Hi all, well after years of modelling its come donw to my very last WW2 diorama, yup thats right folks, after 1 or 2 more dioramas i am hanging up the modeling hat. M last WW2 dioram is going to be in a themse of ruins however these ruins are not in town, they are going to be the left over walls of an old farm house, its all overgrown with grass, shrubs and vines. i am going to have the germans established as a fort there with machine and morter sites, maybe i will include a anti aircraft tank. i am going to include lots of sandbag walls and camoflage nets, its going to be german only, its a long diorama, 60cm by 30 cm.
now being this my last WW2 diorama i want to make it my best , the best of the best, the diorama of all dioramas, i want to make it better than profesional. so in order to do that i am going to need all you guys here at armorama to help me, with everything, realism, history, ground work, base work , i do know how to do all these but i ant to dedicate this final diorama to all of you at armorama so if you all help me, a little peice of this diorama you will own on behalf of all modelors here at the great site of armorama.

i need assitence with static grass, how do i make it stand up.

what does drybrushing mean

how do i weather tanks with chalk pastels.

how do i put exreme detail on figures and tanks.

thankyou alll

At first i d like to ask if i am not too annoying for it, why you want to quit this fine hobby ?
At second i believe that you cannot define from the start that a dio will be the best of all or perfect cause you never know how the work will goe. Any way i ll be glad to help and give u any info i can and obviously all the guys here that ara also more experienced than me . Just in first place i wanted to say that i am sorry when i hear that we are one less. (:-)

You could always start by searching the forums and features.... you'll find most of your questions answered there. If not, we'd be most happy to help you on your way.

I'm sorry but this makes little sense to me (maybe I am missing something). Why would you be asking very basic questions about modeling and confess that it is your last giving the impression that you have done many models before over the years? Hadn't issues about drybrushing, static grass and detailing come up before? Besides why would you quit modeling and in this way? Strange.

Lets not get into the 'meaning of a thread' - Eagle has given great guidance as far as searching for the answers.

hi guys, thnx for input, i am not quiting modleing, sorry if i implied that, i am onyl quiting dioramas due to lack of space, i still enjoy modleing of ships, aircraft and tank/armour.
the reason asking about drybrushing and staitc grass and etc. is becuase these are the areas i never really became pro at, sure i do know how to detail but not good like all you guys, staitc grass, i never learnt how to make it stand up, and i have never know what drybrushing is, believe it or not , its true

matt

Static grass uses static electricity to stand up. Brush the surface with white glue or PVA and sprinkle the grass on it and the static will cause it to stand up. Let it dry and blow off the excess and then paint if desired or repeat process if denser foliage is required. It is pretty simple to do.

Dry brush means just that. Instead of loading a brush with wet pigment you brush most of the pigment off on a towel and then lightly brush the surface of an object with the remainder. This causes the brush to only hit the highlights of the surface and is usually done with a lighter color to accentuate the three dimensionality of an object. You may do this after applying a wash to accentuate the recesses and shadow areas. It has a distinctive look that I personally do not like but many modelers do. You can dry brush anything: armor, figures, groundwork, buildings, etc.

A similar technique is to use pastels instead of paint. First use a razor to scrape off some pastels and then use a soft, dry brush to pick some up and brush onto the model. You can use this technique to create highlights or to add dirt, dust, powder burns and grime to a painted surface. Blow off excess when completing the application. Do not use any oversprays like Dullcote because it will defeat the purpose of the pastels which should remain powdery. Also don't touch the surface since the pastel can rub off. This would also be done after a wash as a finishing step to the model.

I am not a tank modeler per se but adding detail to tanks is usually done with photoetch parts. If you mean detail in terms of painting particulary on figures then it is done with a very fine brush and a really good Optivsor (you obviously have to see the detail to be able and paint it). You can paint eyeballs in 1/35 scale this way and there is no limit to how much detail you can add except your ability to see and maintain a steady hand. Very fine detail requires the object to be braced so it doesn't move and probably a second hand to hold the hand holding the brush. It is like target shooting where it helps to hold your breath.

Dear Lieutenant,

For the figures, start by looking around you at how people stand, sit and lean. Consider one of those wooden, bendable art figures to bend about until you see the natural slumps and leans that people do in real life. The accessories or super accessorizing should compliment, not take over, the figures.
There are so many great head sets, hand sets, etc. to liven up (or deaden up) almost any figure.
There are tremendous articles and products to make the scenery which to me brings it all together.
Break this monster project into phases, or it can become overwhelming. Base, building, armour, figures, major landscape items, etc. Then, before you go nuts over the time it'll take, allow yourself a Level 1 detail list, a Level 2 and a Level 3. Then, if you feel you bit off more than you can chew timewise, you can stop a Level I and be happy. Or, you can go back and add Level 2, etc. Believe me, the breaks can save your sanity. Good luck!

Sealhead (Kansas Sunflower)

I would simply suggest that you look in the features area of this website to get your ideas and see what you like... then you can ask that invidivual artist for any tips or techniques that you may want more information about...

HI
About that pastel wash, you can check the Roadkill's page,
there is quite qood step by step article about it !!!
http://users.pandora.be/ronny.noben/website/index.htm

ok thnx yence i will do that

All I can say is I'm glad you are not giving up modelling, that was a bit of a shock reading your first post!!

Russ

cool, thnx russ, i appreciate the gesture.