Hi there ! I am building a diorama base with a hill on the bottom, and when I searched the web for terrain moddeling all I get is 3d studio modelling ... So, I would like to know if anyone can help me painting the scenario. I have a wooden base, made the hill with wall foam filler and powder wall filler, now I need to paint it and don't know how to start, colors, which first...
The armored cars in the diorama will be german, so the hill will have to resemble an area, let's say germany, denmark, somewhere like that.

http://gallery.kitmaker.net/showphoto.php/photo/333651/ppuser/40668

Start by painting it a neutral earth color, like khaki. Give it a thick wash of a dark brown oil, like Sepia, or Van Dyke Brown. Let that dry then build up depth by dry-brushing with lighter oil colors like yellow ocher and ending with naples yellow. Use these highlight colors sparingly and be conscious of where the light will be hitting the groundwork the most.

Is it ok to use an airbrush during the process ? (thanks)

Sure. If you want to do it that way, you may want to start with the darkest tone and then work lighter in layers. Whatever you do you need to have variations in the groundwork.

Yes of course, but I´d still recommend John´s steps of washing and dry brushing ... to give depth to the texture of the hill. Spraying has a tendency to flatten the colour and hide texture.

Hi ! I have added some pictures for you to see how work is going:

Khaki initial painting: http://gallery.kitmaker.net/data/500/khaki.jpg
1st brown wash, darker: http://gallery.kitmaker.net/data/500/1st_brown_wash.JPG
2nd brown wash, lighter: http://gallery.kitmaker.net/data/500/2nd_brown_wash.JPG
green wash (under rocks):http://gallery.kitmaker.net/data/500/green_wash.JPG

Can anyone help me from this point now ? Grey dry-brushing ? Brown dry-brushing ? I was thinking adding some rocks and boulders to improve the realism ...

Thanks