8404 Diorama Studios

One of the very first projects I embarked upon when I began doing commissioned dioramas was one detailing my unit’s tour of duty in that loveliest of places in al Anbar province, Fallujah. Yeah, that place. The one that never fails to evoke an almost visceral reaction from anyone who’s been there. Mention it to me and my first thought is, “Man what a s**thole…”; if I know you I might even say that. Usually I’ll follow it with a joke about God giving the world an enema and inserting it in al Anbar province. Did I mention most of my memories of the place aren’t pleasant? Well, for the record they’re not. Anyway, back to dioramas.

I was commissioned by a party who shall remain nameless but knows who he is and doesn’t need public shaming. After considerable soul searching on my part I agreed to do the piece because of who it was for and where he planned to display it. After several months and sinking my money into the project to get it in motion, things changed I was on my own. This was a good thing, because it meant I answered only to me and I had full control over the creation (as well as ultimate ownership).

What I failed to reckon on was the toll that illusion of control took on me. I wanted to go for realism, recreate buildings and scenes from pictures. Very bad idea. In the end I walked away from it. Things were repurposed, figures stored or used for something else; vehicles added to the stash, traded, or used in something else; the Fallujah specific buildings were chucked in the nearest trash receptacle, the one generic structure is in the stash; and the base? It was relegated to the furthest corner of the basement where I wouldn’t have to look at it. The Corner of Shame we’ll call it, where it sat mocking me every time I had to change the furnace filter over the next four years.

I recently decided that I was tired of being laughed at while doing household chores by my unfinished project. Armed with drawings and plans of generic buildings I started pulling things together once again to silence the boogieman once and for all. Replacing the detail items won’t be a problem, there are even better ones on the market (and in some cases injection molded v. resin). The buildings are going to be done using the Hansa System, which means I can build what I want.

And, for the record, inanimate objects have not been communicating with me, teasing, mocking, or laughing at me in reality. Only in a metaphoric sense. So, let’s eradicate this boogieman…