Diorama Content

Looking good so far and I like the unusual colour scheme for the T-55

I stumbled across so of the last T-55s in Russian service and decided to do a diorama of one based in the Russian far east island of Sakhalin. I got some really good help from members of the forum and some more pics of the vehicles. Im using a Revell T-55AM in 1/72 scale, I decide to place the model in a firing berm some where in the Kurils. I started building the base with tile grout mixed with brown acrylic over foam board. I also wanted to try making a tree and bush from florist wire and latex. Im intending to partially flood the berm with some muddy oily puddles. Im hoping to start the kit this week, heres my progress so far... BTW the T-80 was used just for sizing the base of the diorama Ill try and keep this upto date with my progress

Hi All, just finished this, first effort with water, came out OK I think, went for a Green tinge, figuring vehicles coming ashore would churn up the sand and anything else. Trying to replicate shoreline seafoam was the hardest part. cheers Mark

I used the acrylic concrete mix on my A39 Tortoise with some of the acrylic Tarmac worked a treat. cheers Mark

I got up into the loft tonight putting a couple of the newer builds away. Managed to find an old 1/72 (Fujimi or Hasegawa?) Wild Weasel I built at least 30 years ago. So took a picture with my recent 1/48 one While up there I was looking at my Islander. I did motors and lights but used a fixed wire heading out from the starboard engine housing which means this old managed wire comes out of the side. Five wires in fact, 3 to the motors & two for the lights If I was doing this now I would build in a discrete couple of sockets. But this model is covered in ariels & fragile bits. I thought I would see if I could tidy things up a bit with external connectors that tuck in out of sight under the wing So just to check she still works I can’t believe how heavy she is. As a massive tail sitter she is packed with lead weight. I remember dropping the whole airframe after the wings had gone on & denting the floor with that pointy nose! You can just see the new Invader sneaking into the background. Not to mention the washing on the radiator!

@Pete Robin, thanks, and glad you like it - I'm glad you noticed the layers. That is what was becoming a real headache to finish! just more and more! @silver911, Hi Ron, thank - -again, thank you for sharing your thoughts and critique along the way! It was too easy to slip out of the desired world back into the real world during the build - your input helped to keep me on course! @MRMRL, hello MRMRL, and thanks. I appreciate your comment about this not falling into the Max Max apocalyptic scene - while there are lots of interesting projects that involve those ideas, I wanted this to be seen as something else - your comment is nice to read - thanks! @Gordon J, appreciated - thanks. If not for getting a bit burned out on this, it was for the most part an enjoyable project too! Cheers Nick

A phenomenal piece of work

Great work. Having just seen your Panzer 1 dio it's great to see your backdrop fully. Nice one.

I did have a nice flat piece of styrofoam that I was going to use but as I was looking how to attach the moulded rocks I realised it wouldn't be very secure so I started to look for a different base material and by chance on Monday I found a styrofoam packing piece from a washing machine or dryer in the skip at work so I nabbed that and back to my workshop. After staring at it for 10 mins I decided which section I wanted but didn't want my workshop covered in styrofoam balls so resorted to hot slicing with a heated saw blade although the fumes where bad (had to ventilate for a few hours after) and was left with this. This angled section was added for more vertical stability, this was glued together using Aradilte Rapid 2 part epoxy resin glue, I also added a base of 3mm Hard board. The following day I took a large file to the angled back piece so the moulded rock would fit better and all the edges to clean up the Araldilte excess before trimming the plaster rocks with a medium wood saw blade and bonding these on with the same Araldite glue. I'm not to worried about the edges as these will all be covered with the 3mm hardboard later. A quick trip round to the local DIY store and a box of the cheapest wall filler was selected so I could the cover the remaining styrofaom surface. I have been surprised just how quick this has been so far, realistically I spent 40mins on Monday and an hour yesterday so it not as bad as I was expecting. The filler was liberally applied using a wet spoon from the work place kitchen. I stuck an off cut from the paster rock in the corner after I'd applied the filler. I leave this to harden for a few days as when I cut the moulded rocks they where still quite damp in the centre, I presume this is due to the fact the filler is meant to be applied to small thin areas and not as thickly as I have done. I also need to go to the Range for some cheap acrylic paint as I don't want to use my expensive model paints on the base.

