Dioramas
Do you love dioramas & vignettes? We sure do.
Operation Anthropoid
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
Armorama: 1,463 posts
Posted: Sunday, April 05, 2020 - 02:00 AM UTC
Thanks Brian yes indeedy, pasted that into my Figures file last night

(Edit) Oops sorry Glenn didn’t see your post before. That’s a bit of a worry then, the leather came from Susie’s 30 year-old Cellini purse which she doesn’t remember ever oiling. Quiet at the back! An unexpected addition to my to-do list. Even so I’m expecting the vinyl t*res to start melting long before the seats fall apart.
cheyenne
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: January 05, 2005
KitMaker: 2,185 posts
Armorama: 1,813 posts
Posted: Tuesday, April 07, 2020 - 09:24 PM UTC
Well we've come a long way from tanning hides on a rack . Chems and natural greases mixed prolong leather life . Depending on the manufacture , nowadays when leather gets older it just usually cracks/dry rots , more chems than natural oils . Oozes stuff , gets moldy , more natural oil ingredients . The naturally treated leathers have a better chance of being restored .
So there is life after death ............
https://youtu.be/Q0p9nz0wBwE
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
Armorama: 1,463 posts
Posted: Sunday, April 12, 2020 - 12:02 AM UTC
Wow Hunter’s 80 & going for immortality himself despite terminal tinnitus. Anyhow it looks like a trace of vaseline and/or beeswax might be enough to prolong the life of the upholstery & prevent mo*ld. Meanwhile, Six Days of The Pipe-Cutter later – 11 metal/plastic posts & 2 wooden telegraph poles, 5 of the 13 will have lamps attached. The photo refs were helpful in showing how hardly any two were alike, so this is as close as I’ll ever get to faithfully reproducing them…









I spent more time on post # 10 (above foreground) than any other, it was abnormally tall in reality but refused to look right on the dio so I added the sample lamp to see if it helped. Multiple comparative measurements later I settled on this height, right or wrong…



…but the weight of the lamp is pulling the top stanchion off true - wire replacement pending.



Spot the T34 fuel tank. All posts will have proper tops & various high brackets/attachments affixed depending on what they supported, but I’ll postpone that job until I’ve worked out exactly how to attach the power-lines matrix to them (in a detachable way) which is why they won’t get painted yet. The posts are all removable too for transport/storage purposes because we’re still house-hunting, albeit in an increasingly catatonic property market.

So that’s a lot of drudgery done, the checklist still says: Railings – DIY photo-etch postponed indefinitely until I can secure a compact UV light-box & the chemicals. Garden/trees – one of the last things to be done on the base, it’s too handy as a building site for now. So that leaves fences & backdrops along the north/west edges (possibly the south edge too) & I think I’m condemned to actually building the big house façade/side walls
smallcastle
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Attica, Greece / Ελλάδα
Joined: December 03, 2019
KitMaker: 109 posts
Armorama: 109 posts
Posted: Sunday, April 12, 2020 - 07:30 PM UTC
Hi Tim
I don't know what to say first,we've said things from time to time, the sure thing is that you have a lot of work to do and we have a lot to see and learn
jrutman
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: April 10, 2011
KitMaker: 7,941 posts
Armorama: 7,934 posts
Posted: Monday, April 13, 2020 - 02:50 AM UTC
Yep,that last shot is another money shot. Really freekin cool,
J
justsendit
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
Armorama: 2,492 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 15, 2020 - 11:42 AM UTC
Great looking layout, Tim! 🤩 ...🚋🚃 ...🚃

—mike
SF-07-18D
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Madrid, Spain / España
Joined: December 19, 2016
KitMaker: 366 posts
Armorama: 300 posts
Posted: Thursday, April 16, 2020 - 01:25 AM UTC
Tim, I still have no words for your build.

