Ola Guys...

Well no surprise really I started another project. What happened to the bridge diorama? Well it is a bit on the sidetrack. It will get finished but I need to get meself some bits and bobs and I have to get stuff for making the water the way I planned. So here is a small(er) dio for another Benelux Campaign named "Crossing the Rhine" Not much to tell actually besides the scene plays somewhere in the small cities accross Aachen. The Horch will get Three tone stripey camo. And decals for the Windhund Division 116th panzer brigade. And is left there. The building is something I did cast myself and scribed in the details. Figures are from DML's allied tankhuntersset. And the Thingy with the rocket is an experiment. Of which at this moment I'm doing some experiments on how to conceal the metal wire.
Ok Enough talk... here are the pics.














Below I concealed the wire with Photoshop... works only well in the digital world

Caus here is the wire again











last batch









Ok Sorry for the huge load of pics.
As usual I'm curious to your opinions and reactions.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Man thats guna rock.
is the wire going to be coverd with smoke?
cool ida man wish i was that good.

Very cool mr. Blokker!! Love seeing your work in progress, as theres always something exciting. Love the flat tyre, but can see a lot of interest in this, to see how you disguise the rocket support. Thanks for sharing.

Great stuff - I echo everything above.

One question - what is your plan for what will hold up the wheel-less axle?

Very creative and inspiring.

Interesting Robert.

Maybe we should have a contest on who has the most 1/4-1/2-3/4 almost finished stuff.

Robert, Great looking scene you have, I love the idea of the bazooka round in flight, I have the same question as Scott what shall ye do with the wheeless axle? looking forward to seeing more progress

Ola Guys

@ David... thnaks for the comments mate. And it is just a matter of time and a lot of building that brings you up to this level... nothing compared to the prizewinners at contests though.

@ Frank... Thanks for the compliments. Well I have done some experiments with cottonswabs and still have a few to go. And also with other media... so I can see what delivers me the least bad looking trail of smoke.

@ Scott.. Thanks for the comments.
And to tell you about the axles and the holding up thingy? I have not a clue... up untill now I have pretty much made everything up as I went along... I'm sure in time I will find a decent solution for it. Wouldn't the weight of the rest of the car be able to keep it up? Just a question as I don't know.

@ Dave... You uncover a painfull thruth there mate. Not only is it true... I think I will come awefully far in that competition

@ Andy ... My New Zealand Friend. Thanks for the comments... And as for the wheelless axle... see Scott's answer... In time I think I will manage to think something creative about it... Probably something with the existing wheel

Thanks for you answers guys... I really appreciate them.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Looks really good. Very well laid out diorama.

Thanks for sharing

Just a thought for you mate, How about having it like the driver was in the middle of changing a flat tire? With the jack still under the car and the flat tire and spare to the side on the ground? what do ya think?

Robert,

Nice dio you have working there! I like Andrew's idea of changing a flat tire. Looking forward to further progress photos!

Hi there

Great work. very interesting. Don't forget the smoke that will discharge from the back of the bazooka. Be careful with putting a smoke trail behind the RPG as it can look a little naff.

Keep it up

Stuart

Love it, what a great idea.
Don't appologise for all the photos - I love em! you can see the build progress as you go.
I too will be interested to see how you handle the smoke, good luck!

James

Ola Guys

Thanks for the replies.

@ Jesper... thanks for the compliments.

@ Andrew my Kiwi friend... It is quite a good thought. And I will get a jack somewhere to see if it is possible to fit the idea that the vehicle is left in a hurry. I was also thinking of putting the wheel in the back of the wheelwell to show the idea that when it was ripped off it came there by the momentum of the vehicle when it was still in motion.

@ Thomas Thanks for the comments.

@ Stuart... Yes it is in my mind to put the smoke at the backside of the Bazooka too. I only have not yet added the small metal wire on that end.
Not sure what "Naff" means but I'm still experimenting with several things to recreate the effect that I want.

@ James... Thanks for the compliments. I will post the results of my experiments too. When I'm finished and know I have tried everything.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Robert - I'm sure you wil come up with something to hold up the front end.
From a mechanical standpoint, without the wheel in place the whole suspension will 'extend' down because there is no weight on it. The size and weight of the vehicle may hold it up so the bumper is parallel to the ground. However the front left shock and spring would push down and the space between the wheel hub and ground would be greatly reduced.

For the smoke try running liquid poly down the wire allowing air bubbles to build up. Keep repeating on the dried glue until a suitable depth has been created. This is a very hit and miss technique - I've only managed to achieve a really great result once ( not for smoke but for the flames/smoke from a flame thrower with an orange bulb carefully placed inside for lighting.) I was using the very old squirty tubes of liquid poly which I'm not sure are available any more. Sadly my model was destroyed when moving house so I can't show you the results.
Good luck with a great looking model.

