Hello all

Just want to share something that started out as a simple diversion during the Buffalo build. ^_^

The figure & weapon is from DML's 1/35 Fallschirmjager Monte Cassino premium edition set. Yeah, I've been using this set to death and the box is all crumpled and smashed and... but I'm sure you're not interested in knowing these totally irrelevant details. :lol:

Okay, back on subject - the wall and base is made from the typical hardware shop wall filler (pollyfilla / etc) ice cream mix with poster colour for the basic finish. The lines were gently scribed after letting the plaster dry over 24hrs.

The barrels came from Legend's WW2 German Drum Set and comes in 15pcs per pack. More than enough to do a tank farm dio, I suppose. ^_^

The wooden pallet, beams, planks etc. were made from a tongue depressor purchased from the local pharmacy. The wood grain textures and colours were painted in using various hues of browns, umber, sienna, black, grey, red, blue. The pallet & longer planks was placed vertically (or close to) to breakup some of the horizontal lines.

And that's all there is to this set piece. Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for viewing.

C&C welcome as usual.

cheers and happy modelling :)

Ooops...Master Pooh looking at the drums reminds me that I owe you some drums. Darn the old guy-poor memory problem has struck again, my apologies. Could I still pass you the drums at Merdeka GB weekend?

Back to your regular program. The backwall is nicely done especially the scribing. Nice subtle weathering tones as well. Might just be me but do the drums appear slightly on the small side vs the figgie? Nice detailing on the wooden pallet with nail holes and all. Well done wood grain as well. If you are looking to push the groundwork a wee bit more, a raw umber oil wash on the pavement will help blend it to the backwall. I guess you will be painting the sides of the pavement black to match the stand later on.

Good go at the rain drop pattern on the Fallschirmjager's smock. A nice firing pose with a slight lean forward using a weapon identified with the Fallschirmjagers (in addition to donkeys, of course), the FG42. If you are looking to push the figgie a wee bit more a light spray of super diluted buff on the smock may help blend the camo more. Not critical though.

All in all a simple but effectively composed action vignette.

Oh crap...I think that's coz they're in 48th...waargh.. :ph43r:

CK, If it's all right with you, it looks like I will need your drums to swap 'em out.

i dont know much about making diorama, but i do think that, Jason, perhaps you can add more mess or dirt, stains of old long time spilled liquid... i find it quite clean...

Nice work. My opinion is the same as Koo's, looks a bit too clean. Maybe some dust on the para's boots? Rubble and stones on the ground? Soldiering is a messy business.

I like your paint work on the jump smock, very neat.

Thanks for the input, Koo :)

cheers

:D

Soldat!! setzen Sie Ihr fingger auf einen Auslöser und wischen Sie dieses Lächeln von Ihrem Gesicht weg
Soldier!! put your fingger on a trigger and wipe out that smile from your face

Thanks, Desmo and yup, certainly things to consider when portraying a soldier in action.

Hopefully the next project (if I ever get around to it) will be more 'gritty' than this.

:lol: :lol:

Bear,

Nice vignette.... I love vignette after I've built Bukit Kepong... have quite a few idea and subject would like to build as well.... but time is my enemy :-(

Anyway, others than the comment from fellow forumers and diosifu Bum.... I's like to contribute my idea on this... Look at the pict below that I've edited (sorry for the copyright)..

The half broken wall and bullet holes...



Just my 2 cents
CPTan

Waa CP..your bullet holes looks like it's in the piece itself. :blink:

I didn't add bullet holes because I figured the angle is not right for the bullets to impact as depicted. The line of attack is off scene (from / to the right) and the bullets won't impact perpendicular to the wall unless its a chance ricochet or grazing. Perhaps the barrel on its side could have some holes though. Anyway, I know nuts about ballistics so could just be spouting a lot of hot air. :lol:

The smashed wall is a good idea.

Thanks for the nice art work and suggestions :)

Heheh Bear,

I know nuts about ballistics too.... My concept ofr adding bullet holes on the wall doesn't mean it's made from current engagement.... Maybe they were made from previous fight.... Antway, the main thing is they look nice from my point of view Hehe...

CPTan

i really like the pallet! :D with nails somemore! just that it's a little too clean! not sure it's because of the photography.

overall, would prefer it to be a lot dirtier :P as other members suggested, some oil stain or fluid, or rock and sand might make the whole dio more interesting.

Btw, why the soldier smiling one? :P

Maybe he's smiling coz he's just achieved an all new high body count record. :lol:

Much appreciated on the suggestions and inputs, guys.

Hi Pooh,

I echo the comments from my fellow modelers...too clean. Pallet is nicely done. Paras tunic still not weathered enough.

There's something about the scale of the oil drums...they seem kind of small.

Any war zone would have lots of damage and stray bullet holes.

The walls can be clean but the ground work needs some dirt.

Perhaps just one more layer of final weathering and rubble is all it needs.

Hope my 2 cents helps.

Richard.

Thanks for the comments Richard. :)

The drums as mentioned somewhere above, are of the wrong scale. A classic embarrassing case of not checking the materials before commencing. <_< :lol:

I'll swap the barrels for correct ones when I get them.

The comments for improvement is much appreciated guys. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

cheers

Lovely job!The camo is really very nicely done.
I believe I can identify and name the condition that caused the cleaniness, its called "Aircraft Modellers Prespective" .
Nice chipping/scraping on the drums though and a shame about their size...maybe they're from the Pygmy Fallschirmjager division?

Eng Hui, with 'AMP', you may have just coined a new term similar to 'AMS'. Haha

Der Fuhrer's short lived secret Pygmy division... this must be the division that got annihilated when a careless tank driver rolled over them in his enthusiasm to get to the front. :P

cheers

I'm afraid I'm going to have to defer my esteemed colleague.

