Crossroads... A dioarama set in France 1943

Post by **rm6239** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 1:58 am

Hi guys

As I said in my intro post, currently on the bench is a dio, set in France, with some military figures, 2 dogs, a cow and a peasant. I'm hoping with this dio to explore some techniques that I can use in future dio's.

First up my base. I have used a cheap picture frame, which I've then glued on some styrofoam, then I use a product called Sculptamold (its a paper mache type product, but it sticks to glass), it is light, dries very hard and can be sanded.

It will become clearer.

Some scenery.

A year or so ago I came across a mention of Treemendus Models and the very lifelike trees you can make with their tree kits. Well I brought some of their products and using a tip from an old Railway enthusiast, I attempted a tree.

Happy as a first attempt, next one will be better. Could be better using all the Treemendus products.

Tamiya's Kublewagon, what can I say, pure fun a great little kit considering it's age.

Added some interest inside the Kublewagon. It's a bit hard to see but there is a packet of cigarettes on the magazine.

cont.

Post by **rm6239** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 2:12 am

Finally some of the actors take the stage. All figures are from the new Tamiya Military Police set.

The Commanding Officer.

2nd in Command.

NCO.

The Soldiers.

Still have 2 dogs, a cow and a peasant boy to do yet, 1 dog and the peasant boy have been primed, one dog is done, but the cow is being..... well a cow, the 2 sides of the cow do not meet, so I joined the edges along the bottom and have been trying to fix the 1mm step between the 2 sides.

Rossco

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 6:02 am

Wow... This is looking great!

Looking forward to see more of this build!
Your figures a stunning mate

Post by **rm6239** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 7:12 am

Cheers Frans? They are getting better each time which is hopeful.

As I said the cow is being a cow, had a slight problem, the carpet monster ate an ear, so I had to try to sculpt a replacement.

It's not great but looks alright.

Filled and currently sanding the gap along the spine, the gap between the back legs is cleaned up as best I can, a tail and poo stains etc will take care of the rest.

I didn't like the way the box art used to lead the cow so made a little addition.

Also painted the barricade and the German Shepard.

cheers

Rossco

https://www.youtube.com/user/bnealuk · Post by **T3hGuppy** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 7:18 am

Ooh nice work on those figures buddy.

Looking forward to seeing this one come together,

Post by **rm6239** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:31 am

Guppy, thanks mate, a nice wet weekend coming up, so should get to spend lots of time at the bench.

Added some colour to the base, just used cheapo acrylics and slapped it on willy nilly. Next up the first layer of ground cover.

Should be able to make a start on the groundcover tonight.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **Coen** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:11 am

This is beautiful work Rossco! I love a good diorama, it's where we can truly let our imaginations go crazy.
You're has gone completely round the bend.
Awesome work so far. That's some fine figure painting too.
I wouldn't worry too much about the cow's ear. I grew up in farm country... there were a lot of cows with only one ear or part of an ear.
They seem to be hard on the things.

Post by **rm6239** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 1:03 pm

Hollywood, cheers mate, I was going to include Tamiya's Motorbike and rider but I think I'm pushing the overcrowding a little but I'll wait and see when it's all closer to the finish.

Coen, you and me both mate, suggest a story and let the imagination run, hopefully this is on the path to that goal.

You ain't seen nothing yet, working my way towards the big one, a Cromwell and about 16 figures, it's all sitting in the stash waiting until I think I can do it justice.

Had a nice run at the bench tonight so pushed on to the ground cover stage. Pictures might not be the best but I hope you can make out the various stages.

First up, masked off the road areas.

Next up, the ingredients used to for the first bit of ground cover.

The applicator, cheap I know but it works great.

Sprinkled on, trying to get some randomness into the groundwork.

Drying now and masked a little bit more waiting for the next layer of ground cover.

The ingredients for the next layer.

Take a pinch between your fingers and sprinkle, once again trying to get some randomness. Finally a fine misting with your diluted white glue.

This shot will show the result a little better I hope, don't worry about the blobs of glue they will dry matt clear.

Now to let everything dry and maybe tomorrow a light coating of hairspray to hold down any stragglers.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **DC87** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 1:31 pm

Very nice groundwork Rossco

Post by **Coen** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 7:28 pm

You're the first person that I've ever seen show how to mask the roadways.
I always forget to do it myself. haha.
I love your tree dude... really well done.

Rossco, have you ever heard of rubberised horse hair?
It's amazing stuff. Makes great hedges and ground cover bramble.
It's good for doing branches on small trees or fallen twigs too.
You can get it from Historex. There are probably other places too.
I bought two bricks of the stuff a couple of years ago and it will probably last me for 30 dioramas or more.

