I'm building a small diorama of a 7.5cm Pak 40 antitank gun, using an old Tamiya kit I had in the stash. I decided to depict it as a dug-in emplacement, using a reprint of a German Fieldworks Manual as a guide.
First I cut a slab of styrofoam on the table saw to fit a 8x10 picture frame. Then I routed out the center to form the rough outline of the dug out position;
Next, I cast some rock slabs using a Woodland Scenics rubber mold and placed them around the position to act as a basis for the dirt piles. Then I cover the whole scene with Sculpt-a-Mold (Celluclay) for the groundwork, using a old wheel from the spares box to make the tire tracks;
I then paint the undercoat colors for the ground surfacea and then cover it with thinned white glue, sand and static grass;
Next, I paint the static grass and add some clumps of taller grass, some shrubby trees and dry brush/wash the ground in various earth tones. Most of the crew are straight from the box, with a bit of modifications to get them in the proper poses. The trees are made from tree roots, sprayed with Super 77 spray-glue and covered with dried oregano leaves.
Nothing is finished yet. I still have at least one more figure to build, then dusting, various equipment to be added, and building the side boards to cover the bare foam on the edges. The gun itself is sprayed in overall Polly Scale German Dark Yellow with the camo being brush painted with oil paints, colored pencils, oil and acrylic washes.
I need to find, or build, some ammo crates. There will be another guy carrying a crate up from the rear, as soon as he gets built.