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Tommy's New Toy *UPDATE - NEW PICS*

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  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: CANADA
Tommy's New Toy *UPDATE - NEW PICS*
Posted by Kelly_Zak on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 10:20 PM

Hi Everybody, been a very long time since I've put anything up here, but life gets in the way of modelling...this is my latest, took about six months to do, I think it needs more, but I just wanted it done so I could start something else. Currently working on Dragon's T34/85 with bedspring armour...Hobbyboss' M4 High Speed Tractor (90mm version), Tamyia's 88, Dragon and Mini Art figures. The building and base are from the old Synergy Dio Products line, and a fellow club member gave it to me as 1 - he wasn't going to build it and 2 - the building was pretty much broken into many pieces, which I managed to put back to gether somewhat, then damaged it up again! Comments/crits suggestions welcome, enjoy!

 

 

"There you go with those negative waves again!"
  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 10:42 PM

WOW, Kelly!

AWESOME!!!!

This is really nicely done!

If I could critque anything, it would be the look of the windows--too jaggedy, too "pattern-like" in the broken look of the glass. 

If there would be enough concussions or junk flying through the air to break them out, I would think that they would pretty much be mostly gone. I would knock some of the glass right out--just a representation of glass having been there would be enough to convey what you're trying to get across.

Other than that though, everything really looks just superb!

 

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 10:57 PM

Howdy... Your dio certaily jumps out from the screen with those colors... Not often seen in military dios.. I like it!  You did a great job with the building... Overall, a good little scene...

Couple of things though... I'm guessing that the mission these guys are on is recovering the 88?   Makes sense if that's the case... Looks like you moght have had a bit of trouble getting things to fit your base though, since the pad on the 88 is overhanging the dio edge.  Also, I'd add a bit more rubble to the street if I were you...  Kinda looks like there's been a streetsweeper in the area, as well the street could stand a bit more damage... The cobblestones are in too pristine a condition for the amount of previous gunfire in the area...

How about some more construction details?

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: CANADA
Posted by Kelly_Zak on Thursday, April 2, 2009 9:17 AM

Doog/Hans, thanks for the comments and suggestions! You are right that the mission is the recovery of the 88. The pad actually isn't hanging over the edge, just those bloody camera angles, I made a case for the dio last weekend and the pad is just to the edge Big Smile [:D] I agree about the glass being a bit too jagged-y Doog, when looking at it in person, it doesn't seem that bad, but when looking at the pics..oohh boy. And as for the rubble...that was tough for me not to put down a ton of rubble like I usually do (normally for me barely any of the street/sidwalk is visable by the time I'm done)

Some of the construction details: as stated the building is an old Synergy piece along with the street. The building had been busted into a lot of pieces which I managed to get back together again. I opted for no interior, painted everything inside black. I was thinking of adding some curtains to the windows, but honestly forgot to add them. The 88 was a good build, even though it's showing it's age the Tamiya kit is still decent. The Hobbyboss M4 was a dream to build I had alot of fun building it. The only area I had a problem with was the front cab, it didn't want to sit flush, so some sanding down of the interior to make it fit plus some filler seemed to help the situation.

The building colours were taken from a pic of one of MiniArt's kits, and when I had the colours down before weathering, I thought I had a shot up Ikea store! Big Smile [:D] I added window frames made from balsa wood and the boards covering the windows were made from unused coffee stir sticks, with teeny nail holes on the ends. The street was painted almost a dark grey, then "washed" with a mixed slurry of Mig Pigments, I think I used Earth, Industial City, and Brick Dust and let dry. The two figs in the M4 are from MiniArt's Jeep & MP set (lovely set it is!) an a mix of Dragon figs as well (mostly used from the US Tank Riders set)

"There you go with those negative waves again!"
  • Member since
    January 2008
  • From: Tulsa, OK
Posted by acmodeler01 on Thursday, April 2, 2009 9:50 AM

That looks awesome! The colors are very unique for a military dio, but I love the contrast. Definately eye-catching!

