Newbie with a question or two :)

It depends.  If you have a specific photo or story that you can go with, then yes.  Most of the time dioramas are made up scenes (maybe from a particular battle) designed to catch attention, or to just utilize the given resources.  For example, I'm making a diorama of a bomber returning from a mission.  While I have the details down to the exact date and mission number, I dont know what it was really like after it returned from the raid.  As long as the scene you are making is accurate (meaning it could have happened) you will be just fine.

i agree with red raider, if it could have happened then go for it. but then theres the "What If' catagory. a wild idea that never happened, but might have happened had something been done differently...im bad at explaining, can someone else explain better?

In other words, your possibilities are almost endless

Hi Rob,

Good to have you on board. You've made an excellent choice of getting the Italeri Commando Jeep as it's a jem of a kit. It's like a B-17 on wheels loaded with guns and I've got two of 'em. The Farmyard is another good choice.

Redraider and Scorpion have explained it well. Basically for me it can start anywhere depending on the focal point. For instance your jeep is the focal point set just outside a French Farmyard at a road junction with a crooked sign. Storyline can be that they're checking their bearings. One figure is checking his map against the crooked sign while the other commando is conferring with a greatful farmer who has brought with him a bottle of wine and cheese to share with his liberators.

The far out and what if scene explained by Scorpion could be an action scene(more difficult to execute). These jeeps were known for speed and lightning surprise attacks. Imagine one accidently driving through a barn and emerging covered with straw, chickens and splattered eggs. If you can pull this off ...it'll be great.

It's always good to start simple and your skills will progress as you get the hang of it. Dios are fun so make it a fun build.

Cheers,

Richard

  Hello Rob.

  First up....welcome to the forums....

  Ok, as to your question, the way i see it is this...... Some modellers like to stick as closely to the real thing and factual evidence as possible. Overall i have no problem with this. You can take a photo of a tank and model it exactly, replicating the vehicle, markings and the terrain if you are doing a dio. That's great and modelling this way produces some fantastic work.

  Here is the other way i see it...... There must have been many a situation or event that happened that was never recorded in any way. This to me gives you the right to exercise your imagination and artistic talents. Sure, a 105mm gun may have usually been towed by a half track or a suitably capable vehicle. But who is to say someone, somwhere, didn't attempt to move one by attaching it to a Willys Jeep because they had nothing else ( that is just an example). It may have just never been photographed or the story told and passed on.

  Of course a whitewashed model Tiger tank would a bit odd if placed in a dio featuring the Afrika Corps with palm trees all around. Be realistic to a certain extent, but don't tie yourself down with too many hard facts. History has produced some wierd and wonderful sights and goings on and i am sure we have not seen or heard of them all and maybe never will. This to me, in my opinion, gives you, me and everyone else the right to do whatever we want!!

  Feel free to put your ideas into the forums to get others thoughts but remember that at the end of the day, it's your work and your hobby and your the one who has to be happy with the final outcome. Think about things as you plan your work. I guess, think realistically and research the accuracy of a model to a certain extent but at the same time, don't be afraid to let your imagination have a little bit of fun too, because that's what this hobby is about......HAVING FUN!!!

  Looking foward to seeing your Commando Jeep progress. You've picked a good subject to use your imagination on. Who really knows what those wild and dardevil Commandos did that we have never heard about.....

Boomer...

  Found this website/link for you....

                         http://www.m201.com/sasjeep.htm

 Hope you get something out of it. The bottom pick shows captured German jerry cans on the vehicle. Make mental note to put German jerry cans in vehicle to add interest...

Boomerang...

Thank you everyone for your warm welcome! And thank you all so much for your idea's and advice. I really do appreciate it, as I have no clue what I'm doing. As I said, I do have an idea or two rattling around in my brain that I would like to try. Richard, I would LOVE to try my hand at a diorama that you suggested. The through the wall covered with eggs and hay, straw etc. I think maybe once I get grounded with learning what's what, I may try that one.

I've noticed that there seems to be an abundance of material for creating German tanks, jeeps, figures etc, while there is much less for the US, or even the allies for that matter. Not that there isn't enough for the USA and the Allies, it just seems there is more on the German side.

I'm not that great with getting the size of scale objects down in my head yet. Can anyone give an idea in inches how big the 1/35 commando jeep will be?

Thank you all for posting the links to the pictures of the things I'm going to be working on. That really is great help. In one of those, I noticed that the jeep was more or less used by the SAS? I hope it's not to far off that I will have US Marines using  it.

