MENG A7V "Death to the Defiler!" FINISHED PICS!

Karl... This is awesome!!!  :D:D:D

The only thing that would improve it would be glow paint and UV LED's in the lights. Tell me there's a glass case for this display!

Beautiful work Karl. Love the scene and detail. I even like the tat on the guys leg. Ha-ha.

Karl

I have been off the grid here  at FSM for a bit....I return to see this work of art. Outstanding. Love the concept of this work of art. You never cease to amaze. Proof as always you are still king of the finish! Give Gerheart a good belly rub for me!

Rounds Complete!!

This takes what we do to a whole other level and what you do to genius. I've always thought that what makes a great piece of art is that any one thing, by itself, can stand alone. Karl you've skillfully combined every aspect of your work, all the techniques, the imagery and the vision to make what I think is a perfect piece of art. 

Maybe you should print some up stickable posters, and next time over cover their filth with them. Better yet, paper the front of that vile store who makes money out of destruction. 

Karl congratulations I think this one will be around a while.

Terry  

Wow, guys--to be honest, I'm a little bit humbled by all the generous comments and superlatives being throw out here, lol. I really mean that. I didn't expect such a great reaction. Thanks again to all of you who have followed along, commented, and who now took the time to give me a !

Cliff, thanks buddy! Those skeletal hands were a PITA to engineer! I had to cut between the fingers with a microsaw, then thin the fingers and then mount the hands on brass wire "bones" which were drilled into the hollowed-out sleeves. Thanks for calling those out--now I feel like it was worth the effort! :)

Dave, thanks so much for such kind words. I really am humbled by the comparison, and I'm not really in agreement, but it's so generous of you to say so.

Cat Daddy, Tony Lee, thanks guys, much appreciated!! Good to see you still around, Tony!

Mike B, yeah, that would be cool wouldn't it? If only I had the smarts and skills to pull that off! I thought about it, but then realized I would probably break something in frustration, lol. Thanks for the nice comment!

Steve, thanks so much, and for the cool graphic too, lol. You're always a reliably consistent guy to make us smile and I thak you for your consistency in following along and offering advice and encouragement!

Eric, lol, oh, you noticed that tattoos, huh? Great! I was wondering if anyone would see them? Yeah, not my thing, but I figured they fit the profile, lol...thanks man!!

Mike--you get off that Facebook!! Hey, thanks for looking in here and promise us you won't disappear! You're an old salt here, and it wouldn't be the same without you. Thanks as always for your kind words! And Gerhardt says "woof!"!

Terry, thank you as well for your generous compliments. I wish I could just get those stupid stores closed somehow; it's unbelievable to me that anyone would encourage such destruction for such foolish reasons!

Tojo, thanks too, and for following along here! I shall be writing this one up in the future!

Thanks too, Silent Bob! I am pleased to hear that you took something modeling-related from my methods here. That's a side-benefit to doing these blogs here in the armor forum; you reach people who are in the mainstream forums, not just members of any given Group Build. Thanks for taking the time to comment, and for your words!

Thanks again, guys! I genuinely appreciate everyone who has looked in!!

Karl, I admire this build far more than I can express. This is what I strive to accomplish in my own work and have not yet succeeded. My hat is off to you my friend.

Karl, really amazing work. Thanks for sharing it with us. And thanks for sharing your reason as well. We are certainly  moving into a difficult period in western civilization.

Looks awesome Doog !! I'm happy you liked the light idea . I like the arm on the ghost coming out of the tank the bones are cool 

Okay ;

    Now , do you want to do the same to a 1/48 B-25 ? If so I've got the plane and obviously you got the talent .Doog ; All I can say is Incredibly , Totally , Awesome ! ! !       T.B.

Bish--thank you, man! I think I will take some pics with a black background to see how that looks, I dunno if I could capture any detail in dim light. I'm afraid it would just look washed out. I may have to wait until I get home from traveling....big plans comin up...!

