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'Lost in France' REPLACING LOST PHOTOBUCKET PHOTOS SOON


Badder

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Hi guys. I've now commenced making the diorama for the Tamiya 1/35th Churchill MkVII featured in my 'Saving a Churchill MkVII from the bin' WIP post.

In that WIP, I originally intended to 'hide' most of the tank by submerging it in a ditch full of deep water, as I thought it would disguise the fact that I had messed up the paint job, but I did, in the end, 'save it'. I liked the idea of a ditch, or stream though. I have never tried to depict water in a diorama, and as this is my 2nd diorama since returning to modelling after a 35year absence, I thought it would be a suitable challenge. After all, why build a model and diorama, if you aren't going to push yourself and try new things?

I had considered driving the tank across a ford, but the crew supplied with the kit are clearly chatting to someone beside the tank. I doubt they'd be doing that if the tank was actually moving. So the tank has stopped momentarily. Besides, the tank is dry and dusty, and I didn't want to have to do more work on it trying to make it look wet (not after all the problems I had trying to get rid of the original 'satin/gloss finish it had! - all that repainting, only to end up giving it a satin/gloss finish again!)

I had a play around with the additional figures, the farmer, the motorcycle dispatch rider and the infantrymen, trying to fit them all in the space I had... and decided to leave out the farmer (this may change) The kit suggests that the crew are chatting to him, and that he is passing up a bottle of wine in gratitude to their liberating his farm/country/wife. I thought that the tank riders and the following infantry might have had something to say about the present. (Like 'Where's ours?')

So, I'm going for the crew stopping the tank to chat to a dispatch rider, asking for directions as they are in 'bocage' terrain and a bit disorientated.

Not exactly thrilling, I know... but I might be able to add some humour or intrigue at a future point.

So... I started on the diorama yesterday and progress has been relatively swift as I had all the materials to hand already.

These include:

A chopping board.

Polyfilla.

2 carrier bags full of twigs, roots and other assorted (and secret) plant parts.

Static grass (though unfortunately, still no applicator)

Astroturf.

A small bag of cat litter.

Bottle of 'realistic water'

Pouches of assorted crushed brick/stone.

Jars of herbs and spices.

Several sheets of white plastic of varying thickness.

PVA and CA glues.

Acrylic, enamel, and watercolour paints.

Galeria acrylic matt and satin varnishes and Galeria matt medium.

Other stuff I've forgotten about for now.

I took my chopping board and models and played around with the position of the tank and figures until I found one that I was happy with, then I marked out their positions directly onto the board with a marker pen. Then I played around with the positioning of the hedgerow, stream and other features and did the same.

BTW I really likes these chopping boards, sourced from The Range and costing £7.99. They aren't too big or too small, and are sturdy and thick and nicely heavy. They are constructed from glued batons of hardwood, are around 18mm thick and will never warp. They will also withstand deep gouging. I say this because rather than build up a surface in which to create a stream/ditch, I have instead, gouged into the board to gain that depth. I then added a skim of polyfilla to the rest of the board, having scoured and gouged the surface to remove the coat of varnish and improve grip. A liberal scattering of cat litter was then applied to the 'road' surface, and ruts created with the tip of a lollipop stick. (I want the ground to be hard and dry, so there are few visible signs of tank-track impressions.)

This will take some time to dry fully, so in the meantime I cut up strips of astroturf, clipped away at the 'blades' of grass to get some variation in length and then stuck them to the banks of the stream with CA. I then pushed the still-wet polyfilla up to the astroturf and blended it in with a dinner fork. Much more work will be done to this in the future. A thinnish coat of PVA glue was applied to the bed of the stream, and a thinner coat near the banksides. A sprinkling of cat-litter dust was applied along the edges of the stream while larger pieces of cat litter were placed in the deeper channel.

I am still in the process of gouging out the rest of the stream and will add a very small wooden 'footbridge'.

Photos to follow shortly.

Edited by Badder
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Er... you know I said that there was no way that the base would warp? Well, it hasn't. It's split instead. lol. Grrrrrrrrrr. Now I don't know if this was just a one off faulty chopping board which already had a hairline split in it, or if it was due to the fact that I had broken the polyurethane coating, allowing dampness in. Either way, this has caused much disgruntlement and I am going to have to start all over again. Unfortunately, I am not able to get another base until the weekend, and when I do, I am wondering whether to get another chopping board or play safe and get some MDF or suchlike. So... here are some pics of the pre-split diorama so far, and then a photo of it in the bin.....

Edited by Badder
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So... here's what I DID do, before the stupid wood split. Please note that the reed mace, often mistakenly called 'bull rushes' weren't finished and a lot more work was to be done on them. I can't get a new base until the weekend, so in the meantime I am constructing some bushes and shrubbery. We want a shrubbery!

