First Diorama
Moderators: dnichols, GHQ, Mk 1
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Mag
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- Location: Enterprise, Alabama
First Diorama
Hey Fellas, this is my first diorama in any scale. My previous experience is 1/72 armor and not too much of that.
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ShortRound70
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Love the trees! Are they GHQ? Really, very good work for your first one. Hope to see more.-
Extra Crispy
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Mag
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2006 4:05 am
- Location: Enterprise, Alabama
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dnichols
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1ComOpsCtr
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Excellent beginning. You have a good eye for color and placement.
Suggestion. Use a finer piano wire to suspend the chopper. Perhaps even making a tree using the wire and extending the trunk to support the AC so there is no obvious support adds to the realism of the picture.
http://commandoperationscenter.com/pict ... models.htm
Scroll down the page the link above takes you to and you will see a few pictures of a 1/285th scale diorama that may provide some additional information about detailing, etc...
I will post a picture later of a way to support an aircraft model on a diorama that do not show up, plus you can also use the clear plactic "flyer" mounts you can get from the "dark lord" (GW).
Will
Suggestion. Use a finer piano wire to suspend the chopper. Perhaps even making a tree using the wire and extending the trunk to support the AC so there is no obvious support adds to the realism of the picture.
http://commandoperationscenter.com/pict ... models.htm
Scroll down the page the link above takes you to and you will see a few pictures of a 1/285th scale diorama that may provide some additional information about detailing, etc...
I will post a picture later of a way to support an aircraft model on a diorama that do not show up, plus you can also use the clear plactic "flyer" mounts you can get from the "dark lord" (GW).
Will
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster." - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, 1844-1900
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Mag
- Posts: 8
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- Location: Enterprise, Alabama
Having the Aircraft taking off was an afterthought and I used what I had available which was a nail in the wall where my wife took a picture down. hehehe.
Thanks again for all the compliments, next thing I think is going to be a 1'x2' area which will be a huge step up from this one which is like 7"x4". It will also be for WWII and not modern.
Thanks again for all the compliments, next thing I think is going to be a 1'x2' area which will be a huge step up from this one which is like 7"x4". It will also be for WWII and not modern.
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Mk 1
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I've never done a diorama myself. So I don't speak (type) with the voice (fingers) of experience on the aspects of creating one.
But I know what I like to look at.
I think you've done a fine job. And I think maybe I spy a bear in the corner of the woods -- but what is he doing?*
To the point of 1COC's comment on the aircraft mount ... this is a difficult issue in micro-armor scales. The key is to reduce the visibility of the mounting to the point were a viewer either doesn't notice it, or can pretend he doesn't notice it. For diorama purposes, I think the hanging-by-a-wire may be a great solution. I've seen clear plastic stands used, but frankly I don't think they work as well.
I use stiff wire stands (thinner than the soft-metal stands commonly sold for micro-armor aircraft). I paint them in a low-visibility color -- usually medium to dark gray. They are not AS visible, but they are still visible.
Here are some Italian Macchi c200's on my stands. As mentioned, I don't do dioramas, so this picture is from a set-up of my wargaming terrain. The stands are not highly visible, but still too visible for diorama purposes. Or at least, for photography of dioramas.
One advantage of the stiff-wire mounting is that the wire can be inserted directly into a diorama base. In my case, for wargaming, I need to have a larger stand-base, as seen here:
My aircraft bases are made from rotary-drill sanding disks which I buy at the auto-parts store for about $0.20, and then paint and flock.
This solution is practical for wargaming, but not quite optimal for visual purposes. When I photograph my aircraft in the wargaming environment, I often construct my pictures to use the wings, fuselage, and edges of the picture to hide the stands. This creates a more visually appealing image. I would suggest considering this for photographing dioramas, and then removing the wire mount when viewing the ground under the aircraft.
Some examples:
One of the Macchi's again, this time hiding the stand.
An SM.79 bomber, hiding the stand. Again, not a diorama. This picture is taken over one of CG Erickson's terrain boards during a day of wargaming.
Hope that helps.
-Mark 1
*Note: I put that bit of hidden levity in to highlight an issue I've seen on many successful dioramas. Some random detail, or even whimsical detail, that is not obvious unless one studies the diorama, often adds great interest. If you look at dioramas in the popular modelling magazines, you'll often see this. Somebody reading a newspaper in a combat zone, a dog lifting his leg on the back of a tank, a guy on the radio in the background, a dear looking out of the bushes as the truck roles by... these are the kinds of details one sees in the larger scale dios. It would be hard to do the same in micro scale, but we can take the same idea. So some infantry checking out the woods, or a bomb crater just a few meters behind the APC, or a rapelling rope hanging from the 'copter, any of these details reward the viewer when he studies the diorama closely. Just a notion.
And btw, I do know what the bear does in the woods. No need to answer that question.
But I know what I like to look at.
I think you've done a fine job. And I think maybe I spy a bear in the corner of the woods -- but what is he doing?*
To the point of 1COC's comment on the aircraft mount ... this is a difficult issue in micro-armor scales. The key is to reduce the visibility of the mounting to the point were a viewer either doesn't notice it, or can pretend he doesn't notice it. For diorama purposes, I think the hanging-by-a-wire may be a great solution. I've seen clear plastic stands used, but frankly I don't think they work as well.
