Golden Oldies, Models and dioramas

[Sharkmouth]

"Souvenirs", a Diorama from the 80s.

Marco Polo, Hong Kong, us distributor in trouble and closes doors, Hong Kong opens new distributorship to keep in the family... I know nothing!

:P

Regards,

 

[bob letterman]

"Souvenirs", a Diorama from the 80s.

Rudi and Saul,

I KNOW NOTHING!, sounds like Sgt. Shultz to me! Ever watch Hogan's Heroes?????

Bob

 

[Rudi Richardson]

"Souvenirs", a Diorama from the 80s.

bob letterman wrote:

I KNOW NOTHING!, sounds like Sgt. Shultz to me! Ever watch Hogan's Heroes?????

One of our TV channels show double episode reruns of it on Saturday afternoons. My wife and I hardly ever miss it Strangely it's become one of her favourite shows - along with Green Acres. :huh: :laugh:

 

[bob letterman]

"Souvenirs", a Diorama from the 80s.

I love Green Acres!!!

Bob

 

[Wes2010]

"Souvenirs", a Diorama from the 80s.

Mr. Haney is the BEST !!! :S

 

[Kreighshoer]

"Souvenirs", a Diorama from the 80s.

"The Marco Polo Wars"

???

i know who you're talking about! hehehehehe!

by coincidence i looked up "comrades" yesterday evening and again marvelled at this wonderful dio!

the other one's also nothing but masterly!

any chance you could upload some actual pics of "masquerade"? or send me an actual pic of it? i want to check out and compare something i remember you mentioned about the two panther in the dio!

 

[bob letterman]

"Souvenirs", a Diorama from the 80s.

Thanks Laura,

I'll see if I can find some. If not, I can take a few. I realized I have several that have never been published on the Internet.

Give me a couple of days!

Bob

 

[moon puppy]

"Souvenirs", a Diorama from the 80s.

Wes2010 wrote:

Mr. Haney is the BEST !!! :S

Arnold was the smartest one of the bunch. :woohoo:

 

[bob letterman]

"Arrogance" a diorama from the early 90s.

I am posting all the dioramas here that have been published in print, but never on the web.

I built this diorama at a time when we wanted to give as much coverage as possible to the VP 120mm series. I started with a large wooden base. (Early 90s).

I then used model RR rock molds to adhere to the wooden walls and create a bluff effect.

I wanted to depict Goering and the generals on the Channel coast during the failed attempt to invade England. (Operation Sea Lion) This was at a point in WW II that the Germans and the allies both were under the illusion of the German invincibility

The two vehicles are the VP Kubelwagon and the VP Panzer II. This dio is in 120mm. The third vehicle is a 1/16th Mercedes two seater sports coupe. I extended it and made it a four seater so it became a staff car. I used a stone wall to replicate a "Lookout turnoff with a view of the channel.

All the figures are conversions with several of the heads sculpted to truly look like the characters they are to represent. The ruined building being used as an observation point is comprised of various parts from VP plaster buildings. Almost all the equipment used are from VP, (What else would I have used at the time), and the trees and shrubs, over 200 of them are made from a VP product at that time and cutting a lot of branches and twigs in the woods! Count 'em! :laugh: :laugh:

This rider got a tree branch stuck in his helmet straps. I didn't have much previous experience painting horses.

OK, one down, seven to go!

Bob

 

[MrT]

"Arrogance" a diorama from the early 90s.

I got to see this one up close and it is very good! This stuff got me hooked on 120mm.

Terry B)

 

[Sharkmouth]

"Arrogance" a diorama from the early 90s.

When I read the title, I thought it would be a figure of me! Herman Goering... well, I could pass for him (shape wise).

Beautiful diorama when everything was original and no one made a similar one.

Regards,

 

[bob letterman]

Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

Immediately after I built Legacies the first time, I began thinking about my next one. It was 1987. I'm embarrassed to say this, but somebody had given me the old Matchbox kit of a Flower class Corvette sub hunter. No way I can remember who. Anyway, it had been laying around for some time, so I decided to make it the center of another "Superdiorama". I remember the most difficult parts were the ship itself as that kit was absolutely horrible and wrong in just about every way possible. The other was the base itself. My wife Susan bought me a table saw that year for my birthday or it would never have been built.

I cut layers and layers of the dry dock sides to create the "Stair" effect. A pity I never took SBS photographs. Although in 1/72nd scale, the dio is the same size as the other "Superdioramas" BTW, I had that phrase copyrighted. The dimensions are 8 feet wide, (2.4 meters) by 4 feet wide, (1.3 meters).

I ended up only using the rear half of the hull. All else on the ship was scratched or heavily converted kit parts. I had picked up some reference books in a London book stall and decided as long as I had to scratch it anyway, I may as well convert it to the late war "Modified Flower" design. It has a totally different rake and shear than the older model and many upgrades.

The entire bridge is from scratch. I used the plans for Charlock 395, then have this the non-existent K-396 designation. The gun platform, the gun and the rocket rails were scratched.

