MILITARY DIORAMAS by Paul Asaban

Photo Album 12 - Anzio

Home
About me
Photo Album 1 - The Road to Minsk
Photo Album 2- The Road to Minsk
Photo Album 3 - The Road to Minsk
Photo Album 4- OS2U Kingfisher
Photo Album 5 - Flakvierling
Photo Album 6 - Building the Flakvierling
Photo Album 7 - Dauntless SBD
Photo Album 8 - Dauntless SBD
Photo Album 9 - Channel Gazing
Photo Album 10 - Stuka and Matilda
Photo Album 11- ME-109 and Spitfire V
Photo Album 12 - Anzio
Photo Album 13 - Anzio
Photo Album 14 - Bastogne Aftermath
Photo Album 15 - Normandy Ambush & more
Photo Album 16 - The First Time I Saw Paris
Photo Album 17- Aachen 1944
Photo Album 18 - Aachen 1944
Photo Album 19 - PT109
Photo Album 20 - "Corner Kick" Curtiss P-40
Photo Album 21 - Building "Corner Kick"
Photo Album 22 - Black Widow
Photo Album 23 - Assorted models
Photo Album 24 - Somewhere in Saudi (A-10)
Photo Album 25 - Top Gun Air Show
Photo Album 26 - Top Gun Airshow 2
Photo Album 27 - The Mother of all Battles
Photo Album 28 - The First Night - F-111
Photo Album 29 - My kids are in on the action - Christian's Dioramas
Photo Album 30 - My kids are in on the action - Nicole's Dinosaurs
Photo Album 31 - Coming Soon - Operation Market Garden
Photo Album 32 - The War Room
Photo Album 33 - Antique Ships Restoration Project
Photo Album 34 - Restoration Project II
Photo Album 35 - Restoration Project III
Photo Album 36 - Restoration Project IV
Contact Me
Related Links

WORLD WAR II DIORAMAS
Armored Recon, Anzio, 1944
 

Anzio Armored Recon - Overall View.jpg

This is the biggest and hardest project I have ever attempted. My best guess is that I have close to 700 hours in this one - maybe more. As in most of my projects, this concept started off as something simple - just an armored column crossing a stone bridge over a stream in Italy. As I got more involved, so did the project. The church is partly from scratch, with some Verlinden plaster parts added. The statues are little pewter figurines, repainted to look like weathered bronze. The cross and other metal decorations are sterling silver jewelry from my business, repainted and glued in place. The ruined house on the left is from scratch. The stone bridge was made with aquarium pebbles, and the railing is from OO train tracks.

Anzio_Armored_Recon_-_Closeup_Stubborn_MuleItalian_Arguing.jpg

Above: The armor is being held up by a stubborn mule, which will not move even with the physical persuasion of a Paisano and a US tank crewman. Apparently, the mule does not know there is a war on. Imagine that. Note the patches on the Paisano's pants. Nearby, another Italian throws his arms up in frustration at a GI urging him, politely, to get his cart the hell out of the way. No one does hand gestures better than Italians. The M-24 Chaffee is a Testors kit, the mule and goose are Tamiya, and the cart is scratch built. The hay is rope, and the tarp is a section of a surgical glove.
I took a bit of "Historical License" here which I so rarely do - the M-24 never served at Anzio - it did not make its combat debut until 1945. I originally had a Sherman in the diorama, but it dominated the scene and I thought the M-24 gave better balance to the diorama. Besides, it was a cool kit and I just wanted to build it.

Anzio Armored Recon - Left Side Overall View.jpg

Above: A side view, showing the interior of the ruined house. A picture of Mussolini, shrunk down from an internet picture, hangs on the wall. The house is made from sections of balsa wood and sheet cork from a railroad hobby store. The broken door is adorned with eagle wings from some broken jewelry. The street is clay, with the cobblestones raised by pushing a flattened piece of a large strainer into the clay before it is dry. The jeep is a Monogram kit.

Anzio Armored Recon - M3 HMC Interior View.jpg

Above: Like I said, I got really involved in this model. This is the interior of the M-8 Howitzer Motor Carriage from Tamiya.

PREVIOUS PAGE

NEXT PAGE