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!
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