Additions to the Site, June 2026

Boxdioramas.com has had its semi-annual update after another great MFCA Show in April, where boxes a-plenty were on display, as seen in my photo above. (That’s the Shep Paine classic “Matthew Brady’s Photographic Gallery” at left, on display for inspiration.) New work on seen at the show and added to the artists’ gallery pages include the latest from Joe Berton, Pete Culos, Dennis Levy, Ed Schaefer, and your editor, Jim DeRogatis. We have also created a new gallery for Matt McKeeby; added some additional images of “The Unpainted Dream” by Joan Biediger (her husband Barry’s latest box, “XOR,” has been featured on his page for some time now); created a Major Influences page for legendary sculptor Bill Merklein to highlight his one foray into box dioramas, and included new photos of recent restoration work on Shep’s “The Son of the Morning Star” and “The Shady Side of the Shire.” Surprisingly, given the number of boxes at MFCA this time, we only have two additions to the Various Artists & Newer Work page spied on Facebook: two film-inspired efforts by Robert Richardson and Irish modeler Pat McGrath. We’re certain we’ve missed plenty (damn those unpredictable algorithms!), so we are as always eager for your contributions; email us at jimdero@jimdero.com, and thanks for taking a look at the site! (Below: a great MFCA moment, as Bill Merklein takes a really close look at Joan’s box diorama.)

Additions to the Site, October 2025

Boxdioramas.com has been updated! Several new images have been added to the Various Artists & Newer Work page, including boxes seen at the Verko’s Vault Master’s Championship Show and the MMSI’s 50th Chicago Show, and new artists’ galleries have been created for Peter Gillson, a modeler who lives on the island of Guernsey, and Alberto Piacentini, who lives in Palermo, Sicily. (We love that modeling in general and box dioramas in particular are a worldwide pursuit!) New additions to existing artists’ gallery pages include the latest from Joan Biediger, Barry Biediger, Ed Schaefer, Ingvild Eiring, Gerard Joria, Nick Infield, Dave Browne, and Dennis Levy. On the vintage tip, you’ll find newly unearthed images of work by major influence Theodore Pitman on his gallery page, and videos of Eugène Leliepvre and fine artist Crista Grauer on the Feature Articles & Videos page, all coming to us from enthusiasts of the site. (We always welcome your suggestions for fun additions.) Finally, my latest box “A moulage sur Nature (A Casting from Life)” has been added to my own gallery page. Thanks as always for clicking around and sharing!—Jim DeRogatis, Oct. 27, 2025

Additions to the Site, May 2025

I’ve been overdue in updating boxdioramas.com, but several fine examples seen at the MFCA Show in May 2025 and a bit of a break in work obligations has finally allowed me to get around to it. Added to existing galleries have been the latest by Pete Culos, “Between Promise and Despair;” my own recent boxes, “After the Battle” and “The Librarians;” new work by Ingvild Eiring and Andreas Rousounelis, and new images by Darryl Audette of his still-too-timely “Glory to Ukraine” diorama (the site’s co-founder has been having fun with some new photographic gear).

New gallery pages have been created for Ed Schaefer, Eric Wolf, Günther Hoffmann, T.g. Hamilton, Joe Pacak, JP Sligh, and Corné Spoon, all artists from whom we’d love to see and hear more.

Some new links to videos and handy web sites have been added to the Links page, and a lot of fine examples of work found in my own wanderings and via Facebook and other links provided by this site’s fan Tony Stencel have been added to the Various Artists and Newer Work page. These include a box by Bob Hallinger inspired by the old comic “The Haunted Tank” seen at MFCA, and box dioramas by Cepot Jadiraja, Heiner Sander, Marilyn Pride, a mysterious artist from the past, Peter Dillen, Theo Okhuijzen, Thorsten Hammer, and several artists who’ve shown their work on the Irish Model Soldier Society Modelling Page.

