How to Build a Military Diorama: weekend project PART 3 - FINISHED!

The weekend diorama project is finally done! Read on to see the tank and the soldiers finished and painted and the diorama created.

Last night when I posted Part 2, the tank was nearly built and the diorama base was almost complete. Today's first job was to finish the base, for which I decided to add some snow to create a wintry scene. Also, as I had spent minimal time on the grass and hedge, the snow would help cover up my rather basic approach to the foliage. The snow was easily created with a mixture of PVA glue, bicarbonate of soda and water. Only a tiny amount was needed, enough to fill a dessert spoon: the mixture was stirred to the consistency of yoghurt and dripped onto the base with a waste plastic strip.

 

 

With the 'snow' drying, it was time to get back to the tank and the soldiers. I put the wheels on the tank and painted it olive green, then gave the soldiers a coat each of a slightly lighter green, avoiding their faces and hands (I had already painted their faces and hands with flesh-colour last night). I then went out for a walk for about an hour and a half, and on my return I put the tracks on the tank, followed by the mudguards which partially cover them. The kit includes a 50-calibre machine gun to go on the turret roof, but I thought it looked to big and a bit over-scale, so I left it off. I also painted the soldiers' boots, weapons and various pouches and packs. With the tank complete, I put on the few markings (waterslide decals/transfers) and after a cup of tea to let them dry out, I applied some weathering. I started off using a thin oil paint wash, but it attacked the still-unhardened olive green paint so I left that and did the weathering with Tamiya weathering powders. A few dark and light streaks and smudges add a used look to the tank. I had also saved the remaining paint left over from painting the road yesterday, so I dry-brushed some onto the tank tracks and lower surfaces to represent road dirt and mud, and to help 'blend' the tank into the scene.

 

 

With the tank and soldiers ready for battle, it was time to fix them to the diorama base. In keeping with the quick and care-free approach to this project, I didn't do any research at all into realistic WW2 US patrol formations or tactics: instead, I just placed the tank and figures how I thought would look interesting. With that done, the project was finished, just 48 hours after I began!

 

My idea for this scene is that a US infantry unit is advancing into Germany in the first few weeks of 1945, with snow still thawing as they go. This unit, supported by an M-24 Chaffee light tank, has spotted an enemy post dug in half a mile ahead. While the rest of the unit, including the CO with his pistol, provide flanking cover on both sides of the road, a section of three men runs forward to take a look and identify the extent of the threat ahead. When they return with the information, the tank will attempt to destroy the enemy position with its main gun, and the patrol will move forward.

 

Enough words - here are the pictures. Don't forget, you can click on the images to see them enlarged. Thanks very much for coming to take a look.

 

 



 

How to Build a Military Diorama: weekend project PART 2

Read Part 1 here

The weekend diorama project has moved on significantly in the last 24 hours, though we’re not finished yet!

Yesterday, I got as far as making a basic base for the diorama from a polystyrene pizza base and a skim of household wall filler. Today’s first job was to give the base a coat of paint to form a basis for the scenery: because I want the diorama to be a muddy European scene from WW2, I used a mixture of dark brown, beige and black acrylic artists paint to create a grey-brown muddy colour. I watered it down a little and gave the base a couple of light coats.

 

The ambient temperature is pretty low here at the moment, so the paint was taking ages to dry. I heated my oven to 50C and popped the base in for 10 minutes to speed the drying. After that, I got out some scenic materials to add grass to the banks and roadsides. I used a couple of different shades of green scatter material made specially for models and model railways, and added a low hedge with some synthetic material again intended for model railways. All this was applied over a thin diluted coat of PVA glue, then a very diluted mix of PVA was dripped over the ‘grass’ using an old contact lens solution bottle.

 

While the base dried out between painting and adding the grass, it was time to make a start on the tank and the figures. All parts were given a coat of Humbrol primer from an aerosol can, to provide a decent base for paint when the time comes. In this photo, you can see the two pieces that make up the small base that is included with the tank model: I decided not to use it, as I am (obviously) making my own base.

The primer dried out while I worked on the diorama base (see above), so in the afternoon I was able to begin building the M24 Chaffee tank. This was a fairly quick job in modelling terms, taking a couple of hours from start to the 80% complete build you see below. This is a Revell kit which was actually designed and originally sold by Matchbox back in the early 1980s, and it really is a great little kit. The parts are moulded crisply and fit together very well, and the detail is really not bad at all for the tiny size. You can see how little the tank is compared with the standard Humbrol paint tin in the photo. You can see that I have pre-painted the lower hull sides, and the backs of the wheels, so they will not require painting when the tank is fully assembled - otherwise they would be practically impossible to paint.

Sweet!

I think it’s going to build up to be a very nice model, I just hope the diorama base matches up to the same standard!

Come back tomorrow to see the project completed.