Post by **JayCub** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 12:17 am

really interesting and varying build, dam that carpet monster

still the cow didn't look worried, but on a serious note this is looking brilliant and i can't wait for the next chapter.

Post by **xXModellerXx93** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 4:56 pm

Nice work.

I really like the tree and the dio base. Looking Forward to see some more updates .

Post by **ww2hispanomodels** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 8:52 pm

Very nice work! Love this figures, exellent painting on them!

Post by **rm6239** » Sun Nov 24, 2013 12:09 am

DC87, thanks mate.

Coen, cheers mate, you looking in my stash mate

first heard about it reading Richard Windrow's Terrain modelling book, couldn't find it sold online anywhere here, ended up getting some from somewhere in the UK, this will be my first attempt at using it.

Jaycub, your wish as they say.

xXmodellerXx93, cheers.

wwhispanomodels, thanks, probably my best so far, still some improvement there though.

Well as I said to Coen, this is my first chance to use the rubberised horsehair.

Cut and shaped it first. Then misted matt black on it to give it some depth.

Then added some scatter.

Glued it in position, added some dirt scatter on the roads, then I added the other scenery and some clumps of grass, 12 hours later here is the result.

Still a bit to do but it's starting to come together.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **Coen** » Sun Nov 24, 2013 1:10 am

Well freaking done Rossco!!!!
Well done!!
That is superb work buddy!
I LOVE IT!!!!

Post by **Paul** » Sun Nov 24, 2013 1:33 am

That's looks superb rosco great work mate

Post by **HWGuderian23** » Sun Nov 24, 2013 2:43 am

Excellent groundwork and figure painting Rossco

! Wish I could do this myself as good as you did mate! Will follow your build further on and hope to see much more of your work in the future

Post by **gosselin2112** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 1:45 am

Nice work! All that foliage really adds a lot of depth to the models.

Post by **rm6239** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:34 am

Coen,

high praise indeed thanks mate.

Paul, thank you mate.

HWGuderian23, you will mate, it's just practice, 2 books I can recommend for Terrain modelling are the Richard Windrow's Terrain Modelling masterclass from Osprey and for the figures I've closely followed Mike McLaughlin's figure painting series in Military Modelling Magazine.

Gosselin, thanks mate.

Ready for the last figures now. This is the kit I'm using.

The cow is going to be interesting to paint.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **Coen** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:01 am

I don't think that the doggy is gonna thank you for that toothpick.

Post by **Paul** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 11:00 am

Coen wrote: I don't think that the doggy is gonna thank you for that toothpick.

Yeah he does look a bit ruff

Post by **alextheblue** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 12:52 pm

Stunning work Rossco and that base looks superb as it is!

And it's no wonder the dogs ears are sticking up like that!

Post by **Nige201980** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:37 pm

Just found this build and all i can say is WOW this is stunning work mate really looking forward to the next update.

Post by **HWGuderian23** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 5:02 pm

rm6239 wrote: HWGuderian23, you will mate, it's just practice, 2 books I can recommend for Terrain modelling are the Richard Windrow's Terrain Modelling masterclass from Osprey and for the figures I've closely followed Mike McLaughlin's figure painting series in Military Modelling Magazine.

Thank you very mucht for this recommendations Rossco

. Perhaps the books are available here - I'll definitely have a go on them!
Looking forward to see your progress on the figures mate ...

Post by **rm6239** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 7:25 am

Hollywood, thanks mate, if you can't get real dirt, this might be an option, it's what I used for this.

They were about $20AUD each but I reckon they will probably outlast me

they are used by Railway hobbyists.

Coen, Paul,

Alextheblue, thanks man, you should of seen where I was thinking of sticking the cow's painting stick

Nige, thank you, might be a slight delay, the black and white cow is

causing some deep thinking.

Markus, no problems mate, happy to help, I think I got mine from thebookdespository, one thing that stuck out, when I was reading them, was he said build your ground work/cover from the ground up, so on my base I would say there are 6 levels of the ground cover.

1. Paint the ground.
2. Add the different scatters.
3. The actual grass level.
4. The grass clumps and flowers.
5. The hedges.
6. The tree.

Sorry for going on so much but it explains why I did the various steps.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **rm6239** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 8:48 am

Hollywood, any railway hobbyist store will probably stock them.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **rm6239** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 8:53 am

Try this place mate.

http://www.liliput.de/en/

cheers

Rossco

Post by **HWGuderian23** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 8:54 am

rm6239 wrote:Markus, no problems mate, happy to help, I think I got mine from thebookdespository, one thing that stuck out, when I was reading them, was he said build your ground work/cover from the ground up, so on my base I would say there are 6 levels of the ground cover.

