Dioramas
Do you love dioramas & vignettes? We sure do.
Operation Anthropoid
ahandykindaguy
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Alberta, Canada
Joined: August 20, 2008
KitMaker: 1,295 posts
Armorama: 1,191 posts
Posted: Sunday, May 10, 2020 - 05:29 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hah I’m only a couple of years behind you Glenn i.e. 30 something, look what model-making’s done to us. Pure luck Erwin, I may have the blood pressure of a 21 year-old but the reflexes of a centenarian. Thanks G but truly his exquisite Conservatory makes my house look like a mud hut. Phil you’re dead right, I’ll lose the white base before taking any more photos – a darker base should indeed reverse the effect.

Well Dave, I’ve given you a run for your money in the race to get to 300K views but I think you’ll get there by a short head, congrats & well deserved



Don’t give up just yet Tim, you could still blow past me easily enough. A couple more posts of the quality and quantity of your last one and you’ll catch me in the backstretch no problem. Our friend Jerry has beaten us both to that mark already, once for sure and maybe more. And I think Claude and Stick have made that milestone too...

Either way, I raise a glass, or two, to your efforts to bring history to life with your latest build. A truly remarkable feat of modelling engineering. Cheers

SF-07-18D
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Madrid, Spain / España
Joined: December 19, 2016
KitMaker: 366 posts
Armorama: 300 posts
Posted: Sunday, May 10, 2020 - 05:53 AM UTC
Once again, yur build is awesome. I love the way you used the plaster on the walls, it's like real!!

Keep on, Tim!!
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
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Posted: Sunday, May 10, 2020 - 04:23 PM UTC
Thanks Nacho glad you like it - maybe you’re happy with your own special building potions but it’s worth considering this exterior wood-filler option (NB not the weaker version for interior use), it’s quite a discovery for me, to the extent I’ll never use plaster again. It's easy to apply with a palette knife or spreader, grips anything it’s smeared on, stays malleable for at least an hour, doesn’t shrink when dry, easy to sand, never cracks. I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work well in a mo*ld either, or accept being diluted with plain water. I’ve only used powder paint on it (which it absorbs without complaint) so I’m not sure if acrylic or oils would go on as well, probably they would.

Thanks Dave cheers to you too & I’m on my 2nd glass right now. Yes JR, Nick, MikeyBuggs95 (on the AFV forum at nearly 400K currently on page 9) are way ahead. If any of our esteemed Moderators are looking in I’d be interested to see who is in the top 10 - I’m sure that would put us back in our places i.e. by not appearing in it! and here's the 2nd glass
JGphins
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Florida, United States
Joined: July 19, 2014
KitMaker: 249 posts
Armorama: 249 posts
Posted: Thursday, May 14, 2020 - 01:59 PM UTC
Hello Tim, this is incredible work and thank you for sharing! Tremendous amount of detail work & the level of accuracy, planning... excellent job! Love this website, amazing work by many! Keep it up!
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
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Posted: Saturday, May 16, 2020 - 12:44 AM UTC
Thanks JG & great to see you’re back in the saddle, I’m about to dismount for a while but first…

Window & door frames: a pet hate as they’ve had a tendency to fall apart due to the very small bondable surface areas relative to their structure & size. So balsa’s out, Evergreen’s in & for added strength I did this…





The backing sheet helps standardise the measuring/cutting and (when the frame’s glued onto it) gives the option of facing outwards so no joints are visible…oops not as shown in the above photo. Cutting out the “panes” isn’t too much of a pain. As mentioned before this house will never be seen close up so I’m omitting details like window latches etc., this is strictly an impression of that house.



