"Enemy at the gate" Vienna 1683. Diorama by Mike Blank
This photo by Matt Wellhouser, all in progress photos by Mike Blank.




"Dear figure painters, sculptors and hopefully, future Vignette builders!

I like to share this little article with you guys here, you have all been very supportive of my work over the years. I have met, many, many people over the years, discussed and given countless seminars. And here is something in written form for all you aspiring, soon to be Vignette and diorama modelers!

With this scene I wanted to create the emotions and drama of these brave defenders of Vienna during the siege by the Turks in 1683. The composition was based on having the leader of the defense of Vienna, Rudolph Von Starhemberg, in focus of the scene, he stands surrounded by his men, all determined and ready to fight to the end.

They will never surrender their city. They will never give in.

When I start a new scene I always do a lot of mental planning, trying to visualize the completed scene. What to focus on, what story to tell, which main character to have in the scene, how many levels, the groundwork and also the colors of the scene.

I really believe that everything in a diorama or vignette should be well thought out, every figure and every little part.
I leave nothing to chance, from the placement of the figures to the last weapon or even rock on the groundwork!

It may sound time-consuming, and yes it is sometimes. But is it worth it? You bet!










By having this approach when creating a scene, you will have full control as the scene grow, changes and improves.
And the scene will indeed change slightly as you go from mental planning to posing the figures, sculpting the figures and doing the groundwork.

And planning, or re-planning, is the key word. Be prepared to adapt and change as you progress with the scene. I can´t count all the times i had to do some slight changes during the progress when creating a new scene!

Back to Vienna and its brave defenders. After I had a mental picture of what I wanted to create, and what story to tell, I started animating the figures. And as you can see in the photos, my first composition was changed. I liked the three standing figures, but changed the two on the ground. And I was much happier with the new composition.
Planning and re-planning indeed!

All the figures, groundwork, etc was sculpted with Magic Sculpt. I really like this putty and use for almost everything I sculpt.

As I mentioned earlier I always compose with the colors as well, and here I choose to some red parts of the uniforms and shield to contrast with the dusty grey groundwork and uniform, making sure everything works together.







On this diorama I spent a lot of time with the groundwork, making sure every little part was added to create interest and adding balance. Actually, every broken part of the city wall and every stone was added piece by piece. And a lot of time it too! But it was worth it, as I maintained complete control of the scene, its composition and balance.

I really enjoyed doing this scene. I love this part in history, the story of these brave defenders of Vienna.

And I even enjoyed adding all stones one by one. (Well, almost of them!)

I was very honored to win the Best of Show at the MFCA show in May with this diorama.

I hope this short article will inspire some of you readers to start planning that next Vignette or even diorama.

Plan, compose, re-plan and enjoy it!

Happy Modelling

Mike

Janne Nilsson on behalf of Mike Blank

Beautiful work and very inspiring. Thank's Mike and Janne for sharing.

Regards Lars

Masterful creation on all fronts - thanks for posting.
Cheers
Mat

Really nice,something a little different.Thanks for posting.
Mark

Thank you for sharing your approach. The diorama is a lovely piece of work, with great atmosphere.

Chris

Mike Blank has always been my personal favourite modeller, sometimes by a small margin I freely admit, but consistantly he is world class


His painting style for me is alwys the masterstroke, as the way he adds light to a scene with paint directs your view of the piece the way he wants.
Here he says so in his own words too.

It is also nice to add what a thoroughly nice bloke too, who makes rime for everyone anywhere.

Thank you for sharing this


Paul

Brilliant!!!

Cheers,
Pedro.

amazing work. congratulations

Superb creation,a piece of art.

Military miniatures painted by Eduardo Garcia

Marvelous work! And wonderful information on the approach.

Cheers,
Ken

Beautiful work and painting

Mobo

Next fantastic article about diorama art creating. Thanks

Cheers Borek

Seems like this thread found a new audience despite its age.

Cheers
Jan Nilsson

Masterpieces will always find new audiences.

Cheers,
Andrew