Harrytheheid
Banned
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2007
- Messages
- 4,672
Hi Guys
Here's some details as to how I built the Winter Diorama that's in the "Show Your Dioramas and Displays" section of the forum.
The basic idea was that it could apply equally to the Western or Eastern Fronts, February 1945. An AFV has been backed into a tunnel overnight. There is a ruined building on one side of the road and an MG40 emplacement on the other side. A barbed wire barrier has been strung across the road. There was a bit of a thaw yesterday, but now there's freezing mist this morning and the thawed runoff down the cliff faces either side of the tunnel and in the tracks left by the AFV has refrozen. Recce patrols have reported enemy movement directly to the front, but no sign of their armour as yet. The AFV emerges from its lair to warm up the engine and the platoon move into their defensive positions. Two soldiers in the ruined building zero in their sights and the MG40 commander prepares to fire a flare to light up the gloom.
The Hetzer commander is taking a big chance - lots of Jabos around these days - but he wants to observe enemy movements for himself. At the first sign of contact, he'll back up into the tunnel again. When enemy armour does inevitably turn up, boy are they in for a nasty surprise........?
I'll try and keep the following text to a minimum. A picture speaks a 1000 words and all that.
The photos above show the basic layout. The base is a kitchen chopping board I got from a supermarket in China with some railway matting stuck on.
The tunnel is a foam commercial item I picked up in a model railway shop in Germany. I wanted to extend the cliffs at each side, so the supports are 2 half's of a plastic coat hanger stuck to the base with 2-part epoxy. Over these, I placed some metal gauze that the Chinese use as sieves and a chopstick. The cliffs were then formed using plaster impregnated bandages.
Depth was added to the tunnel so I could depict the Hetzer emerging realistically from the entrance.
The MG40 emplacement is a plastic soap holder with the back end cut out and the sides extended with the metal gauze and again covered with pieces of bandage.
The ruined building, sandbags and other bits'n'pieces are FOV items.
The photos above shows the beginning of the groundwork. The wooden debris in and around the ruined building and the duckboards in the MG40 emplacement are pared down chopsticks. The trees are commercial items obtained in Germany. The fence comprises of a few toothpicks with copper wire strung between them.
To be continued.
Cheers
H
Here's some details as to how I built the Winter Diorama that's in the "Show Your Dioramas and Displays" section of the forum.
The basic idea was that it could apply equally to the Western or Eastern Fronts, February 1945. An AFV has been backed into a tunnel overnight. There is a ruined building on one side of the road and an MG40 emplacement on the other side. A barbed wire barrier has been strung across the road. There was a bit of a thaw yesterday, but now there's freezing mist this morning and the thawed runoff down the cliff faces either side of the tunnel and in the tracks left by the AFV has refrozen. Recce patrols have reported enemy movement directly to the front, but no sign of their armour as yet. The AFV emerges from its lair to warm up the engine and the platoon move into their defensive positions. Two soldiers in the ruined building zero in their sights and the MG40 commander prepares to fire a flare to light up the gloom.
The Hetzer commander is taking a big chance - lots of Jabos around these days - but he wants to observe enemy movements for himself. At the first sign of contact, he'll back up into the tunnel again. When enemy armour does inevitably turn up, boy are they in for a nasty surprise........?
I'll try and keep the following text to a minimum. A picture speaks a 1000 words and all that.
The photos above show the basic layout. The base is a kitchen chopping board I got from a supermarket in China with some railway matting stuck on.
The tunnel is a foam commercial item I picked up in a model railway shop in Germany. I wanted to extend the cliffs at each side, so the supports are 2 half's of a plastic coat hanger stuck to the base with 2-part epoxy. Over these, I placed some metal gauze that the Chinese use as sieves and a chopstick. The cliffs were then formed using plaster impregnated bandages.
Depth was added to the tunnel so I could depict the Hetzer emerging realistically from the entrance.
The MG40 emplacement is a plastic soap holder with the back end cut out and the sides extended with the metal gauze and again covered with pieces of bandage.
The ruined building, sandbags and other bits'n'pieces are FOV items.
The photos above shows the beginning of the groundwork. The wooden debris in and around the ruined building and the duckboards in the MG40 emplacement are pared down chopsticks. The trees are commercial items obtained in Germany. The fence comprises of a few toothpicks with copper wire strung between them.
To be continued.
Cheers
H
