building of the 1st module of my diorama 1 16 - The Wreck

[Basosz]

You may not think you're the god of dio, but this is still one of the best How-To's I've ever seen. Individual bricks !!!

[Erwin]

Very realistic.Must be huge in such a big scale.

[Frank.W.]

Thank you for the feedback.

This module of the diorama measures 60 x 60 cm.

It is my intension to show the making of the diorama as well as possible.

I hope you have the patience to be there until the end.

The report will be very, very long.

To the making of:

Now I built the brickwall outside the wall.

The same procedere as the other side of the wall.

I used double-sided tape and self-hardened modelling clay again.

This was structured with a nail file and a metall ruler.

To take the monotony, I've made the basement of "concrete". The modelling clay was applied slightly thicker.

Then I treated the surface with a bristle brush.

I swabbed the surface.

As a result, I received an irregular structure.

I have just edited the lintel and the breaking point.

Here again pictures:

Best regards

Frank

[Frank.W.]

The walls were plastered now.

I've posted an example after which I myself have oriented.

[Frank.W.]

Now I completed the last work with modeling clay to the brickwork.

The procedure I documented with pictures again.

- First, apply the glue

A bit modeling clay is pressed onto the adhesive area

With the file, press and tighten the joints. Press in the form of modeling clay.

Procedure at the doors:

- First, the adhesive is applied

Then a piece of modelling clay was adjusted in length and wide

This is pressed on the adhesive location and adapted

That looks after customizing and treating with the bristle brush like this

And so at the other door

[Frank.W.]

The plaster has been corrected yet. By the way, plaster consists of Knauf Superkleber (Knauf super glue).

There can be used other materials but this was available.

The glue has proven itself as a plaster in my Dio "without food no fight or the pig from the recovery group" in german "Das Schwein vom Bergetrupp oder ohne Mampf kein Kampf".

Here some impressions of the current state

[Frank.W.]

The painting on the wall of the house:

After the putty was dried , I could start with the paint.

First, the remains of the plaster were painted stone gray (Revell Aqua Color) .

It looked like this:

Then khaki brown (Revell Aqua Color) was dabbed on with a sponge.

The joints were partially painted white with a fine brush.

Now several bricks were painted white.

First color on a brick and then simultaneously with a bristle brush over rubbed to achieve a weathering effect.

Then a dry coat of plaster was done with white.

Now a few joints were painted with a mixture of rust and dark earth (Revell Aqua Color).

Some bricks were still painted.... brick red was too dark, so I used wood and African Brown (Revell aqua color)

The edges of the door way, I have dressed up with brass mounts.

The joints of the window sills were painted white -

Procedure as before: first painted with white and then traced with a bristle brush.

Unevenness in the joints were painted in white, it will look like excess cement.

And the overall view:

[Riggers]

One word Frank.....STUNNING!! Proper modelling shown at it's very best.

Congratulations & ATB............

[Frank.W.]

Thank you for the nice comment....what's the meaning of ATB?

To the making of:

Now, this side of the wall has got a washing with diluted oil color "burnt umbra". I diluted the color with lighter fuel....this is cheaper than thinner for oil colors.

Now the next images after the washing:

[Frank.W.]

Then I continued the making of the diorama at the other side of the wall.

I bought rails from LGB garden modell railroad. The scale is 1:22,5, but the profile of the rail is very high.

So I could use it for this scale.

I separated the Railway-sleeper from the track profiles.

First, from a 1 cm-thick plywood, I sawed in the "roadbed". Then, 2 parallel lines with a distance of 90 mm were drawn with a pencil. This corresponds to the German standard gauge.

Then I sawed from the edge of diorama according to. The track profiles were glued along the lines on the Board.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten the shell-hole.

The tank was positioned and the contour of the shell hole was drawn onto the board.

A rail was removed for further processing. The shell-hole was cut out and the rail was bent as desired.The rail must be heated for bending. Then the rail was glued onto the board, again.

L-profiles have been glued to the inside of the rail profiles. The level of the soil was still adapted to the upper edge of the rails.

Now I cut the 4 cm thick hard foam plates and created the correct surface of the soil.

It is only pasted after the painting of the wall.

On this pictures you can see the right position of the T34.

[Frank.W.]

Now I started with the painting of the wall.

First, the plaster was painted with heavily diluted stonegrey.

Then I painted some bricks in white, others in Africa Brown (Revell aqua color).

Some joints have been painted white (was unnecessary).

Then I watered the walls and wiped salt with a brush partial against the wall.