Awesome!
cheyenne
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: January 05, 2005
KitMaker: 2,185 posts
Armorama: 1,813 posts
Posted: Friday, April 17, 2020 - 01:23 AM UTC
Looks beautiful as a whole man !!!
Looks smaller than I imagined tho but that doesn't mean it don't rock !!
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
Armorama: 1,463 posts
Posted: Friday, April 17, 2020 - 04:11 PM UTC
Thanks guys & hey Glenn this guy hasn’t grown any honest, he’s still 1/35 scale…



So here’s the thing…







That big house photo-bombs every view in that direction & if I do it just as a two-dimensional backdrop that’s exactly what it’ll look like. Not the simplest design – balconies, gable cut-offs, bow-fronted in the centre & also on each corner. I found that out from the City transport plans, clear enough from the foot-print but not so clear in the photos. It’s set at an angle to the roadway & sunk half a storey into its plot of land, which is itself some way below road level. Still, I only need to build the front & right-side facades for photography, but tricky to get in scale in relation to the foreground, but there’s always the fall-back of moving it closer or further away to compensate.

I can’t work out whether the structure coming off the right side of the house is some kind of windowless annexe, a garage, a barn/stable, or a very high-walled garden enclosure - it’s unusually tall whatever it is. Opinions?

I started by marking up & cutting a foam back-plate from which the various projections on the front & side will er project…



It’s probably an old idea but it’s the only way I could think of fixing all the 2D measurements using comparative guesstimates from those three photo references, and it should make the 3rd dimension easier to work out. The foam’s intentionally thick enough to take horizontal balsa beams glued through & braced at the back to prevent them drooping…



Let’s try it out…













Well…focus-wise I always knew I’ll need a much better camera for the photoshoot & ideally a better photographer too. Anyhow the house should look OK & any reflections off its windows will be a bonus. All I have to do now is build it
cheyenne
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: January 05, 2005
KitMaker: 2,185 posts
Armorama: 1,813 posts
Posted: Friday, April 17, 2020 - 08:44 PM UTC
No man I know it's huge but in an overall pic [ without the hand ] it doesn't look as big as it is , to me any way . I mean it's not a bad thing . Actually it's a good thing , you've managed to take a large build and make it look like the real photos .
Golikell
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Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Joined: October 25, 2002
KitMaker: 1,757 posts
Armorama: 914 posts
Posted: Sunday, April 19, 2020 - 08:28 PM UTC
The styrofoam building does a job by filling the background, but it really shows a lack of depth, specially at roof level... The lower parts are ok. Unless I missed something?
jrutman
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: April 10, 2011
KitMaker: 7,941 posts
Armorama: 7,934 posts
Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 12:31 AM UTC
Size and shape work for me,considering this is just your initial slab,it fits the bill.
J
justsendit
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
Armorama: 2,492 posts
Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 02:27 AM UTC
Looking more and more like the real thing with every post! Keep up the fantastic work, Tim!

Cheers!🍺
—mike
G-man69
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England - South West, United Kingdom
Joined: October 17, 2017
KitMaker: 944 posts
Armorama: 928 posts
Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 03:06 AM UTC
Hi Tim,

This is one of those builds that just keeps giving...truly awesome, .

Cheers, ,

G
AlfredCZ
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Praha, Czech Republic
Joined: January 03, 2016
KitMaker: 53 posts
Armorama: 53 posts
Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 06:11 AM UTC
WOW ! Prague ! THIS IS PRAGUE ! Typical prague cobblestone (nicknamed Cat Heads) with typical granit colour...

GREAT GREAT GREAT ! And the trams ! Like actual line 91 (historic tram) ! Mercedes too nice.

But atmosphere - or genius loci.... YUP ! PRAGUE ! DEFINITELY !

(Prague hospital "NA BULOVCE", where Heydrich died is now main center of fighting with COVID 19 disease in CZ.)

When you coming to Prague, contact me and i show you all important places in Anthropoid story !

Really nice ! GREAT !
BootsDMS
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England - South West, United Kingdom
Joined: February 08, 2012
KitMaker: 978 posts
Armorama: 965 posts
Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 06:22 AM UTC
You know Tim, not to muddy the waters or anything - or even to add to your problems - but this diorama deserves to be displayed in a museum in Prague itself, or somewhere equally appropriate.

