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My latest diorama and the most satisfying one since I've started building dioramas.Sure not %100,but better than the ones I did before.Black cat is now in Berlin after Schüsselburg,Austria. This diorama shows the U.S Infantry as they entered Berlin. The cobblestone,sidewalk and the building are all hand made.

Model kits Italeri 314 Willys Jeep Tamiya U.S Infantry WW II Verlinden 003 German Propaganda Posters Verlinden 009 German Commercial Signs Verlinden U.S Uniform Decals

Starting with the Willys,I built it as in Italeri kit's instructions and airbrushed olive drab and a few coats of Matt Varnish.I added some details like field packs,canteens and maps from spare parts box.Without a wash,weathering was made using different tones of gray,black and brown chalk pastels.Figures are old Tamiya figures.Not good ones,but there was no more WW II U.S.figures in my hand and couldn't find any in market.I cut and changed their heads with Dragon figure heads.Arms were not in desired positions and had a bad proportion with the figures,so I used arms from my spare box cutting and filling them in desired position.I painted the figures with Humbrol enamels,gave them a wash and weathered with pastels.I used Verlinden decals for uniforms badges and ranks.The black cat is from Tamiya 35188 German Ammo Loading Crew.     I built the diorama parts like building,sidewalk and cobblestone using plaster of Paris. I casted blocks as flat surfaces and carved the cobblestone,sidewalk and building using small screwdrivers and needles. I used balsa for window frames and flooring. I built the chairs and wall clock using plasticard and thick copper wire.The building was first painted in primer gray enamel and shaded airbrushing different tones of gray.Then painted the bricks in brick red.More red color was added to the paint because the brick red of Humbrol was not realistic.Then I washed all the building with a black-gray color.I added interior details like ammo cases,panzerfaust,MG 34 and German personal equipment. As my usual final step,I weathered it with chalk pastels in different tones of gray,black,brick red and brown.

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