my first diorama

Cabe · Post by **Cabe** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 2:06 am

I have started making custom bases for forces of valor and ultimate soldier tanks. Both for my own collection and to sell on ebay.
this is my first diorama ever (besides that muddy disaster in my bedroom when I was

and is sized for Jeeps, Zundapps, schwimminwagons and other small vehicles.

Tel me what you think.
Think I be able to move them?

NapalmKnight4149 · Post by **NapalmKnight4149** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 2:44 am

Id think they would move, its really good, I think with a little modification you could make it look likes is a small river or creek fording off a main road the way the driver is leaned over kinda makes it look like he's trying to off-road threw something. Ive seen videos on you tube where model railroaders used the pink Styrofoam to shape what he wanted to look natural, all someone would need to do with this is build off it to make it look like a river ford.

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 6:23 am

Nice! The mosses, grasses, and rutted road look very realistic.

lafoy · Post by **lafoy** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:24 am

very nice the grass ans mud is natural

,the kubel is real

but i think the grenades in box ,in this condition off road ,in box is need

Jagdpanther · Post by **Jagdpanther** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:04 am

Looks very realistic!

[CAT]CplSlade · Post by **[CAT]CplSlade** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:25 am

Yeah, I'm not getting in that car until they box the 'nades, either.

Col.Pickle · Post by **Col.Pickle** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:48 am

Awesome job! The foliage and rocks are stunning! I hope you will make more...

AlloySkull · Post by **AlloySkull** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 2:28 pm

Awesome stuff! Reminds me of West Texas.

How did you make tha general shape? Like, what material is it made out of? How much does it run?

V2 MAN · Post by **V2 MAN** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 2:45 pm

nice

Cabe · Post by **Cabe** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:13 pm

well i did use pink styrofoam for the 2 opposing corners and then laid strips of jagged foam down road for ruts.. i used an exacto to cut the shapes, i was only careful to maintain the general shape and used scraps to plug seams.

then i used woodland scenics Mold a Scene plaster to cover it. It dries like lightweight cardboard/foam and has the consistency of mud and little beads make up the texture. They end up looking like dirt and rocks. Very good texture.
I used woodland scenic terrain pigments to dye the areas of varying height soil and used varying woodland scenics turf , ballast and other terrain elements to round it out, the rocks are cast from lightweight hydrocal, again from woodland scenics. I used woodland scenic cement to attach object and then the same but sold in a watered down version to dab on with a sponge brush to soak into the soils, turf and small rock to affix them which dries clear.

It was pretty much learning on the fly and i was surprised how it came out so effortlessly, but I had help from several book which i will list if you need em. I didn't always follow the rules and just used my head on most of it.

Your right about the nades, I should have boxed them, but I was tired when I was shooting the pic and wanted it to look as if they where keeping weapons at hand because they were scouting. So I was just setting the Kuble there for scale more than anything. I have a schwim wagon that would have looked good to as if he had either just exited or was about to cross a flooded road or swampy area.

I want to keep the prices reasonable as I want people to be able to collect them for all their tanks to replace the black bases and if the wanted use a cutting tool to remove the name plate off the FoV plates and put the vehicle name on the side of the base.

the main idea here is to create bases that are well detailed but do not take up all the collector's display space.. So I measures the longest plate in the Fov collection which was the king tiger at 13 inches. All my plates will be no longer or shorter than that so they display uniformly. The width will be the same as the king tiger at most, with varying widths depending on what kind of base I am making. For example this plate is narrow because I intended it for a zundapp or jeep or even small armored cars, but it could also be used for infantry in combo wit a vehicle or not. Like the US infantry with prisoners.
I guess my underlying rule of thumb for these are to make extremely detailed bases that allow only enough space for a collector to place a vehicle on there and get the satisfaction of a small diorama and yet still use up only the same or less amount that the normal in-box plate would use.
In this example i realized that the jeeps and such do not come with bases and it would be nice to try and make those avaliable for folks and allow myself to experiment and learn with out tackling a large area.

though this is my first one, I am going to put it on ebay as soon as I finish this writing here (but it might take an hour for me to set up the auction). I know I should keep it since it is my first, but maybe that will make it more valuable (yeah right)

I guess I need some advice on selling these, what is the max someone would pay? (I do not plan on pricing these very high unless time and materials warrant it) and what is a good starting price? Should i set it to $0 and just watch or offer buy it now option for those that do not want to wait out an auction?