After a short time diluted white was applied cloudy with the Spraygun.

After a short time of drying, the salt was scrubbed from the wall with a bristle brush.

And again a little further!

The washing of the wall was done.

This was done with strongly diluted oil colour burnt umbra and a wide, soft brush.

The wall looks now pretty grubby.

The effects of the salt were to see on the grey plaster only, the modelling clay had absorbed the diluted oil colour like a sponge.

Advantage of this property, however, is that the joints were dyed pretty irregular. So, the colour treatment of the joints was previously not in vain.

[Frank.W.]

Now the level of the soil was adapted to the upper edge of the rails.

At first a piece of grey board - 2,1 mm thick - was adapted to the place between the rails and glued onto the plywood base. The shell hole has been bypassed.

Then two-sided tape was fixed onto the grey board.

After that white modelling clay was rolled with the rolling pin to the appropriate thickness and was laid on the double-sided tape.

Now the modelling clay was adapted to the space between the rails with a knife.

Then modelling clay was kneaded a piece of round. It was glued into the shell hole and was molded. The border of the shell hole was modeled with small pieces of modelling clay, which were glued to the edge of the shell hole.

The ground and the edge of the shell hole was structured with a knife.

Here some pictures. The armoring iron on the first pictures was removed.

The tracks received screws. To do this, I separated just the relevant parts of the LGB railway sleepers and fixed it to the Rails.

Due to a tip, I removed the iron reinforcement of the concrete slabs of the Granattrichters.

The expanded plastic slab under the T34 was adapted and glued.

I made the adaption in the fresh air with the blowtorch.

[Value Gear Details]

Great job and very inspiring, it almost inspires me to quit building models... haha

thanks for sharing and all the tips and tricks for us not ready to build something like that... yet!... that is one giant project...

[Basosz]

It must indeed be huge. 1:16 makes for giant tanks, making a Dio for them... is this for yourself or will this go in a museum? They're the only ones I can think of that might have room for something this big. Museums or maybe the royal family

[Frank.W.]

Thank you for your nice comments. Both modules are indeed big - 130 x 60 cm. I do not know what it could have interest for museum. The build was a lot of fun, just the feedback.

Now I had built the damaged electrical connection at the wall.

I used wire and white wooden pearls to imitate it.

This was treated with orange chalk and oil colour english red for a rusty effekt.

[Riggers]

Thank you for the nice comment....what's the meaning of ATB?

To the making of:

Now, this side of the wall has got a washing with diluted oil color "burnt umbra". I diluted the color with lighter fuel....this is cheaper than thinner for oil colors.

Now the next images after the washing:

Frank, ATB means All The Best...........

[Riggers]

Frank,

I am simply stunned by the attention to detail that you are putting into this diorama. The brickwork alone is superb!

My wife has asked, how long has it taken to date & are you building it for pleasure or to show?

Thnaks again for all the detail & ATB..............

[Frank.W.]

Thank you for your comments. Now I know, what's the meaning of ATB

I am very pleased that like the diorama.

For both modules (T34 wreck and King Tiger) I have used about 6 months.

I'm building for pleasure.

Thanks for the interest, once more.

Best regards

Frank

Edited August 26, 2012 by Frank.W.

[Frank.W.]

The ground next to the left rail has been filled with modelling clay.

As usual first double-sided tape, then the modelling clay.

So that it will not be flat, the clay was treated with a knife and a hard brush. It was plucked, pressed, stretched, squeezed etc. etc.

Then, the shell hole on this side has been edited. Chunks of concrete were formed (with the above mentioned tools) and glued on. The edges must have a crumbly appearance.

The problem is that the material show an unwanted buckling at the pressures and this is an unwanted effect. To achieve this I use 2 tools - one to form and the other, to exert pressure.

Unfortunately I have not 4 hands, otherwise I would have been able to take pictures during the construction .

Unfortunately, the images have almost no depth effect due to the white color of the material.

P.S.: I recommend modelling clay for modeling a shell hole....Plaster dries too quickly and you need a lot of time for correct modelling of the shell hole.

Edited August 26, 2012 by Frank.W.

[Frank.W.]

Now, I adapted the left track to the surface.

Also in this case, the modelling clay is the easiest solution.

A strip is flat kneaded and pressed onto the surface.

First of course glue is applied.

Now the tank is placed and the chain can be adjusted without much effort.

Of course, this is only a test and not a final fixation on the ground.

By the way, traces of vehicles on a diorama can be created very simply in this way.

I built a wall phone (destroyed) from a trailer for the 2 cm flak 1: 35.

