Cafe du Val WW2 street diorama

I used to build dioramas when I was 16-18 years old. Now I am 55 and, as I am starting to have a bit more time currently, I am considering getting back into it. Here are some pictures of one of mine. I have more if there is interest.

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Bring them on!

Thanks - I am quite proud of them - not sure I could do such a good job nowadays! I would certainly need to learn to use an air brush - I did all the weathering on these using powder from ordinary artists pastels and a paint brush. The rubble is gravel from the garden, the walls are polystyrene tiles plastered with polyfiller, with balsa-wood window frame and bits of plastic card etc. So I now probably would buy a few more diorama materials.

Actually I think I used an airbrush for the base colours. I had a Badger siphon type airbrush and used a car tyre for compressed air. So if I get back into this I should get a top feed airbrush with a compressor. Any air bursh suggestions welcome. I’ll have a look through the forum.

Nice. I’d like to see more please.

Cheers,
C.

Hi Paul,

Welcome back to the hobby.

If these are pictures of your teenage models then you should indeed be proud. As someone who has also ‘returned’ after a break of 30 years or so, I think you will be surprised at how much you can out-do your younger self.

Sure, your eyesight was probably better, but there is so much more ‘stuff’ around these days - and so much help and advice.

What are you planning / working on?

Regards, Tim

Well Paul as a co-Tim’s already said if that’s what you could do in the 1980’s, my mind boggles as to what you’re capable of now with the wealth of figures, vehicles & diorama materials available today. You’ve always known how to inject movement/narrative into a static scene, you’ve clearly got photography chops and you even seem to have found the secret to resisting nearly 40 years of dust, so you’ve come to the right place :tumbler_glass:

Thanks Tim :slight_smile: I am working on a Tamiya Panther that I took over from my son (he got it as a present but he has fine motor movement difficulties and anyway he is not into model making). I posted a few pics in the AFV section, but I will add some more. I have not invested in an air brush yet, so this is a spray can and paint brush job.

Thank Tim #2 :). For me, dioramas are not only about accuracy and authenticity but (more) about drama and the scene, so I enjoy that part of it, posing the figures, viewing it from different angles etc. I posted pics of a few others as well, so let me know what you think of them.