Help please - diorama newbie.

[Michael Morris]

I'm planning my first proper diorama and I'm well outside my comfort zone, so I'm after some advice from experienced diorama builders.

My first project is a 1/144 scale diorama of the Apollo Little Joe II rocket on its desert launch pad.  This small rocket was used to test the Apollo launch escape system.

The rocket (NewWare kit) and launch pad (scratch built) are coming along and it's time I started planning the 16cm X 16cm diorama base in great detail.

I need to reproduce a sandy desert area next to a concrete pad.  There will be two  short sections of rail tracks for which I intend to use some Peco N guage code 55 track to reproduce.  I'm intending to use the War World extra fine grey ballast for the track ballast and was thinking of using a blend of their ultra fine sands for the desert.  Is this the best way to reproduce desert in this scale?

If yes, how would you glue it down?  If no, can you suggest an alternative technique?

 

Also, what would be the best method for reproducing concrete in 1/144 scale?

 

Can anyone point me towards guides, books, video guides or products for producing good sea, desert and Steppe landscapes and grassland and concrete in 1/72 and 1/144 scale?

 

Thanks

 

 

[Tigercat75]

I found some concrete effect spray paint in my local DIY store which does the trick .

 

I've been using thin plasticard sprayed with it then cut to shape to suggest the separate concrete blocks in a taxi way 

[Tim R-T-C]

I use the Tamiya light tarmac, it has a fine grain texture which works well in 144th and if you blend with acrylic paint you can adjust the colour easily.

 

Some of the concrete texture paints are far too coarse for this scale.

[RichG]

On 5/7/2021 at 12:01 AM, Michael Morris said:

I'm intending to use the War World extra fine grey ballast for the track ballast and was thinking of using a blend of their ultra fine sands for the desert.  Is this the best way to reproduce desert in this scale?

If yes, how would you glue it down? 

I used WWS (War World Scenics) Army Fine model Sand for a patch of desert on the edge of a 1/72 airfield taxiway diorama I built recently. I painted the base with Vallejo desert sand texture paint first because I didn't want it dead flat and didn't want the grey baseboard showing through the sand, but not sure that was really necessary. In the end it was quick to do and it looked pretty good to me - I doubt you can get a much better representation than using actual sand. The main variable I would guess would be the level of coarseness in 1/144. WWS do a range of grades / sizes - I used 200g bag of "Fine" which i think was the least coarse in the range. The bag was far more than I needed.

 

I used WWS Basing glue to stick it down because I had that already, I smeared glue over the area I had painted with texture paint (once the paint was dry!) and sprinkled the sand liberally over it - knocking off any excess sand at the end and returning it to the bag. This worked really well; the sand stuck where the glue was and the glue dried clear  (probably any PVA or model scenery glue would work as well).

 

Rich   

Edited June 21, 2021 by RichG