Because I have no idea what looks like an old phone from inside, I downloaded an image of an old phone and transfered this right to my phone.

This should be an old phone in a metal box - pretty damaged like the building.

For this I took the Box, several parts of the leftovers box, wires from a twirled tow rope, and a leftover from a frame of photo etched parts.

Now it looks so:

This was painted with white, black and brown.

Then a washing in black and treatment with Mig pigments Europe Dust.

The phone I have built right next to the door.

Think it is quite good.

[Frank.W.]

The painting of the framework.

At first the framework was disassembled.

Then it was painted in redbrown. After this the framework was painted black.

During the drying phase, I adapted the ground to the right chain of T34.

The adjust of the track was made with a piece of rigid foam plate, then the fine work with modelling clay.

After drying I painted the framework in gun grey (Revell aquacolor).

I placed it to dry again on the diorama.

Now I have glued the pipeline and made some paint repairs, I had not seen at lamplight and the wooden planks of the walkway received a first painting.

This was made with diluted umbra burned oil paint.

I painted always 10 wooden planks and swabbed them with a soft cloth gently.

The pipeline was protected against rolling away with wooden wedges.

I do not know whether this is absolutely correct, but it looks plausible in my opinion.

The painting of framework was dried ... now the washing had to produce.

First english red oil paint were applied in little spots with a toothpick.

Then this was blurred with a large, soft brush .

Now a color broth was produced with diluted oil paint umbra burned and the the framework was washed with the same brush.

The top of the pipeline was treated. Spots of english red oil paints were applied with a toothpick.

Blure the spots without any pressure....so to avoid strip!

Since framework is aged within just a few minutes to at least 30 years

The images (the oil paint was slightly wet still)

Now, the "marriage" between wall and framework took place at last.

The framework was fixed with glue on the wooden beam and pressed on.

[Frank.W.]

After that the basement stair railing was painted in gun grey-

After a few days of drying (oil colours need a long time for drying) the walkway gets the boards.

Then I built the wall of the trench. This covers later the gap to the next module.

The spars have been edited with a knife to make shakes in the wood.

The strips of balsa wood were pressed with a screw to simulate nails. Little pieces of thin wire received a little bit of glue and were pressed into the balsa wood. This simulated curved nails.

The retaining wall of the trench was painted with diluted oil paint Umbra burned and this was rubbed after a short drying period with a cloth.

The railing was also treated with diluted oil colour burned Umbra.

The hollow space between the steps, the House wall and the retaining wall of the trench was filled with expanded plastic slabs.

The hollow space was 12 cm deep - at first rests of expanded plastic slabs came into of the waste, then the hard foam plates.

This measure that the plates can not be pressed.

The boards were fixed with glue.

Attention - not every glue is suitable!!!!!!

[Frank.W.]

Now the other side of wall.

The loading ramps edge was treated. It was modeled with a structure, as if a little bit concrete was swollen through the retaining wall.

Then I filled the gap between the loading ramp and the house wall.

Now, I modelled a shell hole at the end of the loading ramp.

A brass L profile was cut and glued to the edge of the ramp.

The end of the shell hole it was bent upwards.

[Frank.W.]

Now the rails and the platform edge were painted in Revell aqua color rust

Then began the plaster work.

With gypsum, you have to work very quickly, because it dries very quickly!

First I prepared a plaster of thin consistency and applied it on with a brush.

The transitions to the modelling clay had been adjusted.

Then I brushed the platform surface and then the heap of rubble with plaster. At the heap of rubble I poured the plaaster out of the cup and then distributed with a brush or spatula.

The 2nd layer was mixed less liquid. Now, especially fast work was required.

I handled this with the palette knife.

The abrupt transitions to the heap of rubble had been flattened and the border to the plywood has been edited.

Now this had to dry and the next step was the painting.

[Frank.W.]

Then I started painting.

First a complete painting of plaster in dark grey, heavily diluted.

Then were the concreted areas without rubble in light grey dry painted.

Again in white, sometimes with diluted white and then rubbed off with a soft cloth.

Now the structures can be seen already very nice, above all, the shell hole

The concrete on the platform was not succeeded me. When the plaster was still not dry, I would have finished it with a damp sponge. I have not done this and therefore the strokes were too much to see. This was stressed particularly by the color and very bothered me.

Therefore I've redesigned again the surface.

To do this, I applicated the modelling clay very thin with glue on the platform. Then the bumps were modelled with a thin spatula.

After drying, everything was coloured as described above.