One painted sheet of paper (above) was enough to cut rectangles out of to back all windows & doors with a vaguely darkish curtain/no curtain undefinably ambiguously mysteriously OK that’s enough adjectives, in other words NEVER neat black. Tamiya extra-thin bonded the “glass” to the frame (just) leaving no trace on the glass unlike white glue, although liberal worms of the latter proved the best way to bond each unit to the balsa & foam walls…



Scale colour: every colour including black fades towards grey the further away it is. At 1/35 if the viewpoint is say 30cms/12ins from an object or model, its colour ought to resemble what the real thing would look like approx. 11m/35ft away. In the case of this house, it was in reality approx. 40m/130ft from the apex of the bend so its colours have to be muted accordingly…







I decided that the balconies just wouldn’t look right in cement grey & they couldn’t have been white according to the 1936 image - they appear to be the same colour/shade as the horizontal bands so that’s what I’ve done. I’m not altogether satisfied although I don’t think these colours would look out of place in Prague. Their tones live together OK & maybe in full sun (which has gone AWOL) it’ll look good enough. As Phil suggested the white base slab has gone, and with it the inverted two-tone effect.

Other issues - some proportions are slightly off & I skipped the bars on the central ground floor windows. The barred doors might actually have been just windows too, but just like in original photos it’ll be impossible to be sure. And it ain’t finished as per my deadline originally set for today – so what’s left? Glue the balconies on, put the year of construction above the arched attic door (1920-something from what I can see), fix up the snafu on the gable angles, tile the roof, add chimneys, paint, & lastly administer light overall weathering
jrutman
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: April 10, 2011
KitMaker: 7,941 posts
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Posted: Saturday, May 16, 2020 - 02:32 AM UTC
Precise work on the windows. Really have that modern euro look to them,
J
ahandykindaguy
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Alberta, Canada
Joined: August 20, 2008
KitMaker: 1,295 posts
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Posted: Saturday, May 16, 2020 - 04:28 AM UTC
Dynamic execution on the windows, and all the other work. Good luck on the move, see you on the flip side. Keep Covid safe, and enjoy the brews after the move..
G-man69
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England - South West, United Kingdom
Joined: October 17, 2017
KitMaker: 944 posts
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Posted: Saturday, May 16, 2020 - 11:15 PM UTC
Hi Tim,

The building looks amazing, but I do have one criticism...



...there's no picture of your man-bag on display, .

Cheers, ,

G
Golikell
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Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Joined: October 25, 2002
KitMaker: 1,757 posts
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Posted: Sunday, May 17, 2020 - 01:36 AM UTC
Love the way the house turned out. A really worthy addition to the dio!
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
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Posted: Sunday, May 17, 2020 - 05:02 PM UTC
Thanks guys - dang G that backfired big-time eh, now I’ll have to show mine. I’m about to up-end my extensive wardrobe so let’s see what shakes out. Not checked out yet Dave, looks like I can finish the house by this coming weekend before packing it into its custom travelling box. Ugh the horror, I’m gonna need most of those brews BEFORE we move
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
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Posted: Sunday, May 24, 2020 - 03:15 AM UTC
OK let’s get this out the way - Just for you Gareth…



The roof was made from strips of balsa pre-scored vertically to simulate the tiles, each strip offset from the next and lifted slightly along its bottom edge. Painting it was scary with powder paint, like with watercolours there’s no room for error/correction. With a wide soft brush one strong orange coat followed by one thin black wash with the house upside down so the wash would settle under each row of tiles, it kinda worked - no sun today & a gale blowing so under Aldi-light conditions…



…and under equally bad natural light…









a couple self-explanatory sundries…





The perspective’s not right yet, the house needs to be a tad lower & closer to that edge of the dio base…and I really do need a better camera. But even though it’s not in focus or in sunshine I’m reasonably OK with the house’s low contrast and tones, the roof’s as “strong” as I dared but still compares well enough to modern colour images of Prague’s traditional roof-scapes.

So that’s all for a few weeks while your driver packs it all away to move home. As we pull into the station don’t forget to collect up all your empties & hope to see you back on board soon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn4d0gKlaiE
smallcastle
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Attica, Greece / Ελλάδα
Joined: December 03, 2019
KitMaker: 109 posts
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Posted: Sunday, May 24, 2020 - 04:25 PM UTC
Hi Tim
Everything seems to fit together harmoniously, I await the progress of work, with interest
D
Golikell
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Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Joined: October 25, 2002
KitMaker: 1,757 posts
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Posted: Sunday, May 24, 2020 - 07:28 PM UTC
Wow... The house really adds to the dio... Really love the way it beefs up the background..