I use stiff wire stands (thinner than the soft-metal stands commonly sold for micro-armor aircraft). I paint them in a low-visibility color -- usually medium to dark gray. They are not AS visible, but they are still visible.
Here are some Italian Macchi c200's on my stands. As mentioned, I don't do dioramas, so this picture is from a set-up of my wargaming terrain. The stands are not highly visible, but still too visible for diorama purposes. Or at least, for photography of dioramas.
One advantage of the stiff-wire mounting is that the wire can be inserted directly into a diorama base. In my case, for wargaming, I need to have a larger stand-base, as seen here:
My aircraft bases are made from rotary-drill sanding disks which I buy at the auto-parts store for about $0.20, and then paint and flock.
This solution is practical for wargaming, but not quite optimal for visual purposes. When I photograph my aircraft in the wargaming environment, I often construct my pictures to use the wings, fuselage, and edges of the picture to hide the stands. This creates a more visually appealing image. I would suggest considering this for photographing dioramas, and then removing the wire mount when viewing the ground under the aircraft.
Some examples:
One of the Macchi's again, this time hiding the stand.
An SM.79 bomber, hiding the stand. Again, not a diorama. This picture is taken over one of CG Erickson's terrain boards during a day of wargaming.
Hope that helps.
-Mark 1
*Note: I put that bit of hidden levity in to highlight an issue I've seen on many successful dioramas. Some random detail, or even whimsical detail, that is not obvious unless one studies the diorama, often adds great interest. If you look at dioramas in the popular modelling magazines, you'll often see this. Somebody reading a newspaper in a combat zone, a dog lifting his leg on the back of a tank, a guy on the radio in the background, a dear looking out of the bushes as the truck roles by... these are the kinds of details one sees in the larger scale dios. It would be hard to do the same in micro scale, but we can take the same idea. So some infantry checking out the woods, or a bomb crater just a few meters behind the APC, or a rapelling rope hanging from the 'copter, any of these details reward the viewer when he studies the diorama closely. Just a notion.
And btw, I do know what the bear does in the woods. No need to answer that question.
-Mark 1
Difficile est, saturam non scribere.
"It is hard NOT to write satire." - Decimus Iunius Juvenalis, 1st Century AD
Difficile est, saturam non scribere.
"It is hard NOT to write satire." - Decimus Iunius Juvenalis, 1st Century AD
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1ComOpsCtr
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The picture below is of a table-top mini-diorama that is meant to convey a specific meaning to game participants during a simulation or convention game.
It has a specific purpose, or focus, that anyone building dioramas needs to remember: "what do I want the viewer to see" when they look at this item?
Beautiful scenery is great, but the purpose of a diorama is usually to focus the attention of the viewers at a specific model, or group of models... as in the picture below.
You have created an excellent scene, but what is it that you want the viewer to see?
I don't want you to get the wrong idea about my comments. I really like what you have done thus far, but there is something missing? I hope my comments make sense?
Will
It has a specific purpose, or focus, that anyone building dioramas needs to remember: "what do I want the viewer to see" when they look at this item?
Beautiful scenery is great, but the purpose of a diorama is usually to focus the attention of the viewers at a specific model, or group of models... as in the picture below.
You have created an excellent scene, but what is it that you want the viewer to see?
I don't want you to get the wrong idea about my comments. I really like what you have done thus far, but there is something missing? I hope my comments make sense?
Will
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster." - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, 1844-1900
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1ComOpsCtr
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- Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2006 3:03 am
- Location: Midwest
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Mag,
Before you add the Hummers you should decide what it is you want to represent in the diorama. It looks almost as though the chopper has just taken off and is building up forward momentum in the typical Blackhawk manner. If that is the case perhaps you could have a cluster of soldiers gathered around an aid station made from the two remaining Hummers and a couple of GHQ figures with a couple of stretchers on the ground to indicate why the chopper is headed out so quickly...
Normally you would not see a Blackhawk in that attitude that low to the ground unless it was taking off or trying to get away from ground fire...
Just a suggestion, but that is part of the thought process that goes along with deciding what to do in a diorama and what the scene represents...
Will
Before you add the Hummers you should decide what it is you want to represent in the diorama. It looks almost as though the chopper has just taken off and is building up forward momentum in the typical Blackhawk manner. If that is the case perhaps you could have a cluster of soldiers gathered around an aid station made from the two remaining Hummers and a couple of GHQ figures with a couple of stretchers on the ground to indicate why the chopper is headed out so quickly...
Normally you would not see a Blackhawk in that attitude that low to the ground unless it was taking off or trying to get away from ground fire...
Just a suggestion, but that is part of the thought process that goes along with deciding what to do in a diorama and what the scene represents...
Will
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster." - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, 1844-1900
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Cav Dog
- E5
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Maybe some smart-aleck throttle ape is just trying to "dust off" the CG's hummer hoping to heck that they don't get his tail number.1ComOpsCtr wrote:Mag,
Normally you would not see a Blackhawk in that attitude that low to the ground unless it was taking off or trying to get away from ground fire...
Will
Tactics are the opinion of the senior officer present.
