Thinking of making a Diorama or just a display of a Tiger I in mid explosion called " Ka-Boom" or " Direct Hit " . Anyway was looking to see if there is any books of shelled out tanks or web pictures that you may know of. At this stage its in the mind and not even on paper yet . I have no idea on how to do this , so any help would be helpful . I happen to have the Academy Tiger I with int already and i don’t think i would need too many AM parts since its going to be blown up. I can get away with some parts not being correct or as good as the AM parts . Well will see i always end up getting them anyway !!
LOL was also thinking of having some of the crew ejected in mid air … not relistic maybe but kinda funny in a way .
What do you think ? I am always coming up with ideas and its time i used one lol
The inherent problem here is that model dioramas are static by definition. They are supposed to depict a snapshot in time. You’d need to replicate an explosion? What does one look like? What is the shape of the flames? I can imagine pictures that I’ve seen in comic books and such – but is that realistic? Do you wish to depict bright yellow/red balls?
It’s hard enough for advanced diorama builders to even show several figures in combat positions posed realistically for the human eye. I think your “mid-explosion” tank would be quite the project if realism is your final goal…
Also, I don’t find any humor in showing a figure being torn to shreds by an explosion. I’ve met many combat veterans (including tankers). These 18 year old boys saw many of their mates meet their doom in the way you discuss. Personally, a depiction of one dying must be done with great respect but your view of this would lead me to believe your depiction would be in very poor taste.
I gotta agree with Roy on this one. It might just be me (and maybe a few others), but depicting people get blown through the air isn’t a funny thing.
I think some of us kinda walk a thin line between appreciation for these incredible machines and their brave crews on one hand, and the horror of the threat of actual death on the other. Maybe I’m just wound too tight, but I try to avoid depicting anyone getting blown apart, even as I recognize that this was the purpose of these machines.
Does that make sense?
As for the dio idea as a whole, I’d say do it without the flying bodies, and you could do it without the flames and all that, as mentioned above. An “exploded view” might look pretty cool.
Yeah, that would be a little too insensitive to the guys who have actually lived through such an awful experience. “Enemy” or not, a lot of these guys are just soldiers fighting and dying in a war they didn’t want.
Also, the “Diorama” forums would be a better place for this thread–see for example, Manstein’s Revenge’s post asking for ideas in his new diorama. You’ll get some real good help over there from the hardcore doiramists!
I “blew up” a tank before–it was in a dio called “SPOOKED”, and it was in January 08’s Finescale Modeler. I used a DML “Panzer Survivors” kit and painted the crewmen like ghosts, even sculpting their faces like skulls. Here’s a few pics. It was not an easy build! Lots of extra detailing and correcting of Verlinden parts.
The number one thing I can telll you that you need to do is to P-L-A-N C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y! Planning beforehand will save you a lot of heartache and frustration! Plan exactly what kind of damage you want, and if it is plausible. Working from a photograph is highly recommended.
Doog is on the money…I have seen some explosion in progress dios…and only one that actually pulled it off, although the maker was very careful not to depict people being blown up…I’ll try to find that pic and post it…the article actually had some step-by-steps for it: he used ping-pong balls to form the basic outline of the fireball and celluclay for the explosion “streamers”…
Actually building a convincing “brewed up” tank is harder, IMO, than one that isn’t…
Gonna add my two cents and say that I don’t think it’s a good idea, either. As a military diorama builder, sooner or later you are going to come a situation that calls for blood. Bright red splotches of gloss red paint splashed all over, bodies flying through the air, GIs on fire, etc. will very quickly mark you as a tasteless amature… You can depict casualties quite effectively with a well-placed and posed figure or two and still keep the amount of gore to realistic minimum…
As a veteran of the two-way rifle range who has smelled dead tanks and troops, I can say that there isn’t anything funny at all about it in any kind of way…
On a practical note, if you’re gonna do that kind of damage to that nice a model, send it to me instead and I’ll send you a junked Tamiya Tiger I got…
leave the bodies out of it altogether!! It represents poor taste in my opinion; no matter what nationality they happen to be. My First Sargent drummed into my head to “love your enemy”, and to this day I’ve stuck with that.
Lastly if your blowing a track remember this: that ball of fire comes last unless it’s a hit in the fuel cell or was a flame thower tank. The initial explosion will be a dark charcoal colored blast (assuming it’s an HE round), and an AP round will actually have a smaller blast. Turrets don’t always go flying up inthe air, and most of the time just stay intack. All the hatch covers will usually blow open if the hit is on the turret, and the engine cover comes later if the fuel cell goes off. If you picture the track in a massive burnt condition, then you gotta figure a way to drop the hull into a very low condition (heat will cause the suspension to loose it integraty as well as burn the rubber off the road wheels.
If memory serves, the Squadron/Signal photo book Tiger I In Action has a few after explosion pics. Ditto for Panther In Action and PzKpfw IV In Action. Any of these ought to give you something to think about.
OK i wrote that at 6am and clearly wasn’t thinking on what was humor and what wasn’t . Just want to say that if i offended anyone i am sorry for that , it was not my intention to do so .
I wasn’t planning on using figures in that way …so lets end this post and leave it be
Don’t give it up completely, Herr Baron… Modeling a destroyed tank is massive scratchbuilding project that, if done right, is amazing to look at… It takes much more skill to model a destroyed vehicle than it does an operational one, IMHO… Several times I’ve wanted to attempt it, but always chickened out…
I think Disastermaster has the right idea here, so as to not seem like a rank ameture, since displaying anything of reality is often considered to make you look like a murderous freak.
Either way, the panzer crew blowing their own ride, I think would be more interesting anyway. It’s something that gets talked about alot, but not exactly something you see modeled alot.
On the other hand while a body through the air might be offensive to some, we can’t keep ignoring the realities of the past. I have an original photograph taken during 1937 with a full bit of handwriting on the back, of ADolf himself. It’s an actual photograph and has been authenticated. It’s a very rare peice of “memorabilia” and it’s worth some money. I often call it my retirement fund. Everyone around me says I should burn it, because it’s a “reminder” and that all things nazi in origin should be destroyed, that we should just erase that part of history. Which is a wonderful way to repeat the same mistakes over. We have all heard the saying that it is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow fond of it. Perhaps it is also well that we be reminded at times of how terrible it is in order to keep our butts out of it as well?
I don’t care to start a debate here, just some food for thought.
blasting thing,