3.3 ) Diorama and Vignette

Diorama mimics surrounding environmental nuances to enhance the model viewing experience in replicated authenticity and historic realism. Its detailing is dependent on the display base scale... the bigger the base, the more detailing possibilities. Base can be made from wood, plastic, or metal.

Example 1 : 1.35th TAMIYA Brummbar diorama, with stained wooden base, plastic brick fascade and side walk made from cardboard. Scratch-built lamp post and road signs. Fence and bicycle came from separate kits.

Example 2 : 1.35th scratch-built Panzerknacker vignette : diorama mounted within a small display area, in this case a medicine cap. German word "Panzerknacker" means "Tank Cracker", or colloquially "Tank Hunter".

Example 3 : 1.35th German motorcycle unit diorama stuck in the mud on the Eastern Front circa Fall 1941. Terrain and mud contoured with plaster. Mud's glistening is a layer of Gloss Coat or furniture sealant.

Example 4 : 1.35th German Tiger I tank, mid-production design. Scene depicts Normandy-France frontlines, Summer 1944. Nuance augmented with abandoned US jeep and bare tree branches from excessive bombardment.

Example 5 : 1.35th German Panther aflamed, forcing crew abandonment before impending explosion of its petrol and munition stores. Fire is created via a combination of carved puddy and cotton-balls.

Three-dimensional impact can be attainted with scaled objects, such as the model placed next to tall lamp post.

Dioramas are also enhanced with smaller objects, such as the broken fence and bicycle.

Figures are probably the most important diorama element. They can project realistic dimensions and adds personality to the model theme.

After-Market vignette model kit. It includes the mount, ruin brick walls, three panzergrenadiers. Scene is historically accurate for German forces in 1944-1945 era... such as battles in Aachen, Metz, Berlin, Kustrin, Budapest, Konigsberg.

After-Market vignette model kit, with Panzerknacker ( tank cracker ) emerging from sewer manhole to fire his Panzerfaust ( anti-tank grenade launcher ). Note he is armed with a Soviet-made PPK machine gun, a common practice by Germans in using captured Allied equipment.