Mike, thank you so much. Those are generous words. :)

BarretDuke, glad that you concur with me about the demise of Western Civilization lol. Thanks for your comments!

Bones, my hat's off to you for the great suggestion. Even my fiance' said that it was a great idea!

Tankerbuilder, thank you so much! A plane would be a real challenge! I don't normally do them as it is; I'd have to research a whole new field! In any case, I"m already onto the next model--a tribute to Buddy Baker, my favorite Nascar driver as a kid, who just passed away. Watch the Auto forum in about two weeks for the build log!

Thanks once again, guys!!

A while back during a photo shoot of a SW Darth Fighter, I used a flashlight as an effect because I thought some night light may look cool. I think it gave it some nice color.

Just a thought Karl. 

Terry

Sorry I just was able to admire your work, Karl.  Your dio is simply kick Azz.  I love the story and the you brought it to life.

Congrats on the spooktacular work.

Kim

Man I hate crappy hotel wifi.

  I am late to the party and not sure I'm even qualified to comment, but this is an outstanding piece of work.  I find myself hoping that if the guns jam then the shovel will do the trick.  It is going to take a number of viewings to appreciate all the detail that is present.  Thank you for sharing your work.

                                                                       knox

doog:  It's good you channeled your frustrations out this way, and I totally understand how you feel.  It has become in vogue to add graffiti to freight cars in the model railroading world and I was asked many times if that was something I did as part of my weathering...I always replied with a definitive no.  I find the graffiti to be a debasing of the property of the hardworking railroad companies and freight car manufacturers and I simply refused to add it...even if it was prototypical.  I can't even imagine the frustration I'd feel if I saw some of the great old buildings in Europe, with detailing probably never seen again, ruined by senseless graffiti.  

OK, stepping down from the soapbox...

That is one fine build Karl!  The weathering effects sure do have your consistently high caliber of attention to detail and flawless execution...but what I most like is the story!  It's like the armor dio's that depict a tragic war scene...with a different take-on-it.  Never would have thought that the dead Germans still guarded their armor so intensely, great imagination...all-be-it a bit disturbing  You haven't been spending too much time on the road lately, have you?!...

Couple things:  The park feels a bit clean...I see all the dirt on the paving but I almost want this to feel like an "off-the-beaten' path memorial with the feel of a graveyard...you know, brown grass, dilapidated bench, etc.  Also, the negative space is a bit too big IMO.  The ghosts could be right on top of the kid and really add some eeriness...or maybe the dio' goes somewhat vertical and the ghosts are coming from below.  

I love the comment that was made about the lighting, if this goes to a show you should display it as night scene!

Anyway, that's my doog, always a pleasure to view your work my friend.

SMJmodeler

doog:  It's good you channeled your frustrations out this way, and I totally understand how you feel.  It has become in vogue to add graffiti to freight cars in the model railroading world and I was asked many times if that was something I did as part of my weathering...I always replied with a definitive no.  I find the graffiti to be a debasing of the property of the hardworking railroad companies and freight car manufacturers and I simply refused to add it...even if it was prototypical.  I can't even imagine the frustration I'd feel if I saw some of the great old buildings in Europe, with detailing probably never seen again, ruined by senseless graffiti.  

OK, stepping down from the soapbox...

That is one fine build Karl!  The weathering effects sure do have your consistently high caliber of attention to detail and flawless execution...but what I most like is the story!  It's like the armor dio's that depict a tragic war scene...with a different take-on-it.  Never would have thought that the dead Germans still guarded their armor so intensely, great imagination...all-be-it a bit disturbing  You haven't been spending too much time on the road lately, have you?!...

Couple things:  The park feels a bit clean...I see all the dirt on the paving but I almost want this to feel like an "off-the-beaten' path memorial with the feel of a graveyard...you know, brown grass, dilapidated bench, etc.  Also, the negative space is a bit too big IMO.  The ghosts could be right on top of the kid and really add some eeriness...or maybe the dio' goes somewhat vertical and the ghosts are coming from below.  

