Completed dioramas (constructive criticism please)

[badger]

Hi folks, here are some photos of recently completed dioramas, I am wanting to enter them in my next local competition and require a bit of brutal honesty for improvements etc.
There are more images of these in the gallery- Eve of the somme and Derry Black Watch
Any help is appreciated

thanks in advance.

 

[Helm]

Not sure if its the light but some of the Derry figures look glossy and the flesh looks oddly coloured unlike the Somme ones. The DPM also looks out but cant put my finger on why.
Steve

 

[Mat Lambert]

You can definitely tell a lot of work and thought has gone into theses two scenes but I agree that the figs look a bit glossy and the faces a little yellow.
Maybe a light coat of spray-on matt varnish on the figs may help add to the realism. Also perhaps a bit more weathering on them, some dust or chalk pigments etc - but I don't know how weathered soldiers got in NI!
Hope that was constructive - i liked the very ambitious scale of the dioramas.
Cheers
Mat

 

[housecarl]

I think the black on the DPM is too black.
It needed a touch of the base coat in with it to kill the starkness.
I have to admire the work that's gone in to them.

 

[Babelfish]

I suspect that the photography (too much flash / over-exposure) is not doing these justice. Hard to tell whether the glossiness is down to the flash or not, but I suspect that it's not helping.

One thing that does stand out is that the transition from deep shadow to highlights looks to be very sudden and stark on the uniforms. Try aiming for more gradual and subtle tranistions by smoother blending. Otherwise I agree with what the other guys have said above.

- Steve

 

[pte1643]

I think the black on the DPM is too black.

I don't feel very qualified to comment really, but I agree.

The Black is a little too harsh, and the lines are a little too long, especially on the rear guys left arm.

The chap standing closest to the wall, the one that looks like Prince Charles, the pattern of the DPM, and specifically the Black on him is about right I'd say.

But, just as Carl says, great idea.

I especially like the little details, like the painted kerbstones.

 

[zane666]

I'm with Steve on this one, the camera(flash) not helping, more gradual transition from highlights to shadows, love all the detail incorporated into the diorama (the hop-scotch is a nice touch).

cheers zane

 

[Helm]

Sorry posted my first at work via phone I should have also said they are both excellently done design and atmosphere wise. Inclined to agree re the DPM black but I think it's more the spacing of the colours on some of them maybe a little too much light brown ?
Steve

 

[taff edwards]

Hi Mate a huge amount of work has gone into to these very thought provoking dios , having done a few in the past when you undertake this sort of thing there are so many elements not just the figures you have the environmental representation to miniaturise .
I think the flash has been some what of a culprit in the post with the NI dio perhaps a little more variation in the farcical tones but again that could be the flash ,as mentioned the transitions on some of the shadowing just needs to be feathered out a bit just to take that edge off , I must admit I do love looking at dios and this one is no exception well done mate .
I used to a few years ago drive my Mrs mad when ever we were out I would end up taking pics of stuff in situ in the community ,be it corrugated metal stuck in a fence brick, walls old farm buildings ,grass banks ,horses looking over a fence , wooden fences rusty cars and metal etc in the end a built a cracking collection of reference material which was invaluable and cheap ,put it in a folder and sectioned it .
Hell I have just looked out my window and seen an effect on my shed ........darling just getting the camera
Cheers Chris

 

[taff edwards]

SWMBO. Response T ----T, lol

 

[taffjones]

To save harping on about the flesh I'm just going to go ahead and say that I think both dioramas look well thought out and sculpted, clearly a great deal of time and love has gone into them and I think you should be very pleased with yourself.

 

[badger]

thank you for all comments, i will take on board what you suggest. tone the black down and re do the faces and keep trying, i love this hobby/badger

 

[kagemusha]

Agree with all that has been said/suggested......for me, the 'Derry' scene is way too clean........for example, the wall and the lamp post should be heavily weathered/chipped and dirty.
Pastels would be my weapon of choice to 'dirty' the whole scene and figures with. They would then need fixing with dullcote, which would also take care of the shine.
As already said, obviously both have been created with great passion. Great result.

Regards

Ron

 

[bistray]

Both of these are very well thought out and well executed. The dpm on the jackets is off as the base colour should be green with brown and black splodges, it looks like there is too much brown in it. Faces look a bit shiny but as had been said could be the photos, minor things and love em both

 

[moz]

like the Derry scene mate, get some big dirty yellow butt numbers on the slr`s. Newly issued jackets would have been quite bright and once worn and washed a few times faded quite a lot, the black lines being almost grey. Having faded combats was a kind of testament that you weren`t a redarse(rooky) , so you wore them till they fell off or you were told to exchange them, you could vary the fading from figure to figure, I`m no painter but that's my twopenath.

 

[badger]

keep this coming,as i am taking all of it on board and will re do the model thank you/badger

 

[Helm]

Same would go for the denims (lightweight trousers) thinking about it no two pairs of those looked the same even on issue let alone after a wash or two
Steve

 

[housecarl]

The excellent SBS Tony did on painting DPM might help Badger.
http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/painting-british-dpm-camoflague-sbs.31911/

 

[badger]

yes thats great,thank you/badger

 

[Gellso]

I saw these at Perth today and really these photos don't do them any justice.
I think the flash has washed out a lot of the tones and overall hue of the pieces.

The skin tones don't look too pale in real life and the uniforms look more blended.
The whole look of the pieces look more together.

I agree with the dpm comments though. It's quite difficult to do but keep following references and keep going.

Nice work on the award btw.

Gells