Feuer!!! *Yay, party time!*

"Feuer" would be the German word...

Couple of things.. Don't wanna bust your chops though... So... Sandbags... Need a LOT of fixin'... Those Tamiya ones are horrible if you don't have some kind of packed earth in the spaces...

Shoulder seams on the figures need filling, and all need another shot of matte...  Terrain's really crying for more work in the foliage department.  The sandbags would draw counter-fire in a heartbeat since they stand out, rather than blend in..

Also, try taking some "eye-level" shots... 

You're off to a good start though, but need a bit of improvement in the terrain-area and some more attention to detail on figures.. Remember that in a diorama, the terrain is as much a model as well as the kits you put on them... THe "mowed lawn" effect here needs a lot more work with various shades and foliage... Try some tall grass and a couple dead trees or logs..

I think you can pull it off...

to what Hans said.

model maniac, take a few minutes to fill out your profile too; it helps us know a little something about you--if you're just a kid starting up, or a new modeler, or whatever?

This is raw, first-stage diorama building, and it's a good start, but now you have to go beyond the rudimentary placing-of-figures and set pieces in order to really draw the viewer in and impress them with the realism of your work. You must consider beyond what are just the elements--the soldiers, the armaments, the sandbags--and think carefully how each one of these individual pieces--even each piece of each piece--might show wear, weathering, some individual trait or quirk that gives it realism and life?

The groundwork, as Hans mentioned, is one of the most important elements in diorama building. It is not sufficient to put down a simple grass mat, unless you are modeling the well-manicured lawn of a governmental building or golf club house--and then again, if you are, you must make the viewer aware of that, and tell them why in some way. Go out and look at real ground--look att he veriety of plants, of bare patches, of the diversity of cover--there is much to be learned.

Try to get a hold of the great Shep Paine book "How to Build Dioramas"--here is a link to it on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Build-Dioramas-Sheperd-Paine/dp/0890241953/ref=sr_1_1/102-9370310-9224930?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185569293&sr=1-1

It will tell you everything you need to know!

Yay! another modeler close to my age, I'm 14.

The first thing I noticed was that the figures looked shiny but than you mentioned that some of that was glare from the pictures. What kind of paint did you use to paint the figures? if you used Tamiya paints keep in mind that if you mix in the Tamiya Flat Base coulor it will reeeaaly help to remove the shine but don't mix in to much or else the paint turns white! If your useing other paints I can't help ya.

The sand bags also look to clean try dirting them up a bit

I think you can definatly improve this dio with a bit of work.

now would you suggest to fill the gaps with, ''dirt''?

Well, I started building dioramas at your age, and back then I used dirt for "dirt"... Still do... Find a spot and dig some good roadside dirt up, then shake it through a piece of windowscreen... Plaster works too, as well as joint compound and putty...

model maniac 96 wrote:

I turned 12 a few months ago.

Well for 12 years old, that looks pretty darned good!

And stick man at 14? 

It's GREAT to see that we have some young blood in the honny still!I thought everyone your ages was walking around with earbuds in their ears, texting til their fingers wear out, or sitting in front of a game screen?! 

Good to see you two doing something to actually learn something creative and productive!

the doog wrote:

model maniac 96 wrote: I turned 12 a few months ago. DAMN! Well for 12 years old, that looks pretty darned good! And stick man at 14?  It's GREAT to see that we have some young blood in the honny still!I thought everyone your ages was walking around with earbuds in their ears, texting til their fingers wear out, or sitting in front of a game screen?!  Good to see you two doing something to actually learn something creative and productive!

seriously? 12?  Thats good for 12, though, I agree with doog and hans.  Not only do I wish I had been building since 12, I wish I had of been getting advice from people like doog and hans for that long, wow.

Started building at 6, (14 now) you wish you were that young still have my first tank althought it's been repoainted 1/72 kvII

Okay, very impressive but some light work needs to be done, try using a darker color of grass (made the same mistake a while back and needed to re-do an entire diorama, some trees and spare weapons would be nice (life-like scale models makes excellent trees for a fair price and taimya sells extra weapons), i'd recommend including some shrubs or bushes to camofladge to themortar (because the last thing the germans want is to be spotted in an open field with little cover). and try making the diorama a little less flat next time what i do is as follows

1) find the board (should be wood)

2)lay styrofoam (anything works but i prefer styrofoam)in a very very rough version of the hills(shape doesn't matter only height) 

3)takes some screen (as in windowscreen) and lay it over the styrofoam use a constuction stapler to attatch the windowscreen to the plywood over the styrofoam)

4) mix plaster and water in a used container

5)take cut up newspaper soak it in the plaster/water mixture and apply it over the screen (like paper mache) be sure to use multiple layers.

6)allow to dry spray paint and flock (i'll try to get pictures of the finished result up)

sorry about the long post i got carred away

Ditto with the doog on Shep Paine's How to Build Dioramas. That's a terrific book! I haven't built a diorama in years, but I've always liked looking at them.

It's good to see young people like you getting into the hobby!

Good points made so far MM! My two cents are detail and dirt...I always say: 5 minutes in the feild and it's dirty! As far as detail, find good reference material and pay close attention to the landscape...helps loads when doing your ground work. A trick I developed is to look at a interesting veiw (the backyard is a good place to start) and tell yourself: I can model that! You have a good foundation, just raise the bar for yourself and listen to the advice given in previous posts...unlike this one, they know what they are talking about...Keep it up!

Thanks for all of your really helpful comments guys! To get rid of the "mowed lawn" effect, I have plaster cast, painted, washed and dry brushed some rocks. Tell me what you think!

Thanks, Jim

Dang.. wish I was that good when I was 12..   I'm 17 now, and have modelled for as long as I can remember.. 

Looking forward till more! And mark what Mike wrote. They are not dropped from a helicopter.

Hi guys!

   With all of the improvements such as rocks that have been blended into the earth "not dropped by a helicopter" and I darkened the original grass color, darkened and dirtied the sandbags, and rearranged the order of the sandbags. No easy feat! Tell me what you think guys!

   Vector123, the kit was Dragons Fallschirmjager 8 cm mortar team in Italy 1944 (kit #6215), with a few slight homemade modifications. Hope that answers your question!

 Thanks! Jim

vector123 wrote:

Yes it does. Thanks il have to get that kit.

camo junkie wrote:

mm96 looks much better than b4. i would take the smaller rocks off of the bigger rocks and take the grass off the upper sandbags. your getting the idea though and just your current changes made a world of difference. maybe you could take the grass out of the area around the inner sandbags making it seem like that ground work was used to fill the bags. in other words put sand down in that area. but definately loose the rocks on top of the bigger ones. other than that for a first attempt you didnt do half bad!

Very nice, the changes have really improved the whole dio.

Well done, looking forward to your next one.

Mark

my only complaint now is that it looks like they shoved grass in the sandbags maybe paint it brown?

but always remember no matter how skilled you are there will always be a flaw or two.

Anyway it looks great

Well, I like it

What did you use for gras, and the base?