I love the comment that was made about the lighting, if this goes to a show you should display it as night scene!

Anyway, that's my doog, always a pleasure to view your work my friend.

 

 

Thanks for looking in on this and adding your valued opinion! To be honest, you're right about a couple of things that still bother me about the dio. I agree that the openm space and park needs "something else". The problem is that I have thought and thought and wracked my brain to think of what I could add that wouldn't obstruct the line-of-sight and focal point of the scene---the vandal and his impending fate--without feeling cluttered and redundant or unnecessary. I am a stcikler for Composition, and I hate when I see a dio just thoughtlessly filled up with copious, disparate elements as if that makes a "story".

I also think that, in this case, I may be a victim of my own travels and experience in Europe and especially Germany. If you've ever been there, you know that European parks and espeically "hallowed places" like memorials are pretty much spotless. I was very consicous of that fact while composing this scene---but now, I think that while it may have been technically "accurate" modeling, it may not have been the smartest modeling. Ironically, I'm the guy who's always ready to sacrifice technical "accuracy" for "artistry"---but I have a nagging feeling that I should have minimized that former aspect in favor of the latter. The whole "backwater graveyard" idea would have been compelling, but in the end, I don't know if I could have "sold" that as "German", they being so fastidious in their society?

The other diffficult element was the lack of any elevation. Usually that helps a scene, to have variations in terrain, but this was difficult to work into the scene in any meaningful way.

I felt that it was almost pointless to fill up the green area behind the tank, as the bulk of the vehicle blocks it anyway, and most parks are just grass in Europe as I recall.

One thing that would have helped would have been a tree of some sort behind/above the tank, but I thought that would make the removal of the top very difficult. Maybe I overreached in insisting on including that option?

Anyway, something tells me that I'm not quite done with this dio. I've been waiting for something inspirational to hit me out of the blue, and maybe your suggestions will inspire something dark and fetid and disturbing to rise from my inner consciousness...? Oh one could only hope! lol ...

Thanks again for the valuable and honest critique; you know I eat that ship up!

Oh, and it was great to read your opinion on graffiti as well!

doog:  As I expected, you had a reason for everything you did in the dio'.  

You're right, there is a "something" missing...I still think it's related to the large negative space.  I  seem to want to "scrunch" the scene together: Limit the park area, bench, grass, etc... maybe just have one "scary" light (is that what you called it")  If you had one light source you could darken the backs of the skeleton figures and focus the attention to the more lit-up vandal. Or how about casting shadows in a direction you want the viewer's eye to go (again, one light source) Make sense?

If you're trying to relay to the viewer that parks in Germany are perfectly clean you're going to have a real tough time unless there's a storyline plaque attached.  

Hope that gets the creative juices going...and thanks for your additional explaination, I sure do enjoy thinking through stuff like this.

Karl. I have been in limbo land and just discovered this gem. You have once again succeeded in establishing a new story out of the “everyday” components of a model build.

All the kudos  are rightfully placed at your feet.  (thanks for wearing your shoes-I’m just sayin’)

The too clean-negative space problem is not an easy one to adjust without clouding your vision.  The addition of any other large element could also break the visual flow you have worked out so successfully.

As a thought though, would a drain grate help to break the paver expanse? Or a small dog wide eyed and hightailing (pun-I know, I know) it from the encounter?

SMJ has a good point as well;   the reduction to one lamp and the “forced” shadow/highlight could help create the night feeling. Though ghosts likely don’t have shadows but a soft “glow “could be used instead of their shadow which would call attention to the tagger and his shadow

  Regardless what your decide, you have a cracker-jack diorama.

This Steve is off to the sack to dream of what I could do if I had the talent; But I am taking notes.   

DUSTER

Or a small dog wide eyed and.............

Yea.......   Somethin' Like dis?