My suggestion: A pile of building debris in the road could be holding up the front. Just make the Horch look as if it collided a bit and perhaps this could also explain the flat tire (did they have re-bar in cement back then?).

:)

Jim

Very nice plan and challenge [ on the in flight round ].
Have you considered using clear plastic rod instead of the wire ? It may cut down on the amount of cotton [ whatever medium you use ] as a cover to the " in flight round " ?
Nice concept and build plan !
Cheyenne

Gday Rob
Let's just say that "naff" ain't the look you want
Having the German vehicle broken down/abandoned with the US forces using it as cover really does give the instant impression of a retreating German force.
With the size of the base, the RPG looks to be the focal point and highlight of the diorama, therefore more emphasis on getting it right! (sorry... )
Glenns' idea of clear rod instead is a good one, and may take less effort to cover convicingly.
Forgive my ignorance, but would there be a loader for a bazooka? Would he have loaded it and then made his way to the front of the truck?
Cheers
Brad

Decent progress thus far. As to the issue of the missing front tire.... cut the front control arms free and glue them up in the wheel well just they would be on the real vehicle. This may entail cutting the rear ones free and repostioning them to allow the front left corner to squat and the rear to rise somewhat, but that is how I would go about it. The cuts wouldn't be seen either. Thanks for sharing, "Q"

Good progress so far Robert, and I'm sure you will find a good solution for your 'metal wire' problem. Don't forget that any rocket type projectile has a smoke trail. Just keep it small.
My first thought though, when looking at this scene, is 'would I fire my bazooka that close past the steering wheel'? Perhaps move the bazooka to fire past the front, or maybe over the bonnet (motorkap) of the vehicle.

Groeten
Henk

Ola Guys

Sorry I reply this late. Got a very good presentation and on thursday the confirmation that I got the job... This means that my company now has one of the best (possible country champion) soccer teams of Holland as a customer.

Ok on to some answering.

@Scott
I might think of a way to modify that part. Make it look more real I guess... Just as Matthew (Red4) says about cutting left front and rear right and modify them both. Should give it an a more convincing appearance.

@ Callmehobbes
Not really sure what liquid poly is. But the technique sounds interesting. If you or somebody else could point out what Liquid poly is I can do some experimenting with that too.

@ Jim
I am still think of adding debris. Maybe only stuff that was a left in a hurry by the Germans. But it is something to think about if the whole suspension thingy is not working out like I want it to.

@ Glenn
Yes I have done some experiments with clear rod and decided to go with the metal wire as it was more rigid. With the clear rod in that thickness it was going up and down as one of those weird ornamental dogs you have in your car.

@ Bradley
When I thought up the whole idea of the round being in flight in the dio I knew it gave me another challenge of only getting that detail right of the smoke trail. It is able to break or make the whole dio. I surely do my best to not make it loof Naff.
See my reply to Glenn about the clear rod. And yes the loader is the guy peering along the front of the vehicle. Probably normally he would be closer by... for the drama I took the artistic license to put him further away... just because it makes the scene look more interesting.

@ Matthew
Thanks for the reply mate... I certainly will see what I can modify to the suspension system and the way you explain it it sounds easy enough.

@ Henk
Still in the experimenting fase at the moment when it is about the smoke. Got some things in today that gives me some new experiments to run with.
I know what you mean with firing the bazooka from that spot.And to tell you the truth that was how the idea started, The gun in front of it with the loader looking past him .But this meant that the whole scene was pushed almost off the base and I wanted the action to be more in the centre of it. Only reason I can give for it is just artistic license. No clue if a sane soldier would shoot it from such a tight spot... But it looks way better this way.


Everybody thanks for the replies...

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Hey, Robert, I think smoke (and flames for that matter) cannot be very well replicated on a diorama; the effort itself tends to make dioramas have that "cheap toy" look. (I saw an awesome dio of an F-14 taking off from a carrier deck in 1/32, and the steam made it fall apart -at least in my opinion.) Not to mention that after 2 month sitting somewhere, the dust on the smoke looks really discouraging.

Just my 2 cents, not something carved into stone.

nice dio

i think liquid poly is the glue that you glue your model together with also known as cement,not 100% on that

Why not attach the rocket to the building with stretched clear sprue instead of the launcher? That would give you a lot less to hide.
Just a thought,
Shaun

Hi,
Yes liquid poly is poly cement. The technique I described is wholly dependant upon luck - As the poly cement came out it just bubbled (it was a very old tube of cement!) and by chance the result was exactly what I was looking for. I applied it over a small section of clear plastic tubing which housed the bulb and kept building up the jet of flame over previous layers. I then painted the whole section of flame( about 4cm in length) with various shades of yellows and oranges and then over painted areas with a various shades of greasy looking blacks for the smoke.
The whole thing looked really good BUT it was set in a closed environment ( a house) with various miniature lighting systems also being used in conjunction.
If any one is able to recreate my little experiment I'd love to see the results.