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Ever evolvin dio. ft. 'THE INDESTRUCTIBLE TREE' as ft. on youtube.


Badder

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19 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Nice idea for the flooring.

Sadly, I don't have much of it Ozzy. Although I hear....ahem....  the stuff can be found on the dashboards of Mercedes Sprinters.

Rearguards,

Badder

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The new stonework has been treated with dark washes and a dusting with powders before moss was applied. The green really doesn't show up well in the light of low energy lightbulbs, but I can assure you it IS there!

yxjjnYk.jpg

 

2BdEcZG.jpg

 

TFL

Badder.

 

Edited by Badder
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I decided to crack on with the tiled floor in the 'scullery' and have glued sections of the rubber matt in place.  I didn't want to remove the graph paper glued to the bottom of the building so fitting the rubber matt was a case of me having to be a 'carpet fitter' for an hour, with lots of snipping and trimming and er...'fitting'. Unfortunately I didn't have a piece of matt large enough to span the width of the room and so had to add some extra strips along the dividing wall. Despite matching up the 'tile' patterns the joins are still visible, but they will be hidden beneath debris/rubble/dust and shouldn't be a problem.

 

Obviously I've glued the rubber matt to the graph paper, but I used the graph paper to line up the tile pattern, so the tiles now replace the graph paper as a datum.The other room had floorboards, and a step down into the scullery. I'm debating whether to construct a raised floor, or depict it as having been 'stripped out'.

wXJLhDZ.jpg

 

 

For those wondering how I'm going to fix this building to the base, here's what I'm planning to do:

 

1. Add strips of thick plasticard to the undersides of all the walls, with each strip being wider than the walls are thick so that the plasticard juts out all along both sides of the walls. These strips will be, in effect, the building's foundations.

2. Glue the foundations to a piece of suitably sized MDF or similar and fix with screws.

3. Glue and screw the MDF platform to the base.

4. Blend the platform into the diorama ground with plaster of paris/Polyfilla, with the latter overlapping and sealing in the foundations.

 

TFL

Badder

 

Edited by Badder
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24 minutes ago, RichO said:

Sounds like a good plan.  Watching with interest, I have a similar situation coming up today.

Hi Rich.

I could do stage 1 and glue the foundations directly to the dio base, but I want to raise the building up above 'ground level'. MDF is heavy, but not as heavy as plaster of paris, so I'd rather raise the building with MDF. Actually, I could cut the MDF to shape as well, fitting the foundations exactly. THAT sounds like a better idea. Thanks for making me think a bit more!

Rearguards,

Badder

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8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

:goodjob: looking very nice.

 

7 hours ago, Vince1159 said:

Fantastic job Badder :thumbsup2:...

 

2 hours ago, RichO said:

Sounds like a good plan.  Watching with interest, I have a similar situation coming up today.

Thanks guys,

I am worried about all this hard work being covered up with snow though! I guess I'm going to have to be careful just how much I add, and where. The alternative is to forget about the snow, do a summer scene and plonk a different AFV or two in there instead!

 

It has crossed my mind. :unsure:

 

Rearguards,

Badder 

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I've had one of those days when you try to finish off a niggling problem only to find that the solution leads to even more problems.

 

As I said earlier, I was wanting to show that there WAS some way of accessing the upper floor: that I hadn't 'forgotten' that the place needed a staircase. With the layout of the building as it stands now there's no acceptable place for one. The positions of the windows and doorways and the fireplace limit the possible placings of a staircase straight away, but then there's the added problem of MiniArt's original design: a building with an 'off centre' roof ridge. One side of the roof comes down much lower than the other and obviously any staircase on that side suffers from severely restricted headroom. (in fact completely unsatisfactory headroom) So the staircase has to rise to somewhere nearer the central axis of he building, OR closer to the taller side wall).

Having pondered these problems over the past few days, I came up with the idea of adding an extension to the room with the fireplace and having the stair rise from there. So I set about making more walls today. And then came to realise that if I were to build the staircase against the high side wall, there was still next to no headroom, and if it reached the upper floor somewhere deeper within the building, the staircase would intrude upon the ground floor room in an improbable way.

