This is about a fictional last stand made by a rag-tag group of German soldiers somewhere in Berlin during the last days of the Reich. The setting is in a cross-road within the eastern part of the war-torn capital. The time, moments before dusk and hours before they go down in history…in a one night stand.
German Officer: “In about two hours after dusk, the entire Russian army will be marching down this road. We are among the few remaining who stands between them and the complete defeat of the Reich. Honestly, we cannot stop the whole Russian army but I can’t think of a more honorable way to do than to spend my last breath fighting for the fatherland (we call it motherland here[;)]).”
This tank was summoned from the nearby testing grounds. If the night-fighting capability it is supposed to have is indeed true, then this will be the best time and place to test it.
While the main group discusses their plan, some more soldiers arrive to join them, picking weapons along the way left by others on the wayside.
Some furniture lay covered in the debris inside this abandoned furniture factory.
I completed this diorama last Sunday night but with the batteries of my camera was almost dying and without a good light source, I did not take pictures. Last night however, I decided to try and took the pictures until the batteries got exhausted. Making the most of my small lamp shades, the pictures did not come out as I hoped they would. So, I must retake the pictures under natural outside light this weekend.
There are basically problems that I noted about this work and these are:
I should have added some more debris (probably mounds of it) as the size of the ruin would certainly mean that tons of debris should be present.
The color of the debris (especially of powdered bricks) did not match the color of the bricks on the wall.
I think I over-estimated the required space for this diorama that it turned out to be quite large as far as the base is concerned. Actually it is my largest diorama so far in terms of the size of the base.
As I meant to be simply a representation of what I have in mind, I neither took the time to research to make it more accurate depiction of something that would happen in the mentioned time and place.
Anyway, rather than redo or modify the diorama, I just considered these as “lessons learned” that I may apply in my next works.
[:D]
Darn, I wanted to see if they bagged any T-34’s. Excellent lead-in to the final hours of the brave troops. Superb dio Dwight. I’m sure you’re tired of hearing it. [;)] As the builder, your going to be more critical of your work. I think it’s awesome. You do all your own building, bases and everything. How many of us can say that? One question…where do you store all these guys?
One other note, it should be Fatherland. Motherland was a term of endearment to the Russians. Of course I know you knew that. Thanks for sharing all the pics and story. So what is your next project going to be?
Thank you for the comments. I store most of my finished works in a wooden showcase with glass doors. But this one has to sit on the TV rack for a while as I have run out of space.
Well, I used motherland by default as it is how we usually call our homeland. Probably you are right…
it doesnt have to be historically accurate! in fact u should have homer simpson with a panzerfaust!! a lot of my models are real some have the number 125 (my bday) and made up names like ‘maluch’ (shorty in polish) for a t34! great work!!! it really does need more debris cuz right now the germans built four walls and no floors or roof! i guess they are saving time “the americans are just gonna destroy it again!” like i said AWESOME DIO!!-DJ
Aaahhh, another reason to purchase a new kit. I myself finally got the M4A2 -76- red army at Lil’s just this afternoon. -grabbed it and did’nt hesitate. there is also the new Dragon kits -a Sd.Kfz. 251/1 C 3 in 1 and the Sd.Kfz.181 Panzerkampfwagen VI(P)[:)]
I think the lighting on this is fine. If you’re going to go outside to photograph this, you need to consider your backstory. You’ve said it’s taking palce just before nightfall. Minimally, you’d want to wait until you have a lowering sun to get the color saturation you need and the shadows. This will compromise some areas with very dark shadows. You would want to consider the effect of the surroundings on the fall of light. Presumably, there are other buildings higher than the one in the dio. They will be casting shadows onto your scene as well. Strong midday sun will create a disconnect between your pictures and your story. (Kind of like those 1950’s movies where night scenes were simply filtered and stark shadows apeared or those movie shots of downpours where the sun is clearly shining and glinting off the raindrops.
Dwight, this is just awesome. The whole story is perfect, and you have excellent postioning of your figures. Excellent building to boot, and for me personally I would add a little more rubble, but I’m a sucker for rubble [:D] The panther is really cool, it’s scenes like this that really inspire me! Great job, my man!
Dwight,“one night stand” is an absolutely inspireing piece of work, I shouldnt worry too much about the colour of rubble matching the house,dust changes a lot of colours when settled,the amount of rubble,sure there could be more,as a majority though modelers do not put enough rubble into their dioramas myself included,but who cares, its the representation of an idea that you wanted and had fun getting down. You did alot of work here and if your satisfied with the finish then thats what counts! Its an excellent build Dwight.
Guys thank you for all those encouraging words. I shall keep them in my thoughts in my next project.
Beans, Meron na bang DML M4A2-76 at SDK 251 3-in-1 sa Lil’s? Megamall ba o Glorieta? (Is DML m4A2-76 and SDK 251 3-in-1 already available at Lil’s? Which branch, Megamall or Glorietta?)
