Normandy diorama suggestions.

Tankluver wrote:

MC I didnt get any Email from you! Heres a new thought you know how I want to build a big diorama well what if i made it in parts kind of like a puzzle.

I've done something like this for a gaming table with a buddy, and the concept works just fine, so long as you try to build the pieces concurrently, or at least build the edges at the same time.

MC, so what if he has grand ideas? What's wrong with letting his imagination fly? It irks you? Don't reply then. Granted, he's posted quite a bit, but clearly this whole thing may be something new to him, so just let it go.

maybe mr.tankluver has a lot of ideas coming in mind and just compiling all the experts suggestions and after that he'll be doing what he thinks the more convinient and  brighter ideas. The more questions raised,the more chances of fast learning...We are all brothers in this miniature plastic modelling so never turn your man down..its just only two things after reading a message..reply and no reply.and for mr.tankluver,have focus man, you can do it..

Montana Cowboy makes an excellent point. Your diorama should "say something". Ask yourself, "what idea or message or point am I trying to communicate?" Anything else is just a collection of vehicles or figures or elements on a board.

Probobly a good example of this can be the diorama of the Bill Mauldin cartoon of the two US soldiers in a fox hole under a german Stug and they are holding a radio between them. The caption being "I have a target for you artillery guys, but you have to be patient". This uses both the title and the visual joke to get its point across. Another good example is of a sniper. It would be impossible to show his target, but the sniper hidden in the ruins of a farmhouse or bell tower, behind a wall or hidden under some debris can convey the tension, solitude and patience of the sole figure of the diorama.

Currently I'm working on a diorama of a steep, winding, mountain road. German tank traveling up the road, US tank destoryer traveling down the road. Both are hidden from each other by a blind curve. Any infantry is behind the moving vehicles, oblivious to the next moment. The tension and idea is that tank that rounds the corner first will get the kill shot, or the worst mexican standoff in history. The whole picture isn't that big, no more than 14" square. But it has a great deal of interpretive tension by the viewer to make up his own scenario as to the outcome. The "punchline" of the whole thing, is the sheep herder sitting on a rock outcropping above, a witness to both sides and doing what we all do....wait for the train wreck to follow with morbid curiosity. Simple (2 vehicles and a handfull of figures) the rest is scenery and the idea of the whole picture. To me it says volumes and conveys action, irony and tension.

It doesn't take alot of room to have a big story. As for a large, puzzle like diorama...good luck with that. There should be alot of prep work and layout work before you try to execute your idea. Thats a pretty complicated project and will need adequate preparation for a successful completion.

And, just to clarify, when we said bigger isn't always better, we didn't mean as in troubles in transport, as you seem to think, rather, in focus of the main idea. Well, Isn't the Normandy offensive a main idea? Well, yeah, but, we mean focus on one specific action. Less complexity, more thought, and great detail is what makes a diorama very good. When you look @ the dio you should be able to see what action or thought the builder wanted you to see.

Tankluver wrote:

MC I didnt get any Email from you! Heres a new thought you know how I want to build a big diorama well what if i made it in parts kind of like a puzzle.

I actually thought about that once when I wanted to do a big dio. I ultimatly downsized the dio so I didn't get to use it.

It was going to be a normandy dio as well, in hedgrows. I was planning on making 4 squares, for ease of transportation to contest. The hedgerows would be built on the seems to hide them. But like I said, it was way easier to downsize it. less vehicles, less figures, less scenery, less complex, less expensive.

One thing in a dio that you do not want is to have the view not know what to look at. To many figs and vehicles can take the viewers eys away from the main point of the dio.

I did send an E-mail to the email you registered with. Is it an operative one? I clicked the button at the bottom of your posts.

The only problem with that idea would be the visable seam lines, unless you used some sort of clamps.

MC I didnt get any Email from you!

Heres a new thought you know how I want to build a big diorama well what if i made it in parts kind of like a puzzle. 

I see what you're saying, renarts, but, I'm 13 too, and if I can do it and have been doing it for years, why can't he? that's what really irks me.

He's totally ignored my email and posts, except for fixing his grammar.

And to what other pointers you've given him, he's already been told, at least twice.

Good points, By the way...

MC,  Let it slide man. Remember when you were young and had more ideas running through your head than you could possibly write down? Exhuberance pushing you faster than light? Seeing your basement and figuring you could fill the whole room with the coolest diorama of the complete landings at Normandy? Its not a level of respect, but tolerance and helpful guidance. You can only fill the glass up so far before it spills on the table. He'll learn and with that experience will come realization and education. Regardless of how many times he asks and you tell him, it doesn't matter. The boys feet and mind are moving too fast. Besides, we can't all be our brother's keeper.

Tankluver. Rather than try a bunch of large dioramas, as it seems you're trying to take on from your posts, which can daunt even the best of us, why not try something a little smaller to help you learn the techniques you'll need for the larger projects. They exist. It just took years for the completion. Some will never be finished as things are traded, developed and improved.

