Hey, since when is asking too many questions bad? Like Indy said it is better to have it all on one forum than 20 like i would do. Indy knows what I'm talking about.

How to paint a head, by Bodge       here at FSM

several excellent articles by Mark Bannerman     at Missing Lynx

amazing figure blogs by many artists           at Timelines Figure Forum

How I paint 14 figures at once                        from my current build page 24

Wow! Thank you so much for the links! I really appreciate the help you all have given me. I so can't wait to get started. I think I will keep reading first though, i dont want to screw up, especially since so many things are getting so expensive now a days.

How long have you all been creating models in general? Did you all start out with military and diorama's or did you start like I did, with cars and horror vinyl and resin figures?

It was probably 6 or 7 years ago that I started making models. I just started out with military models and haven't changed since. My first kit was actually a figure kit from academy. They turned out terrible but that didn't stop me. Making models is a learning expirience, you get better every time you make something and learn new skills along the way. I know I have!

I've been scale modeling just over 2 years, but only started blogging/posting nearly a year ago, although I had already been working for some time in a model shop, doing Rapid Prototyping--1:1 presentation models mostly, but also lots of masters for casting, and limited-run production parts and assemblies for any kind of cutting-edge tech you can name, be it aircraft, surgical,electronics...and consumer goods. My job is mostly fit & finish, so everything we turn out is basically a perfect, shiny example--one part, or a small number of parts at a time--this led me to military modelling in my free time---where I can assemble hundreds or thousands of parts , and weather & chip  and add dirt,dust & grime and work to get every real-looking effect imaginable---but stay away from perfect & shiny!   Naturally I have an interesting background to have a job like this, including working as one kind of artist or another for the better part of 30 years, including 12 years of doing expert custom-picture-framing, installations of exhibits for The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for 4 years, and 3 years with my own local woodcarving business, making a living carving Island-Style furnishings & Tikis.  As a kid I built all kinds of models, and was an avid model railroader & slot car enthusiast-----but even though I left scale modeling for about 30 years, and went and had a somewhat unusual life, I have returned to the hobby like many, many guys...and now we share this great passion.         For years I was so concerned with doing original work and getting paid ----but honestly building these 1/35th scale military dioramas is the most fun I've had doing anything!

    So to start off I built a few little things as practice...and then built my 1st ever Dio and took 4 months doing it after a few months of research and practice.      I consider my 1st dio a success, meaning I like it and it was what I had in mind, and was printed on page 40 of July '09 FSM in the readers gallery. here it is :

 Various British Elements Between Caen & St. Lo, June, 1944

That is one great diorama, and it's the first one you ever did??? That is *really* impressive! I can only hope mine is half as good as yours, and I will be happy. I started modeling about ten years ago, and at first, they were the vinyl kits of horror/sci fi grouping. I loved making Freddy, Jason, Ash and Ripley from Aliens etc. I still love making those. When I was a small kid, I did cars, I remember making the 'snap fit' models my dad would get me. Then moved on to the Polar Lights horror kits..then up to the vinyl kits of ten years ago. I still make the car models, but not as much. The figures still are fun for me and I have a new Ash model I want to start soon. But now, I have the bug for the military models, figures and diorama's. I even found myself watching the military channel today when it had the top ten personal carriers. And I found one that I want to build and have picked one out from the store already, it's the British Universal Carrier. I *love* this little machine. I wouldn't mind having a real one to zip down the expressway in lol..everyone would get out of my way. This is the model:

and this is the real deal..

You guys do some really nice work. I just hope I can do the figures well. There has to be a big difference between working on the vinyl figures I make and the small figures used in Military models.

~Thanks for your comments about Dio #1 Rob~ Yup, really my 1st one, though I do have the art background there was ALOT of 1st in it for me--like the fuelran rack scratchbuilt for brass wire,most of the crates and that wire spool from strip styrene--that stump was the 1st thing I ever made from 2 part epoxy putty--the enbankments at the front of the road was the 2nd, all the groundwork--I'd never done anything like that....more 1sts....plaster fountain ordered from France(MK35), modeled water in it, paper leaves fallen about and all the foliage,all 1st time. There are things I would have done different looking back,  like I could have done much better on the finish of the Cromwell tank--the commanders' radio wires should have been  more brown than red--the star decal on the roof isn't quite issue--but no ones ever called me on those things--still, now I know better,,,, and am always seeking to improve.

~~The Universial Carrier is a good one--a staple of the British Armys--I have one in my stash--You need to start thinking how it would look in action and how you want to display it--could get fun!

