PBI GB - How the other half rest - A tale of two armies.

[pjgtech]

The German soldiers, see pic above, are also in various poses.
An officer who I think will be sitting on a chair or a bench, reading a book.
A grunt having a wash, I have a water pump and a bowl that I will be using.
A grunt having a shave, and I also have a tiny shaving bowl with foam!
A very tired looking soldier just sitting slumped on the ground, exhausted....
I also have the driver for the Kupelwagon and the driver for the Willys jeep, so will probably be using them also.
There's also a couple of other figures I have from previous builds, which I may (or may not use), I don't want to overload the diorama, and think maybe less is more, but we'll see....

[pjgtech]

Been working on the little sentry box, have now painted it up and weathered it (a bit).
Also added decals to the barrier, (Halt sign) but the barrier main pole still needs painting.
Also added the water pump to the pavement and a small bowl (bit of water gel in the bowl) and finally a little chair to sit in the sentry box when its raining and a bench (with small lantern). Slowly progressing, still lots to do....!

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Your weathering on this piece is excellent Peter. That sentry box has really come out well mate.

[pjgtech]

Couple of coats on the US troops, but still a bit of tidying to do, and need to add some accessories, ammo pouches, water bottles, rifles, slings, Life mag to one of them and a map/newspaper to the other....

[pjgtech]

You may remember my previous thread on making a tarp, using tinfoil, tissue paper, glasses cleaning cloth and medicinal bandage gauze materials.
Well for this Dio I decided to use a tissue paper one, quite like the rippled effect it gives.
Tarp was added to the US side, and then added some guy lines, using thin garden twine, however, its too thick way out of scale, so I will be removing those and maybe trying some thin wire instead?

Have also now added my little tree, from a bare bones accessory, added foilage to it, put it on the base, I may touch it up a bit more add a bit more mottled paint, etc...

[pjgtech]

Erm, not sure why those photos (above) have come out so small?

[PaulTRose]

If you want some really thin wire go to hobby craft and look at supplies for jewelry or flower arranging........i got some i want to use for a wire fence sometime

[pjgtech]

Yep, good idea, but I already have a small selection of thin wires....

[pjgtech]

So I have swapped out the chunky guy lines to the tarp, to the US side, for much thinner ones, much more to scale?

And have also done last few touches to the German side, painted the barrier red/white, added a barrel with small shaving bowl, for one of the figures who will be having a field shave, added a little map to the bench, plus a standard Jerry deterrent, the mighty German Shepherd guard dog!
Oh, and a roll of barbed wire....

The diorama is now pretty much complete, I just need to add final touches to the figures and other little accessories, then the big reveal!
I have deliberately not shown both sides of the diorama together in one photo, since the very first blank base, so that you will get the full "effect" when its all finally set up...... there might be a drum roll and everything, Lol.... (probably not)

[pjgtech]

Just given the figures a final coat of matt clear coat, using my Acme paint spray booth in the garage... lol... 😎

[pjgtech]

Been tweaking little bits and bobs but the main Dio base is now complete.
So I can reveal that....
We initially went from a mere idea on a scrap of paper, this...

To the starting point of the actual build, in its first basic physical form, this...

To its final, completed, representation of an idea realised, to this.

Now I still have some little tweaks to do to the figures, and accessories, and vehicles, then I can finally build up the whole thing into its completed, final Diorama set-up, probably tomorrow with any luck.... 🙂😎😉

[scottie3158]

Peter, that is a great and original idea, beautifully finished.

[pjgtech]

Well, not quite finished yet, still gotta add the figures, vehicles and accessories, (which are almost finished too), but I am pleased with how the base has come out....

[PaulTRose]

Thats come together great

[Jim R]

That has really come together well. A great, unusual idea.

[pjgtech]

The finish line is approaching on this one, but not quite there yet.
I have quite a few "accessories" for the US side, but not many for the German side, so ordered a few bits and the last of them only turned up today!
So have been priming, painting, etc the last few little bits.
I have also "touched up" my Kubelwagon, bit more of a rust wash and another matt coat as it was still a bit too shiny, and I've added another (mini) map to the front bonnet, as the first one was quite faded, so was not obvious that it was a map!
First prime coat on the new German accessories, a little urn/churn, a sack, a food bag, and a small container.

First paint coat on, after letting the primer dry for couple of hours...

Second coat and few little touch up with detail....

Not sure what fruit or veg are actually in the food bag, could be potato, could be apples, could be bread rolls? so not sure what final colour to paint them yet? Just put a generic beige on for now, Lol....
These last few items will need to be weathered or a wash coat applied otherwise they will look too "new".

Here's some of other accessories I will be adding to this Dio, spare rifles, tools, shovels, picks, luggage, kit bags, etc, that will be laying around or strategically placed. Hopefully there will be lots of detail and interest in the final set-up.....

[HAWKERHUNTER]

I think you can be proud of this one Peter. You have put some serious time and effort into it well done.

[pjgtech]

cheers

[pjgtech]

I am now calling this one done, completed, finito, over, realised. 8-)
I have really enjoyed this one, as soon as it was suggested, I had this idea in my head, and I think (hopefully) it has come out quite well.

My idea was to depict two different infantry units, in this case US and German, in a non front line, non fighting scenario, with them at rest, taking it easy, having some down time, etc.

So the final pics are below.

NB: I have also taken this opportunity to try out my new light box, backgrounds, photography lights, new (to me) camera, etc, etc, so hopefully the actual photos are ok too. (I'm still fairly new to this photography lark too!).
I will put a couple of final photos here, then post more photos, on a separate Completed Dio thread, cheers.