The only option then would be to extend the building even further (something that would take up too much space) OR have and external stairway and a door set slightly into the roof. The latter though would require much more construction and in the end I'd have constructed and entire building. (I'd have to 'repair' the tall section of damaged sidewall as there's no way it could have collapsed and NOT have brought down the outer stairway.

 

Therefore, having spent the day making new casts and farting around with bits of cardboard, graph paper and pencils, trying to figure out an acceptable layout I've come to the conclusion that I've been worrying too much about trying to depict the staircase/stairway. In fact, I've been worrying needlessly. The building could have been twice the size it is with even more rooms extending to the side, any of which could have had a staircase. And who is to say that there wasn't a another roof  set at right angles to the original and a staircase leading up to it from below?

 

The point is, I FORGOT that I don't have to show the entire building, I just have to hint that there was more to it than is still standing.

 

So the new casts will go in the spares box and my plan now is just to depict the outline of the building with foundations and the odd remains of walls here and there.

As you can guess then, there are no pics for today, but I will be cracking on with the project tomorrow.

 

TFL...

Badder

 

 

 

Edited by Badder
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I've just plonked the building on the base without the front gable wall and I'm liking how it looks. With no front, the building looks less massive. And the full layout of the building is left entirely to the imagination. As I stated from the start, I don't want the building to dwarf the StuG so I am very tempted to dispose of the gable wall. All I'd have to do is roughen up the end of the abutting wall by knocking a bit of stonework out of it and scatter and pile up a lot of rubble where the gable wall was. Of course, there's nothing to say that this pile of rubble constituted a gable wall, it could be from a collapsed internal wall.  Covered in undergrowth and snow, it may actually look a lot better than a standing wall.

Ponder, ponder, ponder.

 

TFL

Badder

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NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

This diorama may change in title and description and content! :dalek1::dalek1::dalek1::dalek1::D

 

TFL

Badder

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Sorry guys....... But problems with the building (its size when compared to the tiny StuG) and the fact that the StuG doesn't come with any figures, and the fact that I want figures in the scene and can't source any German figures that would fit a winter scene in late 44 /early 45, and the fact that the StuG on its own would get lost on such a large base, and the fact that snow will cover up a lot of the hard work I'm putting into this dio.... has led me to completely change the theme and content of this dio.!

 

Now,

I have in my stash a Churchill VII, with PE. (I purchased it immediately after completing my first Churchill  - my 2nd model since returning to modelling)

I also have in my stash a set of Tamiya Infantry on patrol.... again a great kit which I have built previously and accompanies my first Churchill.

I have also completed a diorama 'Carry on Regardless' featuring a Universal Carrier, and I have had in my mind the idea of purchasing another two to go with the new Churchill.

I previously bought some MiniArt British Tank Riders to sit on my first Churchill and they are pretty good to.

 

So, with a Churchill  and the accompanying figures (crew and a farmer) and tank riders, and half a dozen infantry on patrol and a couple of Universal Carriers and their crew,

I will have plenty of subjects to fill the diorama in an interesting way. And I can make a summer/autumn scene with lots of detail which won't be covered up with snow.

 

SO I APOLOGISE TO ALL THOSE WHO'VE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS THREAD IN THE HOPE OF LEARNING ANYTHING ABOUT SNOW!

 

Rest assured that the StuG WILL appear in a snowy diorama at a future date, but for now all my time will be devoted to this dio and the vehicles and figures to go with it

THIS MAY TAKE RATHER A LONG TIME!!!!!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

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Hey, stuff happens, and minds change. Don't worry about it from our end.  It gives us a chance to see a hole new DIO from you and learn new tricks.

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58 minutes ago, RichO said:

Hey, stuff happens, and minds change. Don't worry about it from our end.  It gives us a chance to see a hole new DIO from you and learn new tricks.

Okay, thanks Rich.

I think the new idea will be a lot better than the original. The actual building/scenery etc will be more or less as I had planned, only set in summer, and with a lot more going on vehicle and figure wise. So as I said, basically this thread is just continuing, only to a different end result.

Rearguads,

Badder

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Here's my Dragon StuG III positioned next to the side wall to show how 'tiny' the StuG is in comparison. It actually doesn't look to bad here, but when seen against the entire building with the gable wall, it looks worse.

FXQmOfe.jpg

 

Below: I decided to extend the collapsed side wall a bit because it's been annoying me from the very beginning. There's still a bit of carving and tidying up to do.

2xbhjIY.jpg

 

An alternative layout for the building. I like the look of it, but it will take up half of the base positioned this way, and I'm not sure that's a good idea.Comments on the alternative layout welcomed.

Vc90zyt.jpg

TFL

Badder

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Just catching up, nice idea to change from snowy scene to scene with a Churchill and universal carriers. The change in wall position looks like there was 2 building rather than 1.

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I've  tidied up the new section of wall, have painted it and applied 'moss', again with my 'Grit Paints'. Once that is dry I will add Chervil. The moss will help to disguise the join between plastic wall and plaster wall. (I couldn't get the join as good as I had wanted)

Now, I really like the alternative layout for the building (photo directly above) It would be a suitable backdrop to a 'column' of a Churchill and a couple of Universal Carriers, but as I said, it will take up half of the base rather than a quarter and leave next to no room for any additional scenery. So today I looked into getting a slightly larger base, giving me even more scope for the layout, and although there were plenty of frames to choose from none were suitably sturdy. All flexed, and this would be disastrous for any diorama. It'll be a while before I start fixing the building to the base, so I will continue to look. I could always get a slab of MDF I suppose.

In the meantime I am going to start adding details to the building. Window frames, an external lantern, shutters etc... and where I can, remains of woodwork for the floors and roof.

 

TFL

Badder

 

 

 

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17 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Just catching up, nice idea to change from snowy scene to scene with a Churchill and universal carriers. The change in wall position looks like there was 2 building rather than 1.

Thanks Ozzy.

I was thinking it's just the one larger building. I'm not sure a 2 up 2 down would have such a large fireplace. 

The StuG will definitely feature in a winter dio, but I'm thinking now it will just be laid up in a snowy woodland's edge and looking out over fields.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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7 minutes ago, Badder said:

Thanks Ozzy.

I was thinking it's just the one larger building. I'm not sure a 2 up 2 down would have such a large fireplace. 

The StuG will definitely feature in a winter dio, but I'm thinking now it will just be laid up in a snowy woodland's edge and looking out over fields.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

Im seeing it now, yeah a large farm house needs a big fireplace.

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I realised I've run out of Chervil, so instead I used loose tea leaves (Twinings) Being a bit coarser than Chervil, and more resistant to crushing, the tea leaves are a bit too large for moss. So some kind of creeper methinks.

I simply dribbled a couple of blobs of CA along the 'bad' join, used a cocktail stick to drag the CA into areas I wanted the tea leaves to stick, sprinkled the tea and squashed them down a bit with a coffee stirrer.

kcUm4Wj.jpg

 

 

 

Now do I go for a purple/maroon creeper or a green one?

There's a bit more work to do on the window area and the reverse side of the wall.

 

TFL

Badder

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If the StuG is too small (poor little Stuggy), may I suggest a JagdPanther? A somewhat more imposing vehicle, even if it isn't as cool as a StuG. Late war winter troops are doable

 

Dragon 6095  https://www.scalemates.com/kits/197922-dragon-6095-totenkopf-division

 

and also

 

Dragon 6273 https://www.scalemates.com/kits/104108-dragon-6273-desperate-defense

Not tank crews, athough I know that I've seen some of them somewhere.

 

I have both sets somewhat spare; if they're useful and you can't source them elsewhere, let me know and we can come to an arrangement, I'm sure.

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Hi Rob, 

I've not built any large German armour before, except a Tiger 1 and I've been fancying a JagdPanther for a while.

As I said, I have a Churchill VII in my stash, which would go well with one or two UC's but you may actually have the better idea.

There's plenty of time before I fix any AFV to the base, so yes, there's a chance I could alter the them again. Until I make my wavering mind up I have no idea what figures I'm going to need, but I do appreciate your offer. I will have a long think.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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