My first ever diorama

Hey, I'm working on my first diorama as well. Yours sounds really good. The glass is a good touch...(from what I can gather. There is no picture after all.) Good luck on this and future models.

Good luck guys,
Mark

yeah i didnt actually put a pic i just put it so people watch that space. no not really i pressed enter too much. what's yours gonna be??

I like how smooth you got the tan color of the space seb......... At least it wasn't another one of those dioramas of the white box with a red x.

I look forward to seeing both yours and Marks dioramas. Cmon guys, lets get some pics!

Mike

Also looking forward to seeing these dios.

Hey Seb, are you thinking of a career in marketing, you've certainly got me sold so far. Sand bags are really quite easy to make. Get some 2 part epoxy puty, combine enough of the elements to give you sufficient material. Roll out a large putty "snake", flatten it out a bit and cut to size. Press some course material onto the putty to give it some texture and a little shaping around the end and Ta-Da .... sandbags. Lift them off of the surface that you made them on and press them into place on the vehicle or in the dio and allow time to dry.

AHA THE LUMBERJACK BEAT ME TO IT ..thats the way i make em also.
as for cobbled streets you know what split peas are?? ok sure you do.. on the area you want cobbled put down the good ol white glue..then place yer split peas /lentils depending on the scale effect you want.[.i tend to use both] flat side down in the goo
its a wee bit labour intensive .but the effect is well worth it then use some plaster or your preffered groundwork materiel ..lay it on top of the "cobbles" and wipe off the excess with a damp cloth.this will leave the groundwork stuff inbetween your cobbles.before it dries sprinkle with fine builders sand with a little static grass mixed in and press it into the gaps between the "cobbles" with a tool. then paint and weather..if you chip some of em and sand some of them down before painting it represents worn cobbles..
REGARDS......

When I used to do Warhammer fantasy figures I would make cobbled bases by rolling out a thin layer of Milliput and then use the wrong end of a ball-point pen refill (or anything else of a suitable diameter for the scale) to gently press patterns into the putty.

This gives nice uniformly rounded cobbles, and they can easily be made in patterns - fans look good, but you might want to check what is common in Northern France. Paint all over with a grey for the mortar, then pick out individual cobbles with browns, greys, black and white.

Can't wait to see some pics

I'm still trying to get my FIRST diorama together as well, mine is an italy one,
I'm putting some german armor leaving italy heading back to germany ( maybe the Brenner pass? ) and an american platoon size element ( still can't decide weather or not to put an american vehicle or two with them? maybe knocked out or something?) on a hillside above the germans and the americans calling in for air support from the 303rdGF or another FG of american spits scrafing the german coloumn.
I still need to get or make dead/wounded germans and americans but most of my tracks are done I just need to start on my scenery before I start my weathering and dusting/mudding of my troops.
I'm hoping this comes out really cool!!

Thanks for the advice for the sandbags and roads guys, the lentils one might make me want to eat my diorama base[:0] i'll give it a try, it sounds good. Just took some photos today but i just started a new film so i might have to wait a few days until i finish it by taking pics of various random things. Two pieces of advice i ask of you fine fellows. What other "objets" could i place in wide open spaces other than debris? and Shermanfreak, i noticed how professional your photos of your latest project are... any tips oh wise one? Don't watch this space for too long you'll get red eyes. Meanwhile are there any other diorama ideas anyone would like to share?

why do i keep forgetting to include important questions? if you'd be so kind as to give me some tips on making small twigs and dead flowers then i'd be eternally full of grates hahahaha. sorry, i get carried away when i'm enjoying myself.

ok seb mate...the best thing to use for small twigs etc ..is good ol mother nature..
i'm sure you can find some deadwood round abouts...dead flowers ..ok go to your local flower shop and take a look at the DRIED flowers or pick up a pack of pot pouri.
at the drugstore..or..pick some small daisies etc and dry them yourself.....if you are looking to make convincing leaf litter...try some loose tea leaves....your old wasted paintbrushes will make convincing long grass..just cut up the bristles to different lengths......if you want grass of different sizes ...instead of buying static grass..go to a carpet store and either ask for some samples or buy a couple of those carpet squares....the nylon ones....the salesmen will probably give you a few gratis...then take em home and shave em....presto you got static grass.all different lengths...another good way to represent longer grasses is to use...human hair..last time i got a haircut i filled up a bag with the sweepings from the barbers floor..took it home put it in a muslin bag and washed it in the washer.
[just to be safe]..if you wear a beard save the clippings too...the tough stubbly little hair makes excellent straw.......if you are looking for scatter to put on your groundwork.....go to a construction site and fill a bag with builders sand...[just ask]
it contains tiny pebbles and broken gravel and looks much more in scale than say sand from a beach..or play pit...to represent swampy type areas...use mosses and, litchen the real stuff not that horrid rubbish they sell for model railroads..
dry it out first by zapping it for a second or two in the microwave oven..to kill all the little beasties...it looks great if you use it on river banks etc....if you have a cat ..try and save any whiskers that fall out ...they make excellent whip antennaes for tanks and radio sets..and its easier than stretching spru....enamel clear matte ..makes excellent iced over puddles.....the gloss makes excellent liquid ones...
pieces of washed and painted coal...make good cliff faces /exposed rock strata..
stores that sell dolls house stuff are a goldmine.. for furniture / wallpapers / fixtures and fittings....use basswood strip ..to represent rafters and joists etc..its tougher than balsa...and has a fantastic grain.....if you take a piece of crepe bandadge... and pull and stretch it ..untill you start to see daylight through the weave it makes really good cammo netting ....phew... i think that should give you something to think about my friend.....hope i have been of service....
REGARDS..........

