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A Simple Diorama

Finishing the base

After everything has dried and the glue has cured completely you can finish the base and its edges. The first thing to do is remove the masking tape that has been protecting the base from the painting and weathering process. [figure 74] [figure 75].

Because mdf and balsa wood do not take to kindly to wood stains and varnish, I finished my bases off with a coat of satin black acrylic paint. The color I use is Humbrol satin coal black applied with a wide brush [figure 76]. The satin black will give a nice appearance to the base that is something between a gloss and a matt finish [figure 77]. The base is given a couple of coats then left to dry [figure 78].

Adding details

Once the main parts of the diorama have been finished the last thing that needs to be done is to add some final details to tie the diorama together and create additional visual interest. We start by adding the small bush by the steps. This is done by adding some moss to the twigs that were added at the beginning of the project .

The moss came from a model railroad shop but you could use the stuff commonly used for lining hanging baskets [figure 80]. Take a piece of moss just bigger than the area you want to cover, turn it over and cover the back with PVA glue. Then shape the moss over your small branches.

Once you’ve shaped the moss around the branches, spray a coat of PVA/water mix onto the moss. Leave this to dry overnight. Next, make a small cone from thin card to fit around the bush area and protect the surrounding details. Now, with the protective mask in place, give the moss a coat of matt varnish [figure 81]. This is applied to act as a preservative to hold the I of the moss and stop it from going brown [figure 82].

The next part to be added is a small fence at the top of the stairs for this detail I’ve used a photo-etched set from TechStar (kit number TC 1008 ‘Wrought Iron Fence”) [figure 83]. Finish and dry brush the fence to blend it into the rest of the diorama. The fence was also bent up to give it a battle scarred character [figure 84].

The last thing to be added was a propaganda poster to the wall. This was soaked in a mixture of PVA/water and then brushed onto the wall. Rip the poster to make it look like its been there a while. Once dry it was stained with tea to give it a nice old feel. Do this by squeezing an old used teabag into dish then just give it a couple of coats of the tea.