Tiger I Diorama, please criticize!

not bad, not bad at all i like the ground work and the dead tree i think your tank could use a bit of dirt and maybe a repositioning of the guy standing by the turret but other than that its great looking for a first,m good job!

thanks duckman, the only thing about the tank is that this dio was supposed to include (and will include) a propaganda team... This is the initial Tiger I and it's on it's way to Lenningrad! SOO not much in the way of combat and stuff like that, I like the idea of positioning the guy on the hull a little differently! Thanks for the idea!

I really like the tracks, were they link by link? Also, it may just be a combination of the monitor, camera, and/ or flash, but your men look a little shiny to me. Maybe a nice coat of flat would be in order. Other than that, they look very realistic.

Very nice job indeed :)
-ERAD

thanks for the comments guys! Yeah the guys in the tank are not shiny at all, except in the photos... I still haven't figured out the digi cam yet, but ya know! Yes, the tracks are separate track links and the new tracks that Dragon included were so easy to put together that it took me about half the time to do them!

I think the tank looks great. And the dio base is a great start. I think the lichen looks too brassy, however. I'd get some that's a little more toned down or substitute with some Woodland Scenics "foliage." I'd eliminate the red all together. Good work otherwise.

I agree with the hannaman. 86 the red-brown lichen. It doesn't work. I'd give the tank a bit more of a coat of dust. But I think you did a very nice job for your first dio.
P.S. I used lichen on a dio of mine for tree foliage and I wasn't pleased with the way it looked. Just my .

TigerII

Hey, not looking bad at all for a first dio, and wow, jumping in by doing the DML kit!! Don't know if it's the pics or not, but it looks like there's no wash or drybrushing? Like the others said, some dusting of the tank to dirty it up a bit will really make this puppy stand out., and the red liechen on the tree should go. or what you could do is leave it, and take the tree and airbrush different shades of greens here and there...just a thought. Very nice work though, you're on the right track!!

strange colour of wood....

Just a suggestion... maybe in future, you should leave out the colorful lichen. It takes the attention of the viewer away from the Tiger. All in all.. a great 1st dio though. Keep it coming my friend

The figures look very good, just a little shine. The tank, in my oppionion is very good as well. The tree just isn't cutting it for me. The red and green colours should be random, not bunched up. Also, the foilage in only jutting out of one part of the tree, leaving the top parts exposed. The deadfall on the side looks very realistic though, and from the bottom picture, you'r dio looks way better!

thanks all.. the strange colour of wood?! heh, it's natural, all it is is a branch that I snapped off and pinned to the wood base. Just so you know, this isn't my first model, this is just my first attempt at a diorama. I think I'll try the airbrush and make the red kinda more faint.. The picture isn't grasping the top part of the tree so you can't see the lichen, but it does seem that everyone is saying to get rid of the red! How else can I attempt an atumn look? Any ideas would be useful! As for the tank, it is quite dusty! But I don't want the dirty look.. it's a propaganda shot, the propaganda team taking the pictures just aren't finished yet :)j Ummm whatelse is there to say? Thanks for the advice guys, but believe me the tank is fine as it is, maybe the lighting (Not a pro photographer LOL) takes away the look of the tank and changes what I see here on the shelf to what you see in the pics, but the tank is dusty, if you look at the one in my signature, you'll see what it looks like! Thanks again!

Couple things, the build looks good overall.
Like the others said, the lichen distracts. If that's snow on the ground, leave teh trees bare. Hudson and Allen (among others) have very good forest debris. If you want an autu\mn look to the trees, look for a product called Foliage by Woodland Scenics. It comes in several "seasons" and there are several shades in each packages. It can be draped more smoothly and will look more like, well, foliage! I'd also cut the grass down to about half that height at the most. These are the steppes of Russia, not the jungle . By folding a bunch over, and tying the folded part tightly, you can create nice clumps of grass.
When taking a photo, try to simplify the background. Use a towel drapped over a box or pick up a piece of cloth remnant at a fabric store and elimnate the excess. Also, you can use your photo editing prgram to crop out a lot of the background or even selctively fuzz out or "paint" over the stuff that's not part of your dio.

Hey Looks good so far! I like the figs!

thanks ajlafleche for the tips. no that is not snow on the ground, it is dead grass (woodland scenics stuff). Sorry I'm not a pro photographer heh, but thanks for the ideas nontheless!

CDN T, I will be posting my initial Tiger 1 very shortly,please feel free to use any ground cover ideas or any ideas from my dio for that matter to build your dio. I know how frustrating it can be not knowing how to proceed with an idea. You have a very good start here,like everyone has commented on though the lichen doesn`t really work that well for trees.

sasd Well I think the ground work is pretty well, no, actually very good... the tree seems to be bugging everyone, but I think the ground work is good nonetheless.. thanks for the offer.... but it's cool, I'm happy with my dio!

Awesome Job!