Assault On Foy. need help on base.

Baking soda would be a no-no. It yellows over time and the bugs tend to find it appetizing. The woodland scenics stuff called "snow," of course, makes great snow. I've never used plaster so I can't realy comment on how that works, but I'm sure that someone else has.

Snow can be tough, but you're off to a good start. Like the attention spent to the footprints. Search through places like Hobby Lobby and Michaels; they have lots of different products that can depict heavy drifts down to frost , etc. I have experimented with a wash of white artist's pigment ( a la Mig piments) in turpenoid ( a less harsh version of tupentine). I get those from an artist's supply store. It dries into real fine snowy covering like a light, recent snow fall onto some armor. Gloss gel Medium can produce stunning ice.

I like where you are going with your dio.

Steve

You could use foam insulation to build up the base around the tank(you can buy it at Home Depot or places like it), that will save you on weight and plaster. Then use plaster to finish off the sealing the vehicle in place and for the smaller details like the footprints and such. Finally to finish it off use either Woodland scenics or Games workshops snow for the powder look.

Medic_01 wrote:

Hello All. new to the forums. This is my most recent dio in the making, basically it depics the 101st Airborne in their advance on the town of Foy, 1944. and i needa little help. Still in the construction stage at present, and features fome german armour (ignore the camo, i was just experimenting, the armour came out of a spares box), abandoned in the snow & mud. For the snow & mud base i have used some plaster filler, (is this a good medium to use?) and i am having trouble sealing it down, what can i use to keep it secure, and keep it from falling apart & crumbling? espically when i begin painting. what's a good meduim for sprinkled snow. baking soda? it looks pink, but that's the sparkfiller drying, it will dry white. Ideas anyone? suggestions?

 

Medic01;

Check you local telephone directory for a stone cutter (Cemetery Headstone, Decorative Stone) and find one that works with white, and off white marble. You can use the dust from the cutting and shaping of the slabs. It adheres well and sparkles like snow without the attraction to animals like flour and baking soda.

To build up close to the tank and cut down on the usage of plaster use Celluclay it is lightweight and easier to work with. You can find it at any good craft shop or I have even found it in Wal-Mart. To seal your foam ground work and to provide a "key" for future additions to adhere to, mix 1-3 Drops of Liquid Dish Soap to a 40% Water 60% White Glue mix and brush this over the entire area of ground work foam. This will seal the foam and add strength to the surface for addition of future layers and items.

To make icicles you can simply use Tube glue dots on a scrap of sprue, as they set up invert the piece of sprue and allow the glue to stretch with gravity and a little help every now and then with a pull from you and a piece of sprue. Once they reach the length you want let them fully harden and snap them off the sprue. Fix them in place with a dot of superglue, you may have to shape the end to be fixed to get the proper "sit" like it is ice that actually formed there.

That's about all I have for now.

Cheers;

Gregory

I'm not sure what you're trying to show here. Was the tank heavily bogged down in mud before it snowed? If so, there needs to be as much snow on the flat surfaces as on the ground. Before snow got as deep as the lower hull of the tank, the ground would have frozen solid and the tank would not penetrate that. Also, if the snow is that deep, the figures would need skis or snoow shoes, otherwise, they woulld be sinking almost chest deep in snow and be unable to move. Also, if hte snow has accumulated as much as this, I think the figures should be in great coats or other heavy winter gear.

From your sig, your in Sydney, so you probably don't deal much with that evil white stuff. Hope this was helpful.

I made mine using Polyfila.  Smear it everywhere, wait until it dries on the surface only, make the prints and let dry overnight.  That's all.

Thanks all for the tips, the base didnt work out as well as planned, and with the advice, back to the drawing board.

but hey, we play to learn.

About the depth of the snow, well i only had the top half of the tank from the spares, so i was going to bog it down in the mud and snow, but it looked to strange. and i didnt like the camo on the tank anyways.

maybe i will try again, but use a tiger that i'm knocking together, and on a snow base like yours Yan.

Medic_01

You could portray this as a "dug-in" position for the armour and that would account for the amount of depth. You could then add ground cover around to hide the missing roadwheels/track. A fallen/uprooted tree behind etc.

It is not a totally unrealistic idea, it just needs some tweaking to carry it off.

Cheers;

Gregory