Thank you, Spiros. Yeah, all of my current projects have become stagnant for one reason or the other but, funny enough, they are all on the move again.
Hopefully this one isn't too far from the finish.

Thank you, Erik.

Gary, @gwskat
This most recent work you did to the diorama could best be described as a gutsy move... It looked good to begin with, but now since the complete redesigning and rebuilding has been completed, it looks absolutely incredible. It reminds me of a scene that you would see in a museum.

This is fantastic work, and you can build a runway scene for me any time... 🙂

Maybe another South Pacific scene, but this time an island with a crushed coral runway ? One that would be suitable for B-25's or be just as good with some F4U's, Japanese planes, or F4F's ? You get the idea...

Here's a photo of some B-25's that one of our family members flew in. These are some Mitchell's from the 100 Bomb Squadron, and the group was known as the "Crusaders". The serial numbers on the tail of the closest Mitchell is very close to the tail number of the plane that my dad's Cousin was killed in. These planes still don't have the Crusader "Shield and Cross" added onto them.

My Dad's first cousin, 1st LT Thomas V. Smith, was killed on Sunday morning, approximately 0815 hours, April 8th, 1945. They were flying a training mission over the Sulu Sea, and had just taken off from Palawan Island shortly before this happened. The Unit Commander was also lost in the crash... along with 7 other pilots in the same plane on this training mission. I have the MACR report with all the details as to what happened that morning.

They were practicing "skip bombing" techniques, and how to avoid AAA fire from a ship at low levels. It involved flying "Split S" maneuvers at low altitudes. It was reported by the other planes in the flight, that the B-25 my Dad's cousin was flying in, was last seen going into a dive when it entered a thick cloud bank... The next thing the other planes in his flight saw, was a debris field of items floating in the water, and an oil slick where the plane had impacted. No survivors were found, and none of the bodies were ever recovered.

I did some checking to see how deep the waters are here... and the "average" depth is at least 10,000 feet. Chances are the wreckage will never be discovered, if much at all of it still remains today.

Here's his head stone / grave marker... Sadly, it's just a memorial, as his body isn't here. It's not too far from where you live in PA.

That's where my Dad's side of the family lives.
Someday I want to build a plane with the same markings as the one in which he disappeared in. I have the aircraft serial number and a decal sheet for the distinctive "Crusader" tail emblem. This would be the perfect photo background.

I'll contact you in private about this soon... You got my wheels turning ! I'd like to ask you some questions on how to build a more suitable photo background, and I wanted it to look something like this photo with the Mitchells do. But something like these shown below, with the F4U's would also work.

Do you have any ideas ? I'm not trying to hijack your build thread... but your skills and talent got me thinking, so I had to ask. Thanks in advance. This is for a future project coming up at the "Iron Werke".

This is a fantastic result my friend. I can't wait to see what it looks like in your next installment. I'm happy to hear that things are working out for you, and that your "mojo" is up and running again.

Thanks Guys!

Louis.
(Before I get into this I have to give a shout out to my daughter for giving me some advice on editing commands... It was a lot quicker than stumbling upon them...Thanks Sweetie!)

I am certainly not a photo-editor expert by any means but this was my process:
I found a suitable photo on the internet. Advise...the larger the size and higher the resolution the better. If needed, don't forget to match the foreground setting (base of your dio).
Using "paint.net" (a free photo editor) I edited the pic to size followed by cutting and pasting parts of the image to lengthen the photo, fill in areas and to give it a more random look where pasted portions start to look identical.
Advise...Before printing the large size photo try smaller sections to make sure the resolution is what you want.
Patience, trial and error and some juicy, choice, words were the biggest part of the process but once I learned the commands it went quickly and it was rewarding seeing what I needed "come to life"

Not exactly a step by step tutorial but I hope this helps out.

Gary/Mariner

Hi All,
Along with cleaning up after our recent 2ft snow storm I was able to put some good bench time in on the Chi-Ha dio.

Continued work on the outer box, includes adding the trim around the view port and outer portion of the face. Getting ready for stain and paint.

Finished up the Chi-Ha with added final details, including the rear "bed" style carrier, engine grill louvers, damaged tracks, crew hatch and turret. All this was given one more dose of oil wash and highlighting and then secured in place.
Scenic details include tools, box, boards and rope to give the appearance of fixing the track prior to abandonment.
Finally. Added the US Marines out on patrol with their trusty partner.

So, the scene portion of the box dio is now complete.

This is my last installment of the build progression. Once I finish up the outer box I will be posting the completed build on iMod Headlines. With any luck possibly my last build of 2020! Fingers crossed.

KEEP IT FUN, All...

WOW - again. . .

Very nice result Gary (@gwskat). Well done. Looking forward to giving it a star in headlines 😀

Just incredible, Gary. As with your other dios, each individual element stands out. The box will finish it up perfectly. What also stands out to me though, is the depth you have achieved - the way the path meets the background and the light and shade blend is nothing short of magnificent! It looks like it goes back for a few hundred metres - the scale of the background is perfect. Really impressive execution of of a great plan!