I've also been creating the diorama in my head a lot more and I also realized I will be picking up Tamiya's Livestock/Farm Animals kit as well. A few chickens here and there, perhaps a cow or horse in the barn... I'm not sure which will be more fun...to build the models or adding the small stuff to really make the scene 'pop'.

Do you guys draw your scene on paper first? Or just wing it?

Again, thank you all for the quick replies and the warm welcome. I will start to post pictures (unless I'm to embarrassed) when my models get here and I start to put them together.

Rob

ps- oh, one more quick question. Do you guys use any particular company for items like grass etc? I always loved the scenery that is used in making model railroads (although the whole train thing is not my thing). I know that I will use a butt load of stuff from my yard, as there is ALOT of good stuff out there. But was just wondering what or who you guys used for your materials.

jumping right into dioramas i see. hmm. i would practice with Armour first than i would build bases.

Hi, welcome to the forum and the world of dioramas. I think it has been explained very well already. I look at the kit in question and decide on how i want to show it, trying to have as much variety in the scenes as i can. I do go for historacal accuracy as much as possable, namely by making sure the kit is question served with a certain unit, in a certain thearter at a certain time. And i try to get the groundwork as accurate as i can to that scene. If i see a photo i like and think i can replicate, i will try to do that. For example, i build an Ostwind last year, and i had a photo of the very vehcile i was building. In the dio i plan on poseing the kit just as it is in the photo, but will have different figures in different posers to those in the pic.

My main advice would be to plan. I draw the scene i want to re-produce, measureing it out. But, i am flexable, allowing my scene to evolve even as i am building. Don't cram to much into a space that to small or have lots of empty space that doesn't add anything. But then don't simply add somthing to fill a void if it doesn't add to the scene.

Hi Rob,

Glad you like the ideas.

The size of the Commando Jeep in inches is L 3 3/4" x W 1 3/4" x H 1 3/4". This particular up-armoured jeep was used by the SAS, British and French Commandos in Southern France if I can recall. The other distinct detail are the two estra fuel tanks in the back besides the extra guns.

Yes do draw up a plan first even on your base if neccessary. This helps in your composition, spacing and the amount of items needed before starting the project.

Woodland Scenic would be a brand most associated with ground work and flora for dios. Mine was brandless and pre-packed which I got from my LHS that I frequent. Take a look at the model railroad section in the hobby shops...they've got lots of stuff for dios...careful with the scale though.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Richard

Thank you again! I think I will sit down and do a more detailed drawing. I did a rough sketch and liked it, so I think I'll flesh it out. And holy cow! That is one tiny jeep! I'm just finishing up my most favorite car in the whole world, the Mustang Shelby, GT 350R and it's over 6 inches long. I'm looking at half that for the jeep. Best get my tweezers out lol.. I have a feeling there is gonna be small parts.

  Hey Rob, glad you liked the link i posted....

 Your SAS Jeep is not too bad. You will find it pretty straight foward. I have the Italeri SAS Jeep in my stash and it's a basic but reasonable kit. It's probably not a bad choice for a first go. Just build to your comfort level and don't be too hard on yourself in trying to build a contest winner first up. And don't be embarressed show it off.

  If you go and use model railway items, as already mentioned, just be wary of the scale. HO guage which is the most popular is 1/87 scale where as your Jeep is 1/35.

  Don't be afraid to do a diorama for your first build. Just make it simple. Italeri make some basic but satisfactory diorama accessories that you would find easy to work with. I have the Church ruins and a ruined building corner. They also do a basic shelter type structure, which is an Aid Post. It could be used for a farm structure though. They do lots of little kits with great stuff for dioramas and the best part is that they are dirt cheap and perfect for a beginner to practice with...

  Just don't get to complicated and overwhelm yourself....

  Boomer...

.

Hey there Rob, I think your idea for your dio sounds great. And to answer your question it is usually a bit of both, sometimes I make scenes of actual events, and sometimes I see kits that I want and I think of a dio to put them in. Also a word of Caution Miniart's kits are vacuum formed. I don't know if you have expierience with vacuum formed kits but it usually helps.

Are you sure about them being vacuum formed. According to hannats they are injection molded and that what the photos of parts i have seen look like.

I do have some experience with vacuum formed kits, although not a whole lot to be honest. Have to learn some time, so...

You all have given me some great tips and idea's and I do thank you. I just finished up my Shelby last night, now I have nothing to do. I wish my jeep would get here so I can start creating. I also picked up a set of jeep stowage that was on sale and had lots of cool looking stuff in it.

At least it will give me tons of stuff to paint. Also went over my yard and found some great stuff to add to the diorama. Found some branches that I cut down and broke into pieces at points so I could create tree stumps and fallen trees next to them. Also, made a 'wood pile' of branches that look like they have been chopped. I'm going to put a small cut tree trunk in and have an axe in it, with the pile of wood next to it. Guess I'm thinking of all the little things in the diorama. Since it's a farm house, I am getting these two figures I really like of an old farmer and his granddaughter waving at the GI's. Perhaps also, adding a small basket with bread and wine in it. Sort of like that bag in the above picture, but more...I dunno, farm like.

Maybe I'm over thinking things a bit. I've just always felt the devil is in the detail so to speak and it's the small things that make the scene pop.

One other question I have, if you were building some other diorama, say at an airstrip or something and you wanted to have a vehicle, in 1/35 scale, what size plane would add? What scale I mean? How do you figure this stuff out, I'm really lousy with it.

Thanks again for all the help! Really appreciated...

Rob

There are a few aircraft kits in 1/35th scale, but the main aircraft scale close to that is 1/32nd, and it is close enough to combine the two. Though your choice of subjects is limited. You might be better going for a 1/48th vehicle as there are more aircraft in that scale.

yep i have some of the kits and here is a pick of one of them:

 is vacuum formed or is it injection molded? maybe I am confused.

I believe some of the mini art kits do have the vacuum form, if I am remembering the descriptions correctly. But I believe the Farm I've picked out, is all injection.

Hmm while looking over the possible kits, I'm not sure now which to go for, farm wise...what do you guys think?

This one..

Or this one:

I really really love the detail on the Verlinden and it shouts with so many possibilities but I also really like the Miniart one as well.

Which do you folks like better?

The verlinden one does have lots of detail and looks more like a barn, the miniart kit is good too but it looks more like a tool shed not a barn. So if you are looking for a barn get the verlinden kit.

Yea, thank you. I was hoping folks would point more towards the Verlinden kit. I can just see a  horse head sticking out of the barn, some chickens running around. And those two figures I want to get coming out of the larger door(the old man farmer and his granddaughter)

This is the farmer and granddaughter...

You should get the tamiya livestock set for that. it has a horse a pig chickens and some other things.

Hi Rob~   Welcome to the madness!

~~You sure ask alot of question on this thread--that's OK--better that a hundred seperate new threads--but I have to stress one thing---research---  Not only for historical accuracy for the subject(s) you are modeling--which is very importaint to good work--but research of the materials and techniques needed. Basically read, read, view, and read some more--every spare minute, books, magazines, blogs, kit reviews, historical accounts--in short-- a good Diorama builder has got to have reading as a close 2nd hobby and must really be adept at all aspects of scale modeling to pull off a convincing scene. I would suggest you look back in the posts in this Diorama Forum for example and find some work you like the look of...and really study the blog and what went into the Diorama.

As to your 1st question as to how we come up with good ideads for Dio's--  It can certainly develope in many different ways---A kit you want to build may have you asking-"where would I find such a thing? Doing what?" What else would likely be in such a scene"? Here's where imagination comes to play--and yes, it's a good idea to start sketching here, at least some little thumbnails, to save some ideas, unless you can really keep it all straight in your head. I think "likely" is the key--what is likely to be in the scene--although  unusual can be a nice change of pace too, you should know enough about your subject to be able to decide where to take some chances. Of course in  during your research you may be inspired to build a scene from a photo or account, and these are some of the most demanding artistic challenges(but if well done, some of the most likely to see print in armor-specific publications too)

Now more specificly those 2 structures you have are nice, and will lend themselves easily to a farm scene like you are talking about.  Offhand I'd recommend the Verlinden one for ease  of use, but the Mini-Art structures are very nice if built with patience and care--though they are not easy to deal with, they can make a great scene. The Mini Art structures are vacu-formed----the detail parts that are included in thier kits are injection moulded (gates, window frames, ect.) They have a terrific website you should check out and includes a tutorial I suggest you read for assembly.

I hope thats of some help---the best advice I think is to study the work of modelers you like, and collect some inspiration, and try to form your own ideas about how to do things. As you can see, people here enjoy helping if you ask them.

.

I grabbed the Farm Animal kit you suggested and it does have all the right animals. Thank you.

