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Model-Related Handicrafts
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Topic starter
10/12/2023 2:26 pm
Topics? Diorama design, a story to tell, construction of ground work, researching the proper marking, colors, uniforms for the time and place.
Colors: True !:1 colors vs. scale colors and the need to shadow and highlight for scale "realism". Subjective but necessary.
Weathering: What would wear, what would fade what would rust and what would be the normal wear and tear. Add dirty, dusty and oily.
Kitbashing, scratch-building and 'gizmology'.
And anything else you want to talk about. This the first diorama I'll use because there's virtually every topic contained here. The story line? This vignette tells of a recently built home defense complex north of Prague in the latter days of the war with anti-aircraft batteries still being set up. It's a shift change with the Me262 radar equipped night fighter being towed by a tracked motorcycle (Kettenkrad) with mechanics tightening a leaky fuel pod. The day fighter is being armed and prepped by a senior black clad mechanic while two pilots discuss the day's mission. I'll discuss the vehicles and weaponry as they become relevant. I'll post enough here to showcase potential topics. (Note: The Me163 rocket interceptor doesn't really belong in the dio. I stored it there for another vignette that I never completed)
10/12/2023 2:43 pm
Bra-Vo!!!........anything you toss about in this category promises to be immensely satisfying,state of the art stuff
11/12/2023 2:23 am
where do we start with the superlatives? We've seen teasers of this in other forums? Never knew there was a Me262 2 seater. Gonna have to go and find out more about it!
11/12/2023 8:47 am
Yep! Seen this one before.... nicely done but moreover, it displays beautifully. This is a very accurate a & well done diorama; your hard work and dedication is showcased here nicely Rich.
John Kuvakas and Jack Dodds reacted
Topic starter
11/12/2023 11:52 am
@chris I can show a couple of more just for fun. I posted those pics more looking more for questions rather than kudos. I don't know who out there are contemplating trying dioramas, figures or accessories for their models and want to know just how to go about it. Even trying a little vignette like this Thomas Flyer that was built in a 1/18 display case can be fun.
11/12/2023 12:39 pm
Beautiful! Where do you find most of your resources? Those grasses and the surface areas are hyper-realistic.
John Kuvakas
Warrenton, VA
11/12/2023 1:13 pm
Impressive would be an understatement. I have seen many dioramas, but yours are the only ones in 1/18 scale.
First, we’re you able to buy all the people or did you have to custom make or modify some?
Second, if you need to spray paint the models, do you use airbrush, spray cans, or both?
Third, for weathering, do you ever use any weathering powders or do you use paint?
Fourth, what is the overall size of the diorama?
Ed Davis
Inverness, Illinois, USA
Jack Dodds reacted
Topic starter
11/12/2023 1:52 pm
@jkuvakas Most all the ground vegetation is real. You look for little things that mimic larger plants. We have a variety of sumac tree that blossoms mid summer. Cut them off at the base, hang them upside down to dry, then pray them and they make the trees you see in the first dio. I have one tree that I built from a wire frame wrapped in A+B epoxy and used oregano as leaves. The grass is store bought... called "static grass". You can also use it to sprinkle in other "shrubs" for a pine needle look.
. Note: the "rocks" are pine bark mulch.
11/12/2023 7:47 pm
Really impressive work here. Real talent and a lot of learning over time is evident here Rich. Thanks for sharing.
Topic starter
11/12/2023 8:44 pm
Impressive would be an understatement. I have seen many dioramas, but yours are the only ones in 1/18 scale.
First, we’re you able to buy all the people or did you have to custom make or modify some?
GA251/9
Third, for weathering, do you ever use any weathering powders or do you use paint?
Fourth, what is the overall size of the diorama?
