Thanks for looking and commenting, guys!
Ron, yeah--it is sorta a toss-up for me which I like better: the dio w/ the MkIVJ or this one...I guess I like certain elements of each better--the Mk IV certainly was a more-involved build for sure! I love 'em both! M1, I can't comment on specifics, but the black eye does have something to do with the girl in the tub during the initial fig placement...lol...Madmike, a 1/72nd dio would be awesome using some of the same elements and take up less space on the shelf as well! Waterboy, I feel your pain, my Dutton stash is slowly dwindling as well and I don't know of anyone who still carries it, do you? Did they fold? The last pieces I have I bought 15 years ago (from Squadron I think)! Nobody comes close to some of their stuff! Snakedoctor, thanks for the kind words! Doog, you are too kind; thanks for the compliments. Your constant harping (lol) on the brick mortar motivated me to add that simple yet dio-altering touch--thanks! The DML kit comes with everything you see on the model, including all of the PE. I must say that that kit may be the finest German injection molded kit in 35th on the market today...the camo on the KT was done with the putty-masking technique. The camo on the two tankers is actually of two different patterns. The NCO (gesturing) has the common "splinter" camo and the officer is wearing pants with the "marsh" pattern showing...the major difference is that the "marsh" pattern has lighter colors and isn't hard-edged like the "splinter" is. I understand that the amount of rubble is more of a personal choice and many won't think it is enough...I actually got outside my "comfort" zone on this one and added MiG pigments to replicate dust all over the base that hides a lot of painting effects I rendered on the street. I also went back and added more wood debris and random pieces on the street from previous feedback received. Bbrownii, thanks for looking...you are correct that I did not spend a lot of time on the "inside" of the ruin...however, the building as depicted does have a basement floor where most of the rubble would have fallen...another thing to keep in mind is that often wood from rubble was quickly scavenged and used for firewood, and any furniture/impliments that were of any use quickly recycled...had the back been the focal point I would probably have made it more "interesting"...Panzerguy, thanks for the kind words...I have been following your recent work in here and you are quite an accomplished figure painter and vignette-maker! I am gonna go with your explanation for the dark circes under the fig's eyes! Those darned American and British bombers keeping us up all day and all night!!!
...Since this was the most pointed out thing I will expand a little bit...the sunken eyes look on the NCO fig is partly because the guys face is molded with a "boyish" expression and his eyes are a little sunken in in the casting...one thing I do with my dios that I haven't seen much of elsewhere is that I shoot pics VERY close (most dios--or figs--in the Forum are never shot any closer to approx. my 7th pic as an example). Some of my 35th scale figs appear to be 4 to 5 times their real size on your monitor---closer to 120-200mm (1/16th or 1/8th scale) in real life! When you shoot pics that close you will definately bring out flaws that are not visible to the naked eye, or painting techniques that look good when viewed naturally but not when blown up 4 to 5 times. I shoot that close to get a more "dramatic" effect to the pics and also because I feel that even under that magnification the figs stand up pretty well, but sometimes flaws will pop up and I just have to be prepared to take a little more heat because of the closeups (go back and look at the 8th pic in my series; this is approx. 1/35th scale on my screen)...all of my painting is done to be viewed at that size: real-life...
This dio was a blast to build and I actually tried a few new things that made me "stretch my legs" a bit and do a few things that were outside my "comfort zone"---which means I learned some things that will make my next one even better! I appreciate everyone's input---I believe I took everyone's input and applied it to some extent during the build, so thanks!
PS: has anyone been able to find the girl in the dio yet?