MILITARY DIORAMAS by Paul Asaban

Photo Album 18 - Aachen 1944

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
Building "Aachen 1944"

Mvc-001.jpg

Above: Preparing a layer of wood debris. I use cut up balsa, wood matches (removing the burner end), small wood scraps, cork and cardboard. Paint several piles different shades of brown, and paint some the interior colors of the buildings (blue, green or whatever). Simulate burned wood with an air brush and black pastels.

Mvc-003xX.jpg

Above: The statue is glued in place. The street surface is done, and the first layer of debris is in place around the buildings. The round "sidewalk" the statue base sits on is the top of a Folgers ground coffee can.

Sherman_side_2.jpg

Above: The rear deck of the nearly completed Sherman. American tank crews were notorious for cramming as much extra equipment on their vehicles as possible. I have added a rear "shelf" to the back of the Sherman's engine compartment and turret to carry extra equipment - a very common field modification during WWII. The bedrolls are made of Kleenex, the straps from car pinstripe tape, the boxes from sheet plastic.  

MVC-009X.jpg

Above: The diorama base, with the 3 major componenets glued in place and with the first layer of debris. The seams between the clay sections of street are filled in with colored Celluclay. Note that I have not yet added the extra two inches to the left side of the base that would eventually hold the extra German troops. 

Sherman_profile.jpg

Above: The Sherman is nearly done. Remaining details are the extra side log armor, assorted crew equipment and final weathering. In the background is my son's HE-111.

PREVIOUS PAGE

NEXT PAGE

Mvc-007.jpg

Above - The three completed vehicles, awaiting the final dark wash, dry brushing, their equipment and final weathering. Note that any destruction should be planned BEFORE assembly. The Sturmer already has open hatches, buckled engine plates and, not visible here, entry holes from the shells that finished it off. The VW is packed with extra details, as the original model was sparse to say the least. The Sherman was originally planned to be shown "buttoned up" (all hatches closed for street fighting), but without at least the tank commander, the tank lacked personality - so I added him.

AACHEN_house_50_done.jpg

Above: The ruined house , almost done and glued in place on the balsa wood sidewalk. The first two layers of debris are in place. The mound that the knocked out Sturmer will sit on is to the left. Even though Verlinden houses come with "wooden" ribs already cast in the plaster walls, I always remove these with a Dremel tool and glue real wood in their place.

Sherman front.jpg

Above: The front of the nearly completed Sherman. The extra log armor is held in place by chain (I use simple cable neckchains). This crew is big time into terrorizing the Germans; in addition to the skull, they have a loud speaker on top of the turret to play music or yell at the Germans in battle. I got the idea from the movie "Kelly's Heroes".

Mvc-004xX.jpg

Above: The initial layout called for the action to move right. I changed this to action left, and had to add a 2 inch section to the left side of the base to accomodate the VW and the extra Germans behind the building to the left.

StugIII.jpg

Above: The Stug is ready for a final wash. Note again that the damage, including the buckled engine plates, is already done.