Thank you Indy for all the info and suggestions. I really appreciate the help from you and everyone else. This is a great forum, I've never met such helpful people. I am a BIG fan of reading and I have read a butt load of books, I've read a few of the Osprey books, Building and Painting Figures, Modelling WW2 Figures, Ancient and Midieval Modeling..as well as some of the Verlinden books, the ww2 aircraft books, the Military Vehicle books and part of the Diorama books. I have to finish up those. I also have some of their mags, which I love. The dioramas in those are incredible and they have some great information.

Next I will move on to the Verlinden Way books. I'm going to hit those links you gave me from Mini Art and read those. I know I ask a lot of questions, and for that I'm sorry. I'm just really excited about starting to build military kits and diorama's. I've never really 'noticed' if thats the correct word, them before just recently as I have usually done auto kits. But now, all I see is the military kits. I know, I'm whacked. But it does sound like fun and seems it will be a great outlet for any artistic side I may have.

I am going to go with what you all recommended and get the Verlinden barn. I think it does look more like a barn and I can see more of a picture when I look at it. I can see the jeep out front, the chickens, the horse..the old farmer and his granddaughter..and I think ti will work out nicely. I just hope my first attempt is not a complete disaster.

Thanks again,

Rob

~Right on Rob!

It's not going to be a disaster man--I can tell you're putting alot of thought into it---and your enthusiam is awsome--and comes straight across---It sound like you already have tons of modeling skills and information under your belt---just keep going studying and developing skill sets and you will find yourself getting the kind of results you have in mind.

~Just remember to take your time-anything worth doing is worth doing right!

~Post work-in-progress pictures andask questions if you want and HAVE FUN!

umm, lol, I have yet another question. This is a painting question. I'm reading about the steps in the painting phase of the building. I know the basics, after  the primer coat has dried, then lay down the base color. After the base coat, you add the thinned down black as the wash, wipe it off, leaving enough in the crevices etc to simulate the 'old age' look. After this comes the dry brushing. Then they mention something I am not familiar with at all, it's: 'line out the hatches, air intake, bolts, rivets etc with matt black" does this mean to outline those sections with the black? If so, would you outline, say pockets, belts etc with the matt black on uniforms?

Sorry to pepper you all with this questions, I just want to make sure I know what I'm doing..lol or at least have a pretty good idea.

Thanks!

Rob

NO! Dont' do that!  You got outdated information--is that Verlinden book stuff?

Robh22

umm, lol, I have yet another question     

  *not a problem

. This is a painting question. I'm reading about the steps in the painting phase of the building. I know the basics, after  the primer coat has dried,             

  *overnight--or longer

then lay down the base color. After the base coat, 

                        *or coats--you didn't say what you're painting--but a number of thin coats are usually better than one thick covering coat that may obscure detail

 

 you add the thinned down black as the wash, wipe it off, leaving enough in the crevices etc to simulate the 'old age' look.      

      *this is the badley outdated part---no one really is advised to use a "over-all black wash" anymore, although it does have certain aplications---for vehicles most modelers these days prefer a burnt seinna wash or sienna mixed with black or paynes grey , or depending on the base color, something else entirely. As a rule of thumb a wash should be a darker aspect of the base color, but sometimes it can be far lighter, like using a sandy color to portray dust covering a vehicle and gotten into all the nookls and crannys.

After this comes the dry brushing. 

     * Maybe, maybe not. drybrushing is without doubt an essential technique to keep in your box of tricks, but has also really fallen out of popularity at least the way it used to be used--building up rather unrealistic color changes on everthing on your model(s)

Then they mention something I am not familiar with at all, it's: 'line out the hatches, air intake, bolts, rivets etc with matt black" does this mean to outline those sections with the black?

  * this is refering to what is now always called a pin-wash. This is just a more controled method of applying a wash, it's more restrained, adding emphesis to features  pretty much one at a time--and a little at a time. it's very effective and time-consuming.

*Tons have been written regarding the wash, drybrushing & the pin-wash--in fact entire Forum threads exist here at FSM and you can find them using the search feature. Again...more reading---well worth saving you the trial and error

 If so, would you outline, say pockets, belts etc with the matt black on uniforms?           

   * NO WAY     This is something that no one does anymore and looks really unrealistic.  If you want some good figure painting tutorials they're here too, and elsewere.

Sorry to pepper you all with this questions, I just want to make sure I know what I'm doing..lol or at least have a pretty good idea.

*it's fine--there's just no way to give you a decent answer without going to that kind of trouble --RESEARCH!
Thanks!

Rob