The vast majority figures are "Frankensteins". The figures are an assembly of torsos heads and limbs cut at the joints to give specific poses as required for the story line. The military dio at the top are all "Frankensteins" with the seated pilot sculpted epoxy and solvent softened styrene. The ones with the camo helmet covers were tissue paper and diluted white glue and the camo ponchos from thin paper and white glue. In the Thomas Flyer Dio, the driver and rear passenger were a 1/24 Stuka pilot and gunner figures that were chopped up and repositioned. The guy with the pail is pretty much sculpted. All those figures were clothed using lead foil, epoxy and the wool collars made from 'Micro-Balloons'. The goggles were scratch built.
Second, if you need to spray paint the models, do you use airbrush, spray cans, or both? The vehicles and aircraft were air brushed. I do use rattle cans for car models with very careful technique. All the figures and most of the accessories were brushed on with the necessity of blending base color with shadows and highlights with combos of enamels and acrylics.
Third, for weathering, do you ever use any weathering powders or do you use paint? I use washes and pastels. For very heavy rust, I use and underlayment of baking soda. I'll also use SNJ metallizing powder in either silver or bronze to simulate scraped off paint or to make painted metal parts look more metal than plastic.
Fourth, what is the overall size of the diorama? The top military dio is virtually the same as the other big one I can show. How big? TOO BIG!!! It's like the guy that builds an airplane in his basement before realizing he'll have to jack up his house to get it out. They're about 30" square. The two military dios are a combo of 1/32, 1/35 and 54mm (where a 6' man would be 2"). I built them in my old bachelor pad condo and realized I couldn't keep them horizontal and get them out the doors or windows. This year, I finally had to sell the condo and had disassemble them and haul the components 40 miles to my house. I almost got away with it. I had some of the models on the kitchen table and my curious cats, who were careful, but even gently brushing against them caused some damage as these darned things are incredibly fragile. I case you're wonder how these dios survived the years, they sit in wooden frames that house Lucite dust covers I made.
I forgot to comment on the first part of your post. To reiterate, the military stuff is is all in the 1/32 (aircraft), 1/35 (soft skins and weaponry" and some 54mm figures. They're all pretty close in scale and as to the figures, the way they're chopped up and repositioned. you can easily adjust for height if necessary. and, as you probably know, the Thomas Flyer is all 1/24. 1/18 is just too large for a story board, I've just added figures and accessories to them in single 1/18 display cases.
11/12/2023 11:39 pm
It will take me awhile to absorb everything you wrote. I am very impressed with your ability to integrate a wide variety of materials and techniques. Thanks for the detailed answers to my questions.
Ed Davis
Inverness, Illinois, USA
Rich Sufficool and Jack Dodds reacted
Topic starter
12/12/2023 11:59 am
@ed-davis Well, that was more of an overview rather than detailed so anything specific questions you have, feel free. I have a boatload of pics that can help answer them.
John Kuvakas reacted
13/12/2023 8:28 am
but yours are the only ones in 1/18 scale.
No, no.... Rich said he built "it in a 1/18 DISPLAY CASE." That Thomas Flyer model is not 1/18 scale.
13/12/2023 8:32 am
@rich-sufficool Despite all the models I've built, collections I have, model RR stuff, slot cars, etc.... I can't honestly say I've ever built a diorama other than a few things I did as an elementary school student for show & tell. Isn't that crazy? 🙄 🙄 😯
I probably should do something, right? 🤔 🤔
Rich Sufficool reacted
Topic starter
13/12/2023 10:37 am
@chris Those dioramas are a big commitment in time, space and material to really pull them off. I'd say about 3 years went into them from research to finish... and by 'finish', it's more like "enough is enough". The start to finish time on a single figure is significant. Detailing and scratch-building based on fuzzy WWll archival photographs allow for detailing, but the question is always "How detailed?". It ultimately winds up to take your best guess and quit when it's good enough. At my age and resources, the little Thomas Flyer vignette is about as much as I can handle and I mostly do just figures and accessories now and display them in stock display cases. There a lot of ready made diorama kits you can build now that weren't around in my day, but they are predominately 1/35 scale. If you wish to utilize your 1/18 armor and soft skin, you're still pretty much on your own.
Ed Davis reacted
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