Roots from woody plants make great trees and logs. The bark layer of roots is perfect as scale bark. Because they have a higher water content in the cells of the fiber, they keep alot of their little branches. Again, a nicer scale tree effect. Bigger roots make bigger logs and trees. If you have a particularly "busy" root scrap you can use the roots as roots and partialy bury them in your ground material. The thicker part being the tree's trunk. Snap and or twist them and they frey, much like a tree that has been hit by a round or bomb.

Cheese cloth makes a great camo net. So does surgical gauze.

I mix my ground material up 70% celuclay and 30% plaster. This makes it dry faster and it does not suffer the predation of vermin like silverfish over time. As it drys it makes for some really nice texture and when painted and dry brushed looks awsome. Throw in your ground debris and small rocks and varying grits of sand.

Large fields can be broken up by rock outcroppings, abandoned vehicles, wreckage of vehicles or planes, abandoned carts, tree outcroppings, etc. I once did a diorama of an outhouse at a peek of a steep incline. On one side was a union soldier and the other, out of line of site, a confederate. Both were climbing to the top to use the outhouse. Terrain can make some interesting visual breaks.

On Dioramas I think its o.k. to force perspective and make things closer that they would actualy be. It adds to the drama and tension of a scene. Like in Redlegs dio idea. The base can be small but have alot. By using a hairpin turn in a mountain pass with a road just wide enough for 1 vehicle at a time, the rock face becomes a visual obstacle for both sides. As the Germans travel up and over the pass they will run into advancing americans coming down the road. Though they may not see each other in the scene the viewer sees whats around the bend and that is what creates the tension of the situation. The viewer becomes involved because he can see that there is no room to fight it out and something has to give. Especaily if it is a steep drop off or precipice off the road. You make him want to warn somebody.

Good luck, and don't forget PICTURES!!!

Mike

Seb ..... the biggest problem that I encountered in taking pics was with the lighing. You really don't want to let the flash be part of the game. I did a post on lighting a while back in the forums, here's the link

http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2269&SearchTerms=kodak

hope this helps

If you want to see what european buildings look like shot up I have some pics of Kosovo posted on ronUSMC's web page , they're a few places like klocot and farazai ( my spelling isn't to great for the Kosovar town names?). they might give you and idea of what it could've looked like in WWII when the rounds would hit the houses and what not? If you would want to see some bombed out buildings I could post more I guess?

yay!! pictures pictures pictures!!! i really appreciate the help you guys are giving me... whats ronUSMC's web address?

See first sticky post in General Modelling Discussion

I am on my first dio too. mine will be a german pak 37 and some mg crews laying in ambush along a road. an m8 g'hound coming around the corner.....


BOOM!!!

Actually Artillery is the king of the battle!
infantry the queen
and so on etc etc.

don't bash my sig. artillery is the bishop, tank the king, infantry the queen, but if its self-propelled artillery then I can see where your coming from...

no, I'm Artillery, it's an artillery thing!
and I'm also self propelled M109A6.

also how can artillery be king of the battlefield when they aren't even close to the battlefield??

lightning death, just like the legend of St. Barbara.
artillery was one of the main factors of an army to gain supremecy on the battlefield back in the day ,hence "king of the battle".
and for those who didn't have cannons, well you don't really hear to much of them or speak their language?

Army MOS pride 101

"artillery" as you call it WAS on the battlefield back then (16+1700's), but that was because their aim and power was terrible. artillery has changed a lot since then.

P.S. this is a diorama topic, and you started this little exchange about artillery so send me a picture of the diorama with artillery on the battlefield [;-)]

Redleg/Abrams,
Artillery was used by the Greeks and Romans, albeit catapaults, trebuchet, ballistae, and onagers but they qualify as being in the battlefield.

First recorded illustration of a canon used in europe was 1325. A time when battlefields were still realtively small in comparison.

Battlefield can be defined as any area that can be reached by the opposing forces weapons. Not just front lines.

And while impressive, IMO, tanks have lost much of their imposing status. SInce they can be knocked out by weapons costing a fraction of the cost of a tank and can be fired at from out of range of the tank. Or overcome by a far inferior force (there's some soviet tankers that did some time in Afghanistan that would agree with me there) So I think that the king has a tarnished crown. Besides even though I'm a tread head, I feel comfortable with the idea that once you have air superiroity, your tanks and arty aren't worth squat. So who's king of the battlefield? (nothing but love guys) ;-)

Seb, others,
let see some in progress pics of these dioramas! C'mon share! Dios are too much a visual thing to go just on the typed description.

Mike

so define how infantry is "the queen of the battlefield"

anyway here is the pictures of my dio (in progress)


as you can see I am quite far into it

Artillery is King because it commands the battlefield but NO army can win without infantry.

The job of Redleg1-7FA is pretty obvious I think. Here is some U.S. Army uniform history from a century ago.
Infantry wore blue pants
Mounted infantry wore blue pants with a light blue stripe down leg the seam
Cavalry wore blue pants with a yellow stripe down the leg seam
Artillery wore blue pants with a red stripe down the leg seam

whompsha!

I was only joking about wanting to know why infantry is queen of the battlefield. Besides I think this little exchange is getting out of hand and it has nothing to do with the topic. actually my pics aren't accurate, I do have some assembly done on the pak 35/36. hopefully if all goes well I will post some pics in August of the completed dio for some constructive criricism.

I still need to figure out how I'm going to do my mountain pass scene?

Whats holding you up Redleg?

Mike