The first part of this build can be found here, the second here, and the third here.

Well, the small dio is finally done. It’s been a long, long build. It took me more than a year back in the US to find the conversion set; I was lucky to grab it cheap from someone who gave up on it. It then sat in a box for the next couple of years, then brought back to Europe, and finally ended up in the UK. The actual build time was a couple of months; quite quick, really, but I did take a lot of shortcuts. These were mostly done out of necessity (of preserving my sanity); the set is not exactly user-friendly. The fit is poor at places, the instructions are horrid, and some parts are just plain impossible to do (like the installation of the turret ring). I’m not even mentioning the warped parts, like the gun barrel. (Wait, I just did…) So to save time, my already thinning hair, and money, I just rolled with what I had (with the exception of the gun barrel).

Anyhow, when all is said and done, it built up into a very inaccurate, but quite nice tank.

I tried to show a gradient of colors from back to front: burned out engine compartment dominated by rust colors, to the greenish hues of the frontal hull.

The figure also took a LOT of time to hunt down; unfortunately it is long out of production, so my best bet was to get lucky and buy one from someone. (This is a really good reminder of buying things when they are available. However, it also is a sure way of building up a stash that would shame a hobby store, so there is a delicate balance to be achieved here.)

And one final word about the photography, before the pictures. I’m using a Nikon D3300 with either the kit lens (when the subject is relatively large), or a Tamron 90mm macro lens. The models are placed in a collapsible light box, and lit up using two LED lamps from the side. The whole contraption is in the kitchen, with fluorescent overall lightning, which explains the difficulties to actually getting the colors right on the photos- the camera, no matter how smart it is, is having trouble with the white balance. I did take some photos during the day using the same setup, and the sunlight as an overall source of illumination; the difference is visible. I will set the white balance manually next time. The other issue I dislike is that the figure looks a bit glossy; when you look at it in real life, it is much more matte.

It’s a learning curve of taking photos, and it’s also a matter of convenience. Living in London means I have absolutely no space dedicated for model building, so everything needs to be set up in the kitchen when I build/take photos. Not very convenient.

So without further ado, here’s the finished STALKER diorama: