Etienne Posted December 10, 2017 Share Posted December 10, 2017 Hello gents, took me some time to make the leap but this week I degan my first diorama ... the first phase was the base made of a insulation foam block frame with styrene sheets cut to size, and a cheap picture frame. No static grass for the moment, I used a very nice grass mat that I will try to enhance gradually ... Today, I added some dead wood ... the dead tree is temporarly placed with a pin, don't know if it will stay or if I'll try another option, tree with foliage for instance (I'm waitin g for supplies to do so ...) On the advice of Badder, I used paint to hilight the earth patches, then pigments to replicate the chalky soil of Salisbury plain Cheers, E 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted December 10, 2017 Share Posted December 10, 2017 Great work Etienne 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted December 10, 2017 Share Posted December 10, 2017 Looking fantastic Etienne. I don't do modern armour, but your Chally is one that tempts me to stray away from WWII. Rearguards, Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 Very nice Etienne. Love the Challenger and the grass is very convincing. John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted December 11, 2017 Author Share Posted December 11, 2017 (edited) 10 hours ago, Badder said: Looking fantastic Etienne. I don't do modern armour, but your Chally is one that tempts me to stray away from WWII. Rearguards, Badder Hello Badder, thanks for your comments, I did some research about the natural vegetation of the Salisbury plain, there's much to do and I'll try to add some colors in the dio, by small touches of course. About the Chally, and modern armor in general, be aware that those are huge beasts and even if the diorama seems small compared to the tank's size, it's actually rather large (20 x 30 cm) ... so you'll need room if you want modern AFVs !! Cheers, E 1 hour ago, Bullbasket said: Very nice Etienne. Love the Challenger and the grass is very convincing. John. Thanks John ... the grass is nice indeed but I only glued it on the base, not much credit to me Cheers, E Edited December 11, 2017 by Etienne 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 Superb! And may i ask the source of the grass mat? Very convincing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted December 11, 2017 Author Share Posted December 11, 2017 (edited) 5 hours ago, 06/24 said: Superb! And may i ask the source of the grass mat? Very convincing. I purchased the grass mat, and a few other from The Model Tree shop, see here > https://www.themodeltreeshop.co.uk/landscaping-materials/grass-matting.html The dimension / price ratio is good, and the quality is very nice ... the soil and grass are glued to a thin "vinyl" sheet and can easily be glued to the foam base. Hope this helps, E Edited December 11, 2017 by Etienne 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avereda Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 You just need an icy wind blowing across it and you can fully recreate the Plain as it was today. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek A Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Looking really good so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted December 16, 2017 Author Share Posted December 16, 2017 (edited) Hello gents, a few addition to the diorama ... some weeds to create some variety and with the Chally ... Cheers, E Edited December 16, 2017 by Etienne 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Excellent work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimB Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 That's very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted December 16, 2017 Author Share Posted December 16, 2017 I also made some experiments with trees ... not for that specific diorama. Two birch trees made from dry wood found in my garden ... the trunks look goods, even if improvement is posisble but not that satisfied with the foliage I used, some kind of fibers with flocking ... still need to experiment to find better solutions. Cheers, E 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 That's looking superb Etienne. I'd have thought that log would have been crushed completely flat though. Still, I'm glad you decided to opt for a crushed log rather than the crushed Great Bustard you were originally intending. Rearguards, Badder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Just seen the trees..... you posted it while I was typing my last comment. Well, I'd say they are unmistakably Silver Birch. They look more like Silver Birch than my one does! I'd suggest tea leaves for the foliage, because they are about the right scale, and all are pretty much the same size and shape. How you support them is another matter. I'd suggest you stick with the fibrous woolly stuff, just more of it. Rearguards Badder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Lovely work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 3 hours ago, Etienne said: Hello gents, Btw, good job I aint a lady, or it would beat dawn! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 23 hours ago, Badder said: Btw, good job I aint a lady, or it would beat dawn! Hey, you're right ... have to be careful about that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob 1 Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Excellent display base, very realistic bit of scenery. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted December 18, 2017 Author Share Posted December 18, 2017 On 16/12/2017 at 8:37 PM, Badder said: That's looking superb Etienne. I'd have thought that log would have been crushed completely flat though. Still, I'm glad you decided to opt for a crushed log rather than the crushed Great Bustard you were originally intending. Rearguards, Badder Hello Badder, not sure that a wood log would be crushed flat ... wood is a very resistant material and ground pressure of a Challenger tank shouldn't be high enough to completely squash that log, but sure enough to break it. Tried the Great Bustard but would have been a little bit too ... bloody E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted January 6, 2018 Author Share Posted January 6, 2018 (edited) Hello, some work on the Challenger's crew since a few weeks ... I modified quite substantially plastic figures from Masterbox's UK infantry to make a modern tank crew with Osprey MkIII body armor and added Hornet heads. The one on the right is a resin figure with winter clothes, thus will be used on another project, probably the BATUS Chally that I plan to build. I used decals to reproduce the MTP camouflage ... it's quite dark and I am not totally satisfied, I guess next time I'll try to replicate the camouflage with paint but it will be a hard and meticulous paintjob, I guess Still need to add the microphones and cables, and the RPU for the TC (but not sure there's a RPU with Bowman's radios ?) ... still have to find docs. Cheers, E Edited January 6, 2018 by Etienne 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted January 6, 2018 Share Posted January 6, 2018 Decals for MTP! Genius! Tell us more, how on earth do you get them to conform to all the creases on a figure? Superb work again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted January 6, 2018 Author Share Posted January 6, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, 06/24 said: Decals for MTP! Genius! Tell us more, how on earth do you get them to conform to all the creases on a figure? Superb work again. Thanks !! I just cut pieces like you'd do with a sewing pattern ... then applied them and soften with a decals solution, meticulous job of course but not so difficult and I already did the same with DPM camo for my KFOR crew. However, it's not perfect and it's a little bit to dark to really see the camo scheme, but for 1/35 scale it's good enough I think. E Edited January 6, 2018 by Etienne 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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