My dear friends, I am still working at the communication devices repainting some and finishing others. I am also completing the construction of the two fuel Power Generators. Obviously I will also paint those. To end all this I will also appropriately wire all devices to each other and to the generators.
Once done, they will all be firmly glued to the tables and the tables themselves will be fixed to the niches in the bunker.
This is when I will start to build and paint all the vehicles, big and small, ending up with the building and painting of the figures.
What follows is how I plan to place all this stuff in the various sectors on the diorama.
Since the starting point of the diorama is the road entrance to the compound I will start with the Road Sector where it starts and bends towards the Parking lot.
First I will show you the exact position on the diorama itself circled in Red so that you better understand where the various items will go.
Below you see the road entrance looking toward the Bunker.
The road leading to the parking lot.
OK. Here are the items that I plan to include.
Soldiers walking out the compound.
Soldiers walking into the compound.
Further on, on the same road. First the map.
Soldiers following those exiting the compound.
Soldiers on the other side of the road entering the compound.
Motorcyclist exiting the compound.
Now we are moving into the Parking Lot sector. The Map.
The Parking Lot seen from various angles.
The planned inclusion of items here:
To the farthest end of the Parking Lot will be Rommel’s Mercedes
Followed by a Simca Staff Car
Next to them will be two Steyr Cars, one being a General’s staff car and the other that of his Aid Officers.
Next to them is a Regular Volkswagen Stabswagen
And to finish off, two escort Kubelwagen parked on one side of the parking lot facing the exit to the road.
Along with these, there will be some crowd in it, mainly drivers, but also some officers.
And once more some military police securing the area.
Of these Preiser figured I will only use those without coats.
And now unto the actual central scene that gave this diorama its title. The reunion of High Ranking Officers from the High Command of the Wehrmacht with their aids and Staff Officers.
First, the map.
A couple of close-ups of the area.
And now who’s who in this stretch of terrain… First of them all is obviously Field Marshal Rommel, taken from the Tamiya Famous Generals Set and slightly reconverted for this scenario. The shirt underneath his raincoat will be painted Light Field Gray rather than in Brown as he wore in Africa and he will be deprived of his binoculars and goggles on top of his officer’s cap.
He will stand facing us with his back, since he will be addressing his officers. I will probably provide him with a Field Marshal’s staff he will hold in his right hand behind his back.
On his right side we will have General Erich Marcks Observing the Channel while listening to Rommel and his personal staff.
To Rommel’s left side his Chief of Staff, General Hans Speidel and other lower ranking officers.
Right in Front of Rommel stood General Friedrich Dollmann, General der Panzertruppe Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg and General Dietrich Kraiss with his aid.
Moreover, at the wings surrounding the principal Commanders stood various subaltern Officers trying to figure out distances and possible threats to the Fortifications as observers.
You may have noticed the similarity of postures in the 1st and 2nd pictures of these Tamiya figures, since the first was the former offering of the very same updated one we now have.
Only differences are the first Figure to the left in the first picture appearing to speak to someone we don’t see and the two additional figures in the second one to the right, which are apparently two Signal and Reconnaissance NCOs.
These three figures will then be placed nearer to the entrance to this gathering and will form a sort of mini vignette, since this time the NCO above will be speaking to the one checking his pistol, while the third seems busy answering an important call on his field telephone.
Just in case, should the given Observation devices be too clunky I will then assemble some more detailed ones which came within a Plus Model box.
And now to the end of this long presentation. This time going into the trench that leads into the Bunker. And here is the map with a few close ups.
And here the items will include in here:
All three bikes will have their details replaced with Photo Etched parts and while one will lean against one of the barricades, the other will be pushed along by one of the Tamiya’s soldiers, while another is departing the compound.
I hope I have given you some general idea on how this diorama will be populated. I counted 79 figures in all to cover the entire ground. Perhaps, and if needed, more could be added, if they are the right ones.
Thank you for having followed my preview in the things to come and please be patient until I will have something new and factual to report. In the meanwhile have fun and do a good job with your own builds and remember, every now and then I will put my big nose in and look what’s new… 
