desert diorama

Hi there,
I am also currently researching the North African Campaign for a dio. It depends on where you set your scene, Basically the area consists of rock and sand. The Libyan desert is mostly a flat stretch of sand with rocky patches. To the west is the Atlas Mountains - Kasserine Pass, to the east the sand dunes only start in Egypt. The guys had to dig deep for cover in the desert. The southern extremities, bordering on the Sahara desert also has dunes, but only the LRDG went that far.

Sand and cat litter will give you a general desert effect. Since water in the desert is scarce, you will only find plants near oasis. Some areas did have small desert brush, barely ankle height and very sparse.

MDF is medium density fibreboard...it's like wood but without the grain, so it doesn't warp. it comes in sheets at DIY places like Lowes or Home Depot, i think ( i get mine by dumpster diving )... comes in different thicknesses also. good for bases for dioramas, and can even be used for structures in larger scales... good stuff !
HTH
frosty
have u started ur diorama yet ?

Hi there
I dont know what mdf stands for but it is like chipboard but a lot more dense and more sturdy. U will find that most cabinets are made of mdf and u should be able to get it from your local d.i.y./ hardware store. I dont know how much its costs over there but it is not very expensive and it comes in quite a few thicknesses. I hope this helps u.

Keep well.

whts an MFD base

i'm working on a small desert dio in 1/72 myself. i'm using mdf base, and spackling compound worked pretty well to represent the sand dunes. the spackling compound i used was a little old, and it had some small hardened lumps in it, but i just spread it all on the base and then used those to represent small rocks scattered about. i used spray paint and fine grain model rr ballast to create a bit of texture, but i'm gonna sift some play sand and add that on top so my tank can sink into the surface a bit. a tiny bit of ground foam and some static grass here and there and it'll be done.
hth, and good luck with ur project !
frosty

basically start off with an mdf base, smother it mlumps of polystyrene and cover everything with PVA followed by a heavy coat of sand

I just finished a small (1/35) north africa desert dio. The basic material is sand: sea sand wich is yellow (I took a plastic bottle of it on a seashore weekend). Unless you live near the sea or a desert try a craft store, they may have boxes of yellow sand for mixing cement. No trees in a desert, but small rounded brushes you cam make with pieces of dry brances: just look around you... Do not forghet to shape dunes. If do do some image search you'll notice that roads in the deset are sand and stones. Enjoy! Dedox

should i use stands reall tree or fake and where can get the msaterails for the natrual surroundingds for the diorams

O.k. Think of the scene you want to portray. Then sketch it out on paper. It doesn't have to be a technical illustration, but just something you can file away so that you get your ideas flowing. Once you think you have what you want, make some paper cutouts with the rough shape and the same size as your finished models. Use these for placement. Once you think you have what you want, then add some space around it and thats your base. It doesn't have to be big. You can fit alot of action in a small scene. Maybe the two allied tanks can be pulled up alongside the abandoned tiger tank or vice versa. Or just display all three as a representation of tanks used in the desert during WWII. Have what you want to do in mind before you start.
Then you can start on the ground so that it best displays your vehicles.

Mike

im lookin for 1-3 vehivle dispalyi in a combat action i for examol i have a tiger, tank and sherman tank , and soona a maltilda mk2 there 1:72 scale

Are you looking to do single vehicle displays? Multiple vehicle displays? Vignettes? Tell a story? Capture a moment? invoke an emotion? Theres alot of options there Bigfoot. Can you narrow it down a bit and give us a direction?

What scale are they?

What did you have in mind? Sounds like a pretty fun project or list of projects.

Mike