Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles
So True!
So True!
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Golden Oldies, Models and dioramas
- Thread starter bob letterman
- Start date
Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles
In late 1993 and early '94, we had been commissioning sculptors in Europe and one in the state of Washington to sculpt fantasy figures. I came up with the hair brained idea to create a story line, advertise in the fantasy/Sci-fi mags, and get a following going. I began by building this shadow box, then I made up the story line and put an article in the VP magazine. I built all kinds of special ligh effects, worked really hard on it, but.... it never looked quite right to me. Anyway, the line never became a big hit as we hoped and the only major occurrence was when the National Organization for Women sent me a seething letter threatening me with a law suit for products that brutalized women. I explained that it was a fantasy science fiction set and nothing that anyone would take seriously. That didn't work, but, eventually, it all went away, and I decided that fantasy was not my strong suit.
In the first picture, I used a light transmitting material for the green ray, the flash on the Dungeonmaster's hand was cotton covering a subminiature grain of wheat bulb. The sparks bouncing off the shield of our hero, was made from fiber optics. The dungeonmaster's eyes were LEDs. All of the gargoyles also had LED eyes. The wals were made of styrofoam chopped into rocks. I used my wedding cake columns and a real ceramic tile floor.
This was the photo that N.O.W. resented! I made the pit with a piece of clear sheet styrene, that I vac-formed over a large lid, turned upside down in the flloor, and several flashing and intermittent grain of wheat bulbs underneath, it looked like real fire and the lights made it move like real coals do.
Anyway, as in all businesses, you get grand ideas only to find that you were the only one to think they were grand!
Bob
In late 1993 and early '94, we had been commissioning sculptors in Europe and one in the state of Washington to sculpt fantasy figures. I came up with the hair brained idea to create a story line, advertise in the fantasy/Sci-fi mags, and get a following going. I began by building this shadow box, then I made up the story line and put an article in the VP magazine. I built all kinds of special ligh effects, worked really hard on it, but.... it never looked quite right to me. Anyway, the line never became a big hit as we hoped and the only major occurrence was when the National Organization for Women sent me a seething letter threatening me with a law suit for products that brutalized women. I explained that it was a fantasy science fiction set and nothing that anyone would take seriously. That didn't work, but, eventually, it all went away, and I decided that fantasy was not my strong suit.
In the first picture, I used a light transmitting material for the green ray, the flash on the Dungeonmaster's hand was cotton covering a subminiature grain of wheat bulb. The sparks bouncing off the shield of our hero, was made from fiber optics. The dungeonmaster's eyes were LEDs. All of the gargoyles also had LED eyes. The wals were made of styrofoam chopped into rocks. I used my wedding cake columns and a real ceramic tile floor.
This was the photo that N.O.W. resented! I made the pit with a piece of clear sheet styrene, that I vac-formed over a large lid, turned upside down in the flloor, and several flashing and intermittent grain of wheat bulbs underneath, it looked like real fire and the lights made it move like real coals do.
Anyway, as in all businesses, you get grand ideas only to find that you were the only one to think they were grand!
Bob
Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles
I do remember this and, since Sci-Fi was not may bag, wondered why? Of course, I then recalled the fabulous car dioramas, aircraft dioramas, ship diorama, and thought you were just expanding your horizons...
Regards,
I do remember this and, since Sci-Fi was not may bag, wondered why? Of course, I then recalled the fabulous car dioramas, aircraft dioramas, ship diorama, and thought you were just expanding your horizons...
Regards,
Masquerade, A Battle of the Bulge dio.
When I was running VLS, I was concerned that we were getting so may of the ruined plaster buildings returned due to broken parts.
I had this idea to use nothing but returned kit parts to build a diorama. Then the customers would realize that plaster is very fragile, and I have never seen any company's plaster kits that didn't arrive broken through the mail or other carriers, but..... with a little white glue, the kit is fixed and ready to begin building!. So, that is how this project got started.
I set out to build a castle in the general Bastogne, Belgium area. The castle turned out like this. Every single part of tis building except the roof, the windows and the German insignia came from the returned kits pile.
