Hi,
Here are the pics of a dio I finished at Christmas (Yes I am hopeless at getting pics up!)
It's the Airfix 1/32 set which I bought on the cheap and promptly paid for in quality as the kit shows it's age. This kind of made me lose interest at the end and so I cut a few corners, making this certainly not my best dio ever. However, it was abit of fun and I do like the finished peice.
The idea was to capture a kind of Napoleonic era feel to a WW2 dio hence the Union kack flying and originally there was an officer with his webley leading the way and leaping the barbed wire, however, I was limited when modifying my figures (as this is 1/32 and not compatible with all my spares) and so I wasn't happy and left him out.

Any comments are as always welcome!

Hope you like it....

James

the scene looks good and the figures and crusader look good from what I can tell (I know nothing about the crusader or the kit). the only comment I will give advice on is the blood. It is way too red. It should be darker especially that which is in the sand.

sean

Despite the quality of the pics the dio looks rather nice -it's always nice to see a Crusader dio! they're rather rare.
If you did your Union jack out of lead-like foil material I would advise you too "fold" it in a more realistic manner (Google for Flag you will see what i mean". I would also add slings to the rifles too.
That blood urgh! the sand absorbs the blood you know

Certainly looks god to me. My only critiicism is as the others have said, that blood is way to bright, also for my liing there is a bit to much maybe? Otherwise it looks good. Nick

Thanks for the comments guys.
The poor lighting in the pics has made the blood much 'redder' than it actually is, the idea is he has been shot at close range by the guy currently aiming his rifle at the next target, and just colapsed hence the amount of blood. I wasn't sure how to give it the impression it was seeping into the sand either.
The flag was one I had that was 'pre-folded', in hindsight I should have used lead foil, but having it to hand meant I added it without to much thought!
Good point about the rifle slings, something I overlooked!

Cheers guys, keep em coming!

Very nice dio James !
Can we have more close up of the figs ?
I'll second the blood remark.
Best,
Julien

Very good dio,i like it a lot
Pedro

Very nicely done !

I would have done the blood a dark outline, and the middle of blood puddle more red, I think that gives the seeping into sand effect ?
Well thats what I think.

Still very nicely done !

Herr

Very nice diorama with a good action story to it As others have said, the blood would look dark brown on the sand in the heat.

Thanks for sharing

Thanks for all the comments guys, really pleased you like it!
Here are some close up pics of the figs that Julien requested.

James

Looking quite good James , your pics are well taken when it comes to the framing but ouch, this yellow tint!
Are you sure you can't tweak your white balance on your camera? -another good trick is to put the dio near a window with a light coming from the north and to put a white or grey paper on the other side so that it works as a light deflector...
but thanks for the xtra pics on an unusual dio!

Hey Jean,
I know the pics aren't great but by the time I get home from work its always dark so I have to shoot them under a spotlight. I could fiddle about with them and i'll try and do this next time, but I am always rushed as I want to get on with building my latest kit! :-)

James

James, The first name of JBA is Jean Bernard, but You can call him Jean (ça lui fera les pieds, à force de tout le temps se plaindre :-) :-) ).
And Jean, a yellowish light for a desert dio is natural ! It gives an end of the day charge feeling.
No seriously Jean you're my master, I stop laughing at you.
This Airfix figures looks good ! I've always hesitated to buy them, but now I need them. Does the weapons are Airfix also ? Either you did a very nice job on it, or they are of good quality. the problem is they become hard to find.
Thanks James for the closeup. It's always a pleasure to see nice figs !
Best,
Julien

hmm, now it's all what can be done using technics! It's *still* looking kinda end of the day on the desert

having a lengthy first name I always collected nicknames anyway :-)
happy to be your master young master Julien

im not a fan of deserty dios but this one i like a lot, where did u get those cool brits for the dio?

Not often you see desert dios, and this one I like a lot. You've done a nice job on the figures and the vehicle as well.

Apart from the gunslings and blood, shouldn't there be another row of barbed wire? I mean, its rather easy to overcome one row...

Still avery nice job. I'm currently working with the Airfix kit myself, and your work is inspiring.

Simon

Hi James,

Nice little dio you have there, Good sense of acion and movement. Try some watery black in the blood if it is too red. Personally I like the layout and figure placement, has a good sense of movement about it.

Good effort, understand about the pics :-) :-) :-)

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers

Al

Hi guys, back to Armorama after the weekend!
Firstly Id like to say a big thankyou to everyone who has commented on this dio. I wasn't that pleased with it, but with all your support I think i'm really starting to like it!

Julien, I agree, the lighting is natural desert lighting which of course I did on purpose! :-) :-)
No problems with the close ups, glad you like the figures. The figures certainly were'nt bad and yes the weapons are also Airfix. They give you enough accesories in the set to make up for the fact that they are 1/32 and so you can't use your own spares!

Jean-Bernard, sorry for not using your full name, being typically English I failed to notice you had a double-barreled first name! Good job reducing the 'yellowness' in the pic too.

PMP, The figures are by Airfix and came in a set with some afrika korps figures with the Crusader III. The entire kit was reduced to £12 ($24) and looked fun so I made this little dio out of it. However, the figures are also available seperately from Airfix as a set of 6 figs, if you can find them......
P.S. they are 1/32 and so a bit big to use with other 1/35 kits.

Simon, really glad I have inspired you, It is rare you see a desert dio and I fancied a change with this one. I see what you mean about another row of wire, I imagine the next row of wire would be a few metres back from the first and so not seen in this dio (at least thats my excuse!)

Alan, Thanks, glad you like it, I feel it does give a good feel of the 'charge' as was common in the desert. Thanks for understanding with the pics too, I imagine you're in a similar situation!

Thanks again,

James