Hey Ian... nice one!

Those "master modelers" of theirs used some way out of scale barbed wire. It's as tall as the figures...

subfixer wrote:

What gets me is the lack of carnage, the tropical blue water and the great progress the troops are making up the beach. This is supposed to be Omaha? Looks more like Miami.

"Yeah, It's a little known fact that the Vestal Virgins of ancient Greece would often see into the future, especially for warfare, and then make dioramas of what they saw. However, to protect the delicate Virgins from the horrors of war they would confuse the view of the battleground with somewhere peaceful and tranquil. Therefore it's not unusual to see Omaha Beach misplaced with Cancun."

So says Cliff Clavin

Its the "best known D-Day" for sure...

I actually dont think the Diorama is too bad. I mean some parts would look pretty good cut out by themselves.  Like these ones. Although scenery could be better, the sand isnt too bad. Ive seen pictures of the Normandy sand and it got up-turned and clumpy pretty fast with all those boots and shells.

This little item is from the same guy:

He calls it a "Fast Attack Vehicle", nobody drives fast in a MUTT, it had one of the worst rollover rates of any vehicle ever made! Besides, what does it use to attack? The bumper?

well, it sure look's good at first, but like others said, a couple of items are wrong.

and like spielberg, the wooden pole obstacles are facing the wrong way.

look's like a scene from save private ryan, with that bunker, didn't see bunkers like that when i was in normandy last summer.

but it must have been a huge untertaking making such a dio, overall... lookin good.

For nine grand, you better turn my ocstacles the right way around.

Couldn't tell for sure, but it reads like they'll make you one like this in a couple of months, that this dio in particular sits in a museum. Judging form the pics, it looks more like it sits in a comic book store that's going out of business.

Anyway- Ian, thought you'd like the eye candy.

Steve 

zokissima wrote:

I think the sheer size of this one is its selling point. But still just ludicriously high priced. Still Gino, not really fair to call this seller an "idiot". What exactly makes him an idiot? Because of the price of it?

Good point...when/if that thing sells, who's the idiot? Certainly not the guy holding the nine grand he just made for a diorama.

HeavyArty wrote:

bovine scatology

Love that. I must use that sometime.

I didn't mean to sound offended, if indeed that was me your post was directed at.  I agree it's extremely ridiculous.  When I do sell any of my work, I make no effort to sound like a "pro" or "museum-quality-award-winning-critically-acclaimed-world-renowned-replica-constructor", and I certainly don't sell suff for $9k.

But if you really think about it...

Many of us here could build better quality and more accurate models or dioramas but not many (if ever) could ever make $9k out of a single model or diorama.

I just got that funny feeling that that guy who just got $9k richer is laughing at us on his way to the bank thinking...who is the idiot now?

I see all these eBay "Pro-Builders" as idiots.  Their products are usually way over-priced, rarely accurate, and are of mediocre quality at best.  They just don't impress me.

Another fine example: 

Pro-Built M981 FIST-V

He has it confused with an M901 ITV (Improved Tow Vehicle), it is not an Anti-Tank Platform, but an Artillery Observer Vehicle.  Also, he has the targeting head on backwards, rear lights are not painted, no antennnas, one of teh smoke grenade launcher tubes is missing, etc., etc., etc.  Some Pro-Builder he is.

But if you really think about it... Many of us here could build better quality and more accurate models or dioramas but not many (if ever) could ever make $9k out of a single model or diorama. I just got that funny feeling that that guy who just got $9k richer is laughing at us on his way to the bank thinking...who is the idiot now?

This is assuming he will actually get that price.  I doubt it.  More power to him if he does.  I won't stoop to the eBay "Pro-Builder" level though.

If I had the $ 9k, I'd pay the bills for a month, take the remaining money and go to Normandy for that month with my new camera, eat out every day, get the lay of the land in my rented jeep, fall asleep every night in my auberge with a new book abt the war, and hopefully bring a little away from the experience. Oh, and buy Saving... Ryan for $ 25 and watch it as often as I felt like it which would give me more than that dio.

Here's to Veterans Today

Nah Gino, totally not offended man

I"m just saying, the fact that there's someone obviously actually buying this stuff, well I dunno, guess if he's making money, there's some reason behind the lunacy. Personally, I've seen very very little 'pro built' stuff on the net that was actually worth the money being asked. In any case, I guess in company such as this forum, with people that actually know what's involved in something like this, the 'idiot' term fits just fine.