I used both German and American figures. Here we see Germans, dressed as G.I.s taking instructions on American weapons. Behind them is a captured Deuce and a Half, restored to running condition. The snow was made using a dozen coats of hair spray, then dusting with thermo-plastic micro balloons. We sold that stuff in the Techstar line as model snow. It is a pain to apply because the material is extremely fine, but the effect is worth the effort. You can get a dusting of snow all the way to a heavy layer by increasing the number of applications.
Hmmmm, I built this 20 years ago. That Panther ersatz M-10 was unique for all those years. Looking back, I don't think I would have wanted to wait that long for Dragon to kit it! BTW, I cut the stencil out of very thin paper.
Here you can see the captured American Jeep, the Generals on the deck above receiving intelligence data from a runner. The soldiers are checking out the first fake tank! They have already started on the second Panther.
By the way, it didn't work, they just kept on being returned!
That's it, still have more to come!
Bob
When I was running VLS, I was concerned that we were getting so may of the ruined plaster buildings returned due to broken parts.
I had this idea to use nothing but returned kit parts to build a diorama. Then the customers would realize that plaster is very fragile, and I have never seen any company's plaster kits that didn't arrive broken through the mail or other carriers, but..... with a little white glue, the kit is fixed and ready to begin building!. So, that is how this project got started.
I set out to build a castle in the general Bastogne, Belgium area. The castle turned out like this. Every single part of tis building except the roof, the windows and the German insignia came from the returned kits pile.
I used both German and American figures. Here we see Germans, dressed as G.I.s taking instructions on American weapons. Behind them is a captured Deuce and a Half, restored to running condition. The snow was made using a dozen coats of hair spray, then dusting with thermo-plastic micro balloons. We sold that stuff in the Techstar line as model snow. It is a pain to apply because the material is extremely fine, but the effect is worth the effort. You can get a dusting of snow all the way to a heavy layer by increasing the number of applications.
Hmmmm, I built this 20 years ago. That Panther ersatz M-10 was unique for all those years. Looking back, I don't think I would have wanted to wait that long for Dragon to kit it! BTW, I cut the stencil out of very thin paper.
Here you can see the captured American Jeep, the Generals on the deck above receiving intelligence data from a runner. The soldiers are checking out the first fake tank! They have already started on the second Panther.
By the way, it didn't work, they just kept on being returned!
That's it, still have more to come!
Bob
Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles
Well, I have a few more, but this is it for today.
Back in '85, Superdioramas had just been published, and I wanted to finish something a little quicker. I started on what, for me, was a small diorama. A Bridge Too Far was a recent hit at the movies, so, I decided on something British. This diorama was rebuilt after the first one didn't turn out well. I had used a Crocodile, i think it was, and two other British vehicles. To be truthful, I got in a hurry which is almost always the death blow to a diorama. I put it on the shelf and didn't pull it down again for several years. By then VP had a nice Firefly conversion, I had a Canadian CMP, (Canadian Military Pattern), C-60L mobile workshop I had built four years earlier. I also had a Daimler Dingo built in '84 that I used. Both these vehicles have a step by step on other threads in this forum.
The story line is the Firefly has thrown a track, the mobile workshop is there to repair it, and the Paras from the front are being taken to the rear after 30 corp has moved close enough. A British officer gets directions from Dutch civilians.
As mentioned, the SBS on this is on page two of this forum.
Ditto on the Daimler Dingo.
See what I mean about a very complex model, especially way back in 1984. No PE, No updates!
It was very handy to have a partner and his family that were Flemish Belgians. They speak a dialect of Dutch as their first language. It came in handy for the signage.
A Daimler Dingo, super detailed 1/35th scale British Armored Car.
This vehicle eventually ended up in the "Lost Cause" diorama. It was originally built as a stand alone model.
In the summer of 1983, I had just received a lot of notoriety for “The Winds of War” diorama the previous year. At the time, I was hearing feed back from my friends that there were those who said I couldn’t possibly compete with the best armor builders in America. I just wasn’t good enough. Judging from the vehicles in the Winds of War, they were right. However, in that year I had learned a lot! I was like a sponge, soaking up every detail and technique out there. At the time the three best were from the midwest, where I was from. I won’t mention their names as it no longer matters, but they were the armor model gods of that time.
