The Edge Of Darkness

Roger Hurkmans depicts Dutch volunteers on the Eastern Front.

- Roger Hurkmans

When searching for a new diorama idea I often look to old paintings or illustrations. It does not have to be a World War II illustration, you can also look, for example, to an illustration from other conflicts but translate this to the World War II setting. In this case, I used as an inspiration a World War I illustration from the Italian artist Fortunino Matania. Matania was one of the most prolific artists of World War I and his ultra-realistic studies of trench warfare and life on the Western Front were published in London Illustrated Newspaper’s weekly publication The Sphere. I mainly used the lay-out and the poses from the figures in Mantania’s drawings as my inspiration.