Edited by Badder
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Progress report... Went into town to buy a replacement base. Town was empty. I guess everyone was scared it would be packed 'cos of all this Black Friday nonsense. I decided to purchase another 'chopping board' but noted that it is actually sold as a pastry board. Instead of scraping back the polyurethane coating to aid polyfilla adhesion, I shall just use CA and glue some 'interfaces' directly to the board. And instead of cutting down into the board to create a channel for the ditch/stream I shall just have to grin and bear it and raise the ground level. Ho hum.

Anyway, in the days preceding, I have been messing around with a bag of hedge-trimmings and creating shrubberies for the hedgerow. I had gathered some flowering plants during the late summer..not sure of the species, but they had gone to seed.. and these have since dried. I pulled off he seed heads, bunched them together and wrapped a kind of garden twine around the stems to create 'bushes'. The garden twine is made of very thin wire coated in a rough brown papery substance and is quite versatile. I made some branches and twigs out of it and it also promises to make a good stem for creeping ivy.

After making 3 or 4 bushes I mounted them in a line along a baton of wood. A few more twigs were inserted and then the whole lot was overturned and the bushes dragged, dipped and pressed into PVA glue. Then liberal amounts of ground and dried Chervil and Basil were sprinkled over. Next, I cut up strips of astroturf and placed one strip along the back of the 'hedgerow, and one along the front. i attacked the grass with scissors, stuck more twigs in, applied PVA glue randomly to some areas and sprinkled again with just Basil this time. The basil looks more like dead and fallen leaves, captured in the grass. I gave the whole thing a spray of diluted PVA. I will be adding some more foliage and colour to the hedgerow over the next week or so.

While the front edge of the baton is still exposed, I intend to turn that into a length of exposed earth, a miniature cliff if you like, with exposed tree roots and more vegetation. This will drop down to 'track level'.

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Edited by Badder
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A bit of progress today, despite the power-cut. I added more foliage to the bushes, alternating with sprinklings of crushed dried basil and a secret concoction obtained from the garden. Frequent sprays of dilute PVA fixed this in place, before painting with russet, red/brown, green/yellow mixes. I also sprinkled foliage in the grass, and built it up a bit around the bases of the bushes. I am very pleased with the result, though I may add more yellow foliage in the future. At the moment I am creating the exposed bank and adding roots to it. This bank will mostly be hidden by rushes though.

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I am particularly pleased with the realistic appearance of some of the leaves, especially saying as most are up the right way. This was pure accident, as I didn't 'place' them, just sprinkled them.

Edited by Badder
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Badder,

I will be working on a similar dio in the New Year using the same Churchill kit and your hedgerow has given me a lot of ideas and inspiration for it. I may well steal your discoveries and use it myself.

Do you use anything to set/seal the cat litter when you use it to depict the mud?

Thanks,

Dave

Edited by Fatman24834154
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D

Bladder,

I will be working on a similar dio in the New Year using the same Churchill kit and your hedgerow has given me a lot of ideas and inspiration for it. I may well steal your discoveries and use it myself.

Do you use anything to set/seal the cat litter when you use it to depict the mud?

Thanks,
Dave

Bladder? lol. Cheers Daffy.

I did use cat litter in the original diorama, but I didn't get round to sealing it before the base split. I would have sealed it with something - probably undiluted acrylic varnish as cat litter is obviously anhydrous and soaks up water. It would just expand and go soft. In the replacement diorama, I will be using it sparingly, just simulating the odd rock or patch of gravel, fixing it in place with PVA. I won't bother sealing it.

Edited by Badder
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Massive problems with my laptop. I think the little man who pedals the disc drive is on his last legs. It's taken 20 or so attempts to get the thing booted up and on line. So, if this topic suddenly stalls it's because I have become laptopless. I won't be able to get another until the new year.

However, progress on the diorama has .... er... progressed well.

I've constructed the ditch by building up the banks with wood, polyfilla and polycell fast-drying cement. I lined both banks with more shrubbery, and reeds (astroturf) then sealed the the ditch sides and bottom with PVA. To the bed of the ditch, I added twigs, rocks and dead 'leaves' then applied washes of brown and green. Then I poured on the first layer of Woodland Scenic's 'Realistic Water'. This somehow found its way out through the dams I had made from plasticene and ended up mostly on my wife's table, so it ended up quite shallow. Still, it took an age to cure... about 18hrs. Once set, I then placed 'lily pads' along the ditch. I had found some really suitable seeds for this purpose, back in late summer, but I have misplaced them. I had some other similar seeds, not quite as good, and made do with these instead. I painted these a pale green, then added another layer of Realistic Water. This time, the dams held. I sprinkled more of my dead leaves along the edges of the new layer of water and pushed most of the leaves below the surface. I added a 'branch' and some more rushes. These rushes are different from the 'astroturf' and were made by pulling apart the dead 'head' of a thistle flower, and extracting the outer 'scales'.

I have also spanned the ditch with a small footbridge, made from coffee stirring sticks, and supported it with two columns of 'brickwork'.

Pics to follow shortly. Hopefully. Any comments, tips or criticisms welcome.