I decided I would really take my time and make a couple of armor pieces that could compete with them. My first choice was a Daimler Dingo scout car. At the time it was a relatively new release. We went to Europe that spring and I was able to extensively photograph both vehicles, so I had my research plus a couple of books on each I picked up at the book stalls in London.
The Dingo I photographed had a really complex radio that in 1/35th scale would be tiny. Try to remember that at that time there was no photoetch of any kind for either armor or aircraft. All the brass, aluminum, etc. was from sheets and tubes. I began with the radio. Please forgive the photography, I had a cheap SLR with no macro at the time. Many of the photos are black and white. That was because model magazines rarely printed in color back then. Fine Scale Modeler had wanted me to do a how to book and I was photographing as I went along, but later, they cancelled all book contracts with all their contributors.
It took several hundred scratched parts to create this. I kept count of everything as back then, everybody made a sort of reference scrapbook that was laid next to the model in competition. The judges used them to tell how much was actually done in highly updated and upgraded models. I had plenty of pictures of this radio so I built it from them, all the time carefully test fitting it to the Dingo so to be sure it would fit when complete.
The painted and weathered radio. The Exacto Knife will illustrate the size.
For the suspension, I used copper wire, brass tubing, sheet plastic and so on. It actually worked and I also made the steering work as well. Click on images to enlarge.
Terrible depth of field, but you can see some of the wiring.
Out of focus, but you can see the inside of the front plate of the drivers cabin.
[
There was a lot of rebuilding various things on the vehicle. BTW, That brass cutter from K&S was old then. I just replaced it a month ago with a new one, but it gives size to the model.
On the left is the exterior of that front plate, on the right the interior. The problem with this model is much of the detail is overlooked as it is so tiny. The darker pieces above each pic are the actual part that came with the kit.
The entire front end on the Tamiya kit was wrong and was replaced with plastic, stretched sprue rivets and bolts and brass sheet. This was my first attempt at soldering brass parts.
The entire rear end was also replaced using the same materials. The louvers were made from sheet brass. Sorry, the small pic was all I had.
Note the radio antennae guard just behind the cab and to the right. I remember I spent hours making that thing. I finally used various sizes of brass tubing cut into small slivers and plastic card punched out discs, all attached with tiny brass wire.
Here it is prior to painting, weathering and final detailing. Note the working steering. I painted it in “Mickey Mouse Ear” camoflage. Note the stretched sprue weld seams even way back then.
The end of the story was that I ended up beating all three of those guys and I think they have disliked me ever since! It won a gold medal at the Model Engineering Exhibition that, then, was held annually in Wembley and was, and maybe still is, the largest model show in the world. After I stopped competing two years later, I put this and the previous one, a Canadian C-60L CMP mobile workshop, in the same diorama.
A step by step build of the Canadian Military Pattern, C-60L Mobile Workshop in 1/35th scale.
As with the Dingo, This was built for the same reason!
My second choice was a Canadian CMP, Canadian Military Pattern), C-60L mobile workshop.. At the time and even today, there are only two CMP models on the market. The Italeri 15 cwt and the Tamiya Quad Gun Tractor. These simulate both patterns of the CMP, and I used parts from both. We went to Europe that spring and I was able to extensively photograph both vehicles, so I had my research plus a couple of books on each I picked up at the book stalls in London.
I chose it because it was an extremely busy vehicle and really unique. To my knowledge, (I could have missed it somewhere), this is the only model of this particular vehicle ever built. I still have one of the photos that got me interested. While building this, I discovered two cutting edge technologies first found in the model railroad products and I thought I had just discovered a whole new way to add detail.
I began with the frame. I was looking through a Model Railroad shop when the owner called me over to show me two amazing products that had just been released. One was a product he called photo etch! The first release from this new company was tread plate. I bought him out. I used it to upgrade the steps on either side of the cab. I made a new, larger bumper from brass strips and rod and sheet plastic. I converted the frame to a stronger and longer version and used the suspension from the Tamiya Quad tractor with the wheels and tires. I also made the steering workable. I built a new spare tire frame from brass strip and plastic sheet. The exhaust and the drive shaft were modified as well. Various other smaller details were added.
