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Why no tire or track marks?

T

Tankbuilder

Active member
Hi there.

Okay, I'll admit that I'm very confused about something I've seen, or rather not seen actually. On many of the otherwise excellent dioramas on this forum many models don't have tire or track marks under them or behind them on the groundwork. It makes the model look like it has just popped into that location through a time-portal/warp or has landed from the air. This is really unfortunate because those dioramas have such a very high level of skill in their creation and the built model. Nothing screams "MODEL!" quite as much as not having any tire or track marks under or behind a vehicle. I mean, a 40 to 60 tons tank moving over almost any ground is going to leave *SOME* sign of its passing. In fact, most armour moves *THROUGH* the ground rather than passing over it. With that being said, I'm very interested in why some oterwise extremely talented modellers leave off the tire or track marks from their dioramas. Any suggestions why that is?

Cheers from Curious Peter VBG LOL
 
Hi Peter , .......... I'm not trying to be a smart as# , but is this an ethereal question .

To be honest with you that is usually one one the first critiques on a build .
I don't really recall any builds here that [ apart from a static base build ] don't have tracks , tire or otherwise ......... usually we're pretty thorough ...........
 
Cheyenne wrote:
Hi Peter , .......... I'm not trying to be a smart as# , but is this an ethereal question .

To be honest with you that is usually one one the first critiques on a build .
I don't really recall any builds here that [ apart from a static base build ] don't have tracks , tire or otherwise ......... usually we're pretty thorough ...........
Click to expand...

Hi there Cheyenne.

No, it's an honest question about something I've noticed on a few dioramas here that have vehicles on them but no tracks leading to the vehicle. I just wonder why such an important detail is left out. I will not mention any particular dioramas though.

Cheers from Peter
 
Cheers from Peter, I agree with you. Admittedly there are some surfaces that a vehicle could travel over and not leave any tracks, depending on the vehicle also. Say a 1/4ton jeep could ride over dried mud and not leave any marks but take a fully loaded Tiger over the same ground and there's going to be tracks.

I really shouldn't be so critical because I have NEVER done a diorama and there's no telling what I may leave out when I do one. But this is something that jumps out at me, that and suspension. If you have a vehicle going over rough terrain those boogies are going to be in motion. There is no way the first road wheel can be suspended in mid air when the second one is firmly planted on the ground. This are little details but things that can take away from a dio.

Same can be said about aircraft dios. Granted I only worked on arming aircraft for just 3 years but I know that you would NEVER have a aircraft with open panels/engine bay exposed AND fully loaded with weapons. That includes cannon/machinegun ammo. I can see posing an aircraft in such a matter as to show off attention to detail but in a diorama setting, I would mark major points off for such an unrealistic display.
 
Ok, my quarter's worth from real life observations.
Even airplanes leave tire marks on the tarmac . Particularly when turning. Builders don't seem no have any shortage of oil drips though which is very accurate
They also like to show (at times ) a good deal of maintenance on aircraft loaded down with munitions. Although it looks very interesting it never was a USAF practice during my time.
Probably in Vietnam though which explains why there were major ramp accidents.
Back to tanks. Modern tanks will also leave marks on paved roads as I have witnessed in Germany.

TTFN, Christian
 
Hi Pete , ....... no you're right it is an honest question .

The sentence " on many of the otherwise excellent dios " , ....... kinda made me think we are glutted with dios without tracks .

No problem man , I had just sat down , a sip or two of coffee , just lit up a butt , ........ :laugh:
 
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