I'll echo the glass comments... I think if you used only a small jagged strip of clear plastic around the edges of the windows it would look better.

Maybe youcould add some more rubble, but I think the thing that is missing in most urban-set dios is dust... there just never seems to be enough. 

I thought the placement of the 88 was really well done...it's just peeking around the corner, waiting Mischief [:-,].

How long did the whole thing take to finish? I really like this one.. well done!

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Massachusetts
Posted by ajlafleche on Thursday, April 2, 2009 10:03 AM

Good construction and painting overall.

Two things:

1. The guy in the M8 is looking to the left of the scene. This first disengages him from the other guys and with a couple of them looking in the same direction the viewer's eyes are drawn off to the left and away from the focus of the diorama. Turn him to have him looking at the 88 and you will have a much stronger composition.

2. The spent shells look out of place in front of the gun. The guy getting rid of those shells would be doing so under combat situations. Logically, they should be in a pile somewhere behind the 88. The filled shell boxes should be in one spot, opposite the spent shells and empty boxes flipped to a spot out of the way of the guys operating the 88.

Remember, if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, April 2, 2009 2:45 PM
Ditto on the guy in the M8---I'm guessing he isn't glued down and and just got knocked outta position in moving the dio for the pics...also ditto on the windows--the broken glasss is too jagged and the pieces are way too long to be realistic...overall a nice dio...nice work on the flak and building...are those buildings still available?
  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Friday, April 3, 2009 10:40 AM

I can give two suggestions about the glass.  the first, to make it look sort of broken, I cut mine with a foam cutter.  It works like a soldering iron, except its just a metal string that cuts.  It doesnt cut through, but really weakens it where it runs through, then you snap on the line, worked good last time I used it.

The second is to use sprue nippers.  Use them to do the cuts in the glass, atleast the ones I have, cause to much pressure and causes the plastic to get other cuts and splinters appart from where I cut, giving it a good realism.

Oh, and one more.  The glass can crack, and not break.  I did that on a dio, drilled a hole where the bullet would have went in, then used a knife to creat the circular cracks that expanded outward. 

Some more comment,  Some of your bullet holes looks good, others look like round circles.  When you do them, stick a blade inside the hole and spin it, knicking and scraping the edges, getting rid of the uniformity.

Heres how my glass ended up looking.   

Why did you call it Tommy's new toy?  They look like Yanks to me...

(other then that, I really like it, I like the graffiti, and the building colors! great job) 

 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: CANADA
Posted by Kelly_Zak on Friday, April 3, 2009 1:17 PM
Thanks again all, all these great suggestions will help in future projects. For glass I usually use the 3M overhead projector foils, they cut great, doing the bullet holes in is a big thing I didn't think of. The bullet holes in the building were done with a Dremmel at low speed, will remember to "edge" them a bit to look less circular. I thought the Americans were also called Tommys due to the use of the Tommy gun? The name just seemed to fit Big Smile [:D]
"There you go with those negative waves again!"
  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Friday, April 3, 2009 3:04 PM

well, I get my term from others like, I get my term for americans from the british, yanks.  I get my term for british from americans and germans tommys, I get my term for germans from the allies, Jerry

 

  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Boston MA
Posted by vespa boy on Friday, April 3, 2009 5:42 PM

One thought on the window discussion.

One suggestion for broken glass is to use cover slips that are made for microscopy. They are scale thickness for window panes more or less and are made of real glass, so they break just like glass.

