Gulf War Diorama? (1 Viewer)

[bradleyl30]

I am creating a 1:72 Gulf War I diorama for my nephew to commemorate his father's service as Corpsman with the Marines.

Essentially, I plan to have a before and after.

Before, a couple of dug in T-72s facing an Abrams, a Bradley (our last names) and an AAV.

After, cheap T-72 1:72 models blackened and maybe smoking. A couple of troops taking shelter behind AAV and Bradley with one wounded and a Corpsman stabilizing him.

Background:
Two years ago I noticed how focused my nephew was on Star Wars when as a 6 year old he could describe the inner workings of a Stormtrooper's helmet, and thought I might help him turn some of that attention to a historical period since we can tie so much of Stars Wars back to WWII.

I created him a hedgerow diorama which was a smash hit. He can now sit with friends and talk them through an amazing amount of accurate details on Normandy and WWII.

He asked if I could do the same for the Gulf War since his dad is a vet of that conflict.

So, my questions:
I can't have loose sand or it will end up all over the place. Have others created fixed sand dunes or sandy areas to create a realistic desert diorama? For the Normandy roads and paths through the hedgerows I let rubber cement get cold enough so that it was pliable, but not too stick. Applied a dirt mixture from train diorama supplies, and it came out great with realistic tank tracks and foot prints.

Any ideas on creating the pits for the T-72s? I am looking at sand bag molds and using those, but other ideas would be helpful.

Also, any other advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Larry

 

[Wraith]

Hi Larry,

My suggestion would be to use 1" or 2" thick pink / blue foam boards, aka styrofoam. I think they're a lot more available in the States than this side of the water.

The stuff can be roughed up with sandpaper, or rasp files, will give a good rendition of a sandy surface when painted, can be bored out and messed around with to give undulations, have the tank dugouts cut out of it, and won't leave a trail of sand everywhere. And it's cheap. And easy to work with.

Once messed around with from a shaping perspective, a darker brown / tan / red base coat can be applied, then when dry, a lighter sand colour can be dry brushed over the surface.

Cheers,
Simon

 

[PanzerAce1944]

I was there in my Bradley fighting vehicle back in the day. The Iraqi Republican guard had used horse shoe shaped
Dug outs and buried the tanks up to the bottom of the turrets. ^&cool

 

[Mitch]

add fine sand to paint (normal household paint) and apply it to a base once set it gives you the texture of what your after and, then you can get to work hitting it with the weathering pigments etc that's been mentioned.

Alternatively, you can apply spackle or similar to the base board and rough the texture with a spatula or similar I actually use a very hard brush and stipple the effect I want for sand. this gives a good base when hardened to paint in those desert colours. doing these also allows you to adhere stones etc later at your will to get the effect you want
Mitch

 

[bradleyl30]

PanzerAce1944,
Thanks for the first hand account, and for your service. It is well appreciated.

Mitch and Wraith,
Thanks for your great suggestions. Will give them a try this weekend!

Larry

 

[bradleyl30]

Thanks for everyone's help. The Desert Storm diorama was a huge hit, and left the Nintendo DS and a multitude of other high tech gadgets laying lifeless on the floor. Even my 4 year old niece was fascinated by it.

I will post some low quality iPhone pictures of it before the weekend.

The best part was working with my brother in law and listening to him speak of his experiences "over there."

Thanks again.