1/700 Amagi diorama

[Dan K]

That shrink ray is some invention. You better start watching your back.

This is as good as it gets in our hobby. Marijn, I have no more superlatives for you. My vocabulary is exhausted.

I think you should just try a dinghy next. Go simple. Maybe in 1/1200.

[warspite63]

'This is as good as it gets in our hobby. Marijn, I have no more superlatives for you. My vocabulary is exhausted.'....I could try come up with some apt praise for Marin's work, but this says it all

Utterly gobsmacked

[marijn van gils]

Many thanks guys! Just when I think the praise can not get higher anymore�

Cheers,

Marijn

[Chris Meddings]

gets better and better. Thanks for taking such good photos too, makes it easier to see all the touches you add

[PetrolGator]

'This is as good as it gets in our hobby. Marijn, I have no more superlatives for you. My vocabulary is exhausted.'....I could try come up with some apt praise for Marin's work, but this says it all

Utterly gobsmacked

This.

[speedbird]

I�ve been on this site since 2001, that�s 17 years of modeling. I have seen thousands of builds, thousands and not one of them has left the impression your Amagi has.

In my opinion, this is the finest ship model I have ever seen, and one of the finest threads I�ve ever read.

Your painting is flawless and you deserve all the praise you get.

Well done.

[Mike C]

That shrink ray is some invention. You better start watching your back.
This is as good as it gets in our hobby. Marijn, I have no more superlatives for you. My vocabulary is exhausted.

I think you should just try a dinghy next. Go simple. Maybe in 1/1200.

Ha! Look who's talking, Dan! I think both of you could not only research the identification stencil for that dingy, but also find a way to apply it! Looking forward to the next update, Marijn.

[gscott]

Not sure I can add to what has already been said: simply an amazing display of construction and artistry, Marijn.

[marijn van gils]

Many thanks everyone!
I wish I could thank you as eloquently as you praise my work.
It is very much appreciated and very motivating. I'm happy my humble little ship brings enjoyment not only to myself but also to other people around the world.

Sorry for the late reply by the way; I have been down with the flu for almost a week now�
And there was no hobby-time during the holidays, so no progress yet I'm afraid.

But when I'm better, I'll be painting the smaller vessels in the diorama.
I had posted them before, but since the links are now broken, here they are again:

















In the meantime, if anyone has some info on the colors these ships and barge should be painted in, I'm all ears!

Cheers,

Marijn

[Mike C]

Have you given any thought to making molds and casting some of those little guys? At least take some overhead and side views with a ruler nearby. They're a lot more interesting than the commercial samples.

[marijn van gils]

Thanks Mike!

Building them so they could be cast would have increased construction time quite a lot, and at this moment they are not really caste able (fragile details and too sharp undercuts).

But I hear what you say. I also feel that there are surprisingly few small ships on the market, especially non-military ones that one would expect in harbors or coastal environment. The same couple of small ships can be found in most dioramas, usually similar looking tugs, while it would be more fun to have more variation.

Luckily, they are not too hard to scratchbuild, and it is a lot of fun to do so.
References can be the mayor problem though. I just went with what I could see in the video and a couple of photos on Amagi, and with a bit of extra pics of wooden sea trucks. But that still left a lot of blanks to be filled in, so I'm afraid my efforts are far from 100% accurate (another reason not to want to put these on the market now I think of it). They do look like the blurry images I worked from though, so I'm happy with them.
But I'll try to find the basic plans I drew up for them and scan those, so you have the dimensions and basic shapes I used, even if they are just my interpretation.

Cheers,

Marian

[marijn van gils]

Hello everyone,

After applying base-colours to the small ships, I realised that they are the very last thing to add to the diorama, so I turned my attention to the island.

First, base colours were applied, and the soil received some washes with dusty colours:


Next, every element was detailed further and weathered by a succession of dusty filters/washes, dark pinwash, rust and or dark dirt spots.

For example, the small building:
Base colours:


Dusty filters/washes:


And finished with shading, rust and dirt spots:



The wooden platform structure followed the same process.
Base colours:


Dusty filters:


And finished:
Note also the same dirty tidemarks at the waterline as I did on Amagi herself.



The pier with railroad:




Even the accessories like wooden crates, barrels and railroad sleepers were treated in the same way. Some �reversed� drybrushing gave the barrels a rusted look.





A crater used to dump some scrap metal.
For rusty steel stuff, I like to start with a black base coat:


Next, filter/washes with rusty tones follow:


Finally, this is tied in with the dusty groundwork with dusty washes. I also added some dark dirty spots on the ground.


A similar dump, next to a pile of dark earth:


The centre area is still very open, because it will contain the eye-catcher of the groundwork: two American vehicles and some figures.
To add interest and give more context to the (future) vehices, I painted some dusty tracks:


And finally, the finished island:







And a final one for scale ?


Cheers!

Marijn

[EJFoeth]

[Angeliccypher]

It appears you have not used any scenic ground coving and you simply painted it and got it to look this way. Am I correct? If that is the case it is absolutly amazing what you have come up with and frankly you have given me some ideas to fix something I am working on! So when I say your work is inspiring I really do mean it.

[MartinJQuinn]

That is some sick work.

[GewoonWouter]

Oh my, this is eye candy again Marijn! Impressive weathering and it proves that I still have a lot of progress to undergo before reaching this stage. Btw, I'm most impressed how you weathered that immense finger, very realistic indeed!

[marijn van gils]

Many thanks guys!

It appears you have not used any scenic ground coving and you simply painted it and got it to look this way. Am I correct?

Do you mean that I didn't use any vegetation?
Then you are correct! Painting the terrain was quite simple: basically it is only beige/grey base colors with a bit of darker tones locally mixed in for variation, and then a wash with a couple of light dusty colors.

Vegetation would also be a fun challenge in this scale, and it would probably add some interest, but I didn't do it because the historic photo's show no vegetation at all on this part of the island, not even little tuffs of grass. Even though it is not paved, it is more like an industrial area than a tropical island.

Or do you mean some kind of modelling product mimicking soil? I didn't use that, but mixed my own from ceramic plaster and white glue. While wet, I sprinkled it with dried ceramic plaster smashed to tiny bits and fixed it with diluted white glue. This dries white, so only provides texture. All coloring is done by painting.

Btw, I'm most impressed how you weathered that immense finger, very realistic indeed!

Easy! just a good poke in the nose or ear does the trick�

Cheers,

Marijn

[Dan K]

It just gets better and better.

[marijn van gils]

Thanks Dan!

[tron777]

This is nothing short of astounding.