Diorama Content

What pattern of control tower is it? Most interiors I've seen the walls were painted green and cream split just below the half way point of the wall. Colours seemingly varied. I've seen remnants of anything between an almost cockpit green colour to a Brunswick green colour.

Hi guys, over the past week or so I’ve been building this 1/72 scale diorama of a hurricane dogfighting a wounded JU87 Stuka. The base is an old reinforced cardboard box and the cliffs of dover are just insulation foam stippled with revel “plasto” putty. The kits are also revell and are from the “icons of aviation Battle of Britain gift set”. The moulding is getting up in its years now but on the whole is pretty okay. There where no huge flaws in the kits that I could see; however the hurricane’s radiator was moulding in with the underwing piece and was missing the actual radiator itself leaving a massive open gap underneath the plane. These aren’t overly complex kits with the hurricane having less than 20 parts and the Stuka having around 40. I’m not sure if the accuracy of my builds (especially with the colours of the Stuka) but I do this for fun and I’m not overly concerned with exact realism. As mentioned previously, the base is simple with the carboard box bottom and the foam cliffs. The water is just three shades of blue (phthalocyanine, 20/80 white and then around 50/50 white) with the crests of the larger waves picked out. The grass on the top of the cliffs is just sap green and burnt umber sponge painted and blended on the model. In the future i would love to do resin for water but given the height these planes would be it would have been pointless to use resin as you wound the able to see the waves anyway. Anyway to conclude, I’ve had a great time with this one, the two planes and fairly simple base (I think) compliment each other really well and I am so excited to share this with you guys! -Jayden.

Hello model builders, With the CAT more or less wrapped up, on we go making some model trucks. As there is a relatively limited selection of 1/48 vehicles, and a really limited selection of modern vehicles, these conversions are underway. While it's nice to now have two tracked vehicles, I want to have some trucks too. There is what looks like a really nice 1/48 3d printed M1083 military flatbed available, but is expensive. Eventually I stumbled across a kit that includes two Ural 4320 trucks. While not great for my purposes, it occurred to me that the Ural hood design is similar to that of many modern Peterbilt tractor hoods, so concluded that I would try and convert the Ural to look like a Peterbilt: On the left, the Ural, and two Peterbilt variants on the right. The key similarities for modelbuilding include the Ural's sloping hood, split windshield, and that 6x6 versions exist. But, it turns out the Ural hood length is closer to the Pete 365, which is fine, except, I like the looks of the Pete 348 fenders, so am making a hybrid. You can see the basic similarities between the two trucks. But you can also see the differences - like the grill width (red shaded area) and fender shape (yellow shaded area). It took a while to figure this out, with similar comparisons made for front and side views. Then, out came the knife and saw: As the kit includes two trucks, I started making two in parallel, mostly to remember key steps and dimensions. I think this was a good approach as I want the two to look the same. But, the back and forth became tedious - making up so many small oddly shaped pieces got old quickly! That said, you can see four key steps: 1) cutting off the grill; 2) cutting and stabilizing the hood; 3) adding fill to the hood and making Peterbilt-esque grill; and 4) reworking the fender wells. At some point, it became apparent that I had to focus on building one project at a time: The good news is I have built a couple of these conversions in 1/24 scale but started each with Peterbilt kits. The key lesson learned is that the sweeping curves in the Peterbilt fenders are concentric - and knowing this (no, I didn't immediately see this the first few tries in 1/24 and yes, wasted a lot of styrene, patience, and time to get it close 😄) provided some basic layout goals for this. I have no way of measuring these to determine how close the curves are, but they are close enough for 1/48! Thanks for having a look - Cheers Nick 🚴‍♀️

Hello everyone, I'm venturing into uncharted waters in this area of the site, but have finally plucked up the courage to have a go at this diorama lark. I mean, how hard can it be? It's likely to be a slow burn as my build speed is glacial at best. The plan is to create a base for a Mercedes-Benz L4500A truck, the build for which has been running for several years and is just approaching the chassis complete stage. Did I mention that my build speed is very slow? Here's the truck in question, currently mounted on a movable platform which has been a godsend during the build. Eventually it will need to be mounted on a proper base, which is why we are here: There's still lots of work to do on the truck, but the catalyst for work to start on the base was a chance find in a charity shop. I'd been searching for a picture frame of a suitable size and aspect ratio for some time but without much joy. Then eventually we struck lucky with this little beauty, water stains and all: There was no excuse now, we're off and running. Never having created a diorama before it was probably wise not to be too ambitious. Most of the base will therefore be provided by Mr MiniArt in the form of this: A review of the product can be found elsewhere on our favorite modelling site... To bling things up a touch we also be making use of this (which roots us in Italy, for a reason which will be explained as we go): We'll also be using lashings of Evergreen's finest: The aim is to produce a scene similar to this, but with a mahoosive truck rather than cute little cars: No buildings though, the goal being a nice and simple street scene with roadside fuel pumps: Finally, why the topic title? Well it was inspired by the glorious period advertising: Isn't it lovely stuff?: Cheers, and thanks for looking, Paul.

