Hi everyone! I have been working on this diorama (more of a vignette actually) for the past few weeks. It tells the story of a German MG-42 team that got wounded and is hiding from the invading Russians.
I made the building out of two layers of foam core board, then added cork bricks which need to be plastered and painted still. The base is also made of foam core which I carved bricks into for the street and side walk. The German figures are from Dragon’s “Fallen Comrade” set and the Russians are from Tamiya’s “Russian Assault Infantry 1941-42”. I had to modify the Russian’s uniforms to make them the 1943 and later version. To do that I shortened the collar, added shoulder tabs, and I will have to add buttons to the shirts.
The Germans are hiding in a bathroom so I carved a toilet from a balsa wood block. The tiles in the bathroom are tile sheets from evergreen.
Enjoy!
Sorry if the Pictures are not the greatest I took them with my phone!
Hey, that’s really cool looking! Great idea with the cork bricks. Your carved sidewalk and bricks are really good. Figures look great too. What paints are you using?
Thanks for all of the kind comments guys! I got the idea to use cork for bricks over on the armorama site.
Another small update. I got the figures mostly finished this weekend. I am still finishing up the running Russian and the other figures need some finishing touches. The running Russian needed some surgery to make his DP-28 fit in his arms nicely. I also drilled out the inside of one the German helmets and made the leather webbing(not quite sure what to call it) inside with paper.
I did a little more work to the building adding window trim and more bricks. Soon I can plaster the building and paint her up! I also have been working on filling and shaping the toilet trying to get rid of the wood grain. I painted some of the floor tiles black and it got a little messy, so I need to fix that still.
Great work on those figures. That’s something I have always struggled with and am trying to improve on. I think your look very realistic. I have a couple of books on painting figures, and some of them just don’t look real, but yours are spot on.
Thanks for the kind comments Falconmod, Raualduke, and Bish! I have been practicing my figure painting a lot and I think they improve a little every time!
Got some more progress for you! I plastered and got some primer on my building. I also made some windows for it out of balsa wood. I still need to add some more detail to them though. I also made the wooden floor for the upstairs. I took some close-ups of the faces with my good camera as well.
Ummm, thought I’d already commented here but I guess not. Great job, love the idea and the figures and building are turning out great. She’ll be an award-winner once done!
Got some more work done this weekend! I finished up the balsa wood windows by adding more details and painting them. I also made wooden trim for around the windows. I added wallpaper which I just printed from the internet (after a little re-sizing). Got the wood floor painted and glued in just need to gloss it now. I also glued the tiles for the bathroom on which also need to be glossed.
I am mostly done with the figures now. Need to add some finishing touches and flat coat them!
I cut out some foam core as a base for the rubble which will be coated in celluclay. Do you think that what I have is too much, not enough, or just right? Thanks for any input!