(I don't know a thing about military action or vehicles or uniforms or battle damage so I don't feel qualified to comment on your dio in any critical way. I just don't want you to think I was being rude by not commenting on your dio!)

http://public.fotki.com/nkhandekar

This ain't no Mudd Club, or C.B.G.B.,
I ain't got time for that now

  • Member since
    February 2009
  • From: Carlsbad
Posted by JWalker on Friday, April 3, 2009 9:10 PM
WOW! They're going to have fun making some boom boom with that 88 LOL. Now to see if they can get that thing hitched onto the tractor. Great build
  • Member since
    February 2009
  • From: Carlsbad
Posted by JWalker on Friday, April 3, 2009 9:12 PM
 smeagol the vile wrote:

well, I get my term from others like, I get my term for americans from the british, yanks.  I get my term for british from americans and germans tommys, I get my term for germans from the allies, Jerry



Im confused as well. Only because Ive heard Sherman tanks being referred to by the German's as "Tommy Cookers"
  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Friday, April 3, 2009 9:44 PM
We gave away shermans like unicef gives away pennies.  Every allied faction in the war used shermans (atleast as far as I know)  Commonwealth did, US did, Russia did

 

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Saturday, April 4, 2009 3:33 AM

The generic German military slang term for the Amerikanische Soldaten was "Amis", which translates to "Yanks"...  Same with the Brits, we were "Yanks"... "Tommies"  universally meant British troops, even among the Germans (Tommys). American Soldiers refered to themselves as "GIs" and (Infantry only) "Dogfaces"... "Jerry" was a largely British term for the Germans and never quite caught on with American troops outside the Air Force.  American Soldiers refered to them as "Krauts", by and large...

Also, only civilians call the Thompson SMG a "Tommy gun".. To GIs, it's just plain "Thompson"... Referring to any personal weapon as a "gun" is taboo...

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Saturday, April 4, 2009 5:14 AM
Quite so, thanks for the complete clarification Hans.  I must add though, no mention of the tommy gun would be complete without mentioning it's awesome civilian nickname that came from the 20s, the 'Chicago Piano' cause its just such a cool nickname for a weapon. (government might have been dumb enough to say, nah, we dont want that for the army, in wwi, but the maffia were happy to give it a home.  Tells you who had the more intelligent leadership.

 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: CANADA
Posted by Kelly_Zak on Saturday, April 4, 2009 2:42 PM
hmm...perhaps a name change would be in order? Any suggestions?
"There you go with those negative waves again!"
  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Saturday, April 4, 2009 3:34 PM

How about "Under New Management"?  You could even put that on a "cardboard" sign that one of the wags in the recovery squad hung on the tube...  Perhaps add a photographer taking a picture of  them and the sign for Stars & Stripes ...

I must add though, no mention of the tommy gun would be complete without mentioning it's awesome civilian nickname that came from the 20s, the 'Chicago Piano' cause its just such a cool nickname for a weapon.

Never heard of "Chicago Piano", I've heard "Chicago Typewriter" though, as well as "The gun that made the 20's roar", lol...

I've fired a Thompson on several occasions... One of our reenactor guys in 2 Panzer was a gun dealer and had the Class III FFL for owning automatic weapons... Personally speaking as a Soldier, the Army could keep that heavy SOB... If I were required to carry something smaller than the M1, it would been an M2 Carbine... The Thompson weighs in at about 11 pounds, about the same as the M1 Garand, and twice the weight of an M2 Carbine...  Aside from the ammo and select-fire capability, a Soldier spends WAY more time carryin' his weapon around than he does shooting it, so weight's a big factor, plus the M2 splits the difference between a sub-machine gun and an assault rifle... Out to 200 meters, the M2'd work just fine for me, and the Thompson's accuracy falls to sh*t at around 75/100 meters...  Another thing, the German snipers knew that the M2 and Thompson were carried largely by the officers and NCOs, so they picked on guys they saw with those weapons, lol...

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Saturday, April 4, 2009 5:45 PM
True, for WWII, but if a enemy jumped into my trench, I'd rather a tommy SMG then a bolt action rifle and bayonette.