In 'Three Tales of Survival', recently posted in RFI here, I related the compelling story of this Airacobra. Operating out of Port Moresby's 12-mile 'drome it was flown by Lt. Norbert Ruff of the 80th FS from July to November 1942. My Monogram model was a refurbishment project refined with numerous aftermarket items and home-made decals. A special feature is the engine compartment that can be completely closed. Research again was an important part of the process. An old diorama from 1977, unfortunately exterminated during our last house moving, provided for the Bandai Jeep which received minor improvements. The trailer is loaded with an air compressor and stuff. The revetment is crafted around an Eduard PSP base (EDK 8804) and protected by wood 'logs' from a park near our house. As usual I frankensteined the figures of various limbs found in my parts graveyard. Regressing from my normal digital photography I took all pictures except the last one with my old Canon TTL on ASA 200 slide film and had them digitalised. With this experiment I hoped to achieve a more 'historical' look. Michael REFERENCES CURTISS MOHAWK, TOMAHAWK AND BELL AIRACOBRA, CAMOUFLAGE & MARKINGS NO.12, R.C.JONES, LONDON, 1971 P-39 AIRACOBRA, AIRCRAFT IN DETAIL VOL.63, BERT KINZEY, CARROLLTON, 1999 BELL P-39 AIRACOBRA IN USAAF SERVICE, TOMASZ GRONCZEWSKI, IPMS STOCKHOLM MAGAZINE 05/03 RUFF STUFF, TINA SUSEDIK / NORBERT C. RUFF, EAU CLAIRE, 2006 BELL P-39 AIRACOBRA, MMP YELLOW SERIES NO.6129, ARTUR JUSZCAK / ROBERT PECZKOWSKI, SANDOMIERZ, 2011 PACIFIC PROFILES VOLUME 6, MICHAEL JOHN CLARINGBOULD, KENT TOWN, 2022

Yes, noticed it already, but thanks for mention. Frankly speaking I'm neither British nor American, but it's getting worse now. 10 years ago I had no doubt if it's gray or grey, centre or center, colour or color, but now it's such a mess... Half of my software insists that American English is the only correct variant. Which I don't like but when you see "wrong" spelling all the time, it's somewhat becomes "correct". Grammar propaganda, I suppose. To fit the topic.

Its the little things that make this so effective such as the crooked tiles and the broken gutter, and I really like the ironmongery you designed and printed. Beautifully done!

'CENTRE' - just a small spelling mistake (unless you are an American).

Thanks, although not at all. Found it on Sunday finished it on Wednesday. It built itself - it was all just washes and dry brushing once the textures were right. It’s great fun - you can pick them up for about 15 quid. Give it a go and google how to do it, that’s all I did.

Too many pictures of the real thing. Where's the model? 😀 What a fabulous result. I imagine that with all of the details and weathering it took you quite some time. But it was certainly worth it. Excellent stuff.

This isn’t exactly it, but the same idea https://amzn.eu/d/8mTuyw7 the blue foam is amazing stuff, run round the brick outlines with a pencil, then make a little brick sized ‘podger’ and slightly press each brick at a slightly different angle and depression - and this stuff just exactly stays put and takes what ever you press into it. Same with stone. Then I just brushed on very diluted plaster (like milk) that fills all the pores. Then just plaster on to it conventionally for the walls. Really, really easy and amazingly effective.

Fascinating. Never heard of a “blue foam” kit before. Is this like styrofoam insulation board? Presumably something a bit finer?

Yes. the whole 1/48 scale is proving quite a challenge, as despite its size, there are no fewer parts than at any other scale! 😄 I'm just finding it harder to pull together than larger scales, even modestly larger like 1/35. The blade and various other parts are now attached: More proof that it's a good idea to keep unused extra PE. With some cutting, filing, and drilling, it can be adapted to meet a variety of unintended uses. As of now, the blade moves up and down and left/right, but I'm guessing with paint that will be less likely. So this is coming along. I still need to add some more detail - door handles etc, but this is getting close to being done. Next up will be a couple more vehicles which will have some changes, but not nearly as dramatic as this - that said, I have done the same on another project in 1/24 and that was a lot of work! Thanks for having a look Cheers Nick 🚴‍♂️

@IMG1, thanks! as for the TV channel 😄no thanks! this is just for fun! Speaking of fun, a few updates on the CAT D1 dozer: I've spent the last few days working on the larger body work pieces. This went relatively smoothly, with the only caveat being that as this is a bit small, irregularly shaped, and many of the parts are mirrored, there isn't much room for even small errors. So, in a few instances it took a few tries to get the parts pretty close to each other. This is worth the effort, not only for looks but because if the "left" side is a bit higher or different than the "right" side, the error will grow much more quickly than you might see with larger scale models. I think most of the major body parts are done, so on to the little bits. Other tasks include detailing the C frame, which is the device that will hold the blade. It needs to accommodate four hydraulic cylinders, so squeezing them in will likely be a bit tricky. If you look closely at the photos you'll see there are some holes and spacers attached to the frame. This is were the C frame and two hydraulic cylinders will be mounted. Above are the modules that make up the cab. These are made fairly tight, but not too tight, as I want them to (hopefully) still fit together once painted. I'll add a few details to the cab - inside and out. OK, on we go. Thanks for having a look, Cheers Nick 🚴‍♂️

Now it needs a Vincent motorbike or a nice Terrot parked in front of it

While I was building that I came across this image of Duxford. The B-17 through the window is slightly interesting as Duxford was a fighter airfield. I, of course, focussed on the comfy chair 😁

I had a go at the Airfix kit myself - but I'm afraid I was rather creative rather than paying attention to historic accuracy. Here for entertainment :

Exquisite work.

Very impressive painting and weathering!

so I bought this kit out of curiosity ages ago, then promptly forgot I had it. some time later, whilst searching for something else last weekend, I stumbled upon it, and needed a break from a VERY long running, VERY technical other project and needed a bit of a diversion. The rest is history, anyway, I lashed it together for fun, CAD drew some bits and pieces - hinges, handles, gutters etc. can't beleive how much fun it was, thoroughly enjoyed it BUT no way is it 1/35th looks more like 1/24th to me. I've never built a blue foam thing before so apologies if you've seen this all before - it was a first for me and I was delighed with it!

Thanks mark

Several posts on Britmodeller on this topic. This one may help:

Thank you!

Thank you very much for your kind words!