These smaller vignettes or smaller dioramas can be fun and have just as much impact. 1 or 2 vehicles a few figures maybe some ground work. Start with something easy. A model with a simple display base with some groundwork. Then your next project may include some figures and little bigger base. after that try some foiliage, water, architecture. One of the best dioramas I've seen was at a show that had a Tiger's crew repairing a road wheel and doing some engine work, and loading supplies. 1 vehicle 6 figures, some ground work and all on a 8x10" base. Said volumes. Another was buy a guy that did a whole series of 2-3 figure dioramas based on the old Bill Mauldin cartoons. You could see his skill progression as he did each one and tried something a little more complicated each time.

First things first..... find a photo from the campaign you're interested in and replicate it. Dioramas are nothing more than three dimensional snapshots. No doubt in the book you found that photo, you'll find a bibliography in the back to give you some more source information. A day spent at the library is worth 20 days working on a diorama with no direction or ideas or background info on what you're trying to replicate. A well thought out idea and a goal in mind will definately get you there easier. I'm sure if you flip back through Shep Paines book you'll read where he sketches out his ideas first. Some guys even make paper cutout shapes to give them an idea of placement and it will give them an idea of how big they are going to make it. Pick yourself up a notebook and make notes and sketches as you get your ideas and refer back to them later. I have a few of these notebooks that have my notes, ideas, illustrations, layouts, vehicles I'd like to use, book or reference sources, models that would fit the bill, hobbyshops with those models, websites where I've seen things that gave me ideas. If I feel like I'm in a creative slump I flip back through these notebooks and get energized again or even come up wth new ideas looking at old. Your notebook is something that in time you'll find is just as important as your x-acto knife and glue.

Good luck.

Believe me, I'm not trying to be mean to him, just letting him realise what he is doing and that he needs to realise the level of respect he's giving himself.

MontanaCowboy wrote:

PLEASE!! FOR THE SAKE OF MY SANITY!!!! Go read my post in one of your other 5 large diorama idea posts!! Stick with ONE idea! PLEASE! Keep it small! Keep it under control! This is exact word for word what I have posted before.... Just in case you haven't checked the other posts. Something tells me this dio will never come to be.... Again, like everyone has said, do your research! Come on, 3 + armored vehicles, each taking at least 50 hours to build, plus 25 soldiers about? and a highly complex bridge in 1/35.... Let's think this through, how about a 1/72 dio? costing about $90 total. Now, let's say that same dio in 1/35.... 3 armor kits $100, a crapload of styrene stock $30, figures $40, paint $30. $200 there and that's not including supplies, accessories, diorama bases, time, etc. So, basically over $300 worth of something that may be innacurate, not make sense, and poorly planned. I'm seriously not trying to discourage you at all. Just, like I said before, trying to open your eyes. Also, this is the third or fourth dio ideas you've posted here that are on this immense size with the same amount of thought put into each one. If you can't keep one idea at a time, how can you expect to invest MANY hours in one area? Also, this site is one of the best resources ever for this kind of research. I'm sorry if I came off as mean, but, this is my opinion... Tankluver, have you checked your E-mail lately?

I know that Tankluver's recent posts and ideas have become a bit annoying but that does not allow us to be mean to him. If you think that your sanity is being affected by his posts...ignore them and don't read them.

PLEASE!! FOR THE SAKE OF MY SANITY!!!! Go read my post in one of your other 5 large diorama idea posts!!

Stick with ONE idea! PLEASE! Keep it small! Keep it under control!

This is exact word for word what I have posted before.... Just in case you haven't checked the other posts.

Something tells me this dio will never come to be.... Again, like everyone has said, do your research! Come on, 3 + armored vehicles, each taking at least 50 hours to build, plus 25 soldiers about? and a highly complex bridge in 1/35.... Let's think this through, how about a 1/72 dio? costing about $90 total. Now, let's say that same dio in 1/35.... 3 armor kits $100, a crapload of styrene stock $30, figures $40, paint $30. $200 there and that's not including supplies, accessories, diorama bases, time, etc. So, basically over $300 worth of something that may be innacurate, not make sense, and poorly planned. I'm seriously not trying to discourage you at all. Just, like I said before, trying to open your eyes. Also, this is the third or fourth dio ideas you've posted here that are on this immense size with the same amount of thought put into each one. If you can't keep one idea at a time, how can you expect to invest MANY hours in one area? Also, this site is one of the best resources ever for this kind of research. I'm sorry if I came off as mean, but, this is my opinion... Tankluver, have you checked your E-mail lately?

what he said, and stikpusher your signiture is from a Bridge too far right?, just before they cross the river, thats one of my favourite movies.

Will

Check this out?

nwha.org/news_2Q2003/ news_page4.html

www.saak.nl/ panzersinnormandy/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Beach

home.earthlink.net/ ~iversonom/normandy1.html

www.army.mil/.../reference/ Normandy/Pictures.htm

Some Model Work done, really cool:

www.fragarmor.org/ Gallery%20B.htm