How to Build a Military Diorama: weekend project

I love building dioramas: this weekend I am going to build a simple military diorama from scratch and keep a photo diary. Hopefully you will pick up a few ideas along the way, and on Sunday night we should have a finished model to display!

Like most modellers I have many unbuilt kits in storage awaiting their time on the workbench. I have some quite complex and ambitious plans for some of them, meaning I won't start building without a lot of preparation and planning. However, sometimes it's nice to leave those valued kits where they are and crack on with something quickly without worrying too much about how it turns out.

 

Today I bought two small military kits in 1/76 scale: Revell's WW2 US infantry and M24 Chaffee tank, for £5.99 each. I also bought a tube of Polyfilla to help make a scenic base. I am going to build a small WW2 diorama over the weekend.

The first job was to create the diorama base. In line with the low-budget approach to this project, I am using a polystyrene base from a fresh pizza, onto which I will add scenic details. I wanted my model to fit onto a small round plinth, so the first job was to cut the polystyrene base to size. I simply drew around a plate with a Sharpie marker to get the size, and cut it out with scissors.

 Next job was to create some basic 'forms' as a basis for terrain features: I used offcuts of the polystyrene pizza base to create shallow banks with a flat road bed between them, to recreate a typical European back road. These were fixed in place with polystyrene cement (normal model glue).

I had time for a cup of tea while the glue dried, after which I opened the Polyfilla and applied a thin coating of filler, to blend in the road bed and banks and create a decent base for the scenery.



It is not really clear in the photo, but the banks either side of the road will work out between 2 feet and 6 feet tall in 1/76 scale, just right for earth banks either side of a European country road. Top tip: keep a bowl of warm water on hand when you're applying filler to make groundwork. You can use it to wet your fingers to smooth the surface of the filler, and to keep your hands clean!

Tune in tomorrow to see the next update!

A Quiet Evening in Lincolnshire: Lancaster Diorama Finished!

My WW2 Lancaster diorama, A Quiet Evening in Lincolnshire, is finally finished. You can read all about the making of it in previous blog posts, so I won't say too much: instead I’ll let the photos do the talking.

 

 

 

AEC Matador refuelling bowser tops up the Lanc's starboard tank

 

 

 

Three 'erks' work on the port-inner Merlin engine while an officer looks on

 

 A sergeant arrives in a Bedford MW, accompanied by a WAAF

 

Important documents arriving by bicycle

 

A father and his two sons watch progress from behind the hedge

Z-Zulu, the star of the scene, a Lancaster B.III

 

 

 

To make this diorama I used:

Revell 1/72 Lancaster B.I/III

Airfix 1/72 Bomber Resupply Set

Airfix WW2 RAF Personnel

Revell WW2 RAF Ground Crew

Oxford Diecast 1/76 RAF David Brown tractor

Wills 1/76 weigh bridge hut

Model Scene 1/76 schoolboys and master

Woodland Scenics foliage and scenery

A Quiet Evening in Lincolnshire: Lancaster Diorama Part 5

Time for a quick update on the WW2 RAF bomber base diorama. The Lancaster is now practically finished, with a just a handful of aerials and navigation lights to fit, so I thought I would take advantage of a break in the rain to take it outside and get some photos. You can see some white blobs in the cockpit, which are caused by the PVA glue I used to attach the glazing. It will be clear and invisible when it’s dry.

 

The ‘Lanc’ was painted with Humbrol paints. First I airbrushed the whole plane with no.30 enamel for the green, then hand-painted no.29 brown enamel to make the camouflage pattern. The upper surfaces were then masked off and the extensive black underside was sprayed with Humbrol gloss black acrylic paint from an aerosol can. 

The whole model was then sprayed with Humbrol gloss acrylic aerosol paint to provide a good smooth base for the decals (transfers). When the decals had been applied and allowed to dry, the aircraft was sprayed with Humbrol matt acrylic. The main reason for this part of the process is to prevent silvering of the decals, which often happens if they applied onto a matt surface – air remains trapped beneath the decals and the rough matt surface, and gives a silvered or frosted look to the markings. Trapping the decals between a gloss undercoat and a matt overcoat not only minimises silvering, but also helps to blend the decals in so they appear to be painted on. Actually it didn’t work 100% on this model, though I was able to resolve the silvering using a technique I found online, and which I will go into another time. Some subtle weathering was applied using dilute black oil paint, especially on the wing surfaces behind the exhausts so represent exhaust staining. Detail parts such as the turrets, cockpit glazing, under carriage and propellers were fitted after painting was completed.

Now the Lancaster is ready to be placed in the diorama, and the vehicles and figures placed around it to create the scene. Most of the work is now done, and the diorama should be finished very soon.

