Diorama “Morocco 1943” using Tamiya’s Quad Gun Tractor and Master Box’s Commonwealth AFV Crew - by “Art Instructor”:
This is from my latest page:
http://www.falconbbs.com/model56a.htm
Comments and suggestions are welcome!
Nice detail on the camel saddle.
I will second that
i really like the dio. the painting and weathering is very well done. So was the groundwork. But the camel looks a bit out of place. [:P]
Im Sure there are camels in Morocco, they were used all over the middle east and north African continent for ages, there perfect for crossing deserts.
I think he meant in context of the story, especially since the rider is looking off into the distance and not at the guy in the turban. More preblematic, tough, are the kneeling and sitting guys between the truck and the camel.
I agree, the saddle blanket looks okay in the smaller sized pictures, but the full size ones show some, well, less than stellar painting.
Do Google Images or check your reference sources. How many of them show native camels in any proximity to WWII military action?
[:)]
I’m wondering about the random Sikh?
Not impossible for North Africa though the specific time and place identified in the title might be questionable for his presence: "
- 3/12th (Royal) Frontier Force Regiment
The 3/12th FFR was part of the 5th Indian Infantry Division during the East African and Western Desert Campaigns. The 3/12th FFR was all but destroyed at El Adem on 15 June 1942. It was reformed in Egypt before transferring to the 4th Indian Infantry Division.[8]"
Tunisia, Spring 1943
My comment MM would be that there’s two competing elements here. The camel rider is pretty high end, so obviously he’s a story unto himself.
OTOH, the gun tractor might well have an encounter with this normal guy along the road.
So, a better title would probably identify the location as Egypt, not Morocco.
If you look real close, one of the characters is Bob Hope and the other Bing.
I think it adds some levity to the scene…
No tracks or foot prints that I can see, plus there’s very little ground color tying the figures and tractor to the groundwork… No storyline that’s readily apparent…
Interesting as a kit display, but not a real good diorama…
I’d have to agree on the lack of a story, a few little hints of one with the shared conversation over a meal, but what stopped the Brits from driving right past? Are they lost? Out of fuel? Bored? Meal break? All of the above?! I do like the weathering on the Quad and everything’s well painted albeit not dusted or blended into the groundwork. Tracks and prints would be nice.
I think given the past problems of the builder- no story is much better than 5 or 6 competing elements with no theme and only pure imaginative comedy to tie them together on our part. I’d say this is a pretty solid piece given expectations.
I only comment for the sake of budding dio-builders anyway, who may stumble across these… Frankly,it doen’t look like Moroccan desert and other than a title nodding towards such a locale, there’s little evidence, aside from the Arabs and the camel, that it’s Morocco, or even 1943, or that it’s the Golan Heights in 1967… Matter of fact, it looks more like the Golan Heights than Africa…
haha yeah I agree with you on that. Just meant that this is a little more palatable than the usual shake and bake, out of the box builds AI’s done in the past. The people and the vehicle more or less fit on the base, the groundwork doesn’t look like a huge after thought…
And for the average budding builder to stumble across this thread- might look like a bunch of elitists picking away at every little thing. There’s a history with the builder and I think for that particular builder’s history this one could have been a lot worse. Could have made a smaller base the size of the Quad and forgot to add the camel and in a last minute effort- glued it down on the roof!
I think this might get a few looks if it were at a contest or a show or something, probably wouldn’t take a metal, it’s more or less forgettable and doesn’t have a plot but it’s not blatantly ridiculous. I think it sure fits in nice and maybe even stands out among the rest of the “collection”.
The title for one thing is terrible for this subject as the British didn’t enter Morocco, it was the Western Task Force under Patton (US 2nd Armored, 3rd and 9th Infantry Divisions). Using Algeria or Tunisia in the title would be more accurate, especially the latter.
Mike T.
Sure they did, when the Germans ran them out of Egypt in '35. Didn’t you see that movie?
Now THAT woulda been funny if the dio had an officer with a map pointing one way and the Arab pointing the other…
Hans - that vehicle must have gotten great gas mileage to get all the way to Morocco without the Vichy troops stopping them! That officer must have his magnetic declinations wrong or reversed sideways. If you read “To War In A Stringbag” you would remember that the French weren’t too hospitable to the Brits they found in country.
Mike T.