Bringing Dioramas to life

Having found a great program on my computer for adding 3D effects to photos and for making videos I decided to have a play...below are some of my ideas 

German SdKfz. 251/1 Hanomag & 7.5 cm pak 40

This diorama was quite large for me. It utilises two kits in the Hanomag and the Pak 40 and I also used various troops to become the team for the gun and the squad in the armoured carries. I did enjoy painting these and then finding ways to weather the piece for the right effect. Both were painted in camouflage first before snow was added. The trees were actually given a fine mist spray of matt white and then snow was added for effect.

Again here I started with a simple road surface base and again a simple picture frame surround.  

German Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Ausf.A

This is one of those dioramas that when it comes together its simple but you just like. I had had the tank built for some time before deciding on the camouflage pattern and the theatre then when I found the right three figures it all came together.

The tank itself is from Tamiya as are the figures and that lovely tree just went well to give that wintery look.

one for the newspapers.

German Sturmpanzer IV Brummbar

This lovely Bummbar was a piece that I picked up of off e-bay some time ago and I always had the idea of rest area diorama in my mind. Then a friend gave me the Tamiya 50 years gift set and one of the sets was the German mechanics team working on a tank and that was it ,my diorama.
Again a very simple but effective base ,setting off the pieces well.

The Brummbar is a later version covered in Zimmerit ,a covering used to deflect shells.

German PzKpfw. II

Hi folks here is one of my favourite dioramas which took two forms from the start with the original being a square in Poland ,then becoming the ruined house that you see here.

The model and figures are again from Tamiya and I have to say I really enjoyed putting these together. The infantry are wearing original early war uniforms even down to markings on their helmets and the Panzer II has its markings for the theatre.

This photo in black and white shows the original format of these sets with the backdrop of a Polish square to give the whole diorama a realistic look.

German Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.D

This is a simple diorama focusing on some of Tamiya's original sets in their original format. When I finished the tank I quickly decided on what the diorama was to look like and I found it all came together easily. The motorcycle and sidecar team were the hardest to place to keep the look right but I think this works.

I o like the idea of troops on the march or just advancing as you can probably see from many other of my dioramas. 

one for the newspapers of the day...advance into France,...

German sdkfz. 223

Here we see the Tamiya German sdkfz 223 fighting in Italy surrounded by German troops ,also from Tamiya. The street fighting on Italy was at times prolonged and vicious and this little armoured car served the troops well in the theatre.
As you will notice the Germans patrol is being observed by a US spotter.

Here we have the papers view of this piece and the US light Stuart tank diorama making an action scene together.

US M3 Stuart Light Tank

Picked up this little kit from E-bay and teamed it up with a patrol of US infantry for the Italian theatre.
I decided to set an action scene for this diorama with a few troops ahead of the tank and a few following up. The Staurt was a quick versatile tank and was put to good use in the Streets of Southern Italy.

                                                              One for the papers

Here we see the Stuart diorama teamed up with A diorama of the German sdkfz 223 to make an action scene.

British Cromwell

Now can't actually remember were I got this tank from in the beginning but really enjoyed painting this chap. Decided on a basic scene for him and went for just a trio of British infantry for the Normandy campaign. Also thought just a simple marching along set would go great. These figures are from Tamiya and do the job great.

I don't spend lot of time on the framing of my Dioramas in general ,I actually go to the local everything you need type shop and get the nice gloss black plastic picture frame sets. I then build up

my base on the actual glass surface ,and then when dry add in all the figures and vehicles...

Simple but effective and means I can spend more time on the Painting. 

German Marder II

Loved this display of the Marder II its a really nice kit to build and paints really easily.

I thought a while about the scenario and opted for the "taken by the enemy" look...therefore added a few British 8th Army from the Airfix  Multipose range along with I believe the Dragon prisoners.

As you can see from this scene the idea of two scales 1/35 and 1/32 seems to be irrelevant as all the figures scale in well.

one for the papers of the day.

British Churchill Crocodile

Really love this tank and by all accounts it served the country well from Normandy onwards. I believe this is a Tamiya kit but can't actually be sure has have had a few in my time. Decided to use a minimal base for this vehicle of just some cobbled road and tram line on purpose.
The figures are actually a mix of Verlinden and Airfix multipose ,working ell together.
Its amazing how over the years the idea of 1/35 and 1/32 have closed in.

One for the papers of the time.

German 8 Wheeled Armoured Car & Anti Aircraft gun

Another great desert vehicle used for both recon and command and an ever ready in the German army.

Chose to put this together with an anti aircraft gun and a number of figures from the Esci Afrika Korps set. The vehicle is painted in a slightly darker desert yellow for the Afrika Korps but the difference works well against the gun. Also the variety in uniform colours helps to give the scene some depth

One for the papers.

US M16 Multiple gun Carraige

Here we have a lovely model of the Multiple Gun carriage and its supported by Bazooka team and mortar team all from Tamiya.
Enjoyed this simple set up on the basic cobbled road...simple but effective.

German Kubelwagen type 82

Here I utilised some of the new version officers from the command set with a new version Kubelwagen all from Tamiya. Since I was a boy I must have painted these sets so many times ,but I have to say these have come out the best. Even the sign is from the basic Tamiya signs set.

Don't know what thy are checking on but it must be important. 

The news of the day in the papers.

German Marder 75 mm

A very early Marder with the 75mm gun mounted and a radio crewman trying hard to get base.

This diorama utilises another of the Esci sets of figures and the Tamiya tent set.

I think this is a lovely little scene with lots going on to catch the eye.

The Marder itself was quickly updated and more recognisable versions were more common.  

one for the papers.