# 'Close Contact' Diorama (WIP)



## tiking

*'Close Contact' Diorama (WIP) Continues*

I have come a long way with this diorama and had not think to post it here but thought it might be helpful to some others. So here goes:

Hello everyone. It's been a long time and a new year. Thought you might like to see what I have been up to. I wanted to put a building together from scratch and wanted to test out using materials I have never used before. But I understand this method has been used many times before and still in use today. So nothing new here.

I do hope the pics I put will tell the story much clearer than me typing lots of fancy words. This is no way comparable to any of the dioramas here on Armorama that I have seen, so this build might just be boring to most. But it is a build that I have enjoyed doing so far because the method is new to me.

This time I am working on a 1/35 diorama which I am going to call; 'Close Contact' . Focus is going to be on figures( not that good. Still a beginner) and a pickup truck on the street in Iraq. As you may see, I have already started and well underway but there is much left to do. So join me for those who are interested in military subject matters .

I decided to use pink form for the entire building facade . This is my first time working with pink form materials to build up a scene and I must say that I am pretty impressed with myself. I think it looks good but you can decide for yourselves.

I used a xto knife and a ruler and made careful incisions into the foam and then took a pencil and scribed it to make the bricks more defined, which I am quite satisfied with the results.

Pictures say a thousand words. You be the judge :

The pictures are as it is. So forgive me for the quality:


----------



## tiking




----------



## tiking

*Admin please remove!*

Here I have painted the pink form with a concrete color that I had mixed at a department store. I must say that the colors did much to the outlook of the facade. It made the foam look like concrete. After the concrete paint was dried I went over the form with a black wash which amazingly brought out the details and made the concrete even more believable.


----------



## tiking

The roll-down doors are made ​​of styrene. The I-beams is the one that I have on both sides of the doors to support it. The thick bar is the one I have at the bottom of the gate. Hope I was clear on that? Hard to explain in a good way. The whole idea is to get an overall look that will look believable.


----------



## tiking

This is an interesting technique which seems to be easy to master. I've done a little more work. More wash and painting done on the walls and painted one side a yellowish color..


----------



## tiking

---------------------------------------

done a little more work. More wash and painting done on the walls. Added the tarmac roads, represented by using fine sand grain sand paper. Made holes for the drainage covers and Manholes. These are from Miniart. I then proceeded to paint the holes using a black color to give it depth. Then it was just a matter of fitting the covers over the holes. Making the holes were easy as the base is white form. Made cracks and small potholes which were easy. The cheap one. Added graffiti on the wall. Then I added real dust, real dirt, and earth pigments( from MIG) and mixed everything to blend it all in, on the roads.


----------



## tiking




----------



## tiking

So far so good.


----------



## tiking

The over all look of the corner facade, so far. Added little scrap papers, (cola can from Accurate Armor), details from my misc. box of tricks. The light bracket is from Miniart :


----------



## Alien

Looking great. 
I do really like seeing progress of a diorama in a series of photos so it makes it easier for me to steal some of the ideas an techniques.. Whoops, did say that???

Looking forward to seeing on going progress.

Alien


----------



## BOXIE

amazing work on your building.look forward to more.may I use some of your ideas?


----------



## John P

Absolutely stunning! Excellent work!


----------



## tiking

BOXIE said:


> amazing work on your building.look forward to more.may I use some of your ideas?


No worries. I am sure this method has been used many times over the years.


----------



## tiking

Did some work on the roof. I glued sand paper to the sides and the top of the form to represent Stucco. At the top edges I used wall paste and then used the tip of paint brush to stipple the paste which in returned produced the Stucco effect. 

On one of the roof corners I chipped out pieces to represent broken concrete, maybe during a mortar attack or just simply worn out concrete. Either way, it looked the part. Then I painted everything with a concrete paint. Then, I used a sponged to dap a yellow paint. Then I went over everything with black wash to give it a worn aged look. Again, sorry for the bad pics:


----------



## tiking

Did my first try at scratch building a satellite Dish. Nothing fancy or over complicated. I decided that I want the roof to be removable. So I added tooth-picks at the top of the lower wall. Then I will be able to push the roof directly on top of the lower piece, thus holding it in place without the need for gluing. 

I also Scratch built bracket supports for signs and what-nots, signs, air-conditioner...Detailed the broken tile on the sidewalk. The Iraqi sign was made from a pic I downloaded from the internet. 

Added some wiring to give the impression that the air-conditioner is functional, so to speak. Now, the look may not be 100% prototypical to some, but it is the overall look is what I am looking for, especially when I am on a budget and do not have much to spend on commercial accessories. So for you nit-pickers, you can hold back your cries. 




