As always, I appreciate suggestions for boxes to add to the site and links that might be of use to box builders; boxdioramas.com is a labor of love, and hearing from fellow creators and appreciators makes it all worthwhile. Contact me at jimdero@jimdero.com. And don’t forget to listen to the Small Subjects podcast I co-host with the other co-founder of this site, Barry Biediger, where we talk about “big ideas in miniatures and modeling”—boxes included, of course! (You can find the blog featuring images of much of what we discuss on this site here.) Thanks, and happy modeling—Jim DeRogatis, May 27, 2025

Additions to the Site, May 2024

First up, we’ve created new galleries for several renowned artists who’ve only recently done their first box dioramas: the great duo of Marion and Alan Ball and Joan Biediger, whose “Algorithm As Art,” is a stunner, as well as the subject of this article, along with Dennis Levy’s brilliant new box “Modern Art.” We’ve also added new galleries for Italian modeler Luigi Fusco and Arizona-based Mike McFadden. Additions to existing artist galleries include the latest by Pete Culos, “Cliché Noir” (as well as an article about the making of his last box, “Can’t Hardly Wait”); John Fraim; John Long, and the three box dioramas I’ve completed in the last year and a half—“Backstage,” “L 13 Über London,” and “Fantastic Voyage”—along with links from my own gallery page to additional shots and notes on the construction for each. In the Major Influences galleries, we’ve added more images of the two box dioramas by Lewis Pruneau, “Hindenburg” and “Das Boot”; another box by Peter Twist, “The Martyrdom of Becket,” recently restored by Jim, and Shep’s comments on “The Death of Jim Bowie,” as well as images from its restoration in 2023. You’ll find several other new pieces on the Feature Articles Page, including an account of A Second Round of Restorations to the Shep boxes at the Brandywine River Museum and Thoughts On Dioramas by Jamie Stokes. Finally, on our catch-all Various Artists & Newer Work page, we’ve added work seen at the 2024 MFCA show by Bob Huryk and Bernard Kempinksi, as well as submissions or finds from Milan Dufek, Mike and Linda Pierce, and Steve Leadley.

Thanks as always for taking a look, and your submissions are always welcome at jimdero@jimdero.com.

Additions to the Site, November 2023

After the bounty of new box dioramas seen at the MFCA Show in May 2023, the MMSI Chicago Show in October saw just as many new pieces on display, including my latest, “Garbage Day” (my gallery is here and step-by-step images of the box in progress can be seen here); a scene of Napoleon’s army in Egypt by Michael Berger entitled “V. Denon with the 61st”; a new box by Bob Bethea, “Christmas Surprise,” and some subtle improvements to “The Truth is Out There: The Sheppie Files” by the great Dennis Levy, first seen at MFCA. (We box diorama makers are never done tweaking things for the better!)

The MMSI Show also featured a special exhibit of Shep Paine’s box dioramas acquired at auction and restored earlier this year, most of which were added to the site in the last update. But in addition to Bob Sarnowski’s great photographs of the Shep display at MMSI, I’ve added my account of the restoration of “The Death of Jim Bowie” here, while Jerry Hutter takes us through his repairs of “Mr. Christian!” here.

Finally, as always, there are lots of fascinating additions to the Various Artists & Newer Work page, including a Beatles box by Paul Schindler; a whimsical Old West scene in the style of Ray Anderson displayed at MMSI by John Werwie; a WWI flats box by Robert Blokker; a very ambitious Waterloo box, artist unknown, at least half a century old;  a pseudo-box by Jean Diorama; Andrea Miniatures’ new “box within a box” kit; some great links shared by Phillip Young and John Fraim; a vintage “mystery box” seen at MMSI; Mike McFadden’s “Rendezvous Over Bougainville,” winner of the Popular Vote for Best of Show at IPMS Nationals 2023 in Texas, and a very impressive Star Wars box by Masa Narit that Martin McClendon hipped us to.

As always, we welcome your contributions, and if you’re a box diorama maker who’d like us to create a gallery for you, just drop us a line: jimdero@jimdero.com, barry.biediger@gmail.com. Thanks!