OMG! – A 28mm Diorama (Part 2)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Fantasy, Uncategorized

Earlier this week it was pointed out to me by “Badktothehammer” that the WordPress phone app had an image on it of the near completed gorge.  How this came to be is a complete mystery to me.  Whilst I was constructing this post in parrallel with build progress of the model I posted nothing so cannot understand how that came to pass.  We will put it down to Gremlins and my incompetence.  In any event the image if you did see it is among those you will see below in this post.

Without further ado and putting all the behind us let’s get started.

Firstly a reminder of where I ended up in Part 1.

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This week saw the base and figures arrive as anticipated.  First though it was time to continue with the build.  With the blocks clad and everything dried out it was time to use some good old filler to fill the various gaps and to build up the upper base work.

The next few images, all very unexciting it must be said, show the base being turned up and down while filler is being added.  This is a slightly tedious task but an important one and slowly the outline of the base is coming together.

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As the filler dries some more carving was needed to blend with the plaster board.  So far looking good and I am pleased with the way it is shaping up.

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Time now to set things to one side and allow to properly cure and dry out.  In the meanwhile time to start working on the tree and where I plan to put it.  I wont go in to detail on how the tree is built because I have covered this before and only recently I posted a two part tutorial in TIM’S Memory Monday.  The image below shows the wire armature constructed and initially positioned.

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Another feature of the base is a wooden bridge across the gorge.  The reason for this will become more obvious when the figures get to be placed into position.  The bridge was made using twisted wire and wooden coffee stirrer pieces.  It will be fixed into place later once it has been painted and more ground work has been done.  I did wonder about giving it side supports but decided against it as I want to avoid it blocking out too much of the waterfall.

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Next we have an image showing the tree put in place using some Milliput and the finer branches added.

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Next work started on adding some finer ground work and doing some painting.  More groundwork will be needed but will only be done once the figures have been painted and can be positioned on the base.  As well as painting the base the tree was also painted along with the bridge.

The next two images below show the tree and bridge being painted and some additional ground work.

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Next up it was time to paint the gorge.  This was done using a variety of colours – Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Black and White.  I used some Woodland Scenic paints as the base colours but then moved to oils diluted with white spirit.  The nice thing about plaster board is the paint soaks in and produces natural highlights.

After some painting I began to start the waterfall. The first step was to lay down the top three edges using Woodland Scenics Water Effects.  This stuff is thick and does not run.  It goes on white but after time, quite a lot of time if it is applied thickly like here, it eventually dries clear.  Behind these will be added Realistic Water, in this instance produced by Green Stuff World as their UV product can be dried in seconds using a UV torch.

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The next step was to create the waterfalls using Woodland Scenics Water Effects once again.  This is done by simply putting down the effect in strips and once dried applying it to the model.  Woodland Scenics have YouTube articles on how to use their stuff so rather than me attempt to explain how to use them you would be better to watch the videos they have on offer.  Link below.

The next image shows the second waterfall being added with the first having already been done above it.  Despite its white appearence it will all dry clear and then it can be highlighted.  As you can also see my wooden base has arrived and the gorge has now been glued to it.  The water effects has also been added to the bottom of the base to seal the connection between gorge and base.  Realistic Water will be added to this and if not sealed will leak everywhere.

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Next a test picture showing the bridge in situ.  Not permanently fixed yet and nor will it be for a little while but I wanted to make sure I was happy with it.  So far so good as far as I am concerned.

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Now a couple of images of the lower pool area being worked on.  Firstly with the ground work primed and then with it painted.  Notice the top waterfall cascade is starting to turn from white to clear.  Only taken 48 hours so far!

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Happy with the progress being made but much, much more to be done.  Figures not even started (there will be five of them in total), more ground work to be done, tree to be “leafed” and waterfall to be finished to name but a few.  We will see how things go as I also need to do a figure for Ann’s challenge too!

TIM

 

30 thoughts on “OMG! – A 28mm Diorama (Part 2)”

  3. loving this piece, great seeing it appear bit by bit but i must admit i still cant guess what its going to be yet, and now there are 5 of them, wow. I would have said hillary and sherpa tensing but for the tree..

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  4. Looking pretty impressive so far Dave! I’ve worked it out! It’s going to be you, SWMBO, the kids and Buddy (five figures) trudging home over the bridge, with SWMBO pointing down into the gorge and saying “you dropped the bloody toilet rolls down there, David (Sunday name), so you can climb down and get them”! I’ve maybe cleaned SWMBO’s language up a bit for your more sensitive followers! 🙂

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  7. You never cease to amaze me my friend. Your work is awesome and always of such a high standard. The waterfall looks fantastic. I can’t wait to see more. In regards to the pix showing up, I’m just glad it wasn’t those half naked ones of yourself you posted to playboy magazine in 1986.

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    1. Cheers mate, glad you are liking it so far. Looking back I regret the playboy centre spread I did back in 1986 but I was young, foolish and in demand and just got caught up in the hype. To this day I struggle to shake off my nick name of “Big Boy”. 😉

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      4. Emergency services and essential services which includes supermarkets are functioning but everything else has had to close. Other than those working in the essential services everybody now is confined for 3 weeks. Didn’t make much difference to us as we are locked down for 12 weeks anyway.

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      3. Yeah, I very much agree. I think that both as individuals and as a society this is serving as a reminder of what’s really important. Whether it lasts after the virus passes remains to be seen of course but here’s hoping.

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  10. The step by step process you take us through is excellent as always. I love the tip about using the woodland scenics to effectively cap each end. That is so useful and far easier than the other things I’ve seen involving clamps!

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