Fury Tank Battle Diorama - Design & Layout Development

 

Context

Released in 2014, Fury is a war film, starring Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf and Logan Lerman (among others), written and directed by David Ayer. The film follows the story of an American tank crew as they fight their way through Germany in 1945, detailing the horrors they witness and experiences as they fight to survive during the final year of the Second World War.

During a scene in the film, the American tank and it's crew must fight the most feared opponent in the German arsenal, the dreaded Tiger tank, when their armoured column is ambushed and all but destroyed by their deadly adversary. This high-paced, adrenaline fuelled scene is over in a matter of minutes, but almost perfectly demonstrates the battlefield superiority of the German armour when compared to their Allied counterparts. This short duel within the film is the inspiration behind this diorama.

Layout Development Process

To begin designing for this diorama I decided to play the film scene on my computer and take screenshots throughout. This was to plan, with great accuracy, the layout of the diorama and the positions of all that I planned to place on it. I also decided that the model would be at 1/72 scale as it allowed for all the vehicles of the scene to fit in a relatively good size area without being too big to store or display. With all this, I was able to draw several rough designs in an A5 sketchbook.

01. Rough design sketches

Before planning the build of the design, I purchased several model kits of the vehicles that were going to feature on the diorama. These were 1/72 scale Hasegawa Tiger I and M4A3E8 Sherman tanks, Armourfast™ M4A2 Sherman tanks and a Revel M4A1 76(W) Sherman tank. When constructing these kits, I noticed that the turret of the Hasegawa Sherman tank model kit differed from that of the M4A3E8 tank featured in the film. To resolve this, I swapped the turret from the kit with that of a previously completed Trumpeter M4A3 76(W) Sherman model, which had the correct turret design.

02. Model tanks positioned on balsa wood

03. Model tanks positioned on balsa wood

With these models in a partially completed state and the rough design sketches, using some left-over lengths of balsa wood from a university project, I placed the wood on the floor beside each other and placed the model tanks on top in an attempt to figure out the dimensions and the best positions for the models on the base. Using the images of the scene, I positioned the models on the wood at approximate, scaled-down distances that resembled their positions in the images.

I carefully positioned each of the models in various locations on the wood, photographing those that best replicate the scene. The best positions that allowed for accurate placement of the models on the available space included one with the Tiger I and 'Fury' tanks positioned at a slight angle on the base, and another with them placed parallel with its side edges. By placing the models on the wood in different positions I was able to determine the minimum required size of a rectangular shaped for the diorama. I found that the minimum required dimensions for a rectangular base would be 92cm X 32cm.

04. Model tanks positioned on balsa wood

05. Model tanks positioned on balsa wood

With these dimensions for the base, I found a piece of polystyrene packaging foam, and using an electric foam cutting tool, cut a rectangle at the required dimensions. Once the foam was cut to shape, I placed the models back in their places for the diorama, this time, on the foam base. Doing this revealed that there were several large areas of the base which would have no features, other than the flat terrain of the scene, so with this in mind, I decided to mark out these areas and remove them, once again, using the electric foam cutting tool. I felt that by removing these areas, it would make for a more interesting diorama, with the main focus of the design on the models and action of the scene being depicted. By changing the shape of the base, I was also able to change its dimensions, shrinking the length and increasing the width, yet still be able to place all the required models of the diorama in the correct positions to accurately depict the scene.

To strengthen the foam base, I covered it with a layer papier-mâché, followed up with a layer of toilet roll sheets. Before attaching this layer of toilet roll, I allowed the papier-mâché to dry, and where the tank tracks rest on the base, drew around them to indicate where to place lines of glue using a hot glue gun. These strips of glue were to act as grooves in the ground created by the tank tracks. After all these components dried, I painted the top of the base with black acrylic and Craig & Rose brand Hill House chalky emulsion paint.

06. Diorama base (Work in Progress)

07. Diorama base (Work in Progress)

Unfortunately, due to the application of papier-mâché directly onto the polystyrene, the material warped out of shape, causing the centre of the base to raise above the desired height creating a curve, similar to that of a hill. As this was not a desired effect for the piece, I managed to find a large piece of discarded wood in my garden, left-over from some home interior refurbishment, onto which the foam could be attached. For this process, I placed the foam on top of the wood board, holding it down so it was flat, and drew around it with a marker pen. I then removed the foam and cut the wood into shape, in preparation for the foam base to be attached. This was achieved using a can of Ever Build Carpet Fix adhesive spray, placing it on the wood, laying the foam on top and using a tray, weighed down with dumbbells and bricks, until the adhesive had cured. Once dry, I removed the weights and tray, with the base now retaining its flat shape. The next step of the project is to complete the featured models and apply the finishing touches to the diorama base.