My son is doing a school project for social studies ( it used to be called histroy in my day. He has chosen the Battle of Stalingrad and wants to make a dio using a 1/25 T34 and panther I built. Yes I know the Panther wasn't there but as he says, "who will know the difference. I have a bunch of construction materials I would like to use if possible to cut the cost. Anyone used any of the following and what expriences have you had:

1. Stucco mix powder

2. drywall mud

3. mortar mix

4. poyfilla (used for fixing major holes in drywall)

5. particle board

6. plywood

7. presswood

8. solid planking 3/4" thick, not sure what type of wood

9. melamine coated pressboard.


8. latex paint

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Thanks

David Simon

Used plywood, make sure that you put a clear coat down or something that will protect it from warping if your going to get it wet with ground work!

~Chip

I've probably used all of those things at one time or another - with the exception of Latex Paint... it is to thick to allow fine detail to show. I recommend a quick trip to Michaels or Hobby Lobby to pick up a nice selection of the DecoArt / Americana acryllic paints, sold in 2oz tubes for around 88 cents (US) each.... they work well and dry perfectly "flat". They are also quite cheap and available in a tremendous variety of colors.

slightly offtopic:
the german did'n use panther tanks at stalingrad. at this time august1942/january1943 the panther tank wasn't introduced and at service.

I also use same material as yours to construct a diorama. For trees I use small 0.5cm wires which are twisted to each other ( at least 4 wires depending on your scale). Then pour the polyfilla mix onto it . Let dry before paint.
You can refer to the movie " Enemy at the Gates" for the scenery of the battle at Stalingrad for rough idea. Good Luck. :-)

i really wonder why they call it social studies(abrieviated its SS. hmmm....) i actually think because(at least in my state) they make you do so much more then just know history(the class is basically english class, but writing about history

i love that class though, mostly because i watch so much history channel and know everything we do in class

I mostly try not to remember too much about my own school days, but there certainly was no room for Panther's or any other models in the school building. I hope that policy changes by the time junior gets a bit older. I'll be happy to "cheat" a little for his scale modeling homework. Heck, I'll be happy to help out for ANY school tasks that involve "models".