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Brave Souls - Poland Fall 1944

Groundwork

I wanted various heights for this diorama base. The base was built up using insulation foam then covered with celluclay. Over this I sprinkled cat litter and sand and pressed this into the clay. Then I painted the groundwork with brown oxide craft acrylic paint. Over this I painted floquil earth paint then gave it a wash of burnt sienna mixed with raw umber. Then dry brushed again with the floquil earth paint. I then picked out the cat litter rocks and painted it with a medium gray. Then dry brushed them with lighter shades of gray.

So I planned the barn being at the highest point and a road going in front of the barn sloping downwards across the scene and a ravine at the front. Along the road I had originally planned a stone wall (which can be seen in some of the early photos). But after much debate, I came up with a better solution. I decided on a different style wall or fence as it were and a granary behind it. Again I used straight forward construction and finished the granary in the same manner I did the barn. I also decided to keep a stone retaining wall between the farmyard and the road.
The images down the right side of the screen are the groundwork related images.

Composition Details - Wattled Fences/Trees

I decided on a wattled fence to further separate the road from the yard. This was made by drilling holes in the base and using square toothpicks for the posts and tumble weed branches for the weave. I also wanted a front fence to separate the road from the ravine, and this was accomplished using the same toothpicks for posts and square basswood stock for the beams. I then put down woodland scenics static grass. I used wild honey and burnt grass. The tall grasses are also woodland scenics. The ivy is made with a scrub pad that was painted brown. I took the idea for a Hudson and Allen ivy pack I picked up awhile back

At this time I decided on a couple of conifer trees for the front of the diorama. I used Bragdon Enterprises conifer branches which are small ferns. These are really cool even including little seeds underneath the branches that look like pine cones. Then I shaped two dowels to make the trunks. I then took a pin drill and drilled holes into the trunk and then glued the branches into the holes. Then, I took the long woodland scenics grass and clipped it with the scissors to the appropriate length to cover under the trees with fallen needles. Then I did a wash of burnt sienna to the needles and removed a few of the pine cones from some of the extra branches to place on under the branches as fallen pine cones.