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Another thing I see, which is way too common, is neat rubble. For some reason many think rubble falls so vehicles will have a clear smooth path on the ground or pavement. The builder wants a big pile of rubble and blown up buildings, except for this clear track through the mess. If you want a dirty mess, don't make it look like someone swept up where the tank is rolling. Dak

As a diorama judge for many years, my first question when I look at a diorama is "What story is it trying to tell me?" Those that make it very obvious, very quickly will have a greater chance of making it to the Final Three for that category. Another criteria is the consistency between items on the diorama. For example, if showing a desert scene, and 5 vehicles have matte finishes, but the 6th is glossy, I go read the entry sheet to see if the builder discusses why he/she did it this way. If there's no explanation, that inconsistency will make further progress more difficult during the rest of the judging session. The use of space is considered, but not as heavily as these two criteria. I hope these comments help you!

FYI - Martin Kovac has a YouTube Channel with very informative model tutorials. Mostly armor models but the techniques are usable on any genre. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNM5EknY1XBA9buLmJqYLdw/videos.

One of the benefits of creating box dioramas is the ability to control perspective. The topic of forced perspective is covered in both Shep Paine's How to Build Dioramas and Ray Anderson's The Art of the Diorama. In my diorama Witness, I attempted to create forced perspective outside the "box" so to speak. The diorama was inspired by the movie Close Encounters of a Third Kind and a modeling theme of my particular IPMS chapter to create something from the movies. I envisioned a witness to the event who has pulled his car off the highway in the mountains and observes a roadblock on the highway below and below that (on the desert floor) the alien craft by the highway with two army tanks next to it. But above this witness, is another witness who is on a desert dirt bike and spies on him through a pair of binoculars. The diorama is on four levels which represent four scales: 1/12 for the man on the dirt bike on the top level of the diorama, 1/87 HO scale for the witness who has pulled off the road on the next level, 1/160 N scale for the government roadblock on the next level and 1/220 Z scale for the tanks and the huge alien craft. The viewer looks at the diorama from the perspective of the 1/12 scale man on the dirt bike and sees the cars and highway become smaller and smaller as it is farther in the distance. Below is a side view of the various levels and the view from the viewer's perspective. An "out of the box" experience! (See planning this diorama on our site at https://midnightoilstudios.org/2018/05/13/witness/)