T-55s GMV Northern Syria Dio Rubble

[Stickframe]

Hello dio builders, 

 

I built this in 2017 - and it was quite a fun project.  It started with one, Takom T-55 AMV.  I did some research on the kit and found out about where it was/is used, and discovered Northern Syria.  Along the way I found out that various US SOCOM operators were engaged in the area.  This led to a project - You'll see three of the T-55's.  One the Takom AMV kit and the other two received scratch built mods to make them into the AMV.  The GMV started as a stock M1151, but was converted to the M1165, with Group 5 GMV elements.  The BRDM was a really cheap kit that I needed to find a use for, the recovery trailer from Takom, and the cab a modified Aoshima kit - (4x2 to 6x2).  I'll get into the dio a bit more later.  First up, some character images and vehicle WIP:

 

 

I used these as fundamental reference for the project. 

 

Vehicle WIP:

 

 

For a while, I was on a GMV kick, and just kept building them - some aftermarket bits and lots of scratch - same for the BRDM:

 

 

I really liked the bar armor, so made some up for this. 

 

The T-55s were fun to build - The Aber t-55 etch kits are great.  As only one kit was the AMV version, the others received lots of scratch work:

 

 

To make the AMV there was lots of etch and strip styrene in general, with Voyager ERA blocks and frames etc and on the two converted AMVS

 

 

This is one of the T-55s, but they all have the same look - lots of wear and tear.

 

Now, on to the dio.  This was to be a an urban street scene with the T-55s and GMV meeting up, after some event.  Here are a few of the dio WIP images:

 

 

As you can see, there is a lot of debris, and more debris, and more debris!  And from here you can already begin to see a challenge emerging - the building is only a frame, which means, there is no backdrop, which causes me grief because I like to take outdoor photos of the final build. 

 

Below, you'll see lots of what sure look like closeups.  This was not really done to show detail, instead, to not show out of scale backgrounds, which always frustrated me about the conclusion of this build.  If you look carefully, at the background, you'll see trees, shrubs, a building...which is a bummer, because I really like the content - the colors, weather, and debris really read!  but, you never get a sense of what the dio is showing - Please take a look:

 

 

 

 

 

The pictures are so tight that this doesn't really look like a dio, which was really frustrating.  Recently, I figure out how to digitally "cutout" backgrounds, and still have some indoor images of the project.  Helpfully, they were taken in front of a white wall.  So, I cutout the white and added some backgrounds:

 

 

While not too dramatic, the backdrop above allows the project to stay in focus.  This photo was taken before the project was done, but I do like the looks of that GMV on the little hill. 

 

For others, looking in the opposite direction, across the dio, the results are more interesting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While these photo changes are probably not as good as those done by someone who knows what they're doing, I like them, as you can now see a bit more of the full project - which is good! I feel much better about it now!  I might see if I can find the original uncriopped outdoor pics, and see what I can do with them too.  That said, I've already discovered, I haven't figured out how to "cutout" irregular edged - like trees!  I might try anyway - 

 

Thanks for having a look, and happy dio building - 

 

Cheers

Nick 

 

[Stef N.]

Quite brilliant model making and a stunning dio. Masterful. I fully agree with the GMV on the little hill photo,it works on its own right.👏👏

[Alpha Juliet]

Superb!

[Stickframe]

Hi gents, 

 

@Stef N. and @Alpha Juliet, thanks very much, for the positive words!  I really appreciate it.  This build, and many others of mine have suffered the fate of the bad backdrop (despite the bright sunlit project - which really annoys me!), so I'm fairly optimistic about this method.  Just for kicks, I tried the same "cutout" technique on some of the outdoor images - a few turned out better than I could have hoped.  Please take a look:

 

 

This one - wow - almost can't believe that this worked so well - and on we go:

 

 

I tried to filter these two (above and below) - just a greyscale/transparent box over the original to try and blend it a bit better.  I'm not that pleased with the backdrop above, but it is significantly better than the bright green shrubs on the original.   The backdrop below worked fine:

 

 

 

 

 

 

No filter here - just a bright sunny day - 

 

 

 

 

So there you have it - I wish it had occurred to me to try and find out how to do this a long time ago.  I'm not a big computer guy, so can say it's not that hard to do, but a bit tedious, and clearly requires some (lots of) trial and error.

