That is very cool. I can't wait to see it completed.

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Well, it's done. First up, here's the picture that kind of inspired the concept:

http://yojoe.com/catalogs/85/2.shtml

As soon as I got Shipwreck, I thought of that old catalog. Eventually, I would like to add a orange-sky background.



There it is, all set up. I missed a few spots with the darker wash, and the flash really brings that out. The flash also hides the shadows the make the letters look deeper, so I may go back a do a darker color inside the lettering crevices, like I did with the shape of the star, to make them stand out a little more.

For the first project like this I've ever tried, I'm pretty happy with it. And I certainly think it's a much more interesting way to display figures than lining them up on the shelves like I have been. And there's plenty of room for the next few waves as well.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be welcome.

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That looks really great! I like how its got that stone look to it and the "sculpting" looks awesome! I'd say go ahead and darken the lettering a bit more, not too much but enough to make it look more recessed. I have to say I'm impressed! Nice job!

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First, I think it looks great. Reminds me of the old displays in the toy aisles of the 80's. Very cool.

For my own benefit though, is there something that you can coat the styrofoam with that kind of hardens it? I have a ton of styrofoam sitting in the garage from a few different furniture boxes. I'd love to do something similar, but I'm cautous because I'm affraid it might be brittle if not handled very gently. Did you do anything to *harden* yours or is it in its original state?

Again, great job.

- Kevin

Wow! that turned out way better than I had expected - great job!

I can imagine the flash washing out some of the detail. I'd say if you're going to use it for taking pictures, then go over the recessed areas with some darker details, but if you're using it for your own enjoyment at home, leave it as-is. I've found that sometimes when I "touch up" a custom or dio so that it looks better on person, it ends up looking worse in person

Really cool - I've got a ton of styrofoam here and I'm going to try to do something like this after seeing how well yours turned out.

Even seeing your step-by-step photos, there's no way I thought it could turn out this cool. Thanks for sharing this with us!

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Very cool...I think once you give it that little bit more weathering it'll looks perfect.

Just a thought on figure positioning...did you consider giving the high ground to one side...either joe or Cobra? I think it might look a little more cohesive to have all the same team together in one place...rather than split down the middle

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Everyone, thanks so much for the feedback. Even though it wasn't a long term project or anything, it's the first major project I've tried and actually finished. I'm really happy with it, but half of that is just being amazed I got it done. It's great to know you all like it as well!



One of my original ideas was to have the TRU '97 set flag on top, with the Joes raising the flag and COBRA storming the hill. Two things stopped me.

1) The flag that came with the '97 set is crap! It's got like 57 stars on it! Sure, only 50 are painted, the rest are sculpted but not painted... but I dunno, after I noticed that I couldn't bring myself to put the flag on top. Also, the display was getting a little tall. As is, I had a to shift some shelves up and down to make room.

2) If all the Joes are up top, fighting down and "out", that means all the COBRAs would be facing INTO the display, and we'd just see their backs, which makes for kind of a borring display.

Also, sooner or later there will be enough figures from each side and I'll be able to make COBRA it's own display. It's a good point though, I really did consider setting them up like that... but I decided split down the middle would at least show everyone's front.



Check out some of the earlier posts, I asked this same question and got LOTS of great suggestions on painting and priming the foam. Ultimately, I used something called a "mineral texturing gel" found in Hobby Lobby near the Gesso. I've also seen people use spackle, and plaster cloth was also suggested in this thread.


Oh, and something I should have mentioned earlier is that my fiance patiently kept me company while I was priming and painting and made lots of great suggestions as far as piecing it together. Credit where credit's due, of course.

Thanks again for the comments!

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That looks really great! I think it would look better with just the Joes displayed on it, but it sounds like eventually that's your plan. Really cool idea that came out looking sweet.

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that looks awesome, and it is really cool to see and read about how this went from being an idea and some raw material into the finished project.

if i could make any suggestion, it would be to recommend a different material to work with.

(i'm sure someone here knows more about this than me...)

styrofoam is what's referred to as 'open cell' foam. pretty sure it has something to do with the way it's manufactured -- what it amounts to is a bunch of 'beads' stuck together, as i'm sure you've learned while working with it --

what would really work better with this idea is closed-cell foam, the type that's used to make
the sheathing insulation for houses, etc. it comes in different thicknesses, and holds up
much better to carving, etc.

i know that other dio-ists (diorama dreams?) use this as a base material, and when i finally get around to my big dio, this will
be what i use to build it up.

so, just an fyi when you get around to the cobra base it might be something you want to look into -

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HOLY CRAP! that is SWEET!

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That absolutely rocks! Great to see all the wip shots as well!

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I too didn't expect it to turn out this well. Nothing against your skills or anything I just didn't see where it was going like you did. It is fantastic. Great job.

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