Hi Guys,

My first experiment with house ruin. This is work in progress as I haven't plastered the inside yet and made the door arch and window frame and more importantly have yet to paint and weather it.

Its made of plaster on a foam backing.

Nice work Ck...

kalau boleh kasi details work lagi bagus

and u said u're slower than me??...

if u set me as the benchmark, then we're doomed!!! hahaha

Thanks Boss. I was going to include an update but my camera battery was out.

From my research and whatever photos I could get including some excellent ones sent to me by one of Amorama members, the houses were mainly made of stones rather than bricks. There were lots of rocks around Monte Cassino.

I've tried to create the uneven stonework using plaster that had a bit of black watercolor added. The plaster was mixed with coarse and medium beach sand to give the rough surface found on rocks.

The base is just your normal foam (the more dense version) which I glued a layer of bandage gauze with PVA to give the plaster something to grip. Its not really necessary as I've managed to get plaster to stick to foam even without the gauze.

Will show an update once I get my camera going again.

Hi Everyone,

Thought I'd share with all of you some progress photos. Below are some photos of the ruin with paintwork. Needs some highlighting and lots of rubble to go. Arch and window made from good old cheapo A B epoxy.

Internal shot with terracotta tiles


Outside shot and you can just about see a bit of cobblestone road on the right. Didn't come out as well as I expected. Glued some kacang seeds and covered it with plaster.


Closeup of arch with pitted surface.


All comments and pointers welcome and appreciated.

the looks darn good CK.... if i don't know i thought it was a resin kit! so is the ruin finished? would love to see it with the fallschirmjagers.... excellent stuff.

Thanks a lot Mojimbo for the support. Actually I reckon the stones at the base of the wall are slightly big. Anyway I've added about 60 % of the rubble and debris but haven't really worked on the paras as yet. A bit lazy lately plus I can't decide to put a MG on the window or not. Putting a MG will have to mean I'll have to do some sandbags to prop it up and that would take up too much space. I'm trying to squeeze 4 figs in it. Or would it okay to lean the MG against the window sill while the paras have their smoke break?

CK which DML fallschirm set are you going to put in the dio? .... and i would do an 'in-action' type of diorama, which is more interesting....

I was going to use the Fallschirmjager from DML Ardennes set where they're sitting down and smoking. I've actually in mind to do at least 1more slightly larger dio with action in it. I got the DML Commonwealth troops so I'll make them into NZ troops and have them about to meet another group of Fallschirmjager as both parties make their way through the heavy rubble of Cassino town. Close quarter fighting at its closest.

Got a few Fallschirmjager vignettes/dios in my overly imaginative brain (comes from having too much time in the office and working on Saturdays). If I get through that then there's the British Paras also in an urban setting.

I thought I'd do more urban setting from now on as a change from my usual jungle setting. Whole new set of challenges as far as dio construction is concerned.

Yo CK
Since I'm checking out your dio here I might as well post my comments in the forum rather than via e-mail.

I can't find anything negative about this one although it'll be fun taking pot shots at you. For once my lips are zipped up and the dio base isn't even all done yet. I'll be packing up the moment it's finished. Sifu, I surrender my shorts to you ( private joke if you guys are wondering ).

If I remember correctly from my Images Of War magazine set and the World At War documentry series, it was the Gurkhas who finally took Monte Casino. During my visit to the Imperial War Museum I overheard a vet telling his wife the same thing. Can anyone confirm this before work on the planned Commonwealth figures are started ?

Well done man !
Patrick

Aaargh! Patrick not the shorts again. A sane man can only take so much. Lucky I'm quite insane. :-)

Thanks for the kind comments but you're suppose to be a tough critic so I can sharpen my skills. Been doing some internet and reading research prior to this vignette. Currently reading Mathew Parker's book on "Monte Cassino, The Hardest Fought Battle of WW II". Actually its the Poles that took Monte Cassino although the Americans, British, Canadians, French with their Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian complements, Italian, NZ, Gurkhas, Indians and Polish of course were involved. Almost every nation involved in WW II was represented save the Japs.

There was a lot of fighting going on and most of it occured in the numerous high points surrounding the monastery itself. Very interesting and sad reading. It was likened to trench warfare of WW I with armor playing a very minor role. Ultimately it was man to man and the individual's reason for fighting and his training.

Portrayed here is the town rather than the Abbey itself. I was thinking along the house of the town mayor or someone quite well off. Most pics of the town shown almost all houses reduced to a rubble so I can't even confirm whether they had terra cotta tiles then and there.

'ello 'ello 'ello !!!

What a beaut, mate
I was not wrong when I said you are the sifu of dioramas, not to mention scratchbuilding!!

But....since you said over the phone yesterday that you wanted some critical comments, well here goes....

The dents/holes/roughness of the wall..I dunno...do they look a wee bit oversized in scale? Also, you might want to lighten the stones here and there. The plaster also looks a bit too thick in scale.

Also, the doorway looks kinda narrow, and the interior floor tiles look too pristine, considering the state of the damage to the walls...

Of course, what do I know LOL LOL :-) I need to take up lessons from you actually )

Adios!
Alan aka Floogen

Thanks for the much needed critique. The rocks are slighty too big. You're right about the tiles they should show more damage. The door ain't too far off but my main dissatisfaction with it is that the walls as you said maybe a bit too thick. In actual size its about just under 1.5 foot thick. Couldn't find much info on Italian stonework houses of that era.

Will use the experience gained here for the next dio featuring CQB in the same town with German paras and NZ troops. Many thanks.