A pair of small minimalist dioramas

This is the other cover, this one is for a drain. It is shown here after construction.

And after painting and weathering

And here are the two together after completion

Like everything else I have made, they are scratchbuilt. Thanks for looking.

Vespa your work really resonates with me: architect. It also reminds me of two graphic artists:

Paul Madonna does a strip in San Francisco "All over coffee" where he draws pen and ink scenes- no cars or people but exquisite detail. Unfortunately he's been pretty thorough about not having his drawings on the www, but take a look.

David McCauley "how things work" less atmosphere or wear n tear but also attention to the most earthbound details.

I think your work is pretty artful, and appreciate you sharing.

Vespa...you are truly a unique artist. I love viewing your work.

Thank you, Dan

Arty, As The Dude says in The Big Lebowski: "That's just, like, um ....your opinion". According to my Oxford English Dictionay a diorama is:

"A mode of scenic representation in which a picture, some portions of which are transluscent, is viewed through an aperture, the sides of which are continued toward the picture; the light which is thrown upon the picture from the roof, may be increased or dimished at pleasure, so as to represent the change from sunshine to cloudy weather etc. The name has also been used to include the building in which dioramic views are exhibited; and in later times has been transferred to exhibitions of dissolving views etc"

In essence a diorama is a view, there is no need to include figures, buildings, vehicles or a narrative. I would encourage you to rethink your definition of what is a diorama.

Thanks for your input.

Arty- you are completely wrong!!!Notice your use of the word should. I think these are incredibly minimal to the point of not holding anyones interest for very long, including mine, but they are what they are which is a three dimensional depiction of a scene that you look at.

Someone said that the more realistic something is, the less artful it is, and viv vers, and while I'm not sure thats always true, I'd say that most dioramas with figures and stories and provocation for thought are maybe more artful, Arty, these are beautiful dioramas of...not much.

And Vespa, I understand and respect where you are coming from.

Bondo thanks for the recommendation of Paul Madonna. I am going to buy his book tomorrow.

Also thanks for taking the time to look at not much. That is the whole point!

Interesting studies. What size / scale are these? Thanks for taking the WIP shots and sharing them here.

Very well then. 

In my opinion, (just as almost every other post on this site is someone's opinion) they are great examples of groundwork and are a view of smalll sections of streets, not a diorama in the accepted way we as modelers see them.

I am now done looking at "not much."

I like them, could they be from the Battle of the Sewers in Warsaw 1944??

Ever thought of casting them and selling on for a small profit?

Sprue1: they are 1/24scale or 1/2"=1' which makes the each of these about four inches in height.

Barrovian: they are  drains and access covers from 2006 outside Tate Modern, London, nothing to do with the 1940s, I don't think I will ever make a military diorama, interesting thought though. I hadn't even thought about taking moulds of them, and I probably won't. I like the idea of unique pieces that relate to a specific time and place.

Arty: I think we will have to agree to disagree about the definition of diorama. I think that you are referring to a specific genre of diorama, rather than to dioramas as a whole. However, these kinds of dicussions go on all the time. Once upon a time a painting had to depict what was perceived to be a realistic scene...now look where it has gone with abstraction if the market and museums are anything to go by: $140 million for a painting by Jackson Pollock, $80 million for a painting by Mark Rothko.

vespa boy wrote:

Barrovian: they are  drains and access covers from 2006 outside Tate Modern, London, nothing to do with the 1940s, I don't think I will ever make a military diorama, interesting thought though. I hadn't even thought about taking moulds of them, and I probably won't. I like the idea of unique pieces that relate to a specific time and place.

Only trying to inject a little humour into this thread, trying to prevent it becoming one man's attempt to define what is scale modelling and what is not. As I said I like like what you have done in producing a scale model.

Gotta agree with Gino on this one.........

Obvious skill to make them, for sure...beyond my abilities ?.........definately.

While They are nice to look at, they just don't float my boat.

I like a dio which you can spend many minutes looking at from all angles, appreciating the many aspects of it all coming together for a bit of a visual feast.  These are just too small a mouthful to chew on IMHO.

PS:  I did enjoy your "parking space in Amsterdam"  very nice - and more to enjoy. 

barrovian wrote:

vespa boy wrote: Barrovian: they are  drains and access covers from 2006 outside Tate Modern, London, nothing to do with the 1940s, I don't think I will ever make a military diorama, interesting thought though. I hadn't even thought about taking moulds of them, and I probably won't. I like the idea of unique pieces that relate to a specific time and place. Only trying to inject a little humour into this thread, trying to prevent it becoming one man's attempt to define what is scale modelling and what is not. As I said I like like what you have done in producing a scale model.

 Sorry I missed that. I appreciate it now!

HeavyArty wrote:

I will definitely agree to disagree.  I also don't get nor like most of the "Modern Art" B.S. that brings in millions of dollars.  Most of it looks like it was done by a 3 year-old with fingerpaints to me.  To each their own though.

You really have a lot of cojones to call something you don't understand BS. Its hard to know where to start with this....

vespa boy wrote:

HeavyArty wrote: I will definitely agree to disagree.  I also don't get nor like most of the "Modern Art" B.S. that brings in millions of dollars.  Most of it looks like it was done by a 3 year-old with fingerpaints to me.  To each their own though. You really have a lot of cojones to call something you don't understand BS. Its hard to know where to start with this....

No need to start anywhere.  It is simply my opinion.  I understand them just fine, I just don't like them and think they are not worth anywhere near millions.  As I said before, to each their own.

HeavyArty wrote:

I will definitely agree to disagree.  I also don't get nor like most of the "Modern Art" B.S. that brings in millions of dollars.  Most of it looks like it was done by a 3 year-old with fingerpaints to me.  To each their own though.

I would have just about given an arm for a flamethrower....

Vespa Boy, do you have any body parts in your fridge?! Just Kidding!!!! 

Once again, very weird, but very, very well done for what you were trying to achieve!

I'd love to see you attempt an actual Roman mosaic! 

Vespa Boy as usual I'm in awe of your crafting skills...I think the suggestion before about casting some of these bases for commercial purposes has some merit!

I know I've said it before, but I for one would love to use some of your work to display my models on. No point in spending 20-30 (or more) hours on a vehicle, and then 2-3 on the base.

dupes wrote:

Vespa Boy as usual I'm in awe of your crafting skills...I think the suggestion before about casting some of these bases for commercial purposes has some merit! I know I've said it before, but I for one would love to use some of your work to display my models on. No point in spending 20-30 (or more) hours on a vehicle, and then 2-3 on the base.

dupes wrote:

Vespa Boy as usual I'm in awe of your crafting skills...I think the suggestion before about casting some of these bases for commercial purposes has some merit! I know I've said it before, but I for one would love to use some of your work to display my models on. No point in spending 20-30 (or more) hours on a vehicle, and then 2-3 on the base.