Hello everyone

Having just started in 1:48 scale, I'm working on a diorama to use as a display base for my models as well as for use as background in photos.

I've decided to build a ruin of a monastery, set somewhere in northwestern Europe about 1944. To build the ruin I've chosen to use molds from Hirst Arts, which I think have a great potential. Here's a staircase made from castings from the molds with a 1:48 GI on top.



Here's a test shot of how I imagine the setup of the diorama, with a road to the left to display vehicles and plenty of oppurtunities for displaying figures everywhere:



I added height with expanded polystyrene and tested the layout again:



Then I leveled the terrain with thick plaster:



Then I started to build up the wall, and the next step will be to fill the gaps between the castings:



More will follow...

Additional images can be seen on my new blog, O Scale Model.

It looks good so far. I have a couple of Hirst Gothic moulds which I plan on using with my Miniart Church.
Have you considered using coloured plaster to cast your blocks?

Looking Great so far, I'm looking forward to seeing this progress, very interesting.... milvehfan

Thanks




I thought about it, but I'm afraid it might detract from the strength of the castings. Have you tried it?

Instead I just spraypainted the walls, and am applying washes to the walls now...lots of fun!

My vacation continues, so here's some more images:



Since the insides of the tower will be more or less closed off, I had to paint and weather that first. Here's the new groudn cover, made from a mix of sawdust, sifted dirt, turf from Woodland Scenics and dried, used coffee. :-)



To hide the seams between the castnings, I put more plaster over the walls.



Then I spraypainted the whole thing and appplied a a dark brown wash, so now it's ready for various highlights.



Here's as far as I got by 3 o'clock this morning. :-)

There's more pictures from the construction on my blog:
http://oscalemodel.com/dioramas/monastery-diorama-iii-filler-and-paint

May your vacation go on and on and on, this is a very good work indeed, I love your monastery

Love it very nice work indeed,looking fotward to seeing more of his one.

Ohh, this looks good!
I also had plans to "build" a building from a model-kit and also some virtual 3D-models. These would be different ones at different "styles".
I also have some "polystyrene", which I would use. Perhaps I can use them for making moulds.

greetings...
Soeren

Wow, you're really getting somewhere with this. I usually add color because then I don't have to worry about accidental scratches but then I'm a messy worker
Your system seems to be working for you though.

How many moulds are you filling at one time?


For anyone interested here's the link for Hirst Arts. There's lots of useful stuff there

http://www.hirstarts.com/

Thanks

I only have two molds so far, #70 and #75. I think I have filled them about 10 to 15 times to have enough blocks for the ruin. If I were building something larger than this ruin, I might consider buying another mold #70 to speed up the process.

The work continues. :-)



I finished the upper part of the tower...



...as well as the arches which causes by a bit of problems due to my own laziness.



Then everything was painted, washed and highlighted.



The first layer of groundwork for the base was added and the road coated with sifted dirt/sand.



Here's the whole thing seen from above.



The ground will have standing static grass added as well as bushes, flowers and perhaps even tree!

Any suggestions or ideas so far?

More images and a closer look at the construction can be seen here:
http://oscalemodel.com/dioramas/monastery-diororama-iv-color-and-groundwork

Nice very nice indeed,love the ground work looks great,nice work on the paint job and weathering of the brick works looks fantastic.

Hey Occam
I'm not familiar with these products but you seem to have a fair grip on what they can do for you! The layout itself looks good, and you have used a simple method that works well for the ground.
My only concern would be the level of the groundwork. It is quite flat, which would mean any cover added of an even height would not alter this. The fact you have used a lot of grass cover is good, but the singular height looks a litte too 'neat'. For this amount of grass you would see different heights and concentrations such as clumps which would be growing unchecked especially in a ruin, and would give you a chance to vary the shades of green a little? Failing that, I'd imagine more dirt/dust the less grass you add, and have more worn tracks/paths leading through the ruins (thry have after all been there for quite the while, right? )

Keep it going; it is well designed and executed and I want to see where your figures are going!
Brad

This is turning out great! Will be watching this one. I'll share it over on track48.com too.

Yo Occam,

Very nice seeting and build up. Very nice moulds.

I'am hooked up.

Greetz Nico

Hey Brad

Thanks for your comment.




I completely agree with you. A diorama where the ground is too level just looks strange.



I've tried to add lots of lumps of plaster to the ground to make it a bit uneven, but you might right that it is not enough. I'll bear it in mind when I get to sowing the grass. :-)

Your idea with paths on the dio is great, thanks for that.

Outstanding job Occam ....

I finally had some time to work on the monastery diorama again. I spent a couple of hours on this beuatiful sunday to sow a lot of grass, plant flowers and even a tree.



I took Brad's advice to make a number of paths inside the ruin, and I'm very pleased with the result. Thanks for the idea!



Then I planted a number of flowers...



...a tree and lots of ivy.

This is as far as I got by this Sunday. The diorama is nearing completion, but still needs a few finishing touches. More flowers would look nice, as would a number of bushes. Some more ivy would give a great feeling, the tree trunk needs to be painted and finally the edge around the base needs some work.

There are more images and a more detailed description here:
http://oscalemodel.com/dioramas/monastery-diorama-v-grass-flowers-and-a-tree

Any ideas for more details?

This is great work! I love the monastery idea. Very nice craftsmenship. Keep up the good work!! Kirk

Hi Occam , Very nice job on your Monestary. It reminds of some of the places I visted in Ireland.Your time and effort with this project really shows.
Happy Modelling....Vince

Wow, very nice idyllic scene!
At the moment it looks like a very peacefully scene, but perhaps this can change very fast.

greetings...
Soeren

Thanks everyone :-)



I've just used the diorama as a photo backdrop for the first time, as you can see above. There are pictures from the construction, more pictures from the diorama and an amazing video of flying jeeps and AT gun on my blog: oscalemodel.com

Hope you like the images :-)