I took the cab apart, removed the hood, (bonnet) and grille, cut off the console. Then I replaced the windshield frame, the console, and made a hinged working glove box, new pedals, gear shifts. all using plastic card, sheet brass and tubing. I added new door hinges that would be workable.
On the exterior, I made a new hood, (bonnet), framed out the grille with plastic strip, then added my next new discovery at that train shop. Extruded brass mesh. Not PE, but a process that was around before, but it’s first use in miniatures. The pattern was octagonal, perfect scale and I was in seventh heaven! I carved the Chevrolet logo from card stock and Viola!
Here is the scratch engine with the wiring coming out of the distributor and radiator, the doors hinged and with working latches. The door above is the kit part. . Even the panels open and close. At the time, working hinges were all the rage, so I hinged everything I could find. Hell. I was on a mission!
Here I have one of the hinged doors attached and workable. All the glass was replaced with microscope slips. Not slides, they are way too thick. I made a cutter out of a diamond tipped phono needle soldered to a pice of brass tube and cut them all to shape!
Here is the new bed. I used the wheel wells from the original bed.
Here is the bed mounted to the frame and the cab being test fitted. The top hatch is from plastic sheet with stretched sprue rivets. So is the hatch cover. I hinged it as well.
All the workshop was from scratch. The major tools, lathe, drill press were made from plastic and plastic vac formed on my Mattel Vacu-form machine. . Several of the drawers were on hand made slides, so they worked as well. The most difficult parts were the three shop lights. I used wire and small brass rod and tubes for the lower part, the carved a shape in basswood, vac-formed it three times to make the compound curved shroud of the lights. Then micro wire for the guards. A plastic headed pin served for the bulbs. As you can see, that new extruded brass mesh got a workout as well as the new and strange PE stuff. BTW, the chain that hold up the tail gate was secreted away during the cover of darkness from Susan’s jewelry box. She will discover that loss 26 years later when she reads this.
The following are shots of the completed CMP. It took many awards back in those days, even a few best of shows and a gold medal at the, (then, and maybe still), largest model show in the world. The 1983 Model Engineers Exhibition held annually in Wembley Center, outside London. The nephew of Lord Montbatten, of Pacific theater fame, placed it around my neck. He had some title or another. We Americans are in awe of royalty, so that gave me a major thrill and something to talk about for years.
Here you can see the open hood, doors and panels. Also the working hatch and door hinges.
This shows all the detail I added to make it look exactly like the real one. After I retired from competition in 1984, I put this and the dingo into a new, at that time, diorama called “Lost Cause”. Here you can see one of the shop lights hanging from a hook on the left rear side panel.
This is so you can compare the model to the real vehicle. Click on images to enlarge.
[
That's All Folks, Bedebedebede!
Well, I have a few more, but this is it for today.
Back in '85, Superdioramas had just been published, and I wanted to finish something a little quicker. I started on what, for me, was a small diorama. A Bridge Too Far was a recent hit at the movies, so, I decided on something British. This diorama was rebuilt after the first one didn't turn out well. I had used a Crocodile, i think it was, and two other British vehicles. To be truthful, I got in a hurry which is almost always the death blow to a diorama. I put it on the shelf and didn't pull it down again for several years. By then VP had a nice Firefly conversion, I had a Canadian CMP, (Canadian Military Pattern), C-60L mobile workshop I had built four years earlier. I also had a Daimler Dingo built in '84 that I used. Both these vehicles have a step by step on other threads in this forum.
The story line is the Firefly has thrown a track, the mobile workshop is there to repair it, and the Paras from the front are being taken to the rear after 30 corp has moved close enough. A British officer gets directions from Dutch civilians.
As mentioned, the SBS on this is on page two of this forum.
Ditto on the Daimler Dingo.
See what I mean about a very complex model, especially way back in 1984. No PE, No updates!
It was very handy to have a partner and his family that were Flemish Belgians. They speak a dialect of Dutch as their first language. It came in handy for the signage.
