diorama idea

Tell me what you think, suggestions are welcome. It is Spring in france 1944, A convoy consisting of 1 lead kubel, folowed by a sdkfz 222, and two opel blitz trucks, all in german grey are driving down a road. An advanced party of americans are entrenced in the hedges growing over a broken wall next to the road. The officer in the kubel will be shot, and all the germans are jumping out of the opel trucks, the 222 is turning its turret to the americans but a soldier with a bazoka has the 222 in its sights. there is also two 30 cals set up in the bushes. I have already built the 222 and kubel and most of the figures.

I’m sure you mean Summer of '44, right? The invasion of France started on June 6. Also the order to repaint existing vehicles to dunkelgelb (dark yellow) occurred in Feb of '43. The likelihood of an occasional oddball dark gray vehicle exists but that any frontline vehicle would be dk gray is not that likely. To say all four of your vehicles would be dk gray would be streeeeeeeeetching historical probability.

My philosophy on dioramas is “less is more” The larger the scene or more complex the story behind the action, the less effective it becomes. The dioramas that have the most effect on me (my artistic taste) are the ones where you see the focus of the entire story at almost the first instant of looking at the scene.

From your description, it just doesn’t sound very interesting to me, honestly. It’s an ambush. Poor Germans. It just doesn’t sound compelling…

I don’t mean to sound harsh. Try harder to tell a story. Place items/action/story so that other modellers would find your scene interesting.

Hope this helps.
RC

I Think that it’s a good Idea, go for it.

Americans didn’t hit france till June of 44.

Most german vehicles were using the dunkelgelb either factory applied or at the least oversprayed by 1943. Not to say they weren’t german grey but most likely they were the dark yellow.

The conditions for that area based upon a situational report prior to the invasion read:

Temperatures range from 42º to 85º Fahrenheit, with a mean daily maximum of 64º ; and a mean daily minimum of 54º

Spring like eh?

Sounds like a great project.

Edit: (Of course when I started to post this, there were no responses, after I hit post I see much of your question has been answered. T26E4 beat me to it., sorry for the redundency)

Well it’s already been noted that the colors of the vehicles would be diff.It’s not a bad idea but have you thought of the size?It would need to quite spread out so it didn’t feel cramped, IMHO.But hey, it’s your dio and it’s all about our own enjoyment.Not a bad concept,but as T26 said, less can be better.Either way have a ball at whatever you decide!!!

Good luck with the Dio. Sounds like an interesting concept. Just like what others have said prior to my posting, perhaps German dark yellow would work rather nicely than German Grey. Make sure you post up some pictures as well.

Besides what has been said before, Decals. You will need the specific decals of the unit and the vehicle markings. Also, big dios area ALOT more work. Think of how long it takes you to build and paint a fig and a model then times that by the amount of people and vehicles you want.

But on the upside, when large dios are done, and done right, they look incredible! So if you have the patience to settle down and work on one project like that, go for it. Just be sure to do your research too though. I cant tell you how many times I’ve seen a really cool dio and then been completly stunned at how inaccurate it is (like if you put in the german gray vehicles in a 1944 setting) Research is key.