Guy, I found a good alternative for the flower vases. I obtained an assortment of beads from a craft store and they make perfect, in scale vases. The picture below shows the variety and the picture in the next post shows how they look with flowers in the store window.

And here they are in the window.

Perfect Bob,
They look like they were right out of a real photograph.......you made a splendid discovery.

Guy

Bob, I've found that the jewelry making section of a well stocked craft store can yield several "finds" that are of use to the painter/sculptor. A neat discovery indeed.~Gary

The lace curtains are laser cut patterns from Custom Dioramics (very delicate stuff). For the cafe next door I am going to use 12xx silk for curtains. I have already done the upstairs window where a woman is half hanging out waving and will do half curtains on a brass rod for the downstairs, street side windows. It adds a nice touch of realism I think.

Incidentally, for the door knobs I used the heads of brass pins which worked out perfectly in scale. It is amazing how differently you look at the world when seeking items that can be used for these things.

Everything I see you do Bob shows your quest for realism......very well done

Guy

Update picture of street and sidewalk almost finished.

Bob, It's all coming together. I like the street, what did you finally decide on? What a huge project! Give yourself a pat on the back, there's more than just figure painting and sculpting going on, everything's there.~Gary

Hello Bob,

I like the way your street turned out. What did you finally decide on?

Keep up the beautiful work.......love it

Guy

Great work Bob, I agree with the other comments, I love the street

Well, I ended up doing the street the hard way with individual paving stones since it really did look the best. The Plus Model stones are excellent.

I first laid a thin piece of basswood down the middle of the street and laid a piece of bent plastic over it so the street would have a hump in the middle. I then put the curb stones on and then the rest of the street stones with PVA glue. I first painted the street stones in black and then a reddish brown in a stipling manner.

The sidewalk is a base of plastic sheet coated with Liquitex Natural Sand texturing medium and also painted with a stipling technique. The gaps between the street stones/curbs I filled with white glue and sifted dirt. Weathering was done with watercolors and pastels. It took about eight hours altogether over two nights. Next, I will install the buildings onto the base, finish them up and then move back to finishing up the figures.

So far I have completed sculpting twelve figures including the seven soldiers and taxi driver. The next figure to do is a Catholic Nun who will be blessing the soldiers as they pass by. After that, three more civilians and the sculpting portion is done. Altogether there will be sixteen figures. It takes me about sixteen - twenty hours to do one figure (providing it turns out okay) so that is another two weeks of work alone.

It's getting there little by little.

Bob, It's great to see the evolution of this HUGE undertaking, but with the dedication and no doubt encouragement of like minded folks (like us) provides more passion and drive to get the job done. Go Bob go! ~Gary

Bob, It's shaping up very well. I would like to know more about the paving stones. Where did you get them, & how many in a bag?

John, the paving stones were a recommendation from Leigh Coote and come from Plus Models via a distributor called Jader Models (http://www.jadar.com.pl/start-a.htm) in Poland. There are some distributors of Plus Models in the US but none of the ones I saw carried the paving stones. Squadron has something similar from a company called Caliber 35 which may in fact be the Plus Model stones under a different name. I had no problems ordering from Poland and I obtained some other things as well including the manhole covers, a fire hydrant and some other accessories. They have large paving stones and then half sized ones, as well as the curb stones. Check out Jader web site for the complete line with pictures. The diorama took a box and a half of large paving stones and a box of curb stones to give an indication of how much in a bag.

The order from Jader took about four weeks to be delivered so plan accordingly if you order from them.

Much appreciated Gary. It is true that encouragement for a major project really does help sustain the enthusiasm especially when one is provided such encouraging comments from so many fine modelers. That to me is one of the most oustanding aspects of the Internet.

I would say that for anyone undertaking similar projects the most important thing is to have a very clear plan, take your time and get as much feedback as possible during the process. It is very easy to get so immersed that you lose focus or miss something. Because this particular project involves so much scratchbuilding of so many elements (a vehicle, buildings and figures) I had tremendous trepidation about my own skills and abilities in pulling it off but have benefited greatly from the valuable input from people such as yourself, Gordy, Leigh, Quang, John and Guy. All in all the learning experience has been immeasurable and hopefully it will have an infectious impact on others to try some large project of their own.

Bob, Glad the support is of help. I shake my head when I see what has been involved in the making of your project, and I fuss over doing one scratchbuilt figure at a time.~Gary

Well, the fussing you mention allows you to produce some really impeccable pieces. That's really all that matters.

Whether it is one figure or a large diorama the attention to detail is where the devil lies. There is probably not a single modeler who is not enthralled with a well executed miniature regardless of the scope. Bill Horan can do one baseball player that says it all and someone like Christien Pettit can do a large scale diorama with the same compelling appeal. Because in both cases the meticulous attention to detail is evident. That and the convincing sense of miniaturized reality.

Bob, glad to hear that the Plus model stones worked out well, the street looks very realistic.
Look forward to seeing some more pics with the figures in position

Does anyone know where I can find a picture of a French gendarme particularly wearing a cape? I want to add him to the diorama and need a reference. I have not found too much on the net.

Update picture: