Hi,
I have an idea in my head for a diorama od a tank climbing on a hill side gravel road.
the question is how to create a properly scaled ground elevation.
I think i'll use a 1/72 tank for this first one.
Thanks
Eran

i use styro to make ground elevations and cover it with putty when
i get my desired height. hope this help

Eran,

Using styro or styrene can do the trick. You can then fill it with plaster or clay. Using putty for this purpose looks a bit expensive to me.

Hi Eran,

Here at DOC's DIO you have an article about making a dio with some elevations.

HTH

That's it Tuga. I was looking for it but didn't seem to remember where I saw it.

thx!

You dont need to buy styrene either. If you ask in any electrical store they have loads of styrene that their goods were packed in and they throw it away.
Also you can find really cool pieces and a few of these together can make really cool bridges or archways, etc. No matter what shape you find it, it is easily cut to the shape you want. I used some to build the height for my total styrene dio below
http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/frank_glackin/vwp?.dir=/Styrene+City&.src=ph&.dnm=Styrene+City2.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/frank_glackin/lst%3f%26.dir=/Styrene%2bCity%26.src=ph%26.view=t
Imagination is the only barrier you have to overcome

I'd say the same as the others : use styrene ! It's cheap, lightweight, easy to work with...
And then you just have to fill and surface with plaster !

As everybody else has already mentioned styrofoam works great. For the ground cover I use colored tile grout with some white glue. The mixture should not be watery or very runny. apply it over the styrofoam and let it set up for a few minutes. Once it starts to set up use a stiff bristled brush , (a stenciling brush is what I use) and apply the texture, add your vehicles, troops or whatever to the ground work for a few minutes and remove them. The grout will hold its shape of their impresions until dry. Once dry I paint using apple barrel colors (Wal-Mart ) These are all acrylic and dry rapidly. Dont try to use any type of solvent based paint on the styrofoam or you'll end up with a puddle goo....TRUST ME!! Once complete dry brush as normal, hit it with some flat coat lightly, throw on some pastels and you're in business..... HTH "Q" :-)

I have been looking for a medium for spraying styrofoam with acrylics for some time. I dont have an airbrush. I build the bulk of my dios from styrene and I have learnt the hard way when using aerosol cans on a piéce that I have spent hours building. Have to settle for brush undercoating with acrylics. The tile grout is another good item to use. I have heard a lot of people talking about that. At least you have the time to do some extra effects, unlike when using fast drying plaster. Good point