A Quiet Evening in Lincolnshire: Lancaster Diorama Part 4

 

Work continues on the Lancaster diorama, and as I am due to hand it over to the charity volunteers in the first week of October, I need to be getting to the final stages of the build. The Lancaster itself is almost finished, the ground vehicles and ground crew are finished, and now the scenic base itself is finished.

The base of the base – if you follow me – is a 50cm x 60cm offcut of MDF, provided very cheaply by my local branch of B&Q. This I sprayed black. On top of this is a sheet of brown mounting card to serve as a basis for the scenic materials to stick to. I avoided putting the actual scene directly on to the board in case it went wrong and had to be reworked, in which case I would have wasted the board: it’s safer to stick the scenery to the card, which could always be replaced if necessary.

I used  Woodland Scenics scatter material for the grass, stuck down with diluted PVA glue and with Spray Mount craft adhesive, then over-sprayed with Humbrol olive green acrylic paint to add some variety to the colour tone. The hedge is made of Woodland Scenics foliage material, broken into pieces and glued down with PVA. The farm track was created by adding brown scatter material, and the boundary fence is made of short pieces of cocktail sticks glued into place as posts, with fine black wire used as fencing wire. To add some interest to the hedge, I added some small twigs from the garden to represent tree trunks and branches, which perhaps would have been felled a few years ago when the airfield was commissioned.

 

Next jobs: finish the Lancaster and add all the components to the base, creating the diorama.

 

A Quiet Evening in Lincolnshire: Lancaster Diorama Part 3

Time for another quick update on the Lancaster diorama. I’m happy to say that the ground vehicles are now more or less completed, apart from a couple of decals. The diorama will include a David Brown RAF tug and a Bedford MDC light truck from the Airfix Bomber Re-Supply set, mentioned last time, and the classic AEC Matador refuelling tanker, a veteran kit from the old Airfix RAF refuelling set. Last time, I had not even bought the Matador refueller, but I managed to get hold of one from my excellent local model shop, Regal Models of Chatham, and a few days later it is ready to go into the diorama. I have also finished the small hut which will be the only building on the diorama.

 

The Airfix AEC Matador RAF refueller. I based the colour scheme on a Matador in the film ‘In Search of RAF Bomber Command’, a wonderful resource which shows bombers being readied for action back in WW2.  

 

The hut is a model railway kit, though I think it suits the WW2 airfield role pretty well. It has been weathered with enamel paints and a Tamiya weathering set.

I thought I should also capture a couple of photos of the Lanc’s cockpit before I cover it up for ever with its large clear ‘glasshouse’.

 

This is what the Lanc’s nose looks like with the front turret installed: it’s starting to look more like a Lancaster now!

 

Next time, I will show the diorama scenic base and hopefully some shots of the finished Lancaster.

A Quiet Evening in Lincolnshire: Lancaster Diorama Part 2

I thought I’d post a quick update on the Lancaster diorama. Last time I mentioned that I would be adding some RAF ground vehicles to the display to add some life and realism, and these have started to come together in the past week or so. I have been referring regularly to my three volumes of ‘Lancaster at War’, a multi-part reference work which has first-hand accounts from Lancaster aircrews and ground crews as well as many great photos of the Lancs and their crewmen. The photos show how many people and how much equipment was depended upon to service and maintain the aircraft, and it is clear that I need to reflect this in my diorama.

So, I will be using at least one vehicle from the Airfix Bomber Re-Supply set I mentioned last time, plus a die-cast tractor intended for railway modellers. I might also include an Airfix refuelling bowser, as well as several RAF ground crew figures.

I have built the Bedford MVT from the Airfix Bomber Resupply set, and it builds up as a really nice little truck. The kit allows you to build it either as a water bowser or as a light truck with a canvas roof, which is what I chose.

 

I bought a David Brown aircraft tug tractor made as a die-cast model by Oxford Diecast. It’s a nice little model (it really is small, about an inch long) but was in the wrong colour, being in the light blue colour of the Fleet Air Arm, so I repainted it in RAF blue-grey. I’m not sure it’s quite the right colour, but it looks OK. It is also apparently 1/76 scale, so too small for a 1/72 diorama, but again it looks alright to me.

Both vehicles have been painted with Humbrol enamel paints then gently weathered using a Tamiya weathering set. The next job is to buy and build an AEC Matador refuelling bowser kit.

A Quiet Evening in Lincolnshire: Lancaster Diorama Part 1

Growing up in the 1980s, I found myself enthralled by World War 2 history. My grandparents’ generation had lived as adults through WW2 and even 40 years later, it seemed to my young eyes that all the best films, the best comics – and the best model kits – were focused on WW2. In Britain we maintain a strong remembrance of previous wars, particularly WW2, so growing up I was accustomed to seeing the RAF's surviving Lancaster flying over each year as part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and naturally I was very impressed by this mighty, rumbling, graceful machine.