... the British Universal Carrier. I *love* this little machine.  I wouldn't mind having a real one to zip down the expressway in lol..everyone would get out of my way. ...

LOL... Actually, you'd more likely get whacked by a cop for impeding the flow of traffic (among a few other charges) on an expresssway... It can't even make the minimum speed limit of 45 mph... Tracked vehicles are dangerous and hard to control much over 40 mph, especially ones with steering levers vs a T-bar or yoke...  If the track tension isn't equal, it'll pull to the "tight" side and the pull increases exponetially.... I damn-near lost an M548 on a hill in Foot Hood screwing around like that back when I was a stupid Private, lol... Was fun though...

However, I digress..

My diorama ideas come largely from my own experiences in the Army, both in combat and training...  Soldiers are pretty much the same in the field, regardless of what country they belong to, and just day-to-day life in the bush will make for lots of ideas...  I also get ideas from pictures, video-clips, and it doesn't HAVE to be about the vehicle you have on-hand either...   For instance, chow or mail-call would be about the same for an SAS jeep crew in WW2 as a Humvee crew in Iraq in 2004...

The important thing about dioramas is to be sure that your story is immediately apparent to the viewer... If it requires more than a title, you might wanna re-think your story-line...

Also, if you're gonna buy books about diorama building, I'd recommend "How to Build Dioramas" by Shepard Paine... It's far and away the "Bible" for beginners, and even experienced builders usually have a copy of it... Shep's book will show you everything you need to know, from soup to nuts, about diorma-building... Planning and layout, terrain and landscaping, painting & weathering, scratch-building accesories, figure modifications, structures, and shows several step-by-step diormas he built...

Hans von Hammer

 

 

LOL... Actually, you'd more likely get whacked by a cop for impeding the flow of traffic (among a few other charges) on an expresssway... It can't even make the minimum speed limit of 45 mph... Tracked vehicles are dangerous and hard to control much over 40 mph, especially ones with steering levers vs a T-bar or yoke...  If the track tension isn't equal, it'll pull to the "tight" side and the pull increases exponetially.... I damn-near lost an M548 on a hill in Foot Hood screwing around like that back when I was a stupid Private, lol... Was fun though...

 

Lol, I used to live my whole life in NYC, you didn't even get up to 40mph with all the traffic. lol. So I think it would work fine with the crazy cab drivers. And I can't believe you got to ride in one...or did you drive it?????? Wow that would awesome! Could you by chance happen to have any pictures you could share?

The tracked vehicles I was licensed to drive were the M109A3 Howitzer, M992 FAASV, M548 Cargo Carrier, M113 APC and M577 Command Post...

I have pictures, but none scanned right now...

Any chance of possibly getting them scanned? Would really love to see them. :)

Here's some from White Sands & NTC back in the 80s...

FDC M577

My M109 & crew, ca 1989 & Ft Hood.

My Gunner, A-gunner, and driver:

Howitzer and M548

Wow! Those are some great shots! Talking about your best reference for building and such. Not that I mean it was a good thing you peeps were there for any reason. Please, I'm sorry for that. But that you so much for the reference material. Are you the guy in the first photo holding his ears? Must have been SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO loud!!!! I can't even imagine. I also can't even begin to imagine the heat. I live in Jersey and if goes over 71degrees and I turn all red and curl in a ball. blech. You all who fought have my gratitude and support.

Robh22

 

 

 

One other question I have, if you were building some other diorama, say at an airstrip or something and you wanted to have a vehicle, in 1/35 scale, what size plane would add? What scale I mean? How do you figure this stuff out, I'm really lousy with it.

  Hey Rob, i saw your question ages ago and forgot to share my ideas...

  If you did want to do something simple with an aircraft as a feature maybe you could try the Bronco 1/35 scale L-4 Grasshopper kits. I have one and they are really nice. There are some Fieler Storch kits out there in 1/35 scale also. Otherwise you can use 1/32 scale aircraft. They are not 100% to scale obviously but they are mighty close. I have seen a few dioramas combining 1/32 aircraft and 1/35 vehicles and figures and they look just fine!

Justin...

Thanks! I really think that might be the best solution for me, combing the 1/32 and the 1/35 scale. I just started my Commando car (at least, opening the box and washing the parts gently. Something I've noticed, well at least with the few kits I've looked at..they don't seem to put much detail or effort into the motor of these things. Is that because the put more detail into the outside (so to speak)?

Those are some great shots!

Nah, not really... I kept a little Kodak 110 in an ammo pouch to snap pics with in the field...  It worked ok though...