A Daimler Dingo, super detailed 1/35th scale British Armored Car.
This vehicle eventually ended up in the "Lost Cause" diorama. It was originally built as a stand alone model.
In the summer of 1983, I had just received a lot of notoriety for “The Winds of War” diorama the previous year. At the time, I was hearing feed back from my friends that there were those who said I couldn’t possibly compete with the best armor builders in America. I just wasn’t good enough. Judging from the vehicles in the Winds of War, they were right. However, in that year I had learned a lot! I was like a sponge, soaking up every detail and technique out there. At the time the three best were from the midwest, where I was from. I won’t mention their names as it no longer matters, but they were the armor model gods of that time.
I decided I would really take my time and make a couple of armor pieces that could compete with them. My first choice was a Daimler Dingo scout car. At the time it was a relatively new release. We went to Europe that spring and I was able to extensively photograph both vehicles, so I had my research plus a couple of books on each I picked up at the book stalls in London.
The Dingo I photographed had a really complex radio that in 1/35th scale would be tiny. Try to remember that at that time there was no photoetch of any kind for either armor or aircraft. All the brass, aluminum, etc. was from sheets and tubes. I began with the radio. Please forgive the photography, I had a cheap SLR with no macro at the time. Many of the photos are black and white. That was because model magazines rarely printed in color back then. Fine Scale Modeler had wanted me to do a how to book and I was photographing as I went along, but later, they cancelled all book contracts with all their contributors.
It took several hundred scratched parts to create this. I kept count of everything as back then, everybody made a sort of reference scrapbook that was laid next to the model in competition. The judges used them to tell how much was actually done in highly updated and upgraded models. I had plenty of pictures of this radio so I built it from them, all the time carefully test fitting it to the Dingo so to be sure it would fit when complete.
The painted and weathered radio. The Exacto Knife will illustrate the size.
For the suspension, I used copper wire, brass tubing, sheet plastic and so on. It actually worked and I also made the steering work as well. Click on images to enlarge.
Terrible depth of field, but you can see some of the wiring.
Out of focus, but you can see the inside of the front plate of the drivers cabin.
[
There was a lot of rebuilding various things on the vehicle. BTW, That brass cutter from K&S was old then. I just replaced it a month ago with a new one, but it gives size to the model.
On the left is the exterior of that front plate, on the right the interior. The problem with this model is much of the detail is overlooked as it is so tiny. The darker pieces above each pic are the actual part that came with the kit.
The entire front end on the Tamiya kit was wrong and was replaced with plastic, stretched sprue rivets and bolts and brass sheet. This was my first attempt at soldering brass parts.
The entire rear end was also replaced using the same materials. The louvers were made from sheet brass. Sorry, the small pic was all I had.
Note the radio antennae guard just behind the cab and to the right. I remember I spent hours making that thing. I finally used various sizes of brass tubing cut into small slivers and plastic card punched out discs, all attached with tiny brass wire.
Here it is prior to painting, weathering and final detailing. Note the working steering. I painted it in “Mickey Mouse Ear” camoflage. Note the stretched sprue weld seams even way back then.
The end of the story was that I ended up beating all three of those guys and I think they have disliked me ever since! It won a gold medal at the Model Engineering Exhibition that, then, was held annually in Wembley and was, and maybe still is, the largest model show in the world. After I stopped competing two years later, I put this and the previous one, a Canadian C-60L CMP mobile workshop, in the same diorama.
A step by step build of the Canadian Military Pattern, C-60L Mobile Workshop in 1/35th scale.
As with the Dingo, This was built for the same reason!
My second choice was a Canadian CMP, Canadian Military Pattern), C-60L mobile workshop.. At the time and even today, there are only two CMP models on the market. The Italeri 15 cwt and the Tamiya Quad Gun Tractor. These simulate both patterns of the CMP, and I used parts from both. We went to Europe that spring and I was able to extensively photograph both vehicles, so I had my research plus a couple of books on each I picked up at the book stalls in London.
I chose it because it was an extremely busy vehicle and really unique. To my knowledge, (I could have missed it somewhere), this is the only model of this particular vehicle ever built. I still have one of the photos that got me interested. While building this, I discovered two cutting edge technologies first found in the model railroad products and I thought I had just discovered a whole new way to add detail.
