Bart Campbell shares some pictures of his diorama "Unwelcome Guests".



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Thanks!

Beauty build , nicely done Bart !!!

Hi Bart,

That‘s a masterful scene you‘ve put together there, with good composition, painting and weathering, and the poses of the figures are very lifelike. The contrast in mood between the jovial German soldiers in front of the house and the somber owner really tells a story - actually, if not for their equipment and the s.I.G.33 lurking next to them, the soldiers would almost seem like teenagers goofing around. Excellent!

Jerry

Outstanding work all around! One of the best dioramas I've seen in a while.

While everything is really well-done, assembled, and painted (really love the weathering!), I have to be critical of one point - as a fellow Canadian I would assume you would be familiar with what an apple tree should look like (and I am assuming that is an apple tree?). That's basically the wrong tree-shape, and wrong kind of foliage. Sea Foam, or, Super-Tree material with sprinkled "leaves" would have been a better choice. BTW, what did you make your "apples" from, red pepper corns??

Awesome work. I love the painting and weathering, The figures are so lifelike. So you took a little artistic license for the apple tree....so what, it looks great. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.

Great dio, Bart! Superbly executed!

It does resemble a conifer more than an apple tree. Trunk should be smoother for sure, but beyond that it's a great display.

I hate to pile on, but if the daffodils are blooming, it's spring, thus apples wouldn't be on the tree yet.

Apples are harvested late summer/early fall. In more temperate areas

Problem solved?

Yes, I think removing the apples would be a good idea as they don't match the tree anyway and would be the easiest fix. The daffodils are a good point; as a hot pepper grower I tend to forget about other plant grow times.



Bart,

I hope you don't think we are piling on. As has been said, the work itself is wonderful, but for some of us the apples create an incongruity that most people wouldn't notice, but if you're obsessed with apples and conifers it stands out. I once had a guy trying to sell me a Solido 1952 VW sedan converted into a 1944 Type 82e, but I had to pass on it because he had left in the front quarter panel cooling vents, which while common on early Beetles did not exist on the wartime vehicles. His mistake was in trying to sell to a guy who was a modeller AND a vintage VW enthusiast, but most of his customers probably didn't know so if they are happy it's all good.

I think that is also one of the problems with show judges: they don't all know what is correct or not, so what might be perfectly fine to one judge may not to another because of a difference in knowledge and experience. Anyway, I think I am starting to ramble a bit...

Hi all,

Thanks for the comments.

I'll have to disagree about the tree. I have a few wild apple trees growing on my property and along my road and I don't think I'm too far off...I could have made the trunk split a bit closer to the ground but other than that is pretty close to what I can see out my window...lol. Wild apple trees always look a lot different than the kind you will see at a tree farm. The bark is rough and the leaves are smaller and grow in clusters...again close to what I have...obviously not identical.

I'm not a big fan of sea foam and sprinkling leaves on...that's fine for model railroad or war gaming but I prefer to see the leaves.

As for the flowers and time of year...they are actually supposed to be lilies which grow wild all over world and normally bloom during the summer and continue in the fall.

Biggles2 - I made the apples with milliput not pepper corn.

Again...thanks for the comments.

Bart

I’d have to agree but I’d put it this way – the tree/fruit don’t quite match the fantastic standard of all other elements, a very high quality vignette & congratulations Bart

My apologies.

Outstanding Work

The teeth, the water on the hair, the fingernails, the missing paint on the building, etc. Amazing level of minute detail. Your pictures are a great reference for so many things.

Fantastic dio, wrong tree..., sorry.

Surprised we are discussing apple trees but that's ok...lol...could be worse!

Anyway, Apple trees can look different depending on if they are pruned or not. The apple trees most people see are in tree farms and have the tops cut off so they stop growing tall and grow wide...making it easier to collect the apples for sale. Apple trees that are not pruned grow like most other trees. It is not uncommon see apple trees growing naturally in the country side. I have a few around my house.

I've attached a couple examples...not saying I'm 100% accurate...it is a 1/35 scale model and my "shrinking machine" has been acting up lately...hahaha

I like the vehicle and figures displayed (was that a Dragon kit?) and don't give a "fig" over the tree. I would have considered slightly angling the building to give it more three dimensional depth, though. Nicely done!

Hi Frank

Thanks for the comment. Yes it is the Dragon kit. Also the house is on a slight angle...about the same as the road. It's just looks flat because of the way I took some of the photos. If you look at the pic of the house on its own you can see the side of it.

Bart

The man who is urinating near the water source would be shot on sight. Armies have strict rules about where one defecate, and right next to everyone isn't one of them. Incidentally, joining the military doesn't relieve one of the need for privacy, either. Only alcohol does that.

The paintwork on the house looks fantastic.

Indeed, don't worry. It's a great diorama and we are nitpicking. I'm a passioned gardener and I do have many Bonsai trees. It's not the height of the tree, that's absolutely ok, we still do have some of these old, big apple trees here.