Another first attempt from a newbie....

Feel free to run with the idea if ya want, Pard..

I cut a notch in his neck, then heated the neck over a candle and bent to shape. Unfortunately, I melted the poor sucker's ear off.... That needs work.

Suffered from that m'self, once upon a time.  Nowadays, I saw the heads off, carefully going around the collars until I can snap it off... Then I clean it up a bit, drill a hole in the bottom of the head and one in the torso, then insert a length of straight-pin "spine" into the holes.  Get the head positioned where I want it, glue it down, then fill in the gaps with Testor's putty through a precision gluing tip, then sand and paint...  I pretty much do all the joints that way now... Straight pins are cheap, but any small diameter wire would work... Even stretched sprue works... 

Doog, Razor, & Hans:
 Thanks so very much for looking at this effort. I really appreciate you steering me in a direction that, as a novice, I can control i.e. the storyline and composition, and not the technical details (like the paint job) that I don't feel experienced enough to do anything about (yet!).

I think that I could do better to suggest a barn interior, for example, by adding implements or even a wall. 

I really like Hans' idea of showing a tryst, say, with a girl hiding behind a barrel. That would be pretty evocative. Exchange the ammo box for a sidearm, and add a food basket on the table. Very, very cool idea.

The figure conversion involved bending the arm joints and tipping the head slightly to the side. I cut a notch in his neck, then heated the neck over a candle and bent to shape. Unfortunately, I melted the poor sucker's ear off.... That needs work.

I rather like the table cloth, though I couldn't continue the checker pattern in the folds along the sides. Any ideas?

Myself, I raid dollhouse websites and print out wallpaper and such... Could easily be use for tablecloths..

The hay is also much too coarse. I used some rope fibers, the upside is the variation in fiber thickness. Any ideas on how to model hay?

Several, but I think yours is just as good as any I'd suggest.  I knew it was hay (or straw) immediately, and that's what you want to have happen. 

For just gettin' back in and tackling a figure conversion right outta the chute, I think you've done extremely well technically... Other than the story-line, I'd call it a first-time GO...

(I thought it was a work-in-progress and he was perhaps meeting up with a French farmgirl for a little black-market dining in a barn...)

I think aside from the non-self-explainatory story line (doog pointed this out) , you did a great job.  Nice work with the "accessories" - a good first effort.

razorboy

Gnet, it ooks fine, for a first attempt; my biggest problem with it would be that, if you hadn't explained it, I never would have known what you were really trying to portray?

Technically, diorama's should tell a story to the viewer. While yours is certainly enigmatic, you should try to clarify your composition to the viewer in a better way. 

Perhaps the soldier could have been a llittle more "cautious" or "paranoid" looking? Like, maybe looking behind him more, while holding an appropriately-strange-looking box? What you have there looks like a guy sitting down to eat solo with his ammo can. The setting looks like its out in a field somewhere--not exactly "private" wouldn't you say?

Figure painting is one tough discipline! Just keep practicing, and researching and reading up on it. You'll improve slowly, but don't get discouraged!