Look what we found

I think it looks really good!

I generally like what I see here...What I would offer as suggestions would be to never have your base borders higher than your groundwork--makes it look as though the diorama is sinking.  Also, on photography---choose a neutral background.  White, blue and black are favorite colors for this.  And lastly, more close-up pics, particularly of the figs so the detail can be seen (or not)...

Very nice! I Echo Manny...this one deserves some close up shots

OK, here's a few more...either my camera is not very good or I don't know how to use it very well. I strongly suspect the latter is more accurate.

Most of my close ups are blurry and the light's not good but I will practice. Thank you for the kind comments and observations, it's very helpful to have others to bounce things off of to improve my products.

Regards,

Mark

I like your work, particularly on the vehicles...figs are a little above average, espacillay considering the figs you used were pretty basic...I think you are good enough at figure painting to give some nicer resin ones a crack...Look at the Alpine line of figs...

Ohhh much better pictures. Looks great to me.

Thats a nice Dio, i like it. I think the dusting on the M3 is about right. The chipping on the 222 is a little over done for my taiste.

Nice work

Too true, figures are a weak spot of mine altho by accident I manage to get some acceptable results on occasion. You're likely right about resin, a little better defintion sure could not hurt.

Thanks

101st

Herc

Manny

Mark-

Cheers, man. It looks great! I think you've done a real good job here. I appreciate what Manny noted about the sinking base... I wouldn't have thought of that, and might be guilty of doing it myself. But your groundwork looks very realistic.

Yes, go for resin figures. I am a resin snob, and you got the skills to graduate to the finer molds.

I like more dirt, dust, mud & rust on vehicles, especially dust on those vehicles in a desert setting. But that's just my opinion.

If you do take more shots, maybe try some outdoor shots? I like to take shots outside in the late afternoon, to get real, but indirect, sunlight. You might be able to set it up in such a way as to get a kinda realistic looking backdrop.

I disagree actually from what I've seen chipping to the original grey was common in Africa and it gives it a nice experienced look, but I suppose that's my own opinion.

I also think that even if resin is out of your price range you should look into Dragon's ranges, their figures are pretty much the best plastic figs on the market and give some resin a run for its money. They have more detail then what you have and would benefit more from your skills in painting.

Good job on the difficult Caunter scheme for the M-3.  

I too have seen similar worn weathering on the 222, so I don't think it looks out of the ordinary.

tigerman

Good job on the difficult Caunter scheme for the M-3.  

I too have seen similar worn weathering on the 222, so I don't think it looks out of the ordinary.

Ye, fair one. I guess i wasn't taking into account the way these were painted, over the Pz Grey, and the harsh conditions of the desert.

Thank you all for your responses and honest assessments, you can be sure these are being filed away in what I use for a memory for future reference.

Bish-I was kind of wondering about the level of chipping myself, I actually removed some of it to achieve a happy medium.  It's too easy for me to get carried away while I'm doing this.

Steve-It never occured to me to take pictures outside, have to try this. I have always been hesitant to hit the mud and dirt routine too hard; I have seen it overdone too many times. I try to follow the concept of "It's done when it looks like it needs just a little more" as a rule.

Falschimjager/Steve/Von Manstein-Guess I'll have to start looking at the resn figure offerings. The only thing that keeps me away from them is the lack of variety altho there are probably many manufacturers I am unaware of. Have to look into it.

Tigerman-The Caunter paint scheme was not the trial I thought it was going to be on this particular model...the flat surfaces and right angles everywhere gave me a pretty good idea where to lay the masking tape. I expect a Crusader would have been alot more difficult. I got lucky when I ran into Marshall's dissertation on the Bellman on Hyperscale as it saved me from applying the light blue on the upper surfaces as Academy directs one to do on their painting instructions. Guess ya can't always trust the manufacturers, huh?

Regards,

Mark

Mark, what color did you paint it?

Reserve

Falschimjager/Steve/Von Manstein-Guess I'll have to start looking at the resn figure offerings. The only thing that keeps me away from them is the lack of variety altho there are probably many manufacturers I am unaware of. Have to look into it.

Hey, Eric

For the lower hull I used Model Masters # 4813 acryllic  British Gulf Armor Light Stone, and for the upper hull and turret I used MM enamel # 2056 RAF Dark Slate Grey. Quite a few overall washes of raw sienna and a pin wash of raw umber followed.

These, while not the exact colors, were as close as my local hobby shop had in stock so that's what ended up on it.

Regards,

Mark

Oh well my 3 and a half cents worth Sure good comments, maybe like to add the following observations.

Shep Paine is seen as the master of what can be achieved, some of his dioramas have the wooden surround above the groundwork and did some amazing work painting crappy plastic Joe Blogg standard figures.  Me I would say, why bow down to what is fashion, hone your figure painting skills and you will be able to make a crap figure look good.  Obviously plastic figures can be enhanced by resin heads and hands, plenty of literature out there on how to further enhance plastic  figure detail ie use a sharp blade to underscore webbing, pockets, jackets etc etc. Just look at the amazing results achieved by those that model Historex plastic figures.

Sure, purchase resin if you cannot afford the time to hone skills, if you have time it sure is rewarding to have a group of, say miniart figures that are not quite the same as other peoples. Just imagine how you can personalize your own miniature population in a diorama. At least with plastic figures, if you muck them up you won't fell as bad as mucking up a resin figure. Nothing like hacking and chopping plastic figures, plenty of putty etc and wallah, another masterpiece to be undercoated and painted. Just look what can be achieved on this site.

Your diorama looks great, thank you so much for sharing.  If you enjoyed making it, way too cool, way to go. Having fun is the bottom line. Power to your painbrush.

Well! time for a deep breath, razor saw out, super glue ready, light on, coffee made so lets get to it.

falschimjager

I disagree actually from what I've seen chipping to the original grey was common in Africa and it gives it a nice experienced look, but I suppose that's my own opinion.

..... The DAK painted over the original Panzer grey with their own stocks and at times even used captured British paints. The elements, crew foot wear and daily use removed some of this improvised paint exposing the factory applied grey. That desert floor looks very realistic. Great looking dio. 

Great work . Care to tell how did you do that hole on M3? I would like to try it myself. I am just afraid that once I punch a hole there is no going back.

 Cheers...

Not necessarily, if you don't like a hole just stick some .010 sheet styrene on the inside and putty from the outside. A little time, a little sanding, and presto, no one the wiser.

I tried to select a drill bit that would approximate 50mm in this scale. Once the holes were drilled (there are three of them, faithfully following the pictures I have) I roughed up the edges a little with a # 11 blade. A little dark grey paint and there it was. I'd thought of burn marks on the paint but the pictures did not show any evidence of this so even though they were not the best in clarity I did not do any. As it was I think they turned out to be a bit too big but not too big to do again.

Regard,

Mark

Good job.

I like the composition of the diorama as it tells a story.

Keep up the good work.

Regards

Gerry