ShermanFirefly's First dio

I like it Michael. Good idea, well executed. One thing I would check is the figures. they look a little shiny in the photos. That might be the flash though. If not, a coat of clear flat will sort em out.

I like your hedges, and the surrendering German. Where did that figure come from?

looks real good, everything is really crisply done, the ground and road look a lil clean though, maybe add some dirt and dry mud could spice it up a lil bit

Nice build

My only comment would be to echo armorchris' suggestion, some weathing to make things less clean and crisp would help round eveything out.

Still, excellent work

the figures do look a little shiny, i would put a flat coat on, and the at gun could use a little dirt and grime and a blackend muzzel. the road could use some mud and tire tracks and the grass looks alittle neat. they are quick fixes but other than that I love the scene and idea. I love that last photo how u did it with that angle for the rifleman neeling, and the 4th up how u executed the shadows in the photo, makes it look excellent... its something my photoshop teacher would be proud of =D also if u want to really spice it up, u could put an abandoned kubelwagon or zundap motorcycle down the road next to the at gun. its just a thought. over all i give it a 8.5 out of 10

Looks great Michael. I agree with the weathering ideas expressed above. One thing I also noticed, but it is probably just me: The guy holding the pistol almost looks as if he's aiming it at the head of the kneeling soldier. I got that impression from several angles. Perhaps re-positioning him closer to the surrendering German might help change that.

Keep up the great work!

from a newbie to armor i say it looks good. i hope my first dio turns out as well.

joe

Nice build I also think like others some dirt and mud and some weathering wouldnt go astray but generaly very good.Keep up the good work

yeah some weathering to the pak will make it real nice. great job though

Great idea Michael. I think after you apply a few of the ideas given, you will have a very nice little dio. You're WAYYYYY ahead of me in the dio department.

Good work! That's one scared German there!

As has been mentioned, everything looks a little too clean and shiny.
Try some washes and a good flat coat to dull it all up.

And keep up the good work!

looks great,nicely done .

gdarwin[roy]

looks pretty good, but as everybody has said it does look alittle clean.

Nice dio! Some dull coat and a good dirty wash on the equipment and grunts would take it to another level. I built the PAK myself a few years ago, I found it to be an excellent little kit. How about a big ol' Sherman taking that German prisoner?

Steve

Good Job chief... Well composed...

Good one, ShermanFirefly. I agree with the suggestions of the others. Keep up the good work.

If you are interested, you can use the painting method for figures I used in my recent dioramas to really make them more "life-like".

I paint them in at least 3 shades. For example, a german soldier will be first painted with field gray darkened with a little flat black especially in the recessess and deepest portions of the uniforms. Then I drybrush majoriyt of the figure's uniform with plain field greay in most areas but without covering the recesses or deep portions. Then I finally drybrush the uniform using a lightened field grey (mixed with flat white) on the raised portions only. This method gives the figure a well-shaded appearance. It is a little time consuming though.

I have achieve IMHO great results with this method so far as you have seen in my previous dios as shown below.



Hope this helps in your next dios.

Beautiful dio there, Dwight. Nicely done

I like it michael!!! your welcome on the tip, I can't remember who i got it from, but the important thing is that we keep passing them on, right??


a side note: I passed through your town today............

Very well thought out dio SF. I won't repeat what every one else has said. Looking forward to seeing the next one.

The figures were painted with a flat finish but they still seem to be shiny...strange
Thanks for the tips. I will have to make the diorama a little dirtier, i will have to get right on it
Proosh: the german and the american with the pistol are both from Verlinden's set "Get up" #1837
TreadHead88: yea i was going to do some dirtying to the gun but i ran out of time, the muzzle is blackened but i dont think you can see it on the pictures. Thanks for the compliments and the last picture is my favourite. I was thinking of putting in a motorcycle but i ran out of time, and i haven't had the chance to visit my LHS lately. Thanks
Duke: i noticed that too about the guy with the pistol, but i did some rearranging and it looks better now.
FightnJoe: thanks joe and im sure your dio will turn out better than mine
Tigerman: ooh im not so sure that i would be ahead of any of you guys.
J-Hulk: yes i love his facial expression and i was really happy how his uniform and his face turned out
Crockett: i would love to have a sherman in there but i don't have one and im saving up for a military show coming up so i wont be getting one this year i think
Dwight: I will have to try that. Thanks for the tip. It will certainly help me out on future dios
M1: the tip adds character, and i will be passing it along. as for the side note... did you go on highway 5? thats the highway passing fas gas (shell) and chicken chef. if you did you would have seen my house.
thanks everyone for the tips and compliments, as you have been a great help, and without the FSM forums, i would never had achieved this.

came from the narrows and turned east at fas gas.....

Looks great Mike. Can't add anything that has not allready been said. I did get the impression to though that the guy with the pistol was aiming at the one in front of him's head.

yeah, that figure is the only one that quite doesn't fit (at least to me)........ the rest are all showing action and urgency, but that guy is not active enough or something.........

it does seem that way in the pictures, but he fell down after the pictures and i adjusted him. M1 did u go from the narrows to dauphin? or a different way?

Looks good, Michael, What a dio for the first try!
( Mine was a sheet of posterboard with Life-Like grass and dirt sprinkled on and glued with Elmer's. A few hours later, it curled up and rolled my models and figures up with it! )

Regards, Dan

yep to dauphin!

thanks boybuddho
m1 then you would have seen my house, i dont know how familiar you are with the area going towards dauphin after passing the gas station there are 2 houses in bush i guess, then an open space then more bush. in the open space there are 3 rows of houses, i'm the second house you can see from the road in the middle row

yep, I'm fairly familiar with the area, so I know wherabouts your talkin.

yea thats where i live

Nice work. Like the idea of the infantry attacking the lone German.