UPDATE Aug 23: Dio: "I've Got a Bad Feeling About This&

gburch · Post by **gburch** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:38 pm

I've made enough progress that I thought I'd share some pics of the diorama I have in progress. It's an urban scene from the Long War:

I still have a lot to do -- there's no street surface, lots of details needs to be added, etc. But I've been busy constructing the buildings, making custom SFOR guys and "locals," putting my regular troopers in early GWOT desert camo, etc.

TEXAS_HOSS · Post by **TEXAS_HOSS** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:19 pm

i take it you made those buildings?

gburch · Post by **gburch** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:56 pm

TEXAS_HOSS wrote:i take it you made those buildings?

Yes. So far, that's been most of the work I've done, in terms of time and effort. There isn't a lot of detail in them yet, but they're designed to come apart easily so I can pull pieces out to work on them more.

TEXAS_HOSS · Post by **TEXAS_HOSS** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:22 pm

what stuff did u use, supply list?

gburch · Post by **gburch** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:54 pm

TEXAS_HOSS wrote:what stuff did u use, supply list?

The large, flat surfaces are foam board. This material is incredibly easy to work with. Just draw the layout of the wall -- edges, doors, windows -- and then cut with an X-acto and a metal straight-edge. The door and window frames are made from balsa strip, glued with white glue, with dimensions to snug-fit into the openings in the foam board.

The flat wall surfaces are a neat trick I learned from my wife, who is an artist -- paper. You can get all kinds of cool "art paper" with different patterns and textures at an art or "women's hobby" store (Michael's in Houston). More texturing can be done with the paper by crumpling it and then flattening it out. I glue it onto the walls, then cut out the openings with an X-acto, then add more color with acrylic washes. The detail of the layered coloring didn't show up in these pics, but it really looks like textured concrete or stucco.

More details (like the columns on the mosque, the balcony railing supports, etc.) are made from hardwood dowels.

The "onion domes" and minaret are made from cardboard tubing and foam "eggs" -- also bought at Michael's. The surface texture is wood putty, buttered on with popsicle sticks.

Other curved shapes and details, like the inside of the archway, are made with paper over wood forms. Paper really is an amazingly great material for this sort of thing!

TEXAS_HOSS · Post by **TEXAS_HOSS** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:27 pm

Very cool, i think ill have to get some of it

Razor17019 · Post by **Razor17019** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:52 pm

Excellent work so far!
Love the buildings. Very nice use of XD Eastern Warriors, IJ Monkey Man, IJ Cario bad guys and IJ Sallah. I see head and body swaps all over the place. Very nice.
Thanks for the pics.
Razor

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 11:31 pm

Always cool to see a modern "Middle Eastern" dio. Nice work with the buildings.

TEXAS_HOSS · Post by **TEXAS_HOSS** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:00 am

OMG i want that M113!

normandy · Post by **normandy** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:36 am

Very nice Dio!!!!!!! I don't collect modern 1:18th but this looks great.
The craft paper and the putty give a great affect.
I can't help but wonder how the storyline will play out...........

Stug45 · Post by **Stug45** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:04 am

VERY COOL gburch.

The buildings look AWESOME.

pickelhaube · Post by **pickelhaube** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:28 am

Man the buildings look greta.

That is a clever idea using the paper

kevrut · Post by **kevrut** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:26 am

Great work on the buildings!

MG-42 · Post by **MG-42** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:20 pm

* That's really good "gburch".

- Mitch v MG

killoff · Post by **killoff** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:58 pm

That is just too cool, excellent job.

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 11:16 pm

Cool!!!!!!!!!!!!

gburch · Post by **gburch** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 7:51 am

Thanks for all the positive feedback. I don't feel quite so crazy for spending so much time doing this (but I still DO feel crazy).

I've been fiddling with creating more figures -- modest customs that are still kind of rough ... I'd say some are "impressionistic" ... Here's the latest since the original post:

This guy's not happy his nap in the Humvee got interrupted (and that he'll get chewed out for not having his body armor on):

A "student" at the madrassa looks down from the mosque as all hell is about to break loose:

The lieutenant wonders whether it was something he said:

"Yeah -- I used to be in the army, so what?"

The Colonel tries to calm down the hotheaded little guy from Blackwater:

Tex be stylin' with his Cabella's shooting glove:

... more to come ...

Stug45 · Post by **Stug45** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 4:40 am

AWESOME JOB gburch, can't wait for more

immeww2 · Post by **immeww2** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:52 pm

Great work!!!!

bswearer · Post by **bswearer** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:36 pm

this is AWESOME. can't wait to see the finished dio!

STUKA · Post by **STUKA** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:40 am

very awesome well done

gburch · Post by **gburch** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:16 am

Some new and/or improved figures:

A squad builds up on a roof on the north side of the square:

Detail of hand-painted ammo belt:

A reporter and his local muscle confer:

Suspects being lined up for questioning:

A resident of one of the apartments on the east side of the square watches as things get tense:

Thanks for looking and stay tuned!

flyboy_fx · Post by **flyboy_fx** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:55 am

so who is the suicide bomber?

LOL LOOKS GREAT.

gburch · Post by **gburch** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:01 am

Some new figures:

Small Scale Military Headquarters

UPDATE Aug 23: Dio: "I've Got a Bad Feeling About This&

UPDATE Aug 23: Dio: "I've Got a Bad Feeling About This&

* Eastern Urban scene