1. Paint the ground.
2. Add the different scatters.
3. The actual grass level.
4. The grass clumps and flowers.
5. The hedges.
6. The tree.

Sorry for going on so much but it explains why I did the various steps.

cheers

Rossco

No worries about the particularised elucidations mate

! As you know already I tend to describe the full monty in detail myself (most of the time probably too much detailed)

!
But anyways ... thanks again for your reply Rossco

Post by **rm6239** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 6:55 am

I thought I would take the cow on first as I think it will be the hardest to paint.

Got the base colours on and starting to do the shadows and highlights.

I used Vallejo Model colour, offwhite, German Black brown, ivory, buff and black.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **alextheblue** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 1:22 pm

Great job so far with the cow!

For the colour scheme though, I'd have gone for the udder one!!

Sorry, I'll get my coat.....

Post by **rm6239** » Sat Nov 30, 2013 9:40 pm

Somebody had to say it Alex.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **Coen** » Sun Dec 01, 2013 10:28 am

Umpf!!!! Shame Alex shame
haha

Post by **rm6239** » Mon Dec 02, 2013 7:01 am

Hi Guys

Cow finished, though I goofed and should of preshaded it.

Dog finished.

Started on the farmboy, I've blocked in some of the colours, started to add shadows and highlights.

Some more soon.

cheers
Rossco

Post by **Coen** » Mon Dec 02, 2013 10:17 am

How does one preshade a cow I wonder haha.
Now there's a new one for the skill set eh haha.
It looks great Rossco! They all do buddy. This whole thing is going to be a show stealer buddy!!!

Post by **rm6239** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 12:26 am

Coen

Thanks mate, preshading is much easier than post shading let me tell you

. Can I get you to check your references to see if cows had hard edge camo schemes in 1943?

cheers

Rossco

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 6:22 am

Very nice progress

That groundwork looks briljant and I love the figures and cow. Realy nice paintwork on them so far

Post by **HWGuderian23** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 7:34 am

Nice progress and excellent paint job on the figures

.
Very well done Rossco

.

Post by **Schoof** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 8:12 am

Looking great .

Can't wait to see the next update

Post by **rm6239** » Wed Dec 04, 2013 6:13 am

Frans, Markus and Schoof, thanks guys, really appreciate your comments.

Finished the Farm boy.

Need to get a protective coat on them and then start adding everything to the dio base.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **Coen** » Wed Dec 04, 2013 8:42 am

That's beautiful work Rossco. I love the colours that you've chosen.
Well done dude!

Post by **snappercity** » Wed Dec 04, 2013 10:33 am

Really cool build so far.

Post by **Rodney** » Wed Dec 04, 2013 2:37 pm

Really great job... I cant wait to see more pictures.. I like dioaramas..I allways wanted to try one but im sure it will be no where near as good as yours..

Post by **rm6239** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:20 am

Coen, thanks mate, wanted to keep the colours simple as farmers tend to be conservative at the best of times.

Snapper, thanks for the kind words mate.

Rodney, I like a diorama as well, give it a try mate, start simple and work your way up.

Here's the first base I ever tried.

The next.

This I would call my first diorama, took me 4 months in all.

Then I went back to a base, this is the last before this diorama.

As you can see same basic ground work, through all of them.

Practice and you will be turning out great dio's sooner than you think.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **AchtungPanzer** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:33 am

HWGuderian23: "Nice progress and excellent paint job on the figures

.
Very well done Rossco

.

"

- Yes . Give models photos in natural light ...

Post by **Coen** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:47 am

rm6239 wrote:

I love the brick work in this one Rossco, it's extremely well done buddy.
It's by no means the most excellent part of this one... but I know how tricky brickwork can be, so it caught my attention right away.
Highly realistic.

Post by **rm6239** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 1:53 am

Achtung, cheers mate.

Coen, thanks mate, agree with you there, took me a couple of goes to get it to something I was happy with.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **HWGuderian23** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 2:31 pm

Some very nice dios mate!
Superb work Rossco

Post by **rm6239** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:24 am

Thanks Markus.

I think this one deserves a nameplate. I was going to do the following:

Crossroads
France 1943

But I am open to any suggestions.

Let's get to the pictures.

Can you spot the little extra's I added here.

All in all I'm pretty pleased with this one.

cheers

Rossco

Post by **Coen** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:37 am

And you should be, it's completely awesome!
Love that cow... Does she have papers?
Haha.
Well done Rossco, top drawer work.

As for a name... I like the original that you've already picked.

Post by **rm6239** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:40 am

Coen,

thanks mate, very nice of you to say so.

cheers

Rossco