Billthebattler Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 This diorama is for "The Living Daylights" C-130 Hercules I am currently transforming. - Essentially, a runway with sandy areas either side with some desert scrub, a Dodge tearing down the runway alongside the Hercules, and a couple of mounted figures waving off the plane. That is the picture I have had in my mind for a long time, now to (try) and turn it into reality. - My not very artistic artists impression of what I hope to achieve. It will storyboard like this: Aircraft about to take off from desert airfield With vehicle racing alongside Nasty piece of work, I mean villain, (Necros) about to jump onboard With a few mounted Mujahideen on the sandy area to one side - Now to find out if I can pull this off and make a convincing diorama. Watch this space... Bill. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 I like this idea a lot! Will be keen to see the results you achieve. Good to see a diorama with a strong story involved. Cheers. Chris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billthebattler Posted January 23, 2022 Author Share Posted January 23, 2022 Thank you Chris, much appreciated. This will be only my second diorama, so fingers crossed, and hopefully a few laughs along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 I once heard a tail about a Hercules coming in to RAF Honnington, running down the main and dropping the ramp. Out came a vehicle which dropped off the ramp on to the runway, shot off round the airfield while the Herc went up and circled, before coming back through with rear wheels down on the runway, ramp down & the vehicle went back in before the Herc disappeared away. At no time did the Herc stop and guys on the ground had no idea this was planned. Good fun afternoon I guess! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billthebattler Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) @bar side How strange. CinC's birthday perhaps? who can say.👻 Edited January 31, 2022 by Billthebattler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billthebattler Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 The post I wrote has just disappeared, so here goes again... The board I'm using is good old fashioned 3/4" blockboard. Actually, this is a bit of the old model cabinet I made Donkey's years ago, so it's fitting to use that in my newish model cabinet, though it only just fits. It's 19 inches square (that's 482 mm in the new fangled metric system🤭) Runway painted in Rev Anthracite with a touch of Humbrol Khaki, then lines added. - I sneaked in a couple of mounted figures to check their placement. All it needs now is weathering... Several washes of dark grey and khaki followed by dry brushing for a nice streaky, slightly dusty look. Now I'm just about ready for the sandy areas. - Playing with plaster follows shortly, in the meantime here's some music... Well, no music, so you'll have make up your own ☺️🎶 Bill. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billthebattler Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 Greetings everyone. A plastering we will go...😃 So the plaster can built up slightly higher for the sandy areas, I made up some strips of wood to act as boundaries at the two corners, hence the straps. I used some old casting powder that had been hanging about for over a decade thinking it would not set, so added a good amount of PVA. To my surprise it started settings within a few minutes! This had the effect of making me move faster than is normally the case! Masking removed, and the plaster ended up a little closer to the runway than I thought it would due to the masking tape pulling out from underneath the plaster 😖 It can be sorted though, as nothing is impossible in model making. The depressions for the mounted figures were made with the aid of the end of a lolly stick, but will have to be chiseled out more as the plaster set too quickly for the stick to make much of an impression. A little plaster work still to do then, but at least the ground is coming along. Bis bald, Bye for now, Bill 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 On 23/01/2022 at 17:54, bar side said: I once heard a tail about a Hercules coming in to RAF Honnington, running down the main and dropping the ramp. Out came a vehicle which dropped off the ramp on to the runway, shot off round the airfield while the Herc went up and circled, before coming back through with rear wheels down on the runway, ramp down & the vehicle went back in before the Herc disappeared away. At no time did the Herc stop and guys on the ground had no idea this was planned. Good fun afternoon I guess! Had a tour of Wethersfield a few years back. Used by 'assorted govt services'. Was told by our guide the SAS did a similar thing with a practice hostage rescue. The field is buttoned up a bit tighter now, and you can't even get in to see the museum ATM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 Some of the police have left Wethersfield for Wyton now, I had seen that the rest of the base was going to be redeveloped. Either a prison or housing I think 1 hour ago, bentwaters81tfw said: Had a tour of Wethersfield a few years back. Used by 'assorted govt services'. Was told by our guide the SAS did a similar thing with a practice hostage rescue. The field is buttoned up a bit tighter now, and you can't even get in to see the museum ATM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 Latest stunt,they want to build 2 prisons on the site. The whole place is very contentious. The govt keep coming up with ideas, because they don't want to give the site back to the 4 original land owners, as they have to sell back at original purchase price. They wanted to put housing on it, but it would have had to bee leasehold, as they have to give the original landowners first option on land sale. Then the govt put a ban on leasehold newbuilds, so shot themselves in the foot again. Like Wattisham, some of the buildings hold Govt servers, amongst other sneaky beaky things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billthebattler Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 About time I made an update: Plaster painted and added a few patchy grass tufts from the War World Scenics range. Could have made my own grassy bits, but these seemed like fun and they were. Plenty left over for another diorama. I also bought some very fine desert sand from WWS, and with a substantial amount of PVA added to the base, it was off to sanding... The sand was so fine it went straight through a regular sieve, so used this tea infuser from the kitchen. Just perfect for the purpose. If my sister in law says her tea is a bit gritty, I'll just smirk! I did give the sandy areas a light wash over with some dirty thinner, but it looked really horrible. So i lightly PVA'ed and sanded again. Think I'll just leave it at that, maybe do some dry brushing , but that's all. Couldn't wait to see what a model would look like on the base: "Hell of a time for a breakdown!" Wrong aircraft, wrong scale, but I'm pleased with the base as a whole. Next will be incorporating all of the model elements, but that maybe a little while off yet, so no-one hold their breath. Cheerio for now, Bill. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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