Three of the Airfix resin buildings - European Ruined Workshop, European Ruined Cafe and Polish Bank. Built as a scenic backdrop against which I can photograph vehicles and figures. It's sort of finished, there may be additions to the buildings as I rediscover bits and bobs, but the concept is laid out. Expect to see this behind many AFVs and men.

The basic diorama is complete. It's sort of finished, there may be additions to the buildings as I rediscover bits and bobs, but the concept is laid out. Expect to see this behind many AFVs and men.

That's so impressive, there's so much detail in there and all so beautifully executed. I'm not familiar with the artist you've taken inspiration from, but that doesn't stop the enjoyment of your scene. It looks so believable, and like you describe, not like a mad Max post apocalyptic scene, these guys seem to be working hard to build something together.

That's modelling at the highest level. Very much enjoyed every update, and was very honoured to play a small part. Incredible work mate. R

Yeah, the house must come first. You'll have to put the finished globe somewhere.

Nick, you are more than welcome. I think we both had fun with this one!

@Pete in Lincs, Hi Pete, thanks - I appreciate what you have to say. You're right - there are a number of layers built into this - likely why it became so hard to finish! It was never done! Well - it's done now and I'm glad to hear you like it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the project - Cheers Nick

Thank you.

I wish, it's one of the fun projects waiting on a long list of house renovations.

But back on track, lovely diorama.

Oh wow! There's so much going on. So much to see and everywhere ya look there's something else peeping back at ya. I reckon it belongs on show at the highest levels and if it don't win every class in sight, the judges don't know what they're doing. Regards Pete

Here's the Linka Bathroom Bedroom and the Kitchen Most of the pieces are far too modern for a WW2 house (but I may as well paint them anyway). I may only use the bedroom set

Cafe Rene? and the workshop

Good man! I really think you should. You never know who you're going to meet at that sort of venue. It could be another like minded soul, or another real McQue fan. Either way, there should be some interesting conversations. Good hunting!

Hello, and happy Monday gents, Thanks for the words, and glad to hear that you like the project! Despite my ebb and flow of enthusiasm about finishing, I'm pleased that it is done! I'd been pondering McQue's work for some time and couldn't settle on how I could go about representing it. As those of you who watched the build thread might recall, this was a bit of a wild ride, or at least as much of a wild ride one can have have while building a model! @roginoz. hi Rog, and thanks! no, you didn't miss postings, I did! For a while I was on a bit of a roll and making headway - then off the proverbial cliff of enthusiasm I went! strange eh? Going from having a pretty clear picture of what this "should be" and acting to make that happen, to "meh, I think I might have something/anything else to do today..." I'm not even sure of why I eventually concluded that I needed to take the last few steps to wrap this up and take some photos! Maybe even related to your comments, (thanks for!) this project required an almost tedious level of continuity to work! which, in the end was worth it @Pete in Lincs, and Pete - thanks! I began to wonder if I could pull this one off, or moreover, if I had it in me to do so! The pictures worked out as well as I could have hoped. Turns out I finished the project on (last) sunny Friday - and concluded that the predicted, equally sunny Saturday, would be be ideal for photos. Except, of course, sunny it was-not! Instead, we were fully cloaked in fluffy, white fog.....well shoot. Not to be dissuaded at this point, into the fluff we went to a nearby picnic bench, where I took the obligatory numerous photos. Turned out the fluffy white fog provided some pretty interesting lighting - on one hand bright, but essentially ambient, so cast relatively subdued shadows. I mention this because I think the lighting is what allowed the pics to be cut into the backdrops with said surreal results - ok - enough rambling - glad you like it! Regarding getting this into an exhibit of some sort, I might just be able to do that. The City I live in has a summer arts/crafts show, open to local folks - I might just go for it! @Tim R-T-C, well Tim, I appreciate all of that! This project required a leap of faith, both to build, and for you and others to take a look at and follow along! I've got to say, one of the bigger challenges for this was remembering not to do/build/paint what we would naturally expect to see - which seems easy enough, but it gave me a run for my money! @Muchmirth you raise a good point on one of the more tedious attributes of this project - sustaining continuity!!! Maybe that's why I got tired out at some point That said.....it would have been a bust without all those weathered bolt heads! @stevehnz Hi Steve and thanks very much! It's funny you'd say that. I spent a lot time thinking about what remote places I have been to looked like - and trying not to think about what I imagine they might look like. And if I could do that, somebody might be able to look at all of this, and follow what's going on without narration! Thanks again - Nick

So true.