I began with the frame. I was looking through a Model Railroad shop when the owner called me over to show me two amazing products that had just been released. One was a product he called photo etch! The first release from this new company was tread plate. I bought him out. I used it to upgrade the steps on either side of the cab. I made a new, larger bumper from brass strips and rod and sheet plastic. I converted the frame to a stronger and longer version and used the suspension from the Tamiya Quad tractor with the wheels and tires. I also made the steering workable. I built a new spare tire frame from brass strip and plastic sheet. The exhaust and the drive shaft were modified as well. Various other smaller details were added.
I took the cab apart, removed the hood, (bonnet) and grille, cut off the console. Then I replaced the windshield frame, the console, and made a hinged working glove box, new pedals, gear shifts. all using plastic card, sheet brass and tubing. I added new door hinges that would be workable.
On the exterior, I made a new hood, (bonnet), framed out the grille with plastic strip, then added my next new discovery at that train shop. Extruded brass mesh. Not PE, but a process that was around before, but it’s first use in miniatures. The pattern was octagonal, perfect scale and I was in seventh heaven! I carved the Chevrolet logo from card stock and Viola!
Here is the scratch engine with the wiring coming out of the distributor and radiator, the doors hinged and with working latches. The door above is the kit part. . Even the panels open and close. At the time, working hinges were all the rage, so I hinged everything I could find. Hell. I was on a mission!
Here I have one of the hinged doors attached and workable. All the glass was replaced with microscope slips. Not slides, they are way too thick. I made a cutter out of a diamond tipped phono needle soldered to a pice of brass tube and cut them all to shape!
Here is the new bed. I used the wheel wells from the original bed.
Here is the bed mounted to the frame and the cab being test fitted. The top hatch is from plastic sheet with stretched sprue rivets. So is the hatch cover. I hinged it as well.
All the workshop was from scratch. The major tools, lathe, drill press were made from plastic and plastic vac formed on my Mattel Vacu-form machine. . Several of the drawers were on hand made slides, so they worked as well. The most difficult parts were the three shop lights. I used wire and small brass rod and tubes for the lower part, the carved a shape in basswood, vac-formed it three times to make the compound curved shroud of the lights. Then micro wire for the guards. A plastic headed pin served for the bulbs. As you can see, that new extruded brass mesh got a workout as well as the new and strange PE stuff. BTW, the chain that hold up the tail gate was secreted away during the cover of darkness from Susan’s jewelry box. She will discover that loss 26 years later when she reads this.
The following are shots of the completed CMP. It took many awards back in those days, even a few best of shows and a gold medal at the, (then, and maybe still), largest model show in the world. The 1983 Model Engineers Exhibition held annually in Wembley Center, outside London. The nephew of Lord Montbatten, of Pacific theater fame, placed it around my neck. He had some title or another. We Americans are in awe of royalty, so that gave me a major thrill and something to talk about for years.
Here you can see the open hood, doors and panels. Also the working hatch and door hinges.
This shows all the detail I added to make it look exactly like the real one. After I retired from competition in 1984, I put this and the dingo into a new, at that time, diorama called “Lost Cause”. Here you can see one of the shop lights hanging from a hook on the left rear side panel.
This is so you can compare the model to the real vehicle. Click on images to enlarge.
[
That's All Folks, Bedebedebede!
Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles
This was built in 1996. VP had just released the 120mm 88 flak. My partner asked me to create a diorama using the kit, so I built "Quota". This is absolutely the tallest diorama I have ever built. From the base to the top it is 5 feet, (1.6 meters), and standing on the floor base, it rises to 8 feet, (2.4 meters). Those who have seen it in publications are usually surprised when they see it in the museum because the top is considerably over their head.
I had to forget my usual cardboard/mattboard construction and went to 3/4 inch plywood. I also was responsible for the employees Christmas bonus at Plastruct! :laugh: :laugh: I used huge quantities of Plastruct. In terms of dollars, the roof and gantry cranes were several hundred alone. Remember the scale is 1/16th. There is a working clock barely visible behing the gantry crane.
