I am about to embark on my first diorama. As per the title It will be based on Miniart's Normandy Crossrads. The kits I have purchased to go with the kit are: Dragon's 1/35 Tiger 1 Late w/zimmerit, Tamiya's Willys Jeep 1/35, Verlinden's 1/35 small tree set, Miniart's 1/35 European Cart, Dragon's 1/35 German Tank Crew France 1944, Tamiya's 1/35 German Fuel Drum Set, Verlinden's 1/35 WWII Propaganda Posters, and lastly Master Box's US INFANTRY July 3rd '44 1-35. Basically the seen is going to be set as the Tiger will be at rest with the crew in and around the tank, when all of sudden an American scout patrol comes into town, the Germans get the first shot and wound of the Americans. The Americans quickly egress on foot due the Jeep being diabled. I have bought three sets of the Vallejo pigments, pegaus bricks for rubble and plan on using balsa wood as broken frame bits of the two houses provided. This is going to be a hard task to accomplish, I am wondering in what order should I do everything as to not lose focus of my final goal. Also some tips on using the balsa wood to create the frame, also painting the trees to create that realistic affect. I have never dealt with resin before what is the best glue to use. Thanks for any help in the diorama.

Sounds like a nice idea for a dio. I,myself,tend to get bogged down with a big project like this so my advice would be to do it in bite sized chunks. This way you still get some feeling of completion and accomplishment. Maybe try building the Jeep first and completely finishing it? Then move on the Tiger or the figs? That way,if you run out of steam,at least you will have something to show for it?
I use white glue for wooden pieces and super glue for resin pieces,btw.
Good luck man and keep us posted?
J

I use white glue for wooden pieces and super glue for resin pieces,btw.

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I use white glue for wooden pieces and super glue for resin pieces,btw.

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Jerry - try using Canopy Glue for balsa and basswood, as it sets up a whole lot quicker, allowing you to work at a far faster pace on wood assembly. I can pick up a piece of stripwood, with another glued to it at a 90 degree angle, less than a minute after gluing them.

The best brand seems to be Formula 560 from Pacer Technology. I believe an increasing number of hobby shops carry this. It's the adhesive of choice for the guys who custom build "craftsman" (limited run, high cost and lots of parts) structure kits for model railroad customers. I got turned onto it at a convention seminar.

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I use white glue for wooden pieces and super glue for resin pieces,btw.

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Jerry - try using Canopy Glue for balsa and basswood, as it sets up a whole lot quicker, allowing you to work at a far faster pace on wood assembly. I can pick up a piece of stripwood, with another glued to it at a 90 degree angle, less than a minute after gluing them.

The best brand seems to be Formula 560 from Pacer Technology. I believe an increasing number of hobby shops carry this. It's the adhesive of choice for the guys who custom build "craftsman" (limited run, high cost and lots of parts) structure kits for model railroad customers. I got turned onto it at a convention seminar.

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Speaking of balsa wood, besides an hobby store, has anyone seen if Lowes or Home Depot carries it?

Speaking of balsa wood, besides an hobby store, has anyone seen if Lowes or Home Depot carries it?

I don't usually use balsa as I find it too soft and not having a realistic grain. I trend towards basswood and I get that at Michaels or AC Moore craft stores.

For small jobs I will also use plastic stock and scribe a quick grain in it for the wood effect. Can't tell the difference when I'm done.

you'll never get an aged wood look like this with styrene:

Speaking of balsa wood, besides an hobby store, has anyone seen if Lowes or Home Depot carries it?

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you'll never get an aged wood look like this with styrene:

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Depending on how you create it you can get pretty close




That is a 1:72 Hangar floor made of rough wooden planks. And aside from the pictureframe it was constructed there is not a splinter of wood in the whole floor. All is constructed from Styrene and all the rest is down to some basic paintwork. I'm currently working on a small article on how to create a floor like this but it works for a lot of scales and for a lot of woodworks.

I actually like to use Styrene over real wood for diorama's because it is way easier to control. The problem I have with using real wood is that certainly for the smaller scales (1:35 and smaller) it looks exactly what it is 1:1 wood used in a scale setting.