Good luck packing things up and most of all, the moving the the new prem!!! I sincerely hope everything survives the manhandling!!!!
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
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Posted: Monday, May 25, 2020 - 12:46 AM UTC
Thanks Dim, and Erwin yes although I was reluctant to build the house I’m glad I did, it gives me the freedom to take photos from any viewpoint towards that quadrant of the diorama. I could never have painted it as a convincing flat backdrop anyway. The semi-rural landscape behind it will have to be, along with the long view back up the street, but I think I can handle that OK with some practice.

So tonight my hobby’s completely disappeared, all packed/boxed/in storage ready for removal. As I put the house in its cocoon today I realized I hadn’t done any weathering on the walls or tidied up a couple of paint over-runs, so at least I’ll know where to resume
justsendit
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
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Posted: Monday, May 25, 2020 - 01:51 AM UTC
Your work on the building is magnificent! Who would even guess that it’s whittled from a chunk of styrofoam. And then, there’s the “money shot” with the two trams in place — warms my heart. ...🚋🚃

Hope you’ve got all the pyrotechnics packed away safely and secure for the move to your new abode. And don’t let the “honey-do” Projects interfere too much with your model building once you’ve unpacked... Must convince SWMBO that setting up the model bench... uh... “workbench” is mission critical.🛠😇

All the best to you and the Mrs.🍷
—mike
cheyenne
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: January 05, 2005
KitMaker: 2,185 posts
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Posted: Monday, May 25, 2020 - 01:52 AM UTC
Dam Tim , excellent work on the building , looking good !!
jrutman
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: April 10, 2011
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Posted: Monday, May 25, 2020 - 01:52 AM UTC
Remarkable resemblance for sure. Well done Sir.
J
Golikell
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Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Joined: October 25, 2002
KitMaker: 1,757 posts
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Posted: Monday, May 25, 2020 - 02:05 AM UTC
Need some tranquilizers?
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 02:35 AM UTC
Thanks guys glad you like it, & thanks Mike - that house is in one box & all materials in the others, one sure wouldn’t get through Customs…



…isn’t that just a horrific photo? As for sedation (and smoke effects), I’m already…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sa2q-b3oRo

G-man69
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England - South West, United Kingdom
Joined: October 17, 2017
KitMaker: 944 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 02:51 AM UTC
Hi Tim,

At last, a picture of your man-bag and man-box, .

Good luck with transporting everything, hopefully the move will be painless.

Cheers, ,

G
Bonaparte84
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Hessen, Germany
Joined: July 17, 2013
KitMaker: 338 posts
Armorama: 331 posts
Posted: Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 06:47 AM UTC
Good luck with the move. I hope all the hard work arrives at its new place safely.

In the meantime... I don't know if you've seen this recent video by Mark Felton already, and you probably know most of the content already, but it still might be somehow interesting for you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP4DA0PSegs
I just hope you are not one of the individuals referred to at 9:38
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 11:26 PM UTC
Thanks G so now that we’ve compared bags & boxes let’s not speak of it again All that stuff’s now bubble-wrapped at an undisclosed location, I’ll be moving it myself so there’ll be nobody else to blame.

Thanks Nicolas & good to hear from you…ah this old chestnut, I covered it back in the mists of time in the first few pages of this project but I haven’t seen this recent clip before, so let’s re-examine the car with semi-fresh eyes:

Mercedes said it has no information about ownership but if they’re certain only one of the 34 320E’s was actually manufactured at Mannheim, it’s circumstantial evidence that this is the same vehicle because Heydrich reportedly drove it back to Prague himself having taken delivery of it there in late ‘41. But of the other 33 vehicles, several others could have been taken to Mannheim for the same or similar customisation as the allegedly single one built there. So no clinching proof there.