I used a total of 6 of the 88 kits in building this. Three on the assembly line, the rest for the parts bins and using parts from the 88, scratched the drill press and the giant lathe in the side room. All the figures were converted VP. I ended up using three methods of metalizing and developed three more during this build. I had to make many of the hand tools.
The event taking place is the completion of the 5,000 88 flak in this factory. The officials of the N.S.D.A.P. as well as the Luftwaffe and the press were there to take propaganda photos.
I made two circuits with flashing miniature bulbs and connected both to tiny speakers. It had the effect of the light and sound of real arc welding. The huge drill press is next to the photographer in the foreground who is directly in front of one of the arc welders, It had a fantastic effect. Also the interiors of the office and the engineering department on the second floor were lit along with the boiler room and the tool rooms on the sides.
Here you can see the lathe by the floor drain and lots of metal shavings.
Note the lunch table with cheese, sausages, newspapers and playing cards.
Above the engineer descends the stair case, while the Director gives a tour to a "Guest". Goering was converted into the director, the guest was a conclomeration of fantasy girls, lead foil and Milliput.Behind is the engineering office with drafting tables, a miniature 88, plans, etc.
A tedious job was cleaning, prep, painting and weathering parts. Even though new, putting them in the racks with zero weathering made them stick out of the environment like sore thumbs. BTW, all the civilian figures in this were not only posed, but their uniforms had to be turned into work uniforms.
OK, that's one more down!
Bob
This was built in 1996. VP had just released the 120mm 88 flak. My partner asked me to create a diorama using the kit, so I built "Quota". This is absolutely the tallest diorama I have ever built. From the base to the top it is 5 feet, (1.6 meters), and standing on the floor base, it rises to 8 feet, (2.4 meters). Those who have seen it in publications are usually surprised when they see it in the museum because the top is considerably over their head.
I had to forget my usual cardboard/mattboard construction and went to 3/4 inch plywood. I also was responsible for the employees Christmas bonus at Plastruct! :laugh: :laugh: I used huge quantities of Plastruct. In terms of dollars, the roof and gantry cranes were several hundred alone. Remember the scale is 1/16th. There is a working clock barely visible behing the gantry crane.
I used a total of 6 of the 88 kits in building this. Three on the assembly line, the rest for the parts bins and using parts from the 88, scratched the drill press and the giant lathe in the side room. All the figures were converted VP. I ended up using three methods of metalizing and developed three more during this build. I had to make many of the hand tools.
The event taking place is the completion of the 5,000 88 flak in this factory. The officials of the N.S.D.A.P. as well as the Luftwaffe and the press were there to take propaganda photos.
I made two circuits with flashing miniature bulbs and connected both to tiny speakers. It had the effect of the light and sound of real arc welding. The huge drill press is next to the photographer in the foreground who is directly in front of one of the arc welders, It had a fantastic effect. Also the interiors of the office and the engineering department on the second floor were lit along with the boiler room and the tool rooms on the sides.
Here you can see the lathe by the floor drain and lots of metal shavings.
Note the lunch table with cheese, sausages, newspapers and playing cards.
Above the engineer descends the stair case, while the Director gives a tour to a "Guest". Goering was converted into the director, the guest was a conclomeration of fantasy girls, lead foil and Milliput.Behind is the engineering office with drafting tables, a miniature 88, plans, etc.
A tedious job was cleaning, prep, painting and weathering parts. Even though new, putting them in the racks with zero weathering made them stick out of the environment like sore thumbs. BTW, all the civilian figures in this were not only posed, but their uniforms had to be turned into work uniforms.
OK, that's one more down!
Bob
Kreighshoer
Active member
Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles
holy shmokes!
massive aa firepower! i always thought this dio was 1/35 but 1/15 is sheer madness!
holy shmokes!
massive aa firepower! i always thought this dio was 1/35 but 1/15 is sheer madness!
Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles
Hi Laura,
Check this out.
This is Paul Boyer, the then editor of Fine Scale Modeler, standing beside it and it was sitting on the floor.
Big, Huh? Bob
Hi Laura,
Check this out.