Just a thought (one of my many idle ones!)

Brian
smallcastle
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Attica, Greece / Ελλάδα
Joined: December 03, 2019
KitMaker: 109 posts
Armorama: 109 posts
Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 08:46 PM UTC
I'd like to write so much, but I'd need a few thousand words,I've said it before, I'm jealous of your methodical manner,patience and perseverance in detail
from a "sloppy" Dim
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
Armorama: 1,463 posts
Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - 01:13 AM UTC
Wow what happened? I thought I must have sent y’all to sleep & with good reason, thanks so much guys I really appreciate your feedback - especially when it’s so positive. I’m sure you’ve all felt that sinking feeling too from time to time (usually a signal for an urgent vacation) when doubts set in & nothing looks the way it should, so it’s always encouraging when others disagree about that! Maybe it’s a side-effect of what most of us are trying to do, make things look real instead of miniature reproductions - too easy to become delusional when attempting to create illusions.

But enough of Dioramic philosophy. Glenn, Mike, Gareth, Dim – I guess the foregoing’s some kinda response to your comments?! Erwin – yes I think you missed the text in my last post but that’s OK, wait for the next set of photos & I hope you’ll be pleasantly surprised Jerry – thanks I value your eye (both of them actually), I keep oscillating between thinking the house looks OK & then the opposite, so let’s review it after the next update. Brian – that’s exactly what I’d like to happen too if it was deemed worthy.

Alfred – a special thanks to you, I’m very pleased to hear from a “native” and that you think the scene looks authentic. So far so good then, I hope I can get even closer to the genius loci when I’ve completed the big house & backdrops, the trees, etc. Meanwhile please check your message box.

So until this weekend’s episode here’s a teaser…



At last a purpose for old blades, while the glue dries
Golikell
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Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Joined: October 25, 2002
KitMaker: 1,757 posts
Armorama: 914 posts
Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - 01:31 AM UTC
Must heve been the lingo you used. that I missed it
I see you've stabbed the styrofoam to death with old no.11's
Ok, I hold my piece now till I have something usefull to say...
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
Armorama: 1,463 posts
Posted: Saturday, April 25, 2020 - 01:44 AM UTC
No worries I was trying to explain that I was about to go boldly into the 3rd dimension…





So here’s a replacement for that perfectly good toolbox Jerry wasted for his Normandy summer retreat ...





The three balustrades are a pain - no doubt some manufacturer makes ‘em but you know me well enough by now…







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSetKLDeVOA

jrutman
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: April 10, 2011
KitMaker: 7,941 posts
Armorama: 7,934 posts
Posted: Saturday, April 25, 2020 - 01:52 AM UTC
Few people would go into such detail for a background building. And then there's Time.
Nice job though!
J
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
Armorama: 1,463 posts
Posted: Saturday, April 25, 2020 - 11:49 PM UTC
Thanks Jerry, that’s either a typo or referencing the 4th dimension – deep man Anyhow I’ve destroyed those balconies & deploying a 2nd brain cell for a 2nd attempt
cheyenne
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: January 05, 2005
KitMaker: 2,185 posts
Armorama: 1,813 posts
Posted: Sunday, April 26, 2020 - 12:46 AM UTC
Mock up looks very promising , you'll nail the balconies , Time .

https://youtu.be/AQSjV4DZ-Gg
justsendit
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
Armorama: 2,492 posts
Posted: Sunday, April 26, 2020 - 01:56 AM UTC
Everything is falling into place wonderfully. And as progress moves ahead, you continue to display more talents. ... Time well spent here.🍿

Chillawhoowhoo!🍺
—mike
jrutman
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: April 10, 2011
KitMaker: 7,941 posts
Armorama: 7,934 posts
Posted: Sunday, April 26, 2020 - 02:56 AM UTC
Apparently not everyone got the memmo. In reference to the longevity of this build your new name has been awarded. Time from now on,
J