Hi all

As some of you will know I'm starting a series of dioramas depicting scenes from Market Garden, namely Arnhem/Oosterbeek in 1:35th and intend to start with the Hartenstein Hotel.

I've already had help from various Armorama members and the offer of help from others all of which is and will be invaluable for this project.

My last diorama was well received by you guys and I got some superb comments, and since the dio base was entirely scratch built and came out 'not to bad' I've kicked myself ever since for not doing an SBS for anyone interested. So this time I plan to start at the very beginning and show how I build a dio from start to finish - not an original idea I know but then again I've never done it before!

I'm going to start by showing a sketch or two that I like to make whilst just sat in front of the tv, these are only creative ideas, not too accurate but they're a way of getting all the little ideas out of my head and on to paper for later reference. I found that after building the last dio (images in my kitmaker gallery) I'd forgotten to put in certain bits and bobs I'd wanted to originally - which was a shame, so these sketches are my way of remembering to do stuff. No base has been cut at this stage but I have started on the Airborne jeep and several figure conversions (more to follow).

This sketch depicts a couple or three figures I want on the hotel steps, I'll have to convert them from stock or sculpt them myself but you'll get the general idea...



I hope you like, if anyone has any comments or ideas I'd like to hear them.

I'm also still gathering information so if you have anything that you think might add to the authenticity of the final piece then I'd be very grateful.

Thanks for looking, and watch this space.

Matt

Matt, nice looking sketches. Good luck on the dio build. I'll be following your progress. I walked the very ground you're going to model and it was quite a humbling experience. Good luck. "Q"

Wow those are some good sketches.
this dio looks promising

Hi Matt. Nice idea. There was an "operation market garden" campiagn a few years ago, and there were loads of threads and many great models built of that theme. This would have fitted in nicely to that campaign.


Just a thought when I saw your sketch, and read this line ...
In your sketch, the figures are at the forefront, and are the main focus of your sketch, but standing on the steps of the hotel, they will be overshadowed by its size. How will your get around this? Are you planning a partial build of just the door area?
Good luck with the build!

Hi Frank

The sketch is really just a load of 'doodles' so although the Hotel is visible in the background in this sketch in reality these figures will be making their way up the steps and into the Hotel. However, I am toying with constructing just a part of the Hotel frontage and not the entire building (as this has been done previously most famously by Guy DeLillio) I want to bring the viewers eye closer in to the scene and to do the full builiding in 1:35th you would lose a great deal of impact.

Thanks for your comments, more images to follow soon (ish)

Matt

Hi all

Just a couple more ideas to show you. My idea is that a portion of the Hotel frontage will cut across the corner of the dio as a backdrop with (so far) a jeep with driver and wounded para laid across the back, the wounded para from the previous sketch is being helped up the steps of Hotel to the Aid Post. At the moment I'm not sure how to locate the slit trenches in the grounds, any suggestions or advice?

Cheers for looking

Matt


Idea for wounded para in back of jeep.


Idea for layout of dio.

great sketches man!

I love it! This will make a superb dio! Im still working on getting some details written down from my Grandfather, he has described the scene he saw at the Hartenstein on several occasions and its sounds rather brutal. For much of the battle though he was down in the fields opposite the church and stayed there until his capture. Ive managed to obtain the aerial recon photograph and will get it scanned asap.

Have you seen the old CMK wounded paras? They will be ideal for this scene. I'll try get those details down from my Grandfather asap, he may be around this week at some point so I can ask him then and write it all down.

Rob

Glad you like it. This diorama NEEDS to be brutal! NOT GORY but honest, I've read some accounts of the battle and namely the Hartenstein and I really don't believe it was a pretty site! Same goes for the other locations (the church, Kate ter Horsts house, St Elizabeths and the Bridge itself to name a few).

Do you have any suggestions about where I should locate the slit trenches? or anything else? I know we won't be able to get it exactly right but as near as damnit would be ideal.

Cheers mate

Matt

Very interesting. Looking forward to see it develop. If you scratbuild figures half as good as you sketch this will be a great diorama!!

I agree with you. I just saw a BBC documentary on the battle and they interviewed some of the guys that were there. It appearently looked like a slaughter house.

Thanks for sharing your preliminary work

Matt-yes gore never really works. A brutal and powerful scene can easily be achieved through depicting paras helping their wounded buddies, and displaying them as worn out, exhausted etc. But yer my grandfather witnessed some rather horrific things, he told us once how he saw a German soldier run over by a tank. He actually went to Kates house and dropped off wounded on several occasions, you can see her hosue on the aerial photograph I have, his gun was 2 fields to the rear.

He will be round on Thursday so i shall ask him things then, if theres anything in particular you wont to know from him let me know and i'll ask. I'll see if he can tell me how the trenches were organised. I know on his gun he had the 75mm in a pit and then a slit trench to the side with all their personnal gear in it.

Very tight concept design drawings!

Rob

That's exactly what I want to convey, the utter exhaustion, the Hotel and its grounds battered and tired - not smiley 'Tommy's' sat around brewing tea and playing cards!

I can't think of anything specifically I'd want you to ask your Grandfather I'll leave that up to you, its just the general atmosphere I'm interested in - were they aware how bad the situation was? Did they feel like giving up? etc.

And give him my regards, a very brave man!

Cheers mate

Matt

Matt,

You need a movie like "Theirs is the Glory" ... it anwers your questions big time. Besides that it also provides excellent shots of the 1944 Hartenstein, since the movie was made just after the battle.

PM me you address and I'll send you a copy....

Hi Danny

I've already got it! And it is absolutly superb! I will be using it conjunction with all the other ref material, many thanks for the offer though (I wish I'd known before I'd bought it!).

Do you think I should model the inside of the Hotel (viewable from the back) or should I just show the front and the grounds? On second thoughts, maybe doing the inside would be too much on this project and I should consider it for another day?...

Cheers

Matt