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Rob Pollock
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“Götterdämmerung”

January 14, 2014 · in Aviation · · 9 · 2.5K

I previously posted photos of a specimen build of the Trumpeter 1/32 Messerschmitt Me 262 B-1a/U1, the late-war Luftwaffe night fighter.

I mentioned that I intended to 'de-construct' the model in part, and use it in a wreck diorama. The result is “Götterdämmerung” (Twilight of the Gods).

As important in the diorama as the aircraft, is the tree, meant to represent a broadleaf tree in autumn. Part of the inspiration for the scene came from late-war photographs of Luftwaffe aircraft hidden under tree lines near main roads, Allied air superiority having forced the Germans to use roads as makeshift runways. I include here a representative archive photograph of such a scene.

In the diorama, I wanted to model a machine that had been abandoned, perhaps still in situ in 1946 or even later. The old woman adds a poignant touch, reflecting perhaps on her fallen country or even personal loss. The figure is from a MiniArt set of German civilians.

Apart from the aircraft, which was built some time ago in a three-week period, everything else here was completed in about four days. A simple exercise, but a useful one in that it gave a dramatic new lease of life to an old, static model.

Reader reactions:
4  Awesome

24 additional images. Click to enlarge.


9 responses

  1. Thanks for the walk through Rob. Your use of foiliage looks great.

  2. ...nice work (and now it doesn't matter if it gets dusty, either) - 🙂

  3. Great attention to detail...the ground cover is most excellent. How did you achieve the fallen "scale" leaves?

  4. Excellent work. The final scene looks quite realistic, and a definite story is told, which is essential in a diorama.

  5. inspirational and well executed! this looks AWESOME!

  6. As you say, Rob, the tree is as important as the plane in this diorama. Trees are big, especially in 1/32 scale, and you've managed to show this, without it overpowering everything else, and the old lady gives it scale as well. Excellent job.

  7. Rob,
    This is excellent. I really like what you are expressing here. Your tree is almost real

  8. Wow that tree is amazing. The figure really adds to the diorama as well.

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