Back in the 21^st Century, and I realised recently that I have never built a model Lancaster. It occurred to me at the same time that some acquaintances of mine are involved with an armed forces charity, and a plan began to form: what if I made a model Lancaster diorama as a fundraiser for them? They quickly agreed and work began earlier this summer. The plan is to create a diorama showing a Lancaster being readied by ground personnel for an evening mission at a Lincolnshire bomber base.

The main focus will be the Lancaster, of course, and for this I chose the  Revell Lancaster Mk.I/III kit in 1/72 scale. This has turned out to be a decent kit with good detail and nice build options. I deliberately didn’t select one of the Dambuster Lancaster kits available because I wanted the model to represent a typical aircraft preparing for a typical mission, rather than a one-off.

The Lancaster is currently about 75% finished. The main assembly is complete, together with the finished paintwork and decals, with the propellers, landing gear, gun turrets and cockpit glazing still to add. The rear vertical stabilisers are finished but still to be added.

To add some life to the scene, I will be adding some ground personnel and RAF vehicles to the display. Luckily, Airfix have just released their WW2 RAF Bomber Re-Supply set, and I will be making good use of the excellent vehicles and ground accessories within to give some purpose to my display. I will also add some figures from Revell and Airfix RAF personnel kits.

Airfix RAF Bedford in progress

 

Next jobs on A Quiet Evening in Lincolnshire:

Finish the Lancaster

Build the ground vehicles

Finish the ground base and figures

 

Down Memory Lane 2: The Teenage Years

It is fashionable for people to recall their teenage years as a period of unfettered and hedonistic rebellion. Just as well then that I’m not interested in being fashionable, as I spent my teenage years resolved to stay out of trouble and lead a quiet life – much like the majority of teenagers, if we are going to be honest. Modelling fitted nicely into that kind of lifestyle, and between the ages of 13 and 18 I picked up some skills which have stood in me good stead ever since.

I can’t think of any obvious reason why a 13 year old in Lincolnshire should be an ardent fan of American cars, but I was. I loved their incredible, dramatic styling, their luxury and size, and their powerful V8 engines. I suppose I had been influenced by the popular TV and film programming of my childhood, with the Dukes of Hazzard, Smokey & the Bandit, Gumball Rally, Cannonball Run, American Graffiti and Steven King’s Christine all making impressions on my mind. Perhaps I was, in a simple childish way, also mystified by the fact that cars at home were very different: I mean, why did people drive around England in Austin Rover Maestro 1.3Ls instead of 5.0-litre Chevrolets? Unhindered by adult practicality, my young mind decided that US cars made much more sense than our own, and I started building them.

My first ever American car kit was a Revell 1979 McLaren Mustang, built when I was about 10. I didn’t know much about the real car, but I made a reasonable job of the model. However, in my mind my American car building career began for real when I built a Monogram 1956 Chevy, bought by my brother Ash for my 12^th birthday. I spent many evenings happily painting parts and gradually building the Chevy, also choosing from the various options in the kit. My Chevy ended up with the slightly unlikely combination of factory wheels and suspension coupled with twin turbos on its old V8 engine. In those days I didn’t paint the car body shells, though I did carefully paint the interior of the Chevy in two-tone blue and white.

In the next couple of years I expanded by American stable nicely, with such additions as a 1958 Ford Thunderbird, 1966 Shelby GT350, 1970 Buick GSX, 1969 Oldsmobile 442, Shelby GT500 and 1966 Ford Fairlane. At this time, my local area (and I think the UK generally) had adopted US diner imagery as a fashionable cultural reference: American-style diners and bars sprung up serving American beers and menus, the shops were full of checked shirts and Caterpillar boots, and my stereo at home played ZZ Top tapes almost every night. At this point, I had stopped building model aircraft entirely, and I had begun to paint all my cars with car spray paint.

It was during this time that I joined a local model club, IPMS Fenland, which I am pleased to see continues to thrive. There I made new friends and also leaned many new tricks, which helped me to generally raise the standard of my builds. While a club member, I built a number of cars which I still own including a 1989 Corvette, Ford F-350 pickup, 1959 Cadillac Eldorado and my first truck model – a Revell Peterbilt 359 custom truck called Black Widow. At my first and only appearance at a model show (in Stevenage, Lincolnshire), I won my first and only trophy: Best in Class for vehicles, awarded to my Ford F-350 pickup. In a hobby dominated at that time by aircraft models, it felt great to win something for the club and to see some recognition of my own emerging skills: at this point I had been modelling for about 10 years.

I continued building, with more cars and another truck coming off the production line in the next year, until I was about 18 years old. At that point modelling began to take a back seat to my social life, and the final builds from my teenage years were an Italeri Volvo F-16 truck and a Monogram 1/12-scale 1957 Chevy.  Soon I left for university, and modelling was forgotten about – but not for long.

To be continued