Note the sides of the pit. That was so much fun :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

In the books and magazines this has appeared in, there has never been a shot of inside the "Wet Dock". There are two more vessels, a torpedo boat and a rescue launch.

For the buildings, I scratched the wet dock canopy, the building underneath and the big crane. The smaller cranes were conversions from model RR cranes. See below. The one on the left is a completed and painted conversion. The right has yet to be detailed or painted.

The remaining buildings were extensive conversions of Kibri kits, IMO, the best buildings of all RR products.

Here are varied shots from various locations throughout the diorama. The color in this pic is terrible!

An added tale. When this was finished, I was having trouble blending the shades of artists oil for the water. Frustrated, I called my partner in Belgium. I have always said that Francois was the most color savvy modeler I ever knew. He is amazing. On the phone he told me what colors to mix together to paint the dark waters of the eastern coast of England. I did as instructed, then I located my reference photographs of the real area. Placing the photo next to the celluclay water I had just painted. I said to myself, Verlinden, you are amazing! It was an exact match. Perfect.

Bob

 

[Rudi Richardson]

Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

There's a reason why I call you King Bob, because you are the diorama king, and this is just another example why. Something about a purse and pig's ear springs to mind, but I'm too tired to think of the exact phrase.

Out of curiosity, was there any particular reason you chose to use Celluclay and not resin for the water?

Rudi

 

[bob letterman]

Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

Thanks Rudi,

I chose celluclay because you can sculpt it. Once you get it right, then you can paint the illusion of depth. Resin in truth, makes a poor replica of water. I have seen a few that were done well, but, IMO, even then, were a little tacky. Modelers always try to achieve the look of a substance by using that substance or what they perceive as something similar. You can replicate anything with paint. Ever see those sidewalk painters in Europe?

I first saw realistic ocean water with Lewis Pruneau's U=505. If you see ocean water from above, it actually has a quilt-like pattern in it. The same is true with river or canal water.

Hey, just my opinion, and I'll be the first to admit I am far from the Dali Llama of modeling!

Bob

 

[moon puppy]

Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

Love this stuff!

 

[Ted]

Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

These are sooo great to see, I love it that you have a table saw in your model-building toolbox.

Good point about painting the illusion of water, rather than reproducing it with clear resin. I bet we could learn a lot about groundwork from landscape painters, they don't even use celluclay, just canvas.

 

[Rudi Richardson]

Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

Hey Bob,

It's always interesting to hear the different views The lattice effect in water is an interesting observation, and one I don't often see replicated in models. By the way, have you seen the works, particularly the water works, of Jean-Bernard Andre and Nicolas Cabaret? Stunning!

Rudi

 

[Ted]

Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

I just showed a friend these diorama photos, he asked if you took the curvature of the earth into account because it's so big.

Ted

 

[bob letterman]

Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

Here is another oldie. Doing these aren't easy. I have to find the slides, scan them, process them in Photoshop, etc. but these have never been posted on the Internet and, believe it or not, I've had quite a few requests.

This diorama, again was made to showcase the VP range at the time. built in 1/35th scale, the buildings are all made from broken VP plaster parts returned by customers. I kept a box and all returns were put in there. If they were intact buildings, OK, but they were all ruins. I managed to use most of them over the years.

The setting of "Knight takes Kings Bishop was 1982. On June 3rd, the ABU-Nidal faction, a radical Palestinian terrorist group, attempted to assassinate the Israeli ambassador to the U.K. in London. The Israelis responded with attacks against Palestinian terror targets in Beirut. The Palestinians launched barrages against Gallilee.In June of that year, the Israelis sent 60,000 troops into Lebanon.

This dio is set in Sultan Yackoub during that campaign. The Isaelis are salvaging a SSNP, (Syrian Socialist National Party) Soviet made BTR-60. The Israeli Defense Force salvages all captured equipment and uses them for parts or re-fitting.

The BTR-60 has taken a couple of hits in the hull, most tires are flat, and the salvage crew are attempting to make it towable.

I have always been a fan of photographing outside. When there is a slight overcast, the shadows look very realistic and add depth.

I have had several Israelis tell me that one of the signs is upside down. Sorry about that!

The BTR-60 is the old VP kit, and, if I remember correctly, the first one on the market. VP kits were cutting edge then, always!

I always liked photos of this diorama taken from this angle. This one is my favorite. It looks realistic to me.

This is a conversion of the Tamiya M-113, using the VP Fitter Crane set. The 57 Chevy was a plastic kit, can't remember the brand.

I made the wheels on the BTR fit on the rubble to obtain a realistic appearance.

The Ford Mutt was modified to the Israeli version using photos taken by Verlinden on a trip to Israel. He had intended to make a conversion set, but never did, at least to my knowledge. He was quite busy in those days!

Well, 4 down and 5 to go,

Bob

 

[bob letterman]

Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles

moon puppy wrote:

Love this stuff!

That's good Moon Pup ,

because I have a ton of it more to post! :woohoo: :woohoo:

Bob