 

Thanks for having a look!

 

Cheers

Nick 

[echen]

Somewhere recently (can't recall where - memory like a goldfish.) I saw someone on BM who'd taken shots of their work in front of a computer monitor. The foreground and subject were the work of the modeller and the background was supplied by the PC.

Looked really good - maybe worth a try?

[nimrod484]

On 08/10/2021 at 00:27, echen said:

Somewhere recently (can't recall where - memory like a goldfish.) I saw someone on BM who'd taken shots of their work in front of a computer monitor. The foreground and subject were the work of the modeller and the background was supplied by the PC.

Looked really good - maybe worth a try?

Great diorama. I also cant quite figure out how to do this without investing in some software. I guess I will have to bite the bullet and buy something for photo editing. Anybody recommend something?

[nimrod484]

I just briefly tried GIMP - free software. I followed this YouTube tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGIj8lbgm58

 

Just a partial and rough attempt as it takes much time to do a proper combining of images, but you get the idea. Not difficult but time consuming doing a careful outline.

 

 

[Stickframe]

@nimrod484 - yes - that's pretty much what I did (Nice dio too!).  I use a free software app called Photoscape Pro X to make the cutout, and I fully agree with your point - this is not that hard to do, but, practice has helped me a lot.  

 

I make the cutout image, then copy it into powepoint, where I place it over whatever back drop image(s) I want, and snip out the final image.  I'm sure there are many other software apps out there that would be easier or better to use - I'm fairly low tech, so this is a big step!

 

Regarding time, patience, tedium, etc, I figured it took/takes me a long time to build the dio, so a couple of hours worth of this is worth it - as I really don't like out of scale/context images as the backdrop to the dio.  

 

Cheers

Nick 

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by Stickframe

[nimrod484]

3 hours ago, Stickframe said:

@nimrod484 - yes - that's pretty much what I did (Nice dio too!).  I use a free software app called Photoscape Pro X to make the cutout, and I fully agree with your point - this is not that hard to do, but, practice has helped me a lot.  

 

I make the cutout image, then copy it into powepoint, where I place it over whatever back drop image(s) I want, and snip out the final image.  I'm sure there are many other software apps out there that would be easier or better to use - I'm fairly low tech, so this is a big step!

 

Regarding time, patience, tedium, etc, I figured it took/takes me a long time to build the dio, so a couple of hours worth of this is worth it - as I really don't like out of scale/context images as the backdrop to the dio.  

 

Cheers

Nick 

 

Thanks for the tip on Photoscape. I’ll try it out. Totally agree that it is worth the time and effort and I will be practicing it on my past dioramas.

[Pete in Lincs]

Nick, as always, stunning work with fabulous detail. The hard light and shadows look like a typical middle Eastern day.

The building 'skeleton' is typical of the construction out there too. I always thought it a good job it wasn't an earthquake zone.

I only found this dio work today and I'm very impressed. Your computer work is coming along too.

Pete

[echen]

Also, you could try using Layers, one for foreground, one with your diorama with the background deleted and made transparent and the final layer with your desired background.

You then make sure they're in the right order  and merge or flatten the layers into a single image. Save it as another file name because, if you're anything like me, you will then spot something you want to edit and it's much easier editing individual layers than the finished item.

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

It's notoriously difficult to do random destruction like this. Most excellent work. I really admire the whole thing.

[Muchmirth]

Fantastic. Lot and lots of hard graft put in here. Bravo. 

[sardaukar]

Woah, I need to spend more time in the diorama section, that's amazing work.

[Stickframe]

Hi guys - thanks for leaving your comments - appreciated!  @Bertie Psmith, you are spot on! creating random is indeed harder than it looks.  It's really interesting to do - even subtle points can mess it up - for example, I'm left handed, so what I've seen is I tend to place objects in a repeating pattern - drives me crazy - need to intentionally go against it!  Moreover to even remember/notice I'm doing it!  

 

Cheers

Nick 

[THEscaleSHOW]

Hello Nick

My greatest respect that you have made so much work and effort.
The dio has a lot of atmosphere and although it is so large, everything seems to be clear and in the right place.

Congratulations!

 

MD