This diorama represents four months of blood, sweat, and tears....it was an "out of the box" effort for this old retired lawyer, as I usually focus on German armor and some aircraft (although I do have two 1/72 subs as my next project).  I lost count of the number of trips to Radio Shack for bulbs, wire, a soldering kit, l.e.d.'s, and some helpful advice.  An electrician I am no...instead, I am closer to being like Tim on "Tool Time" from the old t.v. series "Home Improvement"...an accident waiting to happen.  The wiring inside the trailer for the rear lights was a trial and error effort; I concealed the nest of wires and soldering inside the box below the lights.  I needed something to hide that mess, so I created a sort of storage box...I think it passes muster for the most part.  The tractor headlights are made from scratch with halogen bulbs and scrape metal collars.  Yeah, they are not quite symmetrical, or even aligned perfectly, but believe me, it was the best I could do to even get them looking halfway authentic.  The snow is dusted on one side of the trailer more heavily to show the approaching winter storm and blustery wind.  I used snow from the English manufacturer Precision Ice and Snow...it goes on very thin and does not obscure the details of a model.  I made a few ice puddles on the trailer roof with Realistic Water dusted with some of the snow while it was drying.   I detailed the tractor's sleeper interior with tiny items that are sentimental for my former stepdaughter, who is in fact a Nebraska trucker; e.g., her mom's pet cat, a can of Coke (yes, I know it is not quite in scale...it is a bit too large, but it was the best I could find), an eighties' mobile phone, and even a t.p. roll made from tissue paper and white glue.  This entire dio is my Christmas present to her this year.

     I used metal charm bracelet chains from Hobby Lobby for the tire chains on the tractor and trailer.  I scratch built the electrical and air hoses from wire wrapped around a paint brush with some gentle heat applied to coil each of them.  Testors Model Master Pearl Blue was used on the tractor, and Alclad chrome was applied to the trailer aluminum skin, and I applied a decal I made from the Sure Thing  DecalMaker program.  The decal I created shows a nasty skull logo for an energy drink I dreamed up, and the skull logo should trigger some funny memories for my stepdaughter, as the skull design reminded me of a skull mask I often would put on to scare her at Halloween.  I have weathered the underside of both the tractor and the trailer with Mig enamels, and then used Tamiya weathering powders to add some texture and dull the rust and grime finish.  I have hidden the trailer's lights switch under the trailer by cutting a recessed area so that the battery box (2 AA) and the switch are recessed into the belly of the trailer.  I also weathered the tractor's engine with Mig's "fuel stains" and their "wet look" enamels.  I also dded some electrical wiring to the engine.  

     Hardest part of all of this?  The design and implementation of the wiring, as well as trying to conceal as much of the wires as I could.  (I painted them all flat black to help hide them, but you obviously can still see them coiled in places if you pick up the model and look underneath)  I pre-tested all connections with a 2AA positive/negative tester I made before soldering any of the connections; that saved me a ton of work.  

     I always enjoy adding some drama or humor to my dioramas, and here I chose to showcase a wooded area where a cougar (yes, they are migrating into Nebraska) stalking a  lost calf who is trying to cross the highway to get to its mother, who is bedded in a small Nebraska cornfield.  The calf will likely not make it ....  The cougar and the calf are both from Hobby Lobby, as is the picture frame used for the base.  The trees are from Scenic Express, with autumn leaves sprinkled from above after first spraying the trees with 3M's photo mount spray.  ( I used it for the adhesive for the snow as well, although I could have used hairspray instead.)  The cornstalks are also from Scenic Express; they were a bit of a challenge to apply to the base, given the ground cover is not very thick in that spot.

     I hope you guys and gals enjoy the pics....Merry Christmas!