Legendary Grand Master Modeler Shep Paine arguably did more than any other modeler to promote and forward the art of the box diorama, and he was a key inspiration for this site. He died on August 1, 2015, and you can read the tribute Jim DeRogatis wrote on the Military Miniature Society of Illinois Web site.
Born in Berlin and raised in New England, Shep spent most of his life living on the Northwest Side of Chicago, and he was an active member of the MMSI until his death. (The group oversees the Shep Paine Education Fund in his honor.) Well-known as a free-lance artist, sculptor, writer, and collector of militaria, his box dioramas were purchased by several notable collectors, including the painter Andrew Wyeth, Malcolm Forbes, and Ralph Koebbeman, and his commissions included museum projects and several large commemorative sculptures for the Franklin Mint. He was the author of four indispensable how-to books about modeling, and his work was featured in articles in almost every hobby publication, as well as general-interest magazines including Sports Illustrated and Fortune. Shep always considered the box diorama to be the epitome of the modeling art, and his 25 boxes (as well as the rest of a lifetime’s work as a modeler) are chronicled in Sheperd Paine: The Life and Work of a Master Military Modeler and Historian by Jim DeRogatis (Schiffer Books, 2008; Jim also edited the book Shep started but did not live to see through completion, Shep Paine’s Armor Modeler Guide).
For Shep’s thoughts on box dioramas, and why he turned to the form, click here. (Text from Chapter Seven of Jim’s book on Shep is included in each of the sub-pages for these dioramas.)
Shep’s boxes are featured here in chronological order, and you can see the evolution of his work over the course of his career. All of the images here and on the associated sub-pages are copyright the Estate of Sheperd Paine—photos by Shep unless otherwise noted—and cannot be reproduced without that credit.
Click on the links below each image to see additional views of the works in progress, read Shep’s comments on the boxes, and look at the restoration work Jim DeRogatis did on many of the boxes.
Click here for a look at the restored boxes (photos by Bob Sarnowski) during the MMSI’s 2023 Chicago Show, the largest exhibition of Shep’s boxes ever in one place at one time.
The Idylls of the Voltigeur (1972, 54mm)
“In the Turret of the Monitor” (1976, 100mm)
Click here for additional images, Shep’s commentary, and notes on the restoration of the box in 2023
The Defense of the Hospital at Rorke’s Drift (100mm, 1976)
Click here for additional views, Shep’s comments on the box, and notes on the restoration in 2023
The Swamp Ogre (100mm, 1976)
The Gun Deck of the HMS Victory at Trafalgar, 1805 (100mm, 1976)
Stopping the Slave Trade (100mm, 1977)
Click here for additional images and Shep’s comments on this box
Napoleon at the Tomb of Frederick the Great (100mm, 1978)
Click here for Shep’s comments on the diorama, additional images, and more
The Meeting of the Admiralty Board (54mm, 1979)
Click here for additional images and Shep’s comments on the diorama.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (100mm, 1979)
Click here for additional images, Shep’s comments, and notes on the restoration of the box in 2023
The Night Watch (100mm, 1979)
Click here for additional images, Shep’s notes on the diorama, and its restoration in 2023
The Shady Side of the Shire (90mm, 1979)
The Death of Jim Bowie (100mm, 1979)
To a Fair Wind… and Victory! (100mm, 1980)
Click here for additional images and Shep’s comments on the diorama
Remnants of an Army (54mm, 1980)
Click here for additional images and Shep’s comments on the diorama
The Capture of Redoubt No. 10, Yorktown, 1781 (100mm, 1981)
Click here for additional images and Shep’s comments on the diorama
The Sole Survivor (100mm, 1982)
A King of Shreds and Patches (Hamlet Sees the Ghost of His Father) (100mm, 1982)
Click here for additional images and Shep’s comments about the box
Dr. Syn (100mm, 1982)
Mr. Christian! (100mm, 1982)
The Visitor (100mm, 1985)
Son of the Morning Star (100mm, 1985)
Click here for additional images and Shep’s comments on the box
A Stillness at Appomattox (100mm, 1986)
Click here for Shep’s comments on the box and notes on its restoration in 2023
Matthew Brady’s Photographic Gallery (100mm, 1986)
Click here for additional images, Shep’s comments, and notes on the restoration of the box in 2023
In the Casemate of the Merrimac (100mm, 1994)
Barracoon (1/9th, 1997)
Click here for additional images and Shep’s comments on the box