 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: CANADA
Posted by Kelly_Zak on Saturday, April 4, 2009 9:34 PM
Under New Management great name, but my buddy already has a dio called that LOL!!! and I just did a big "AACKKKK!!" I was looking my dio which is now sitting on top of our china cabinet and I just noticed the hugest no-no! because the stree is uneven, and with the dio at eye level, I've noticed the rear part of the M4 is not even touching the ground...how could I miss that, I always make sure the vehicle is sitting flush...Banged Head [banghead] So now I have the opportunity to pry it off, and add some more rubble and reposition the vehicle...I'll post new shots when done.
"There you go with those negative waves again!"
  • Member since
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  • From: Thailand
Posted by Model Maniac on Thursday, April 9, 2009 10:40 AM
Looking real good! and picture size too small. 800-900 pixels wide would be better! I feel the same as doog about the broken windows. Apart from that, a fine work.

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  • Member since
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  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Saturday, April 11, 2009 1:11 PM

 smeagol the vile wrote:
True, for WWII, but if a enemy jumped into my trench, I'd rather a tommy SMG then a bolt action rifle and bayonette.

You'd shoot yer eye out, Kid..

  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Boston MA
Posted by vespa boy on Sunday, April 12, 2009 10:21 AM

On the subject of broken windows here is a one from a 1/16 scale dio by Chuck Doan. He used microscope slide cover slips for the glazing. I know he has also used them in a 1/24 scale window, so there is no reason why it would not work for a 1/35 scale dio.

http://public.fotki.com/nkhandekar

This ain't no Mudd Club, or C.B.G.B.,
I ain't got time for that now

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Sunday, April 12, 2009 10:52 AM

... microscope slide cover slips for the glazing.

Yupper.. Shep Paine recommended that in his diorama book as well.. 

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Oregon
Posted by falschimjager on Friday, April 17, 2009 8:34 PM

Lovley diorama, the windows REALLY take from the scene though and the quanity of rubble but when that's fixed it'll look fantastic.

 vespa boy wrote:

On the subject of broken windows here is a one from a 1/16 scale dio by Chuck Doan. He used microscope slide cover slips for the glazing. I know he has also used them in a 1/24 scale window, so there is no reason why it would not work for a 1/35 scale dio.

I refuse to belive that's from a diorama, it's just too detailed.

  • Member since
    April 2007
  • From: Hubert, NC
Posted by Gamewarden5 on Saturday, April 18, 2009 5:15 AM

Kelly,

I think your attention to detail is stunning. The paint chipping, weathering, and subtle details are fantastic. I like the bent up cable spool, and the other spool that has the cabling on it. The mud build up on the M4 is expertly applied and not overdone. 

Your New York City work crew trying to prep the 88 for recovery (1 guy working, two guys standing around watching) conveys a sense of action.

New to diorama building I am always on the lookout for great examples for inspiration. 

Great Job

~Brian

Member: IPMS region 12 Eastern Carolina Plastic Modelers On the Bench: 1/72 Revell of Germany ATF Dingo 1/87th Lindbergh Tug Boat Life is full of choices, make one. Train easy, fight hard and die or Train hard, fight easy and live. Heroes stand on the shoulders of men greater than themselves.
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: CANADA
Posted by Kelly_Zak on Saturday, April 18, 2009 9:56 AM
LOL Brian, NYC work crew is pretty much the same here, "Ministry of Transportation Work Crew" applies here! Folks, I do have some pics taken of the rearranged dio with some rubble thrown in, I should hopefully have them posted asap.
"There you go with those negative waves again!"
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: CANADA
Posted by Kelly_Zak on Monday, April 20, 2009 7:16 PM

As promised, here is a few pics of the dio reworked a bit. I have added alot more rubble, repositioned the M4 (couldn't move the figure inside, he was superglued in there) so he is looking at the work being done. I left the windows and glass as is, will use the tips for future dios. As always comments/crits/advice always welcome!

Sorry about the pic quality, I had a hell of a time fighting with the lighting, plus it wasn't sunny when I took these!

"There you go with those negative waves again!"
  • Member since
    November 2007
  • From: Oregon
Posted by Lufttiger on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 10:18 AM
Very cool looking, i like that you added more debris in the street. That blue building is so bright that it tends to draw my eyes to it rather than the subject. But otherwise you did an excellent job on it.Thumbs Up [tup]

www.lufttiger.com

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