Hi guys,
Well i've been slowly planning a dio for a little while now and finally started on it a week ago or so.
Background..I was at a show last year in Belgium and bought one bargain after another..after a while i had emptied my wallet but came away with an idea to put use everything i had bought into a dio.
I have always been fascinated with W.W.2 history, more so the work of the "Underground" of various countries and i wanted to portray this somehow into a dio.
The basic storyline for this dio is a stray German officer has been trying to get out of (almost occupied) Holland in his Mercedes Cabriolet 170(Plus Model), filled to the brim with loot such as paintings.
Unfortunately for Hermann, he's fallen into a spot of bother by getting trapped by some very hostile Dutch Underground.
To the right of the dio a woodencart filled with firewood will be blocking the road at an angle.In total there will be about 10 figgies,some Underground, the rest mostly normal civillians.Perhaps a cat up on the roof chasing a bird or two?
At the bottom front of the dio i'll try my hand at attempting to portray canal water...floating around in that we'll be a small row boat and a large wooden fishing boat from Authentic Models.
Anyways here's some W.I.P pics from what i've been up to until present:

Buildings sanded ready for undercoating:




The boats to be added to the scene:




Base from plywood with building and walls added:




Stairs leading down to the canals edge:


Painting progress after filling,sanding and basecoats,plus my attempt at imitating wood(stiill one window to go):






So let it rip!Don't be shy... ideas,comments, things i could maybe do better?!
Cheers,Shay

Terrific work Shay, Would be funny if he was caught in the act while transferring his loot to the boat. I really like all the different levels.

Hi Shey,

As I said before terrific stuff, keep up the good work, this is coming along very well and I realy like the overall concept.

Cheers

Al

Hi guys,
Thanks Al,
Hopefully i don't stuff things up when pouring the canal water..I'll wait until i see your results with the Pier!
Pat, that's a brilliant idea, i didn't think of that one!!However i had thought about a few possibilities.Firstly, maybe having the officer surrendering whilst sitting in his car.Secondly,tying him up to a chair waiting for the enevitable , or thirdly (the enevitable) slumped over his steering wall or lying on the street.Going to bide my time with this dio, so other options can always be taken into account.
I do have a question in regards to the sloped roofing.Would that of been made from metal?I'm not sure if they had the knowhow for producing metal like that then?Could this also of been a tarp stretched,nailed down by lengths of wood?
Going by the box art, it seems almost a blue colour?!
Thanks in advance,
Shay

A very exciting project Shay, and you are of to a good start.

About the building, and it's roof.
The roof depicted on the model would be a lead sheet covered roof. Lead would be a very dark greyish colour, lightening over the years, with a greenish heu over it, depending on age.
I see you painted the window shutters different finishes. I realise that this is a W.I.P. so if I'm jumping the gun I sorry, but the shutters would be the same on one building.
The wooden ship is a nice touch, but will it fit? If it fits, tt may overpower the scene, I think the rowing boat, combined with some other flotsam and jetsam, would be enough.

Looking forward to your progress Shay.

Cheers
Henk

Very nice dio and ideas. I think the boat will be fine as long as you don't have the sails opened (?) A boat at quayside probably wouldn't have it's sails extended anyway.
The building and street is very nice.
Do the stars come with a kit? or did you scratch them?
Looking forward to seeing the diorama as it progresses

Cheers,
Charles

I love the concept of this dio it looks great and the storyline something different from the usual.Would it be possible for a second german possibly an enlisted man,the officers `batman`slipping quietly away into the boat undetected and leaving the Officer to his fate,would give another piece to the story.Anyway you are doing a fine job Shay.

steve

Hi Shay,

I like your planned setup and story. This is going to be a good dio with a very original storyline.
I have just a problem with the house. I can't figure out what it is. Is it a shopwindow with the shutter down without an entrance?
I would give the shutter an other colour than the lowest part (the wall).

Maybe i just don't understand the house!

Cheers
Claude

What does W.I.P. stand for?

