Armourfast SU-85 Diorama "A well aimed grenade"

[PhildaFish]

A Well Aimed Grenade

Well here it is, the dio that grew into something completely different from my original idea! This is the sort of thing that happens when I let my imagination run wild!

So the backstory is that a Soviet SU-85 crew decide to stop somewhere quiet for a smoke and a brew and opt to pull up next to a hedgerow. Unbeknownst to them, seven German Fallschirmjäger are hiding in the hedgerow wondering how to escape the tank destroyer that seems to be heading straight for them! The SU-85 comes to a stop and the crew disembark grabbing their cigarettes, a flag to sit on and an empty shell to boil water in for some coffee. One joker holds up a live shell as well as the empty and asks "You want traditional coffee or espresso!" As the crew start to laugh one of the Germans stands on the fence and throws a grenade but a quick draw Russian shoots him, then he and the rest of the crew run as they notice the rest of the German elites. The grenade goes off just as the joker jumps from the stricken vehicle and four of the Germans lay down fire whilst the remaining two try to contact some friendlies on the field radio.

































And now the film you've all been waiting for:

[youtube]GetU0LYMHNk[/youtube]

Please excuse the shaky video, I've never been very good at making films. I intended to use my HD digital camcorder but all 8 of the video's I shot with it came out too dark or out of focus or just generally rubbish so I reverted back to my phone camera. Hope you can still see the effect without getting motion sick from the jumpiness!

Thank you all for your help, advice, patience and support throughout this build, it means a lot to me.

Phil

[gosselin2112]

Nice diorama! Like the smoke effect coming out of the SU-85.

[Coen]

Everything that I hoped it would be Phil.
A long epic tale if I've ever heard one Dude.
Thanks so much for the ride buddy. She turned out really well.
Fantastic work Phil.

[Paul]

Great job Phil, the fire and smoke effect works brilliantly and as coen said the story the dio depicts is great, well done mate

[UKscalemodeller]

Nicely done.

[Nige201980]

Thats great work mate and i love the back story well done mate.

[Lee]

That's awesome Phil, love the fire effect, that turned out spot on bud ;th:

[bullgill67]

great dio - top job

michael

[T3hGuppy]

Great finish dude.

Fantastic diorama

[5Craven]

Wow, you are becoming the forums renaissance man! Electronics, modelling, flying half way round the world and back and now story telling and all within the 3 month deadline! A fantastic diorama full of interesting touches and the autumn colours really make it something different. Well done mate this is one to be proud of.

[PhildaFish]

I'm blown away! Thank you all for your comments - you're too kind! Renaissance man, eh? I like that, thanks mate!

[ManCupboardModels]

Great dio with a great story!

[Gav0909]

Looks good there Phil. NIce effect with the LEDs etc, perhaps a touch more of the smoke out the hatch and the end of the barrel would have added to the effect slight, at first glance its actually not that obvious the tank has been taken out, and when these things went up, they went up!

But that saying, its very well done, the base is good, everything sits naturally on the base as well. Top job!

[PhildaFish]

Thanks Gav. I toyed with the idea of pulling a little more cotton wool out of the hatches but the more I pulled out the dimmer it made the lights. If you look at the build thread you'll see I had an idea about using dried PVA glue as flames, hoping the PVA would act like a fibre optic cable but it didn't transmit the light quite right and I was running out of time so I binned that line of thinking.
As for getting the light and smoke effects out of the end of the barrel, it's a great idea but I think it would have been impossible for me to do. Even though I bought two different metal barrels neither of them is hollowed out all the way through and I don't have the tools to do it myself as the barrels are only about 1mm in diameter; remember this is a 1/72 scale model!
Originally I was going to completely destroy the tank but as you say when they go there isn't a lot left, so I thought I'd capture the moment between the grenade going off and the fuel tanks and ammunition going up. After they blow it would just be a lump of blackened metal and wouldn't make for a very interesting looking diorama.
That said, I've learned a lot from the building of this dio and I hope the build thread teaches others too, if only how not to do it a dozen different ways!!!

[Coen]

Wow, you are becoming the forums renaissance man! Electronics, modelling, flying half way round the world and back and now story telling and all within the 3 month deadline! A fantastic diorama full of interesting touches and the autumn colours really make it something different. Well done mate this is one to be proud of.

Really well said Dude!

[panzerman]

The hallmark of a successful diorama is "the story".....your cool diorama not only has a compelling story, but it also has special effects with the lighted fire and smoke. Still photographs of your scene show a well built, painted, and composed diorama....then someone watches the video and sees a work of ingenuity and creativity.....it's a work of Art!
Congrats!
Bill.

[PhildaFish]

Aww, guys! That's such a great compliment! Thank you!! I've had such fantastic support and some really great feedback from this dio; all I was trying to do was to see if it was possible - a bit like when I was a kid and I'd start taking my toys apart to see how they worked!