The Fallschirmjager's pygmy division is actually known as the "Miniaturteilung". It was a special division within the famed Fallschirmjagers R & D department dedicated to making lighter and more portable equipment. While the drums may appear small they actually can load almost the same capacity of the normal sized oil drum as the oil is pumped in under pressure. There was even talk of shrinking one of the Fallschirmjager's most potent weapons, donkeys but due to the shortages of minerals used in their version of Doraemon's shrinking ray towards the end of the war the idea did not come to bear.

Incidentally the early prototype of Doraemon's shrinking ray gun designed by the Fallshirmjagers R & D is now in the possesion of 2 modellers here. One is Richard who has the Mk. II version and myself with the Mk. I.

That's all for a little bit of forgotten and little known WWII history.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I think the Mk III raygun version just came of the shelf. Traces of its experimentation is seen in Jason's dio :lol: :lol: :lol:

He's got to get used to adjusting the dial and get the proportions just right :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry Pooh...just couldn't help but stray from topic. :D

Richard.

:lol: :lol:

So, Richard, when are you and CK going to give a tutorial on how to 'set' the shrinking ray gun? ^_^ :D

@CK - after a very brief & quickie search into the ever hard to get into 'vikypedia', I manage to dig up some info on this 'pygmy' division. One of the interesting little known fact is that they were given the unflattering nickname of 'Das Eselsansicht Troopen' due to their stature and perpetual area of vision being of the *ahem* posterior of the other normal troops.

Ach.....Esel haben so einen armen Blick. Poor donkeys.

As for the ray gun settings, unfortunately mine has settings for only vegetation and the odd belt buckle, misshapen head being the Mk. I while Richard's Mk. II raygun has settings mainly for signboards, fruits, baskets, bridges and the odd Kupcai. Looks like you are on your own Herr Pooh on this one.

Back to your regular program.

Pooh my man you've done a very good basic job, painting, detailing and setting up everything but I say 'basic' as I'd have to go with the rest who think more can and should be done. I would....definitely and it's still not too late to jazz it up.

More stains, streaks and dust. The helmet could do with some chips. Figure painting is good. CP's idea for the wall is a stroke of genius and yes the holes can be from a previous engagement. Don't be too concerned how they got there. If it looks nice and it does from the edited photo, let it rip! Without weathering the area looks like the contractor just finished the renovation work. Broken masonry, some rubble and sand would add pizzaz to the base especially where the wall meets the floor. 'Bleach' the concrete a little. I like the planks and nails ( nice ) but they look like the furniture shop just delivered them. Time and a lot of elbow grease I presume has already been invested ( which I can't afford myself judging from my 'baseless' figures ) and I feel going the extra mile will be worth it since the dio is going to be displayed for a long time to come. Since you asked, that's my C&C.

Cheers
Patrick

Many thanks Patrick for your inputs :)

I didn't spend too much time on the base as evident from the rather raw finish. :lol:
I'll have to see about adding to the groundwork and perhaps some more details.

Vignettes / Dio's are unchartered waters for me right now so I'm learning as I go along.

All you guys views, advise and comments is really appreciated.

Cheers :)

I see, however our sources must be different as to my knowledge they met their untimely demise during the German-Japanese Exchange program involving "Midget Submarine Training" in Hawaii on the 6th Dec 1941. :P

That's okay EH. The data isn't necessarily inconsistent. Bottom line is, the pygmy divisions were virtually wiped out into non-existence whether by tank or by midget sub.

The ones that got rolled over could have been the exchange division from Japan. It's hard to tell the difference after being rolled over by a Tiger tank and there surely weren't no DNA testing back then.

Perhaps the truth will surface one day. ^_^

Yah! Right! Next thing you know, you'll be creating a master piece like your ship and planes.

Your speed of improvement are like quantum jumps or leaps and bounds....can't wait for your next dio project.

Richard.

Not to be pessimistic but "sepandai-pandai tupai melompat...." :lol:

Thanks & Cheers Richard :)

Yo ho ho and a barrel of (d)rum... ^_^

The pygmy division's accessories got booted out and will be replaced with this more appropriate and to scale one. Thanks CK :)






And here's the reworked scene.






Thanks for viewing again.

C&C welcome.

cheers

A whole, totally new look and feel. The rearrangement of the groundwork has made the whole scene more compact and the shading of the corner has moved this vignette a couple of notches up by giving it a whole new "mood" to the scene making it more gritty and desparate. The feel was furthered with the very well done bullet holes on the wall and drum.

You should be pleased with the results on this one Herr Pooh coz for me this little vignette has definitely put you into the serious diorama maker class. Just before you go being modest and all here's just to prove how much more dramatic the composition has become (drums nothwithstanding):

BEFORE


AFTER


The Defense rest their case.

hehe I very much doubt to being a serious dio maker. Not the way I do stuff anyway. :lol:

Thanks & Cheers

Aaaahh! Much better,

You've got it all right above the floor.

May I add one little secret(not really though) to dusting the floor, get dried enamel paint preferrably old Airfix Tan or Light Earth, pound it to dust. White glue the floor and sprinkle this dust sparingly. Using a brush add and build up more of the dust to the base of the objects and especially where the wall joins. You can also add slightly larger dust speckles.

Small vignettes affords you the luxury to detail even the base(floor). Take as much advantage of it.

You'll find that with all the detail put in I can guarantee you'll spend hours just looking at your own masterpiece and so will we.

Richard.

Many thanks for the tip Richard :)

Now I know how to dust the floor other than using pastels / pigments. :lol:

cheers