dio help/ideas!!

Here's my opinion:

1.) If the house will be built in the size shown then my answer is YES. It will definitely become the first thing that will capture the viewers especially from a distant as they approach the display.

2.) IT DEPENDS.

If it is from the other end of the area traveling towards the insurgent as they approach the barricade then I would say YES. The driver would be a fool to come close when there is a danger of being hit by a shoulder-mounted AT weapon or even grenades.

NO, if it is stationed at the corner on guard duty then you can just say that it was caught in a surprise attack. Actually if this the case, I would recommend putting the German soldiers near the barricade if they are meant to guard it. (and the insurgents a bit farther as they assault the German's position.

Or you could make it look that the insurgents already killed the guards at the barricade (explaining why they are already near it) and the SDK with the Germans is basically the reinforcement which arrived a bit late.

The positioning of the German soldiers (who I suppose traveled with the SDK) can very well explain the position of the SDK if the SDK is still approaching or stationary at time of and during the attack..

SRY, i didnt realize i forgot the "story" its just a baracade, the halftrack pulls up nonchalantly and then the AK troops attack (the little dots dont represent their actions very well...) so it is an ambush, the german troops are jumping out and attacking, the halftracks MGs blazing while the poor bastard the driver kicks in reverse, but the insurgents have panzerfausts, i havent decided if they are going to be pointed at the halftrack or just ready to....

what do u suggest i do with the buildings....i dont really want to make a ruin.....???

nother suggestion. id try to skew the psotitioning of the dio according to the base. pust the streets, and building at an angle in relation to the sides of the base, it'll look better. this will give it less of a staged feel, and more of a snapshot impression which you want in a dio.

one other thing. id make the building pretty well damaged, or at least nicely pocket marked in general. i think ive seen some shots of the warsaw uprising, and the buildings well totaled in many cases due to the heavy fighting.

My thoughts,

If the viewer has to understand a lengthy leadup to understand your diorama, you've failed to get your point across. The picture or diorama is the story, or gives enough visual information to allow viewers to surmise their own action or ending and input their own understanding or viewpoint of the story. Sort of "a picture is worth a thousand words."

I would angle the corner of the house and offset it a bit so it visually bisects the base. This will give you a longer road for your sdkfz and a shorter ground for your partisans. By doing so it will reenforce the idea that the ghetto inhabitants were pushed back to their last stronghold and were fighting a desperate fight. A sort of last stand. Where as the Germans had all of Warsaw to maneuver around in. As for the proximity to the vehicle, it was house to house, alley to alley, sewer to sewer. Not alot of room and the layout will reflect that. The onlooker isn't sure who the winner of that battle will be but the placement will help create tension in the scene. When you're facing someone with a panzerfaust, you're always too close. Or maybe the partisans were surprised and didn't expect the motor infantry.

You can get away with unrealistic distances in a diorama because it would be unrealistic to use scale length. i.e. if you do a vignette of a sniper, you couldn't realisticly put sniper and target in the same scene. But you could put one side trying to draw the fire of a sniper (and never really show the sniper, you wouldn't have to because they're not sure where he is either, its why they are trying to draw his fire) or put the sniper in his position and know that somewhere out there , someone is going to have a bad day.

You wouldn't necessarily have to make a tall building or even a whole building. A ruin or wall or garden wall would work and ceate the same visual separation from the two groups. But if you really wanted to make the building, roof and all, you could add a figure or two on the roof getting ready to drop a grenade or moltov cocktail on the sdkfz, maybe the partisans on the ground are the bait for the trap.....

I agree with the above posts. I would like to emphazie a little more on the layout. all of the things, buildings, halftrack, and barricade, are pretty much parallel. If you decrease the building and move it in the corner. Take a look at this



If you did this, you could get less parallel lines, you could even make a corner. Just be sure to stay away from Paralell lins. Why? Well, I used to think no big deal. Then I tried a dio with ballances andnothe exact as the other and it turned out really good. Be sure to add effective balance also. If you make the road like in this diagram, then you will have extra space, and you would have to create either another builing or somthing to fill the place. or you coul make it like this,


this would eliminate that extra space and open up the side of the dio.
Well, good luck with it!

BTW, what Sdkfz 251 are you using?

im thinkin of making a four story house which is about 10 inches.... it doesnt semm like much but the more im putting it to a diferent halftrack ( i didnt even order the sdkfz251 which BTW is a tamiya http://squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=TM35020 ) by goin to the link you can see the figures too... i kind of want to make a corner and the insurgents coming from the corner ( ambush posistion) Anyone know how i can cut the house to be shorter but keep the likeness of a four story.
Another idea i had......a last resort if the first one fails is the same halftrack on a street and to the side of it some hidden insurgents with panzerfaust's this would be in a ruined building so it will be shorter and it will be close quarters so it will be smalller too....

the destroyed building sounds cool. They always are.

DONT BUY THAT 251!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
unless you are planing on completely scratchbuilding the interior. The kit is verey, very innacurate on the interior. If your not one to care too much about accuracy, then its an ok kit.
Dragon makes a pretty new 251/1 C that is supposed to be really good. Also Dragons 3 in 1 set is supposed to be great.

for the other Tamiya 251 (its an ausf D) go here theres also 3 reviews
http://www.greatmodels.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=tam35195
here is a pic


hope this helps some.

interior as in.....drivers compartment or the open interior.... cuz if its the drivers compartment i dont care! as long as its cheap.... if its horrible as in it will break when i try to do something i wont.....it will just be more fun for me to scratchbuild the interior!!
and one more ? is the 4th figure in the kit ur showing me the driver???

Polish Power man! Make a scene where the Germans are actually falling back by the powerful Poles!

I mean the open interior. Heres a pic of mine


the Drivers compartment is detailed well. In this pic you can see the headboards and railings I scratchbuilt. And I must admit, It was pretty fun to scratchbuild. The drivers I have came from DML's Halftrack Crewmen. Although I had to do some chopping of the drivers legs and left arm.
The kit itself is not horrible, I found very few fit probs and the road wheels were simple as pie.
If you dont want the kit but you want the figs, tamiya makes the figs in a separate set, it is called, German infantry assault troops.

o you bet the Poles are gonna win!!!!! yeah!!!!!!!!!!! nice work on that interior!!!.... its not that much to scratch....but mine is gonna have a lake of bullet casings......... ill get the kit i dont mind at all to scratchbuild i need to find a driver though but thats no problem.
Ok, so i have the kit i want..... now should i go ahead with the four stories???

i still dont know if i should go with the four stories or not.........
(just keepin it fresh)

ok, so instead of the four story building, im gonna make it three stories, and have insurgents on the top floor, so i wont have the building as just a barracade from seeing the action,
that way with the insurgent on top with moltov cocktails the germans will really fall back, the true history of this event is that all the occupants of the halftrack run away except one who gets shot