---------------------------


----------



## tiking

Now the look of the over all scene of the entire scene. I think it is starting to look like the real thing. Will take some outside shots later, as natural lighting does the diorama some justice.:








[/quote]


----------



## tiking

I started on the figures. Took about 2 hours just trying to file up on all seams and get everything perfect on these two figures. These will be the insurgents. I have about four more of the US soldiers to do. - at least try to. Please keep in mind that figure painting is my weakest point.

These are the figures I am using. Right now I'm forced to start over with the USMC figures because I was not entirely happy with the result:










--------------------------


----------



## tiking

I think I am satisfied with the insurgents. Not the best but I am still a novice at this figure painting venture. 

Insurgent Figures:




















Well, after buying some isop-alcohol, and soaking the USMC figures in them to remove the paint, I took them out after 8 hours and the results were not that good. The paint seem to come off easily but so did the plastic. Or that's the way it looked from my point of view. I just thought the surface was rough and uneven. Regardless, I threw away two of the usmc figures.  

So typical. And these were the two main figures I wanted to use in this scene. So that means I will have to build the other two remaining ones and luckily I had one resin figure from Blast Model that I will add to the present ones. 

Oh well. Next time I will not leave them in for so long. I am going to start on the figures this weekend. So my apologies for not having any pics to show of the usmc figures. Hopefully next update.


----------



## tiking

I have been working on the figures for some weeks now, on and off, when the time permits. It has not been easy as I have re-done camo paints many times over. I now have immense respect for figure builders. It is the most difficult form of modeling that I know of. Getting the right skin tone is still an issue for me, as well camo painting. But I will get there one way or the other. It will take time. I have read many articles and continue to study the different variations one can achieve. But I am not going to compete with figure builders just as long my figures do not look like a 3rd grader as painted them, I am fine. 

So here is the results of my attempts at getting this camo painting job to look right. So far I am OK with the results after several weeks of trying to get it right. I still have four more USMC figures to do. More sweat and tears but the battle continues... I still have more details to add to the actual diorama.





































--------------------------


----------



## tiking

---------------------------------


----------



## tiking

Well, things have been progressing slowly as you all know. Less time for building due to everything around the family. But I do a little each time I get a chance. Here are some pics of the roof details and little additions I have added so far. Made some water tanks and piping taken from my box of tricks. The concrete support blocks were made from the same pink material, Styrofoam

Remember, I am trying to do everything on a budget without putting holes in my pockets. I added a small generator from odd pieces from my bag of tricks. AS long as it looks the part, I am fine with it. Not a huge difference but details none-the-less. Will be doing some painting and refining of the details as I go along. I also added electrical cables around the building in a some-what sloppy manner as I was told this is common over there. More details still to come. A couple more Satellite dishes and what-nots.

I have just bought another set of USMC soldiers and awaiting Tamiya paints. I lost the right arm of Blast resin figured I had already painted. It got lost in the snow. Could not find it since then. So, here we go again for another round of painting figures. DAMN!!! I'm getting tired of this.

Oh well. So sorry if you were expecting my next update to be figures but these things happen, for some, more often than others. More weathering on the facade will be in order as well.
























































My first choice but decided to go with the vertical tanks:


----------



## tiking

thanks.


----------



## tiking

Ok, here are pics of the diorama, which name has been changed to "...around the corner". The former name was, 'Close Contact'. The dio is pretty much done for the exception of one more figure to be added. The last figure will be a boy pointing to the corner of the building, alerting the insurgents that they( us troops) are coming around the corner. I am in the process of painting the figure, so will add that when it is completed and will post the pics. 

As you can see there have been some changes and addition to the diorama. As mentioned in my previous post, the insurgents get the spotlight for this diorama. As I was not completely happy with the outcome of the US camo, I decided to put it aside until such time I can improve on it. So, I hope you can still find it in your heart to like the dio, regardless of the sudden change.

As you can see, the pick-up truck has been replaced with the new Mercedes from Diopark. Not a bad kit. A big plus with this kit, is that the doors can be closed or open in real-time. That's right. You can have the option to keep it shut or if you so desire you can open them on demand. Two thumbs up for this little addition. The downside is, it is not so easy to put together ans glue the part that makes this to work. Not a kit for the beginner, I can tell you that. Lots of mistakes and mishaps trying to get the doors to work perfectly. Unfortunately I only succeeded having one door work( the passenger side) The rest were glue into their respective position. Also forgot to mention that you need lots of patience, something I am striving to maintain.

The next addition is the concrete canopy on the right. I simply used a piece of pink Styrofoam and glued it in place and painted it a concrete color. No biggy there. I also added another canopy made of corrugated material. Made the bracing of some pieces of white polystyrene and glued that in place after painting it blue. I think the variation of these two objects adds a little spice to the dio.

I added a small sign which I took off the internet. That is in fact a pic of a real sign that one of the US soldiers were posting up. I just downloaded it and re-sized it in Photoshop. I thought it was a cool sign.