I guess since most people want these straight up without the disappointments of fighting over it on ebay, I could do commissions, but I have to wait 8 months to sell through this forum since I am only 2 weeks into my time here

Col.Pickle · Post by **Col.Pickle** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:12 pm

8 months to sell? Nope only 5 and a half left for you.

gary1930 · Post by **gary1930** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:34 pm

You lie.
You're a pro.

Cabe · Post by **Cabe** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 5:56 pm

well no, but thanks for the compliments.
I think my areas of success on this come from my art degree and continuing career (yes, I actually got to use my art degree to make a living, take a picture).
I think the key here was will and
patience.
The art background helped but I do not work in 3-d models or sculpture, nor do I do landscaping. I guess I just sat about to do it and approached it with equal parts of abandon and thought.
I don't even paint landscapes, so pulling this off was gratifying and surprising.
You can see the complete difference in my day to day career work compared with this diorama and can tell, I just had to learn something new, but had some background in the area of patience going for me.
Here are some examples of my usual art. I do sell them (the band artwork is my day job though), but I am somewhat hampered rightnow when it comes to selling my ww2 airplane work. Ebay goes nuts over swastikas which all I have right now to sell are the Adolf Galland and Rudel (yes I know the foreground stukas are warped that was a design choice that works for some and others don't care for) so I can't sell them there, but I guess in time I will be able to try and find a buyer here when it is acceptable.

here is the Galland work
use the scroll bar at bottom to see the whole thing

click on thumbnails for bigger images of these other paintings below

and here are some of the band portraits I do for local music venues and comissions

clicky thumbnails

and here is some random stuff

thumbnail

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 6:04 pm

Sweet God that is cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cabe · Post by **Cabe** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:15 pm

well the diorama base is now up for auction on ebay. Just thought I would give you guys/gals a heads up so you wouldn't miss it if you are interested
item/auction number 230219696063

AlloySkull · Post by **AlloySkull** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:17 pm

-drool-

I love the drawings. I draw myself, but I haven't been doing it lately...

KAMIKAZE · Post by **KAMIKAZE** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:45 pm

Very talented stuff there man. I really did the artwork!

Mark

Cabe · Post by **Cabe** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:45 pm

Dat's not drawerins
dem's oil paintin's
All of em about 3-6 feet in di-menshion.

My Drawings look like this.

thumbs clicky

immeww2 · Post by **immeww2** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:28 pm

Very nice artwork and dio bases. Hope you are successful in selling them on EBAY.

Col.Pickle · Post by **Col.Pickle** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:31 pm

I think I might bid on your dio there. If a user named something like "libann" wins it you know it's going to a good home!

BTW your drawings and oil painting are amazing! Do you sell them or is it just for fun?

Cabe · Post by **Cabe** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:24 am

First off thanks to everyone for the compliments and encouragement. I hope this thread hasn't come across as an "I'm so great!" thread. About the only thing I have not posted is the measurements of my inseam.

But yes I do this for a living. I was hired by a small club in Dallas in 98 to paint the headlining bands there. Then I was asked in 2002 to do the same for larger venue Named Nokia Theater. Then this year I added 2 venues the Palladium Ballroom and Sprint Center in Kansas City. Considering I have to do a painting for every show that performs, I can easily be doing over 20 portraits a month ad I get little ME time...or sleep.
Making this diorama was the first thing I have done besides paint in over a year. Its a beating.

I hope you win on the auction. I would like to see these sell. If they don't well then I will just start filling my case with them until my collection is decked out and then sell it for a billion dollars.

here are some pics of people with lots of money that don't know my name holding artwork.

more clickyness

Jagdpanther · Post by **Jagdpanther** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:42 am

Thats great stuff you got there!

Cabe · Post by **Cabe** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:25 am

guess what i did last night?

smittyrob64 · Post by **smittyrob64** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:25 pm

Cabe wrote:guess what i did last night?

Blew up the Kubelwagen with a Lee/Grant?

Cabe · Post by **Cabe** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:28 pm

yeah,
that and dried out the planet with its exhaust