Scale panoramas

Revell’s 1/72 scale Type VIIC U-boat is at the center of Mike’s shadow-box vignette, “Wolves’ Lair.” But, although he superdetailed the sub, that was only the beginning of a stunningly complex display.

In the April 2018 FineScale Modeler, Mike manages to model the U-boat pens Germans built on the French coast, massive outpourings of concrete that housed the submarines and their construction, fitting, and maintenance in seaside bunkers that were virtually bomb-proof — all in a scene that depicts hundreds of feet of subject material in a shadow box that would fit on your kitchen table.

This is business as usual for Mike, whose shadow boxes and forced-perspective dioramas have amazed FSM readers for years. For example, our May 2012 Reader Gallery featured a centerfold image of a waterfront D-Day staging area with boat landings, landing craft, railway, cranes, and a variety of vehicles and buildings, not to mention harbor waters, with 1/76 and 1/87 (HO) scales producing a forced perspective that condenses a huge scene into a tabletop tableau.

Mike makes it look easy. But the following in-progress photos show that if you’re going to try something like this, you’d better bring plenty of supplies and skills — modeling, carpentry, and electronics — for the journey.

A block of clay serves for a work stand as Mike solders rails of stainless-steel wire.

Tools of Mike’s trade include a handy bending tool.

Rails and periscopes take shape.

Steel and brass rod dress up the U-boat’s tower and wintergarten.

An aftermarket deck gun from Griffon comes as its own multimedia kit.

Mike begins erecting walls of the U-boat pen by coating styrene sheet with acrylic gel medium, sectioning it with a knife, then stippling the surface to replicate coarse concrete.

Effective painting and weathering make the walls convincing.

Mike lays out the scene in Foamcore within the box.

Wiring for interior lighting laces the outside of the shadow-box’s core.

An electric motor runs a working overhead crane on the ceiling of the enclosure; a worm gear drives the crane assembly traversing the space.

The crane’s girders are scratchbuilt from styrene strip and structural shapes.

The water is applied in layers of Woodland Realistic Water and Water Effects, with ripples of acrylic gel medium.

The box of the diorama is the core within the box containing the wiring and motors. The outer box has a finished facade; Mike kept the top and front removable for access.

Detailing the U-boat: Mike drilled out the limber holes; cables are ship-modeler’s thread; the netting is bridal tulle; and the torpedo-loading rig is a kit from CMK. Figures in the background are in smaller scales to exaggerate their distance.

Scratchbuilding and superdetailing efforts pay dividends in the look of the wintergarten and the opened hatch aft.

The working crane adds movement to the shadow-box scene.

Mike McFadden’s “Das Boot” ranges from 1/35 to 1/144 scale to create its perspective.
(Sept. 2001 FSM)

“A night to remember” depicts the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
(Jan. 2010 FSM)

D-Day preparations are in full swing in the portrait Mike provided for FSM’s Reader Gallery.
(May 2012 FSM)

“Drama in a shadow box” uses four different scales to portray late-war street fighting.
(Oct. 2014 FSM)