Made another one of those small cheap dios.
The base is made out of plaster and poured into a yogurt lid. The ground work is celluclay with tons of 100% Elmer's glue.
I painted the ground all brown and then washed it with different shades of lighter and darker brown and also black.
Since it should represent a muddy road, I used some Future floor finish. I also used that on the oil that poured out of the barrel.
The figure is one of the Tamiya Panzer Grenadiers set (35061). I painted it all with acrylics, including the skin. Next time I'm going to try oils.
The grass area was first covered with Woodlands Scenic green turf and then I covered it with static grass.
The fence is from tooth picks and self made barbed wire.

What do you think? Comments are welcome. Not just pats on the back (if I even deserve one) but honest comments. Things I can change, add, ...

Thanks a bunch!!

http://groups.msn.com/digitaldioramas/belgiansstuff.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1024

Belgian,

nice little dio you have there! The overall idea is nice and I like the action in there.
The groundwork looks nice and the oil spill really attracts the eye. It´s hard to say about the colours but the shading of the figure looks good. The sheen of the helmet is excellent.

The figure suffers from soft detail, especially in the face, gun and hands, but I guess it´s because of the kit, not you! Some scratchbuilt details like slings and straps could do the trick. The barb wire looks good except the thickness. Do you think you have access to slightly thinner wire? It would help a lot!
The oil barrel seems to be in very good condition to be lying in the middle of the road. Maybe it would be more damaged? It would be quite easy to warm it up a bit, then hit it with a blunt object! Some paint could have chipped off near the damaged area.

Here´s what came to mind. I have been thinking about buying a set of those figures to be used as a pose but I would replace the head, hands and equipment.

Nice job Belgian, keep it coming!


Toni

I like it! :-)

I love these small vignettes and I will have to have a go at one soon.

My only comment would be that I agree the oil drum looks too clean to be just lying in the road. I liked the colouring on the figure though.

Keep up the good work

Roger

Belgian,

I have put some pictures on the net for you about rusted oil drums, maybe these can help a bit.

http://groups.msn.com/Roadkillsplace2/misc.msnw?Page=1

May I make one comment? I like your vignette and I like the action, but the figures has a off balance posture so it needs to lean/hold on to something, from the pictures it seems that his hand is in mid air while it should realy hold the drum

Just my 2 cents

#:-)

Very nice project. I like seeing the feature spark another diorama.
Good points by Envar, I won't duplicate. Keep up the good work and always try to improve.

Belgian

Nice dio dude really don`t have any other comments then what was already said so i won`t bother you with that.
You are really on a good way With your Figures and dio`s Just keep up the good work

Nice dio indeed mate !! I love those little jewels.....

About Envars remarks on the details I'd like to say he's right. Also he's right about the fact that it's not you, but it's the models that lack detail.

Don't know what manufacturer made that fig (I think Tamiya, but not sure at all)...but try a Dragon (DML) sometime.... their newer kits absolutely have the detail you're looking for.

Very impressive small wonder !! Keep it up.

Thanks for sharing.

Danny

VERY NICE DIO CONGRATULATIONS

ROBERTO

Thanks for all the suggestions and nice comments.

- The barrel: yes, I know, straight out of the Tamiya box. I had a post last year on how to ding them. Tried it once on an old barrel I had laying around. It sort of worked, but I wasn't satisfied. Can't this be a barrel that was lifted off a truck. They used most of the oil. Then it fell over, leaked the rest in the ditch? So it's still nice and clean????? I'll see what I can do.
- The barbed wire: I agree with you guys. It is too big. I definitely will get some smaller gauge wire.
- The hand that just didn't make it on the barrel: I always have that problem. In the contest dio, my guy isn't even grabbing his gun all the way. This time I measured it all out, but then when the celluclay dried up .. it didn't fit and the arm was already glued. Next time I will attach an arm like that at the very last minute. So to bandaid it, rather than rip his arm off and glue it again, I put a grenade in his hand. Darn, this frustrates me!! Oh well, you live and learn.

Thanks again guys!!