I LIVE IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE ENGLAND ARE THERE ANY GOOD MODELLERS OUT THERE TO HELP ME WITH A VERY LARGE DIORAMA

Theres loads of very good modellers in here, that can ... and will ... help you if show what you´re up to and ask what you need.

My tip: DON'T make big dio's, my first project was to make a d-day beach dio of 80 by 120 cm, result: unfinished .Some painted styrofoam glued on mdf is what's left.
Just don't make big dio's cuz the planning is never realistic either.
Now I make small 1/72 & 1/35 dio's wich are maximum 30 x 30 cm, just because it's so small that it's always realistic.
When you're building a beach, you start to wonder: "Is it omaha beach? Are there actually cliffs? Isn't my sand stroke to short?"
Another problem is taht I wanted so much on one dio: infantry comin' from the sea, but 50 cm further a few para's are attacking an 88'
I hope you're doing well anyway, but i see your situation, when I started, i was just like you, so avoid the typical beginner mistake by starting to big. Even very skilled modellers have problems with large dio's, so think twice before you end up with a totally stupid half-finished idea, wich is standing in the way within a couple of years.
Cheers, Cpt Mallory

Hehe, I wanted to tell Luc basically the same thing as you. It can be resumed by "You better keep it small to begin".

On my first dio attempt (1/35) I wanted to show and sdkfz.8 with flak 3,7cm with a small shelter for the crew (was suppose to be winter) , an sdkfz 251 with a crew on briefing, a patrol hiding in a ditch, two motorcyclists and the whole thing crossed by a very long railroad section.....Result, some styrofoam glued on plywood, some plaster pourred on the styrofoam, a few half build models.

The problem when you want to show a lot of action and hardware is that you have to make a HUGE base so it does'nt look like a parking lot. Then you realise that you'll have to fill all the empty spaces between your models or the action scenes you wanna depict. This mean groundwork, trees, bushes, crops, road, houses, telegraphic poles, figure it.......In the end you throw it up cause you realise you're not skilled and experienced or even motivated enough for this. You've lost lots of time and energy and money. You might get bored of modelling for a while.A lot of beginning people get caught in this trap. It's not a matter you discuraging you, just to show you the other side of the medal.

My second try, and my current work in progress,is a vignette about 12 inches in diameter. There are 4 figures, a stairway going up in a cliff, a tree and a small stone wall. When you build small you can give more time for details and you get more easily and quickly a decent result.

That was my two cents.

Philippe