This is Paul Boyer, the then editor of Fine Scale Modeler, standing beside it and it was sitting on the floor.
Big, Huh? Bob
Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles
I completely forgot about this diorama. I thought it was very good, but the subject matter was so far removed from your norm. The fire pit was stupendious, and even 20+ years later, I have never seen fire done as well. The many times I walked through the Museum, I never failed to have to take a peek at the fire pit. It was great to see the diorama again.
Wes
I completely forgot about this diorama. I thought it was very good, but the subject matter was so far removed from your norm. The fire pit was stupendious, and even 20+ years later, I have never seen fire done as well. The many times I walked through the Museum, I never failed to have to take a peek at the fire pit. It was great to see the diorama again.
Wes
Masquerade, A Battle of the Bulge dio.
This was (and is) a great diorama. I know we discussed the need for an injection kit of the ersatz M-10's (since the only kit was a vac-form from Schmidt)for years before you decided to go it alone by scratch building. That M-10ized Panther was a beautiful tank...and I'm glad they didn't seem to cause the havoc in Belgium that the Germans wanted.
And every time I see your "snow", I am amazed it still looks "white-as-snow" some 25 years later. Those microballoons are awesome.
Thanks again for posting all these dioramas.
Wes
This was (and is) a great diorama. I know we discussed the need for an injection kit of the ersatz M-10's (since the only kit was a vac-form from Schmidt)for years before you decided to go it alone by scratch building. That M-10ized Panther was a beautiful tank...and I'm glad they didn't seem to cause the havoc in Belgium that the Germans wanted.
And every time I see your "snow", I am amazed it still looks "white-as-snow" some 25 years later. Those microballoons are awesome.
Thanks again for posting all these dioramas.
Wes
Masquerade, A Battle of the Bulge dio.
modelguru wrote:
Well, in it's time, maybe, but I appreciate the comment, I really do!
Bob
Wes2010 wrote:
Hey Wes, Those were some magical times, weren't they!
Bob
modelguru wrote:
Well, in it's time, maybe, but I appreciate the comment, I really do!
Bob
Wes2010 wrote:
Hey Wes, Those were some magical times, weren't they!
Bob
Kreighshoer
Active member
Masquerade, A Battle of the Bulge dio.
i can't tell how much i love masquerade! it's a timeless piece of art!
i can't tell how much i love masquerade! it's a timeless piece of art!
Rudi Richardson
Member
Masquerade, A Battle of the Bulge dio.
If you ever get tired of me telling you "great work, you da MAN!", just let me know and I'll stop. :laugh:
Rudi
p.s. great work, you da MAN!
If you ever get tired of me telling you "great work, you da MAN!", just let me know and I'll stop. :laugh:
Rudi
p.s. great work, you da MAN!
Masquerade, A Battle of the Bulge dio.
Rudi,
Hell man, I just loooooove to hear that!! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
Bob
Rudi,
Hell man, I just loooooove to hear that!! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
Bob
johnbowery
Member
Masquerade, A Battle of the Bulge dio.
Bob,
A great diorama and still very interesting to look at. I have often repeated the tale of returned broken, bombed out buildings. :woohoo: Never did see a real bombed out building not broken.
The surprise is that they call themselves modelers? 
I received several of the kits and like you said I just glued them back together and sometimes left them broken as that made them a little different from the purchase photo.
Any way just had fun repeating the story.
Cheers
John
Bob,
A great diorama and still very interesting to look at. I have often repeated the tale of returned broken, bombed out buildings. :woohoo: Never did see a real bombed out building not broken.
The surprise is that they call themselves modelers? I received several of the kits and like you said I just glued them back together and sometimes left them broken as that made them a little different from the purchase photo.
Any way just had fun repeating the story.
Cheers
John
johnbowery
Member
Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles
Wes,
Don't knock it, you have stumped Bob and he is at a loss for words :laugh: :laugh:
Cheers
John
P.S. I also like this and thought it was along the lines of the great SciFi artist.
Wes,
Don't knock it, you have stumped Bob and he is at a loss for words :laugh: :laugh:
Cheers
John
P.S. I also like this and thought it was along the lines of the great SciFi artist.
