Military dioramas almost always portray some type of battle scene. And for good reason. That's what they do. But soldiers do get some down time. And they take full advantage of it when they can. They will find a little bit of rest and relaxation just about anywhere! And this is what this diorama by Luis portrays. Several soldiers found a nice little fishin spot!

And with this project Luis also teaches us a nifty new technique for making water effects.

Luis has made a whole lot of dioramas covering a wide variety of subjects, themes, and time periods. You can check them out right here: Dioramas by Luis

Title: Gone Fishing

Even in war, Soldiers need a break from the violence. So here is a diorama that represents that.

He tells us about the making of this diorama:

BASE - is air-dry clay built into a wooden base. The 'soil' is made of actual dirt and used coffee grinds. How it was done was that after the clay was dried I squirted a liquidized white glue (just mixed white glue with water into a spray bottle) and sprinkled the 'dirt' on the base. As for the river I marked off the area with the bridge that I was going to use and carved scooped out the area, while the clay was still wet. Once the river was created and the clay dried I painted it dark brown, then added different shades of blue. While the paint was still wet, I poured in the resin and mixed with the painted to give a look of a running river. (see next picture) . when the resin was almost dried, I attacked it with a toothpick to lift up and disturb the resin from becoming smooth as much as I could to give it waves. I did that several times until the resin hardened. The reason it was done was to make waves. After the resin dried I painted the wave tips in white followed by dry-brushing in sky blue.

DESTROYED BRIDGE - was from a kit I brought a show about a year ago or two. The only thing I added was rubble made from air dry clay, which was cut into brick or destroyed section of the bridge which I carved lines into the clay to look like bricks. I also added wire to look like iron rods of the road foundation for the bridge. The wire was painted in a silver then a wash of black with dabs of rust.

VEGETATION - is from Woodland Scenic, JTT and a few other thing from a grab bag from Hobby Lobby (Amazon has lots of Woodland Scenics and JTT Diorama materials.)

SD.KFZ. 230 & Crew - is from 1/72 from Dragon. It is right out of the box. (Amazon has a lot of the dragon SD KFZ Models)

The German figures are from a Flak crew kit made of pewter from a small German company called Michael Gohres Models.

More Military Dioramas by Luis

"Gotcha Moment " 82nd Airborne Diorama

This is a remarkable diorama that has some amazing distinctions. It has the special effect of sound. And Luis used air-drying clay to make that amazing vegetation. You have got to check this diorama out. More pics with tips/techniques for you: Gotcha Moment

"Dragoons of Angola " A Moment of Peace in a time of war

This is a large and very detailed diorama showing mounted Portuguese Troopers (Dragoons) during the war in Angola. It is another amazing diorama made by Luis. See lots of pics and get some good tips on how to make something like this. He also made significant modifications to the soldiers to make them more accurate. The scene depicts the troopers during a quite moment with Angolan wildlife including elephants and crocodiles. Check it out here:The Dragoons of Angola Diorama

Luis' UDT Boat Frogmen Diorama

Before they were Navy Seals they were called Frogmen. A web visitor (Luis) has created an amazing diorama with incredible detail. He tells us how he made it, how he achieved the water effects and more. (And we have lots of pics) Check it out here: The UDT Boat Frogmen Diorama