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!