John Feldhoffer

Evaluation
Model Nr:
Class: Dioramas
Skill: Advanced
Optional Criteria: Narrative Storytelling
Type: Injection Moulded
Manufacturer: Meng
Scale: 1/35
Description: I wanted to create a diorama with some tension, which was realised by contrasting between the fragile little girl painted in vibrant colours looking at the muted steel beast. This is also an analogy to the David versus Goliat struggle that Ukraine is facing today. Originally I was going to build a quick diorama with a burnt out Russian tank, as often seen in pictures from the war in Ukraine. After building the excellent Meng model I couldn’t quite bring myself to paint it all black and rusty, so I went for a full paint job instead. Still, I wanted to give the impression of an abandoned tank, so I built it with one track broken and some light burns and damage. I also installed the lights from a led-candle so it could look like a fire starting inside the tank. As the Meng tank comes without interior, I had to scratch build the inside (except for some parts of the gunners and commanders sights and electronics, which comes with the kit). I was also inspired by a tutorial on facebook showing how to build roads from cork, which made me want to do a road-diorama. This led to some research (what do manhole covers look like in former Soviet states?) and searching for suitable kits for the road signs, guardrail and so on. It’s amazing what you can find in 1:35 these days! The clear plastic bottles and cigarette buds are scratch built and I actually don’t know if people in the Ukraine litter like that, but it is what you find along the roads in Sweden where I’m from (yes, I went and researched!). Some thought also went to the layout and placing of the figures relative to the tank and the road. Painting the figures gave me a nice break from all the green, grey and brown I usually work with, using more “civilian” colours.