Contest; Which Category ?

Sounds like a diorama to me...

Shep Paine did a couple quite famous (at least with with Monogram aircraft diorama builders)dioramas that had no figures... One, a B-24D, the "Lady Be Good" as she appeared in the Libyan desert before she was found, the other was a derelect B-25H that was sitting out in the Arizona desert some years after WW2, awaiting the scrapper.. The only life-signs on the B-25 dio was a rattlesnake that had curled up in the shade of a wing and an oil drum that had "Keep Off" painted on it...

Both worked pretty well in telling a story without figures...  But it's rare that a diorama without a clear story will win anything, lemme tell ya... Non-diorama builders that're also judges have a hard time "getting" a story at times...If you're too subtle, you'll likely be disappointed...  They'll just see a model car on a landscaped base..

The "Living Quarters" thing is your story, as I see it.. So make sure it's kinda obvious..

Whether a particular base represents a diorama or just a base is a judgement call. If the base is not much larger than the model, and has very little additional detail, then enter in the car category.  But if there were other things than just the car and ground cover, I'd lean towards diorama.

Derelict vehicles seem to be a favourite subject matter for dioramas in the auto diorama classes. Your model would fit right in.

carl

Your description is kinda vague (probably intentionally).  Post a picture and you should be able to get a better answer.

Dio's don't always have to have figures in them, and they certainly don't have to have multiple models. If i do a tank closed up and miving through cover, for example, its still a dio in my book.

Without seing it its hard to tell, but it sounds like a dio to me. Can you ask the judges, i guess they will be the ones to decide.