As you can see I added another satellite dish and a mast for a antennae array on the top of the building. I was given a pic which showed many of these on one building alone but decided to limit the amount as I did not want to risk cluttering the diorama. 

I added another insurgent figure from Blast models. I hand bought it and saved it for a rainy day. I guess that rainy day came.

I included MIG street lights, which are pretty good. I also went ahead and bought a dumpster to place the garbage in it at the side of the building. All resin and are pretty good products. I thought it added life and variation. Variation is the key. But you all know that already.


----------



## tiking

Almost done.


----------



## tiking




----------



## tiking

almost done


----------



## tiking

thanks


----------



## hal9001

*"I have just bought another set of USMC soldiers and awaiting Tamiya paints. I lost the right arm of Blast resin figured I had already painted. It got lost in the snow. Could not find it since then."*

May I suggest not modeling in the snow?!!! :lol:

*tiking*, you make use of "_*at hand*_" materials better than *anyone* I've ever seen! Me? I have to spend big $$ (or Kronas) to buy aftermarket because I do not have your talent.

It's always very entertaining to watch you do your magic.

Carl-


----------



## tiking

Thanks Carl. Much appreciated.


----------



## tiking

I added the fourth figure but removed the car due to unsatisfactorily blemishes.


----------



## tiking




----------



## tiking

%20WIP/aroundthecornerredux7_zpsa9113aaa.jpg[/IMG]


----------



## tiking




----------



## drewid142

VERY VERY nice work! Great action, hyper realism, every pic suck you in!


----------



## John P

WOW!


----------



## Owen E Oulton

Say, when you go to Photobucket to look at the photos, there's an option to buy prints of the imges - do you as owner of the image have any say in this, and do you get a cut of the proceeds?


----------



## roadrunner012

*FANTASTIC work! :thumbsup::thumbsup: Looks soooo realistic! :thumbsup::thumbsup:*


----------



## irishtrek

"No smoking within 500 miles of Baghdad"???


----------



## tiking

Owen E Oulton said:


> Say, when you go to Photobucket to look at the photos, there's an option to buy prints of the imges - do you as owner of the image have any say in this, and do you get a cut of the proceeds?


Good question. I have noticed it but never took it serious.


----------



## tiking

Thanks guys. Glad u like the result.


----------



## Xenodyssey

Extremely realistic, great poses and detail. Love it.


----------



## Dr. Brad

This is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your work!


----------



## aurora fan

Thank you for sharing your work as it progressed! The building and street details are amazing and I believe I have learned from it. Really the best Diorama I've seen in a long time!


----------



## Zombie_61

Owen E Oulton said:


> Say, when you go to Photobucket to look at the photos, there's an option to buy prints of the imges - do you as owner of the image have any say in this, and do you get a cut of the proceeds?


According to Photobucket's "Content & Privacy" terms, "When you make your Content public, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to copy, distribute, stream, post publicly display (e.g. post it elsewhere), reproduce and create derivative works from it (meaning things based on it), anywhere, whether in print or any kind of electronic version that exists now or is later developed, for any purpose, including a commercial purpose. By making your content public, you are also giving other Members on Photobucket the right to copy, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and create derivative works from it via the Site, third party websites or applications (for example, via services allowing Members to order prints of Content or t-shirts and similar items containing Content, and via social media websites), provided such use is not for a commercial purpose."

In other words, once you put it on their website it's fair game for _anyone_ to do with it as they please, including making a profit.


----------



## Paper Hollywood

Yes, I often start with a Photobucket search when I want to illustrate a forum post with something that might be there, since everything on it is open for use anywhere. I do occasionally run into someone who thinks their P'bucket account is for their exclusive use. You always need to read the fine print.


----------



## tiking

Paper Hollywood said:


> Yes, I often start with a Photobucket search when I want to illustrate a forum post with something that might be there, since everything on it is open for use anywhere. I do occasionally run into someone who thinks their P'bucket account is for their exclusive use. You always need to read the fine print.


Yeah, it is a universal thing.


----------



## getnewdesign

Wow! Again, it's all about the lighting!


----------



## mcdougall

Stunning work! :thumbsup:
Mcdee


----------



## tiking

mcdougall said:


> Stunning work! :thumbsup:
> Mcdee


Much appreciated.


----------



## BatFanMan

*Great!*

Wow, I'm LOVING this! Great work. Can't wait to see more of it.

___________
Fred DeRuvo
"I'll slap you all the way to Friday and it's only Wednesday!"


----------



## tiking

BatFanMan said:


> Wow, I'm LOVING this! Great work. Can't wait to see more of it.
> 
> ___________
> Fred DeRuvo
> "I'll slap you all the way to Friday and it's only Wednesday!"


Thanks. But there is no more. The project was completed and then dismantled.


----------

