Enemy in sight, 1944

[DIOWORK]

Hi guys,
Since a week or two I have been working on a 1/72 diorama for a group build.

The scenario:
It’s late autumn 1944.In this sector of the battlefield a lot of German soldiers from different units were put together to fight the enemy.
In this small village both infantry and panzer soldiers is fighting together against an superior enemy.
(Therefore you will notice that the soldiers will have different types of uniforms.)

Maybe you can help me suggest a place for this battle? West or eastern front! The buildings I use are probably best for the Belgian front?

Anyway, the diorama started with this mockup:

The most important soldier of the diorama is the one with the Panzerfaust. The group build is about to include a type of anti tank object.

It’s tricky to paint 1:72 figures… I will do my best. I will modify some soldiers to look better. For example this figure, the original weapon don’t look to good, I will use a better looking Mp44 instead. And hey, that’s much cooler:)

First figures to being painted:

Now with rifle straps:

Well as I have mentioned my mock-ups use to grow bigger after a while…now it’s including two houses and the base is a little bit bigger.

Here you see how I use wall putty and I also used some filter:

I will connect the two houses with a gate. Hopefully this looks better than having a gap in the left corner of the diorama.
I use a type of styrofoam for the gate. Here you see the process:

Left side house:

I will use the same snow as I tested in this diorama that I already showed you:
(Precision Ice and Snow)

So after a couple of hours at the work bench the two houses and the gate is almost finished. There will be snow on the roofs so don’t worry about the not 100% results.

Okey, last picture, I can’t stop thinking of the movie “Where Eagles Dare” when I look at it
Over and out!

[Biggles50]

Ummm…it’s winter and the trees are in full bloom?? I like the rest of it!

[Panzer_modeler]

Looks great! I love the movie Where Eagles Dare and I thought the same thing! I agree with Leo about the trees though…

[creading]

I agree with the others about the trees. In winter they would have no foliage.
Another suggestion - if the guy with the panzerfaust is aiming and ready to take out a tank I think the tank would be close enough that the other soldiers behind the wall would be hunkered down rather than standing with their heads exposed. The panzerfaust was pretty much a close range weapon if the user wanted an accurate hit.
I really like your stone and brick work. I really looks fantastic.

Cheers,
C.

[Johnnych01]

Looking great so far, you have done some great work on those figures and the buildings are superb … I have to agree with the others about the trees though … I would of thought only firs and pines would still have foliage in full winter conditions. Whats the base size ? is it A4 ?

[DIOWORK]

Hi Guys, thanks for the feedback!
Concerning when this take place you are totally right. I got lost when writing the description. The scenario is taking place before all leafs are falling off the trees.
Please note that this is still a mockup, I have not start modifying the trees, they are still standard Noch out of the box. There will be much less foliage in the end.
(the green trees are just for the mockup to get a feeling)
It’s always tricky to show a mockup. The viewer sees what I show in the pictures, they don’t see the ideas I have in my head. Please have that in mind when I am showing you mock-ups:)

So I think we agree to that the scenario is taking place in the beginning of November 1944. Ok?
(I have changed in the original description)

Concerning the exact moment (especially concerning the panzerfaust): It’s always difficult to describe the exact moment in a “action diorama”.
It’s much easier showing two soldiers that are drinking coffee and have a smoke.

I know it’s the builders job to make the viewers understand the scenario just by watching the diorama. The title of the diorama is also important because it gives the builder a chance to explain the scene.

In this case, I want the scenario to be like this:
The German soldiers know that the enemy is close by. The figures at the wall is chosen because they look like they are aiming in (they are not shooting).
The soldiers at the kettenrad will be unloading ammunition, MG, hand grenades and more panzerfausts.
So the moment is when they know that enemy soldiers are just 100 meters away. The two soldier at the panzerfaust is aiming in a possible way of firing the weapon. Not necessarily at a tank, it is usable against infantry as well.

I know that these two men maybe have ”too much action pose” to fit in. But in total I hope the scenario will work.
The figure behind the panzerfaust is easy to put in another place of course.

Once again, thanks for your reply:)

The size is about 2/3 of a A4.

Cheers, Erik

[Johnnych01]

Nice explanation Erik and the size is very good … thats a fantastic amount of action going on in a small scene … really well done

[Bruc84]

Your 1/72 stuff looks amazing… Sometimes i think it is in 1/35…

Congrats…

[creading]

Thanks for the explanation. Agree with @Bruc84, incredible work in 1:72

Cheers,
C.

[Biggles50]

You could still use the guys in the snow suits, but switch them to the reverse side with splinter camo.

[DIOWORK]

@Biggles50 I intending to get the same cold and snowy feeling as in this vignette. So hopefully it’s okay that the soldiers are wearing both the white dress and the autumn camouflage?

@Bruc84 Thanks! I feel like being an ambassador for 1:72 scale. Hopefully I will show you nice 1:72 dioramas that inspires others to try this “scale of opportunity”
Cheers

[Johnnych01]

Erik we are doing a 1/72 Dio group build and I hope the link is here.

https://forums.kitmaker.net/t/1-72-a4-base-group-build-live/2314/42

It would be great if you fancied joining in on it … John

[DIOWORK]

That sounds great John! I’m signing up! But just a small A6 scratch built diorama with a handful of soldiers. Maybe I try something new, like an industrial building “Stalingrad type” or some Italian soldiers working under the sunshine in Africa…let me check my stock of 1/72 figures:) /Erik

[Johnnych01]

Great, I will add you as a yes in the initial post on that thread

[DIOWORK]

Hi again,
I am a little lost in this scenario. The main character in this diorama is the guy with the panzerfaust, because of the group build “Tank hunters”.
As we have discussed the two soldier who is interacting with the panzerfaust is looking like they will pull the trigger and the rest is not in the same mode.

The diorama grow larger than it was supposed to, and I am very pleased with the result of that. But it become too big for it’s purpose.
Therefore I decided to build a completely new scene that’s smaller.
I just looked at all my 1/72 stuff and found some railroad tracks, hmmm, I haven’t done anything that’s including that before.

That resulted in this mockup:

That one become this one and so on:

Finally this evening I ended up with this:

Tired but quite happy that I solved the situation I know enter my bed zzzzz /Erik
PS nothing is ready yet.

[creading]

Watching this.

C.

[Johnnych01]

Very nice change of direction with this one. The new look appears like a small defensive team protecting the entrance to a goods yard in a warehouse or factory complex.

[DIOWORK]

Thanks guys!
To get a little extra ”suspense” in the story I thought about this scenario:
A small defense force fighting outside a KRUPP industrial facility in the Ruhr area January-March 1945. I will add the Krupp logotype on the building to the left.
Because of the season I will use a tree without leafs:)

How about that?

[Micke_MM]

what a change and when I realized that it could be a factory, the rails fit perfectly. / keep on the god work. Micke

[DIOWORK]

Thanks Micke! To increase the “factory feeling” I will swap the statue to two fat pipes. And put letters in plastic over the entrance of the door or the gate: K R U P P.