I am now working on my second dio. This one was inspired by one feature in FSM about the last resistance of the Germans in Berlin. I fell in love with the setting so I decided to make my own but on the Western Front. Since I don’t have access to Verlinden items [:(], I have to do everything from scratch.[;)]
I was supposedly planning to place my M4A3 105 in this dio but sadly it was for the Battle of the Bulge setting[V]. So, I picked-up my Pershing instead.
So the setting is early 1945 with the allies pushing into Berlin through a town-to-town mopping up operations. There will be american figures and fallen german figures to be added.
Still a lot of airbrushing to do to give shades to some debris and paint-detailing.[:)]
This is great stuff Dwight … you’re scratch building talents are top drawer. Your attention to detail in this setting alone is fantastic with great rubble and drebris. The books are a superb touch.
Keep up the great work Dwight and forget about what the AM market has to offer … you don’t need it !!!
Thanks for the encouragement Sherm. I am not really obsessed with AM it’s just that I think those are more accurately sized/detailed and could save me a lot of time. Anyway I am glad you like it. Maybe I can finish it within this week. I’ll post more pics then.
Verlinden makes modelers become too dependent and lazy. You’re on the way of getting something you did yourself, that will be unique, and almost certainly better anyway, so why spend your money on him…!?
Thanks dj. I just finished glueing the german figure and the mg42 last night. Got difficulty in posing it dead. Still 3 more figures to go and I will be complete. I guess.
Outstanding Dwight!! I love it and they’re right, you don’t need Verlinden! The cracked plaster on the walls, rubble, books and painting…all the details fit and look great! Kep it up and keep posting pix [:D]
Hi Tiger44:
I could probably finish it within the week. Thanks.
Hi erush:
The crack on the wall was a bit of an accident actually. The base material of the wall is foam board which is a bit flexible. After sanding the wall putty that I applied on the wall to simulate plastered finish, I somehow bent a portion of the wall causing the putty to crack. I kinda like the effect so I added some more cracks. Thanks.
Hi ricky:
The base material is folder paper (I mean folders you use in the office with a shiny smooth texture). It is roughly about 0.5mm thick so I pasted two sheets together into one using elmers glue to come up with about 1mm thick material. It is smooth and easy to cut with a hobby knife. I use a scaled drawing of the cabinet and built-up the whole thing. Before gueing every panel, I scratched the outer surface with the knife to simulate wood grains. The hinges are actually staple wires I cut and glued to the side. The knob is piece cut from a small plastic rod.
Painting - For base coat I used black acrylic mixed with olive green. Then i use a dark brown wash. Then I lightly drybrushed it with dark brown.
Beautiful work. I loved the knocked over books. Wonderful detail. Are they in German? The best thing about scratchbuilding is that the result is yours and not somebody else’s that you just painted. It also tells the rest of us that we do not need tons of money to spend on VLS to get a show stopping head turner. Perhaps you can submit an article to FSM. Keep building 'em.
Paul
Thanks for the compliments Tiking & pavlvsmax. Yes the setting is supposedly in Germany at the latter stage of the war (1945).
As I have mentioned earlier, this just sort of a copy of the dio featured in FSM some months back.
No research was done because this is supposedly a trial thing for me because I am not very sure if the materials I will use will work.
So, there might some inaccuracies here.
As expected I learned a lot of things in doing here. One is that I used folder paper for the tables, chairs.
It was ok but when I applied the wash, some portions started to swell so II’l try to remember this in my next dio.
Also when sanded the surface of some items where I used folder paper and cardboard became “hairy”.
An article in FSM? I think I am still too far away from that. I have just started on this dio thing and there are still a lot for me to learn.
My main objective now is to discover things that will make constructing dioramas less of a financial burden to modelers and I will love to
share it to everybody. If we can make this hobby “cheaper” then I believe that more and more people will be into it, don’t you think?
Dwight:
why would u want something that’s the same as everybody else’s when ur own work is so distinctive and unique ? please, no apologies ! it’s nice to see a dio and not say " oh, custom dioramics number whatever" or “there goes that same old verlinden church in ruins base again”…
whenever u post, i look forward to seeing something different.
the same with djmodels… scratchbuilding rules, and u guys inspire me to do more of it myself !
thanks for sharing,
frosty[:)]
