fire, to hide some of the roughness...but anytime I've seen a diorama with fire it takes away from the realism of it. I'll have to play around with this idea, or another possible solution. I recently read that there were no Tigers used in Normany, they were all held in reserve outside of Paris, which means I'd have to scratch my german tank idea all together, or just buy a Panzer. I was also thinking of making the Sherman a casualty of artillery/mortar shelling, which might better explain the extensive damage.

I've also settled on the town which I am going to depict; Rouen. I really like the architecture I've seen in pictures of Rouen, with a lot of half-timber style, almost Germanesque houses and buildings.

cool, keep on truckin'!

Another Update...my first completed building (the exterior at least). The other 2 in this row will be completed hopefully by Wednesday. The doors will be added once I cast my Linka molds.





Does the "Tailleur" sign look too fake? I was thinking about printing something offline and using that instead. I'm still hunting for something suitable though.

I think the sign looks pretty good. I would however move the figure throwing the grenade. Everyone is shooting one way, and he is throwing the other?

lol The figures are there just for scale, that setup is on my desk, nothing is permanently placed yet.

Ahh, well then all looks good then. Sorry about that. Your building sizes look bang on, and as I said, I do like the sign.
Great work so far, keep it up!

Thanks, I think I'm gonna play with the sign a little bit more just for the hell of it...since I also need to make about 6 other shop/restaurant signs. Here's a few more progress pics taken earlier today...






The 2 larger picture windows in the Tailleur and the cream colored building (soon to be a Fleuriste) are going to have Linka plaster castings of curved shop windows. Linka plaster castings will also be used for the doors on every structure I'm constructing for this diorama. The Fleuriste is going to have an outward extending sign hanging on 2 chains, and flowers on the window sills all the way up the building. The "glass" still needs to be put in all of the windows, and some extensive weathering needs to be done to the green and cream colored buildings. Small awnings are going to be over the 6 medium sized windows on the Fleuriste building, as well as shutters on the sides of the windows (maybe 1or 2 will be closed). Drain pipes and other small details will be added once the weathering is done. Any feedback is appreciated.


- John


EDIT: I forgot to mention, the Tailleur building has an "older" look to the paint job I did...so I made part of it more solid in the bottom right, and I'm going to have a paint can and brush on the ground next to it, to suggest the painting of the exterior was interupted by the fighting. Also, I think I'm going to have some vines growing up the front/side of the Fleuriste building. Opinions?