[quote]Are you the guy in the first photo holding his ears?[quote]

I'm not in any.. I'm taking the pictures..  None of those pics are in a combat zone... They're from the mid-late 80s...  I changed MOSs in '88 from Field Artillery (13B) to Chemical Operations Specialist (54B).

I also can't even begin to imagine the heat. I live in Jersey and if goes over 71degrees and I turn all red and curl in a ball.

It wasn't bad.. The pics were taken in November, IIRC, and it was fairly warm during the day... 90s mostly, but after sundown the temps would drop into the mid-30s...  'Bout the same in the Arab deserts..  It's only REALLY hot in the summer months... All nine of them..  And you'll still freeze your azz off at night...

Must have been SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO loud!!!! I can't even imagine.

That's why God made earplugs... Still, I've a permanent case of Tinitus that's so loud, I swear OTHER people should be able to hear it...

Talking about your best reference for building and such. Not that I mean it was a good thing you peeps were there for any reason. Please, I'm sorry for that. But that you so much for the reference material.

Heh.. I LOVEthe Army..

I also joked that the reference material was the reason I joined...

God, I crawl into a ball and almost die if it goes over 75 degrees. I can't imagine the heat over there. I'm sorry you have that constant sound in your ears. That sucks. Isn't there anything that can be done for that?

Well..I have my Commando car, it finally came in the mail. Now I'm staring at 3 trees of parts and the instruction sheet. I am a little disappointed that the parts aren't named, just numbered. It's a way of at least trying to learn what each part is called. I also got the jeep stowage set, so that will come in handy. I also saw on ebay a very cheap auction for the entire jeep in 1/48th scale *resin*. I was glad I won that auction for 9 bucks. When I got it, there were a few pieces missing, which I wasn't happy about. So I wrote to the seller, he was going to contact Verlinden to get replacement parts, which was fine with me. Then about half an hour later, he sent me another email saying that he would just send me an entire new kit. That made me VERY happy. Now I have one to practice on before tackling the complete kit. I thanked the guy A LOT!!!

I also got the set, Military Provisions. I figured that would work pretty well as it's a farm scene I'm doing. I haven't gotten the figures for the diorama yet, but I did get some figures that were not expensive to practice on. One is the guy who is shaving in his long johns and the other is a priest and tank driver. I guess they two are supposed to be talking or something. Either way, they will be good practice to build and paint before getting a few figures for my scene. Once the Tamiya kit with all the animals gets here, I'm good to go.

The last kit I'm waiting on(but not for the diorama) is the

TAMIYA BRITISH UNIVERSAL CARRIER Mk.II

This kit also has the Eduard PE set for it, I guess the seller was just adding it as well.

I'm sorry you have that constant sound in your ears. That sucks. Isn't there anything that can be done for that?

Not that I've ever heard of... No cure, but there's some cockamamee homeopathic junk that claims to be the thing for it.. All my hearing loss came form years of high-frequency noise, Howitzers, high-explosives, rifles, and above all (no pun intended) jet aircraft engines... I actually hear kinda ok, I just can't understand what folks are saying if they don't speak clearly and have to play the TV louder to get over the noise-level of it...  It's more irritating than anything else, and is louder some days than others... Espeicially when my blood pressure spikes... Like reading an add on an on-line hobby shop and it shows a $70.00 price tag on a single seat-single engine 1/48th scale aircraft kit, someone bashing Monogram kits, or reading about someone else asking yet again about using friggin' "Future" floor polish on models...

Hans von Hammer

 

 or reading about someone else asking yet again about using friggin' "Future" floor polish on models...

lol..um, not to get your pressure up again, but you are kidding right? Future floor polish on models? And why do people bash Monogram kits?

Ain't kidding.. Some folks, well a LOT really, use Future in place of clear gloss for decaling and dipping canopies an' such...  Guess it's because they get so much for for money or somethin'.. Personally, I don't get it.. You have to airbrush it on, then clean the airbrush.. All for a 5-second squirt.. I'll stick with rattle-can gloss...

Hans von Hammer

Ain't kidding.. Some folks, well a LOT really, use Future in place of clear gloss for decaling and dipping canopies an' such...  Guess it's because they get so much for for money or somethin'.. Personally, I don't get it.. You have to airbrush it on, then clean the airbrush.. All for a 5-second squirt.. I'll stick with rattle-can gloss...

I'm with you. I love using my airbrush, but when I use it, I want to be using it for more than just a few seconds. Let's face it, having to clean it constantly can be a pain in the butt. And if you didn't really clean it, wouldn't the Future make a mess of the brush?

It's acrylic, so yeah...