WIP= Work in Progress

[quote]A very exciting project Shay, and you are of to a good start.



Gday Shay
The Henkster is right, here. In addition you would find dirty streaks which run off other parts of the building, and a whitish residue where water flows down the face... The older it gets, the lighter, as a general rule.


I think he has another good point here. The rowboat would be ample to suggest a means of escape, and not overpower the scene above...
Love the layout though!
As Claude noted also, I too don't understand the concept of the shopfront. It appears to be a roller shutter closed to full distance, but weirdly does not pull down to ground level?! A contrast between the shutter, the door and the front wall should be made...
Love the balance of levels on this scene, with all the action taking place in the guts! Don't be stingy on the ensuing pics!
Cheers
Brad

Great diorama. Really nice layout - it works very well with the different levels.

Thanks for sharing

Hi guys,
@Henk, dank u wel for the tips over the roofing.I should of known that it was made out of a lead sheet, however as a house painter i've come across some weird sorts of roof coverings here in Belgium i just wasn't too sure!
As for the shudders, i still have the last top left one to do.
Still deciding on the boat though, many people have suggested to get rid of it, others have said to keep it.I'll be leaving this until last but keeping all options open.

@Creading.Charles, the stairs and canal wall are actually from Custom Dioramics, i think it was called the waterfront scene.Generally the dio is formed in a square, but i decided to lay it all out in one line.
There are many details that i still have to add such as a parkbench, lampost, signwriting etc. so there will be plenty of W.I.P photos.

@1969.Steve, that is yet another plausible idea that i can chew over.With so much space on the dio to fill up, a second German is a great idea, thanks for the tip!

@Roudeleiw:Claude, how are you mate?I hope the castle is coming along nicely.For the shop front.The facade will be coming in a very light colour heavily weathered, so it shouldn't clash to much with the woodwork of the shudder.The shudder from the shop window not pulling all the way down was quite a common thing and still can be seen on modern houses.I will probably give the shudder a heavy wash to distinguish it from the door below.

@Honeycut:Brad squire, thanks for the extra enlightenment about the lead roof.I'm sure you have seen your fair share of roofing in your time!

@SGTJKJ;Jesper, i'm glad you like the start of this dio with it's various levels.I've been searching the internet, looking at various dios to see what other guys do for achieving more depth.Having these split levels gives me various options,not only for figure placement, but it makes the dio more "lively".

Thankyou for all of your comments, i'll be sure to post photo's once more progress has been made.
Cheers,Shay

I really like what you got going here Shay and the suggestions from the others are all good too. Tough to choose.

Are the buildings home made or from a kit?

This has soo much potential to be one of the most interesting dios I've seen!!!! Keep up the good work!!!

I think the lower roller window cover is covering a door (in the middle) and the windows at each side of the door. If this is the case, the roller shutter should be slightly proud of the door and the door should probably be painted a different colour, or even a lighter/darker shade of the same colour to suggest it's a different object...

I may be wrong!

very nice dio..I like the various levels but I wonder if the boat is too big? I may overpower the scene, and i think a couple of officers loading up the boat with lute is good....

Great looking dio. I agree with the above; I think that officers throwing stuff into the small craft would be a great touch. It would be good to have the resistance stacked up behind the wall in the back ready to pounce. And maybe a guy standing behind the cart trying to reach a stashed SMG within the wood pile. I don't know if a bunch of civilians hanging about would be a good idea. They would probobly know what was about to go down and stay indoors for their own safety. Good luck, I can't wait to see the finished product!

-Mike

Truly a novel piece. I too would suggest a smaller boat and something going near it otherwise, IMHO it is superficial and just space filler. How are you going to do the water, I would sugest Vallejo water effects. Can't wait to see thi s develop.

very nice dio and a demanding work
same question as previously asked
Are the buildings home made or from a "vacu" kit?

Nicely done Shay, come on I've seen more update pics. on this, can you post some ?
Cheyenne

I agree with chyanne - lots has been said -how's it coming?