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The water in the photos above looks milky because it has only just been poured. It dries clear. I've also included a shot of the exposed bank at the back of the diorama, showing roots.

Edited by Badder
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hmmmm sorry at repeated photos. I've just added new lily pads to the surface of the latest pouring of water. The previous pads are now submerged just as real ones would be. I really like this realistic water, except for the 24hrs curing time between each pouring... with instructions not to pour more than 1/8th inch per layer.... grrrr. I will do two more pourings, omitting lily pads on the penultimate pour, with the hope that this will really add to the sense of depth.

Edited by Badder
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Sorry, Badder, above post edited to rectify bloody iPad autocorrect.

Cracking pics. Looks really good.

Cheers

Dave

it's ok.... not the first time I've been called bladder lol. and cheers.

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Badder,

I will be working on a similar dio in the New Year using the same Churchill kit and your hedgerow has given me a lot of ideas and inspiration for it. I may well steal your discoveries and use it myself.

Do you use anything to set/seal the cat litter when you use it to depict the mud?

Thanks,

Dave

So, what plans do you have?

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Previous layer of Realistic Water hasn't cured fully yet, despite 24hrs passing. It's set in places, but not under the bridge or in some of the deeper parts. I wonder whether this stuff cures in light better than in shadow? Does anyone know? Today I had the opportunity to gather some more 'naturals' from the hedgerows. There's these tall weeds (something like ragwort) whose multiple flowers look a bit like miniature dandelions blooms, and they have gone to seed. The seed heads look a bit like those of thistles, only a lot shorter. The unopened 'parachute' hairs of each seed are only 3 or 4mm long and form tufts, and I'm going to experiment using them en masse to replicate short grass. I WOULD buy one of those pre-made grass matts, or knock up a static grass applicator, but I'm too impatient. Besides, I don't really believe in spending money on something when I might be able to make that something for free. Isn't that what making a diorama is all about?

Tonight I am going to carry on working on the 2 closest hedgerows nad paint the latest lily pads pale green/yellow... and IF the water sets I will pour on another layer. I have taken photos of the latest stage, with the Churchill in place.

Edited by Badder
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Progress has been slow due to the amount of curing time for the Realistic Water. I poured 5 layers altogether. I don't get this stuff. I'd pour it mid-afternoon and it would sometimes be tacky 36hrs later, but other layers poured late in the evening would reach solidity by early morning. It seems to have nothing to do with temperature, or light.

Anyway, the ditch itself is more or less finished, barring a bit more work on the bank vegetation. On reflection, I shouldn't have put so many lily pads in the lower layers as they do in fact obscure how deep the 'water' is! Still, it does look like a weed filled ditch.

So now I have started on the hardest part of this project... the grass. Rather than purchase a 'mat' I decided to try to make my grass from found materials. Thistle seeds seemed a good option, but they are very fragile and poking them into PVA proved a chore. So I just had 'tufts'. And they weren't short tufts..maybe knee height. Then I tried gluing them into place with CA, but mostly they stuck to my fingers. Returning to PVA, I tried airbrushing the tufts with dilute PVA to 'strengthen' them, and forgot about the tub of thistle seeds which ended up airborne and got everywhere!

So covering 1/3rd of the base with grass 'tufts' was going to be a long and laborious process, and not at all satisfactory. I needed shorter grass. And then I had an idea. Maybe it isn't an original idea, but I've not heard of it before.

COTTON WOOL BALLS!

I covered a patch of the track with thin CA, then pressed a few balls into it. (with a stick rather than my fingers 'cos I got burnt several times, and had cotton wool stuck to my fingertips.) After 30 seconds or so, I then pulled at the balls, removing 90 percent of the cotton. Then I scraped and teased at the glued cotton with a pair of dividers (from my technical drawing set) This removed more wool and roughed up what was left, separating strands and forming random clumps and barer patches. A quick wash with dilute greens and browns.was followed b y another teasing with the dividers. I am VERY pleased with the result, having saved myself money and hours! I intend now to add more tufts, dead leaves and a few different species of plant, plus some dust, grit, pebbles and rocks.

update... I just bought some cotton wool pleat.... which may be even better as it opens out into little rectangular sheets. Photos later tonight.

Edited by Badder
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Since taking these photos I have added tufts of grass, using thistle seeds. These were collected recently (mild winter has meant that plants down here have seeded late... in fact we still have sloe berries in the hedgerows. I keep all my plant seeds, moss, lichen etc in old tobacco pouches which are resealable and keep the contents moist or dry depending on my needs.

I am continuing to work on the track, adding more cotton wool and tufts, washing with greens and browns, spraying dilute PVA and sprinkling dried/crushed Dill tops and crushed brick/clay mixtures.

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I have yet to work on the front of the diorama and the far right hand corner. I want to make some kind of dilapidated building in the corner... an old barn, shed, part of a wrecked farmhouse or something. I'm considering adding hand rails to the footbridge and maybe some barbed wire fencing along the bank. I'm not sure if French farmers used barbed wire fences?

Edited by Badder
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