Hi folks

Been faffing about too much on the house alterations to get any real models churned out and am supposed to be thinking of a build for the Perth Model Show in April.

Thought I would use the modelling a photo campaign idea (ok far too early to be considered part of the campaign I know) to get my mind in gear and get something done for a change.

Came across a photo of troops training to deal with mines and booby traps and thought it might be suitable to get me going.



Materials of construction are quite basic for the moment with timber coffee stirrers for the frame and tin foil to make the corrugated tin.





Frame constructed with superglue







The tin foil from carry out food cartons put through a wringer gives a nice scale corrugated tin



I got this art paint tube squeezer from The Works book and craft shop for £0.99





Thinking of buying two or three more to do a slight modification to them. More on that later.

The individual sheets of tin foil were sized to give scale 2 foot by 6 foot corrugated sheets. Holes were marked using a large diameter hole punch to mark the diameter on the corrugated sheets then cut out with a knife. The sheets were flattened fully again then put through the wringer again so that the holes retained the corrugated edge.



This is where I am at for now.



Have a figure on order from evilbay and others for doners.

More to follow soon.

Nige

Brilliant!!

Hi Nige, Looks like your off to a good start. I'll be watching for updates....Vince

Interesting and yery different topic! Good idea!
I didn´t seen anything of these training pictures.
The build looks good so far!

greetings...
Soeren

Hi Nige,

That looks just the business, excellent.

Al

Very interesting idea

watching this one

I had a chance to have a couple of cups of tea and used the tea bags to help dull down the brightness of the coffee stirrers though I may try some coffee aswell to darken the timber even more.



Also placed the Hornet figure to get an idea of the proportions against the timber frame. I will be sinking the timber frame into a plaster bed and noted that the plaster will have to be thicker than the timber I have stood the figure on. The figures waste band needs to be almost level with the hands on the boards.



The left arm is shown on the box to be placed behind but looks equally fine as I have it posed.



I have two other figures ordered on evil bay.

Cheers

Nige

Nice idea!

Will you only show the arms of the trainees?

Claude

This look like it is going to turn out nice. And like the idea really well.

Nice one Nige will you get it done on time for perth looking forward to seeing your build at the show

Hi folks

Thanks for the kind comments. Appreciated !!!

Yes Claude, I will only be installing arms in the holes. This is my first dio in ages and I haven't done many figures in years. I am proposing to have three instructors in different poses in front supervising and hopefully with a small deviation from the photo to hopefully add a little humour to the dio.

More on that later when the other figures arrive.

I need to make sure this and the Nissan hut model are completed by 24 April as my club are having a Battle of Britain themed table. By that they are including anything Army, Navy or Air Force within the period of the battle.

Hopefully it won't take me too long to paint the three figures and all the arms. I am going for the "less is more" approach on the dio base too.

Thanks for the support

Nige

Great idea. I need to get one of those squeezers myself.

A wee update



Made a a base using a slab of foam cut and coated with a topping of household filler stippeled with a paint brush for texture.



I have two Hornet white metal figures, one SKP and arms from a set of British tank crew.



Pic in black and white





Still gots loads to do on this including trying to learn better figure painting.

Nige

What a great idea for a dio - totally original!

Nige,
That is an outstanding job of a topic that is so off the beaten path, something that you/I really never see. I liked it so much I had to show it to the wife and even illicited a wow from her. Are you going to do the rear of the figures or just the arm? Great job as it is, I will be watching for the final photos.

What a ripper! Have to echo everyone and say that is a really original concept, can't wait to see it completed!

Hi guys

Thanks for the compliments. I was quite chuffed when I compared the two pics and saw the perpective from the camera worked well even though it was using my camera phone for a change.

The club is talking about having some of the guys do demonstrations on techniques and one of them is going to do figure painting. So I am hoping the figure painting one is first.

Nige

I cant believe you made what you did from those materials! GREAT JOB. Looks fantastic

Hi David and all

Thanks for looking in. I do try to use cheap and chearful throw away stuff where possible and would say the most expensive bit of this dio is the two white metal figures, but they are very nicely detailed and well posed figures that just suit my needs to a tee.

I just hope I can get the painting right to make it worth the investment.

This is just test fits to compare with the photo for now for placement of each arm. I have the arms to sleeve up and smooth off in their final positions behind the scenes. Going for a flush edge at the back so all the fixing in place will require to be from the front so the sleeves are necessary to cover the glue or filler that will help keep them located in their posed positions.

I also received a packet of replacement hands from a pall at the club which are much more detailed and I may take the opportunity to replace some to make the scene a little more animated on the mines. They are tiny so I hope I don't end up with carpet fodder.

The intension is to sleave up, animate and paint each before final fixing. Also hoping the club will have it demo on figure painting so that I can do the full figures to a reasonable standard.

Thanks for looking in.

Nige

hey Nige, looks like you bothered commenting on my own stuff before I finally get round saying you hello on what i consider as being one of the most innovative and ultra cool dioramas around.
"A diorama is first an idea" and i think that you really found one pretty good here.
Amazed by your inventivity, (that rolling machine ah!) and i'm waiting to see that one painted

Hi Nic

Thanks for the very kind words. I think it is a wee bit of a cheat for me as I am simply copying a photo. But I am enjoying the process and appreciate the comments from the likes of your self doing the sort of stuff in resin and PE that I would love to get to know how to do.

A wee update on the base



Added some acryiic burnt umber and a light grey wash



Some grey sand and dust



also some grass flock and saw dust for dryed weeds



Added some tiny grass clumps in the soil trough where grass would have naturally seeded itself.

Will follow up on work to the figures and arms soon I hope

Nige

Arms and bodies in the production line getting painted



don't know if this will work but have sprayed the figures matt black as base colour. The white primer kept showing through



I transplanted resin hands onto most of the arms and a couple already have some form of grenade or tin in them



The arms have putty to then tissue dressed with watered PVA glue to shape







I will have a stab at painting the figures at the weekend



This will be my third attempt

Nige

yes, this is a good idea subject project. Super weird, but great at the same time

This is really coming together

brilliant