Here is a preview of my latest project. It was meant to be an experiment (new techniques and materials) without a conclusion but as I continued to work on it, I figured why not turn it into a dio. So far the base is done, now I just need to paint the figures. I will post many more photos once everything is done.

It's looking good! What did you use for your grass? Cheers Kevin

awsome, same, what did u use for grass and for the wall??

looks good. i like the wall. did you make it yourself or is it pre-made? what type of scene are you planning for the dio?

Thanks guys...

I am going to explain the entire process of making this diorama once it is completed. To answer your questions:

1) The wall is made out of 3/8 inch blueboard. This is the same as plasterboard (sheetrock) but it is meant for the bathrooms. I soaked it in water for a few minutes and removed paper backing from both sides. I then scribed the stones.

2) As far as the grass goes, that's a bit tricky. I say tricky because I don't really know what I am using to make it. Let me explain. My father-in-law had an old couch and I mean old. One day he wanted to dispose of it but since the trash men wouldn't take whole he asked me to take it apart before he put it out on the street. While doing it I came across what looked like dried grass of some sort. The couch was packed with it. It looks like slimed down hay. I just painted it, cut it into clumps and glued the clumps to the base with white glue.

3) I am not quite sure yet what this scene is going to be. I might have a dead German and a Russian sniper sneaking by or two Germans running for cover.

You could have a german grenadier throwing a grenade in or some guys lying slumped over the hole with some other guys walking over them

Excellent work Marty.... perhaps you can share those great techniques in a feature later on ? I would love tyo publish this !

Hey Danny, I will definitely write up a little article. I even have some in-progress photos too. Unfortunately I started taking pictures well into the project. Next time, I will chronicle every step of the way even if it is for a project that will not see comletion.

Marty- Love your work, that grass is fantastic. I'm gonna start cruising for old couches now! :-) Ditto the wall, your texture is spot-on. I have two small picks on the wall (ignoring weathering, since you said it's still in progress) if you want to hear them:
1. I notice in the hole, the mortar or join lines btwn the blocks don't carry all the way through the wall. unless this is supposed to be a solid concret wall with blocks scribed into the surface, some parting line would be visible.(while you're scribing parting lines, you could also "loosen" some of the blocks around the hole & skew them slightly outward...)
2. I see broken bords from the fence lying in the grass in front of the hole, but very little rubble. Since the hole was blown outward judging by the slope at the rim, I'd expect to see broken block strewn over about a 2m diameter.

Of course, it aint my dio, so I can just go . Nice work, I'm looking forward to seeing it completed(and a how-to would be well received! ). Cheers!

Logansdad,

I appreciate your comments. You are right on with the lack of mortar lines. That I might be able to remedy.

As far as the rubble in front of the wall, the explosive round that made the hole is supposed to have come from the direction you are viewing on the photo. Does this mean that the opening is wrong? I replicated it based on some photos I found on the net. Since the round came from the viewer's direction it first hit the fence (hence wood fragments all around) and then the wall. I have quite a bit of debris between the fence and the wall, both from the fence and the wall.

Marty- Well, it depends on the weapon used, and the material it hits. if it's an HE contact detonated round against a hard target, the explosion would be concentrated on the outside of the wall. This would tend to scatter the materila in the direction of force expended, in this case the weapon used to fire said projectile. If an AP or shaped charge type round is used, the force is directed through the wall, and takes most of the debris with it. That's why exit wounds are usually larger than entry wounds. A HESH round would expend its force on the exterior of the wall, but blow a high velocity Rock Garden through whatever had the bad luck to be on the other side of the wall. Think of the hole in your wall as a vertical crater. For the Diameter of the hole to slope outward like that, a significant amount of the ejected matter would have to be flung back along the round's initial trajectory. It wouldn't 'squeeze' through a smaller hole unless something were tamping th force of the explosion somehow.
There. how's that for an overly complicated explanation to a simple question?

You could also portray a breaching hole with a squad entering it.

I think the sofa stuff was horsehair or rubberized horsehair. I have some of both for tall grass. You can get more from 4-D Modelshop in London.

Sealhead

Quite detailed I must say I guess I will let the viewer decide what type of a round it was that created the hole. How about that?




I don't know. Perhaps it is rubberized horse hair. I can't say for sure since I have never seen it. What color is it usually?

I like the base Marty, and i agree on the idea its a excellent place for a well hiden sniper now all u need is a lied down sniper figure few bullet shells, like he had some "work" already...

but please DO keep us updated, and im interested in reading full article ASAP

cheers