Telling the story, potential figures… and how to add a feeling of jeopardy
Here is the backstory as it now stands:
The early stages of the advance of the Kampfgruppe brings an SS recce unit into a Belgian farmyard (recently abandoned by the occupants who, for the last few weeks at least, had been living with the relief of Allied liberation). The Germans are confident - so far they have made rapid progress against little or no opposition - but the experienced panzer grenadiers are understandably wary.
Unknown to these (re)invaders, the farm is now occupied by some American GIs. Their recent experience is told by the broken-down jeep (perhaps shot up during a rapid retreat). They have taken refuge in the farmyard, but as they try to fix their vehicle, they hear the sound of approaching engines and tracks. Friend or foe? Looking out of an upstairs window, to their horror they realise that they are in a very dangerous position…
When I started this build I thought that I had a pretty clear idea of what tale I was trying to tell. I always conceived this diorama as an ‘encounter scenario’… hence the title. Yet I cannot claim that I had everything planned from the start. I have nothing but admiration for those modellers who can settle on everything at the outset of a project, but I suspect that for most of us ideas just evolve. How dramatic should it be? How many figures would I need? What exactly would they be doing?
The position of the building was always intended to create a natural division between the left / lower part of the scene and the right / higher area. But it was also designed to break the line of sight - that way the idea that both sides might find themselves surprised by the other made more sense.
In the early shot above I had started to work out the relative position of the vehicles and figures.
A pivotal figure in the composition is this SS panzer grenadier from Alpine.
Not only a magnificent piece of sculpting and resin casting, but also a very great pose. Although I have seen this figure used in Normandy scenarios, he might just as easily fit into the Ardennes (I may add some gloves!)
He is also a useful focal point: his forward stoop and out-stretched left arm help to take the viewer’s attention around the corner where his looking, but also back to the vehicles and other troops who are dismounting and coming up behind him.
Because they have yet to find out what is lurking around the corner, I can probably go for some more relaxed poses for the rest. Obviously I still have much work to do here, because I’m working on the basis of two men in or around the Schwimmwagen (the photos from Kaiserbaracke Crossroads clearly show that each had a two-man crew) and another six from the 250 halftrack. So that’s a mere eight figures, almost all dressed in SS camo smocks… oh dear!
But what of the Americans? Well, at least here I am limited by the carrying capacity of the Jeep (four at the most). Looking around for potential figures, I couldn’t find many resin options in suitable action poses. In fact, in the world of Alpine, etc most GIs seem to spend all their time just lounging around!
Luckily there are plenty of other options out there, especially from Master Box and Mini Art:
From the Master Box Move! Move! Move! set I have already started to cobble together a figure of a GI running away from the rapidly evolving situation. This is early days: he’s just white-tacked together with a Hornet head, but the pose is energetic and he looks like he’s running for his life… Those gaiters will probably have to go.
From the Miniart Close Combat US Tank Crew set there’s a great figure looking around a corner with his grease gun. By swapping the legs and adding an Alpine head I think I have found the guy who is about to face-off with the SS grenadier…
So why a tanker and a GI? Well I’m going to use the excuse that this is a mixed bag of soldiers who were driving somewhere when they ran into the German advance. Maybe the tank crewman (who is probably going to be an officer) was hitching a ride with some infantry.
Anyway, the takeaway from all of this is that sometimes you need to create the landscape before you can really begin to populate it. At least, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!
Hopefully, there’s quite a bit of other progress that you can see here: the Jeep, the tree, etc. I will be covering these in more detail very soon…
Here is the backstory as it now stands:
The early stages of the advance of the Kampfgruppe brings an SS recce unit into a Belgian farmyard (recently abandoned by the occupants who, for the last few weeks at least, had been living with the relief of Allied liberation). The Germans are confident - so far they have made rapid progress against little or no opposition - but the experienced panzer grenadiers are understandably wary.
Unknown to these (re)invaders, the farm is now occupied by some American GIs. Their recent experience is told by the broken-down jeep (perhaps shot up during a rapid retreat). They have taken refuge in the farmyard, but as they try to fix their vehicle, they hear the sound of approaching engines and tracks. Friend or foe? Looking out of an upstairs window, to their horror they realise that they are in a very dangerous position…
When I started this build I thought that I had a pretty clear idea of what tale I was trying to tell. I always conceived this diorama as an ‘encounter scenario’… hence the title. Yet I cannot claim that I had everything planned from the start. I have nothing but admiration for those modellers who can settle on everything at the outset of a project, but I suspect that for most of us ideas just evolve. How dramatic should it be? How many figures would I need? What exactly would they be doing?
The position of the building was always intended to create a natural division between the left / lower part of the scene and the right / higher area. But it was also designed to break the line of sight - that way the idea that both sides might find themselves surprised by the other made more sense.
In the early shot above I had started to work out the relative position of the vehicles and figures.
A pivotal figure in the composition is this SS panzer grenadier from Alpine.
Not only a magnificent piece of sculpting and resin casting, but also a very great pose. Although I have seen this figure used in Normandy scenarios, he might just as easily fit into the Ardennes (I may add some gloves!)
He is also a useful focal point: his forward stoop and out-stretched left arm help to take the viewer’s attention around the corner where his looking, but also back to the vehicles and other troops who are dismounting and coming up behind him.
Because they have yet to find out what is lurking around the corner, I can probably go for some more relaxed poses for the rest. Obviously I still have much work to do here, because I’m working on the basis of two men in or around the Schwimmwagen (the photos from Kaiserbaracke Crossroads clearly show that each had a two-man crew) and another six from the 250 halftrack. So that’s a mere eight figures, almost all dressed in SS camo smocks… oh dear!
But what of the Americans? Well, at least here I am limited by the carrying capacity of the Jeep (four at the most). Looking around for potential figures, I couldn’t find many resin options in suitable action poses. In fact, in the world of Alpine, etc most GIs seem to spend all their time just lounging around!
Luckily there are plenty of other options out there, especially from Master Box and Mini Art:
From the Master Box Move! Move! Move! set I have already started to cobble together a figure of a GI running away from the rapidly evolving situation. This is early days: he’s just white-tacked together with a Hornet head, but the pose is energetic and he looks like he’s running for his life… Those gaiters will probably have to go.
From the Miniart Close Combat US Tank Crew set there’s a great figure looking around a corner with his grease gun. By swapping the legs and adding an Alpine head I think I have found the guy who is about to face-off with the SS grenadier…
So why a tanker and a GI? Well I’m going to use the excuse that this is a mixed bag of soldiers who were driving somewhere when they ran into the German advance. Maybe the tank crewman (who is probably going to be an officer) was hitching a ride with some infantry.
Anyway, the takeaway from all of this is that sometimes you need to create the landscape before you can really begin to populate it. At least, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!
Hopefully, there’s quite a bit of other progress that you can see here: the Jeep, the tree, etc. I will be covering these in more detail very soon…
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