It’s easy to play spot-the-difference with images of the original barn photos vs. the green version (are they really the same car?) vs. the 1942 images, but it doesn’t prove/disprove anything. Alterations always happen to cars & this one’s now over 80 years old. That said, if the Danish wreck was believed to be Heydrich’s why would the original radiator grille (with the small Merc badge just below the mascot) be replaced with a different grille of lesser quality in the green version? Actually even the barn photos show a different grille to 1942, there’s no hard edge along the top of the original.

No mention was made in the clip of the quite large additional fitting required to house the radio which certainly was installed, either at Mannheim or by the SS in Prague. Apparently neither Lauritzen nor the narrator noticed the aerial showing in the 1942 photos. While the radio would have long gone its original fitting (and/or the aerial’s) or traces of it would have provided reasonably strong evidence. The fact there’s no mention of it at all raises red flags for me.

Many axles get bent, and rust repairs got fixed with tin. If I’d become the owner of that wreck and believed it was Heydrich’s, I’m absolutely certain that BEFORE I restored it many photos would have been taken of the insides/underneath of the rear right wing, rear right floor-pan, cabin/boot wall, and rear axle, to show the alleged grenade-damage repairs and any sign of remaining damage in forensic detail. Shrapnel would have left scratches & blast marks in all nearby inside panels, not worth repairing. I’m not aware of any such photos, and only they would convince me - one way or the other.

And no it wasn’t me who tried to dig him up, I’d have used dynamite
Dioramartin
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: May 04, 2016
KitMaker: 1,476 posts
Armorama: 1,463 posts
Posted: Saturday, May 30, 2020 - 11:52 PM UTC
I’ve packed enough boxes today, and knowing how some of you have enjoyed my never-ending search for historical accuracy…

Presenting a good example of Researcher’s Block, which happens when early research is overlaid with successive waves of later research, leading to a conscious or unconscious assumption that early research has no residual value. Over two years ago way back on page 3 of this project “Galwitz” posted a link to the 1964 Czech movie “Antentat”. I skated through it then, focused on the Merc & the vintage trams. The assassination scene itself was full of inaccuracies and abruptly ended after the grenade exploded – no passing tram, no terrified passengers, no collapsing Heydrich, no chase. I moved on & never gave it a second thought.

So I’m very grateful to Agent Alfred for reminding me about this movie a few days ago, pointing out that the actual location had been used. Naturally it had changed during the intervening 22 years, the main road doubled in width to such an extent it now passed within a metre of the house – clearly the resident had no influence whatsoever over the Prague City Council planning department…



There are other alterations around the scene - the brick pillars have been re-faced or replaced & the footings between them restored. That may have happened soon after 1945 when the large memorial shrine the Nazis set into the wall on the bend was torn down…





One of the most useful discoveries is the detail of the iron fencing between the pillars – no excuse now for failing to photo-etch those accurately. And so there’s the house still standing in ’64, revealing that I made a few minor errors which will be worth fixing…





Check out the size of the guy leaning against the house - half the size of my 1/35 stand-in! That was a shock but of course it doesn’t matter, my house will move nearer or closer to the dio base until it looks right. Alas I still can’t see what inscription is over the upper storey balcony door, even in the movie. And how’s this for a curious bit of anti-Continuity – check out the windscreen & side window…



and half a second later…



That’s one thing I'll try to avoid…
jrutman
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: April 10, 2011
KitMaker: 7,941 posts
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Posted: Sunday, May 31, 2020 - 03:25 AM UTC
One of the cardinal rules of scratchbuilding of course is"Thou shalt find the missing reference at the precise moment you have completed your model".

An addendum to "Murphys' Law of course.
J
cheyenne
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: January 05, 2005
KitMaker: 2,185 posts
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Posted: Sunday, May 31, 2020 - 09:37 AM UTC
Hey man , good luck on the move , roll on down . Beautiful work on the building !!

https://youtu.be/p867b5SvtNk