Diorama Group Build and Contest Roster

Howdy Hans,

  Please consider this my official sign up. There will be no actual models in my build, figures and figure  accessories only. So if it sucks, at least I will go down in flames  first serious build in 20+ years, and looking forward to blowing the dust off the *cough cough* skills. 

  Even started practicing my casting in preparing for this build, after twenty years away, I can still create a ruble pile to rival the best of them. Now if I could only cast a d***ed brick

Subhuman1

Now if I could only cast a d***ed brick

and cast the bricks in plaster...add a drop or two of dishwashing deterget to the plaster to reduce bubbles and let it set. If you like you can tint the plaster before casting.

That will be the next step, I made my first mold out of styrene, and it was just a little to stiff to pop anything out of, not to mention my plaster mixes where off as well. Like I said, blowing the dust off after so long, got a bit of a learning curve to get back up to speed here. Thanks for the idea and suggestion Vespa!

casting my own stuff is my next big step, just need to get around to getting the RTV and Resin.

Anyway, i am officially submitting my build for this GB. It will be Dragons 251/17Ausf D.

The kit itself was built 2 years ago for the 251 GB. As you can see, i added an Eduard PE set and Armourscale barrel. The gun is still to be secured, as i need to add figures, and the vehcile needs fitting out with kit. It was painted with Tamiya Acrylic. This was my first attempt at an oil wash and it came out darker than i expected. But i think it will fit well into the Dio.

Heres where it stood at the end of the GB, and how it looks now, plus a nice covering of dust which is going to need blowing away.

I will give details of my planning process when i start the Dio.

Vespa, are you in or out? Your work would fall into the "Miscellaneous" catagory, I'd wager..

If crossovers are allowed, I'm in...

Define, "Crossover".. Is it a diorama for another GB? (NO-GO) or just models that're crossing over? (GO)

I guess I'm a NO-GO...

Subhuman1

That will be the next step, I made my first mold out of styrene, and it was just a little to stiff to pop anything out of,

Sub-H: You need to make the sides of the casting box removable. I used tape to seal the corners. Then when the silicone has set take off the sides and pop out the rubber mould.

Hans: I am right now about to start two new builds, so I can enter, and the time scale is about right. I'll be making a model of the ground...outside MoMA on 53rd street; the second is outside 121 Innerbelt Road Somerville. You can count me in.

Manstein's revenge

I guess I'm a NO-GO...

That's a shame, Manny.. I was really looking forward to seeing your work... You do such a great job with figures making the story jump out at you..."Death In The Courtyard" is still my favorite work of yours.. I even had the time-limit set at 229 days just for you..

I'll be making a model of the ground...outside MoMA on 53rd street; the second is outside 121 Innerbelt Road Somerville.

Ok.. Be sure to include your "prototype" pics of the location to me via back-channel...

D-Day in less than 9 hours... 2400 Central Time is H-Hour, D-Day..

Hans,

I'm definitely still in on this!  My dio will be some sort of WW II airfield scene.  Have a few ideas, still trying to find some pics online to firm up what I want to do.

Steve

I'm definitely still in on this one Hans. The genre is Sci-Fi, but there are no vehicles involved, just figures and (what I hope will be ) a killer base. Not sure what category that puts me in.

Hans, I haven't done a dio since I was a middle schooler, but I've got an idea that's kicking around my head for a while now and this is the place to try it.  Count me in, but my idea has AFV's but the story isn't really military in nature.

Hans quote Sheps' key elements on what makes a diorama, its reason for being.

Too often I see a nice vehicle on a base with a few figures called a diorama?

It would help set the tone stating criteria for the expectations of whats involved in taking the said figures, base, vehicle, aircraft or ship to the next level.

Hi

I''ve never done a group build and I'm not sure of the proper edicate, however I would like to try this one. I'll likely do something construction or agricultural oriented. I have just started to scratch build a Lombard steam powered log hauler/snowmobile. This could well end up as the main subject mater for my dio entry. The story line will come after I get the model built. It will be in 1/25th scale

Thanks

Carl

Dre

Hans, Count me in, but my idea has AFV's but the story isn't really military in nature.

I'll put you down for "Misc." for now..

Deputy Dawg Ca? You're in and registered...

SuppressionFire

Hans quote Sheps' key elements on what makes a diorama, its reason for being.

Too often I see a nice vehicle on a base with a few figures called a diorama?

It would help set the tone stating criteria for the expectations of whats involved in taking the said figures, base, vehicle, aircraft or ship to the next level.

From, "The Gospel According to Shep"...

   A diorama, in it's strictest term, is a scene enclosed in box and viewed through a small opening, something we more commonly call a "Shadow Box".  In recent years, a diorama has come to mean any scene executed in three dimensions, whether it's enclosed in a box or not.  At its most basic, then, a diorama is nothing more than than a model or group of models placed in a realistic setting. This setting almost invariably involves a landscaped base of some sort and probably a few figures to add scale and interest.

A Diorama Tells a Story

 A diorama, in its most developed form, is not just a model or group of objects, but a model of an event.   It may  be active and obvious, sch as an infantry attack, or it may be passive and subtle, such as weary infantrymen resting after a battle, or a forlorn and derelect aircraft abandoned in the desert.  When a diorama becomes narrative, figures become an important elemnt; it is difficult to have smetning going on without peole around.  Even when there are no people at all, as in the case of the derelect airplane, its the conspicous absence that tells the story and makes the scene work. (Italics mine-HvH)

So basically, he says that a diorama is a model on a lanscaped base.  However, he also says that a diorama, in it's "most developed form" is a story.

 So that means, although a good diorama can be built with just a model and some figures, a great diorama is one that tells a story, be it with or without figures...

Look slike we have a nice variety of subjects on this one. I reckon theres going to be a lot to learn here for dio builders old and new.

Hans,

  Sorry, for the confusion, my dio entry will be military in nature, but will not include any military vehicles. It will how ever make use of military figures. And depict (hopefully) a military scene.

  Thanks kindly

      Dan

What era?

I reckon theres going to be a lot to learn here for dio builders old and new.

There always is, for me anyway, Bish...  Good dio-builders never stop learnin'...  If it were true that you don't need to keep learning, Shep never would have published the second edition to his book, lol...

If the "what era?" was directed at me, it will be WWII,  Europe.

Gotcha.. Thanx..

OK, I'll bite. Count me in.

My dio will be WWII Europe. Featuring a Tasca M4A1 Sherman... That's all i'm saying right now. The rest is for me...

I posted in the other tent. WW2 in the Pacific

Gotcha both.

Tak for det.

Also, do we all drop our pants at once, or post when we finish? I like the group moon idea myself.

Is drinking permitted/ is it reimbursable?

Can we talk smack? After all 229 days is a long ways away. I might be dead.... no, just thinking ahead.

Here's the last big dio I did.

Just sayin', to scare away the squirrels...

Hans,

I am still game. Please enter me for definately military and definately WW2 Been running possibilities for a dio through my head ever since you started the other thread....... So much options....such a little frog brain....

Richard

bondo, thats sweet. I'd love to see how you did that.