My Western European Diorama Under Construction (1 Viewer)

[TomNT]

Gents and Ladies

Late last year I started construction of a large western European "summer" diorama. I have always wanted to build a large European dio and I decided to start building it after viewing the awesome large dio's the lads in Brisbane Australia created for the annual K&C dinner and function that is held in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne each year.

I planned my dio to have a road and railway running parallel together, bridges going over a small stream and a mountain and farm house in each corner. The overall size of the dio is 1.4 meters x 1.4 meters.

Here are some pic's showing the initial construction phase of gluing down the foam, temporarily placing the power poles that were built, painted and weathered by me and temporarily placing the railway track on the dio so I know how many lengths I will need. The track is G Gauge made by Marklin and I placed a K&C figure and vehicle next to the track (painted by me but not yet weathered) to show it's compatibility with 1:30 scale. My fat finger and thumb also show the track size!

I will post further pic's later today showing the next phase and where I am currently at in it's construction.

Tom

 

[TomNT]

Some more pic's and i'll post the next phase of construction later today.

Tom

 

[waynepoo]

Getting there Tom mate, I reckon your last phone bill was a tad on the 'OMG' side. ^&grin
Wayne.

 

[uksubs]

Looking forward to this Tom , I've gone with g scale track with my figarti train as well

 

[Obee]

Keep the images coming Tom, I think this is going to be on going task to keep you busy over Summer

Regards,

John

 

[TomNT]

Thanks for the comments fellas. Here are the next lot of pic's showing the next phase of construction. I have layered the foam to build up the mountain and contour the landscape and I used foam for my road and railway embankments. The stream was cut by using turp's (turpentine) to eat away the foam (thanks for the tip Wayno!) and all of the foam was glued down using PVA wood glue. The road bridge is made by Royal Model and it was painted and weathered by me and the railway bridge is a Waynepoo special (thanks again mate) and again, painted and weathered by me.

Tom

 

[TomNT]

Some more pic's.

 

[TomNT]

The last lot of pic's showing the detail of the bridges.

 

[TomNT]

Keep the images coming Tom, I think this is going to be on going task to keep you busy over Summer

Regards,

John

Thanks John, it sure will be. The next lot of pic's will be showcasing your superb work.

Tom

 

[TomNT]

The next lot of pic's (I didn't use the camera flash this time!) shows where I am currently at in the construction phase. I have filed down the foam and shaped my mountain and used plaster and paris to smooth out and shape my road and railway embankments, stream and general landscape. The foam work was messy with bits of foam flying everywhere! Thankfully my poor old vacuum cleaner took care of the mess!

The next step which i'll start soon is, shaping boulders, crevasses and other detail into the mountain using plaster and paris.

The small structure on the dio is only temporary to give you an idea on where the farmhouse will be placed. Waynepoo once again built this structure and is going to build the farmhouse for me as well (no pressure mate.. ^&grin).

The Jerry sdkfz 232 armoured car is made by Collector Showcase and I commissioned John (obee) to repaint it grey and place new decals on it for me. Thanks John, you did a superb job.

The figures are K&C and I placed them and the armoured car to give you a sense of scale of the diorama.

Tom

 

[The Military Workshop]

Looking good:salute::. Train track, bridges and a river makes for a good combination and good potential for when you get to "play" on it.

One scenario (when somebody makes the figures) for the back of the train is Frank Sinatra not quite making it back on Von Ryans Express.

PS Nice armoured car !

 

[TomNT]

More pic's..

 

[TomNT]

Some more..

 

[wayne556517]

Mate this is looking good.

 

[TomNT]

Last lot and sorry if some of them seem to be a bit repetitive, I got a bit to happy with the cam!

I'll post some more progression pic's over the coming weeks and months.

Tom

 

[mikemiller1955]

Tom...

thanks for the heads up...

this is looking great...

you're gonna have a great display table when you are finished...

 

[waynepoo]

The next lot of pic's (I didn't use the camera flash this time!) shows where I am currently at in the construction phase. I have filed down the foam and shaped my mountain and used plaster and paris to smooth out and shape my road and railway embankments, stream and general landscape. The foam work was messy with bits of foam flying everywhere! Thankfully my poor old vacuum cleaner took care of the mess!

The next step which i'll start soon is, shaping boulders, crevasses and other detail into the mountain using plaster and paris.

The small structure on the dio is only temporary to give you an idea on where the farmhouse will be placed. Waynepoo once again built this structure and is going to build the farmhouse for me as well (no pressure mate.. ^&grin).

The Jerry sdkfz 232 armoured car is made by Collector Showcase and I commissioned John (obee) to repaint it grey and place new decals on it for me. Thanks John, you did a superb job.

The figures are K&C and I placed them and the armoured car to give you a sense of scale of the diorama.

Tom

Am I ?, Oh that's right, forgot about that...guess I better start. {sm2}:wink2:
Wayne.

 

[TomNT]

Getting there Tom mate, I reckon your last phone bill was a tad on the 'OMG' side. ^&grin
Wayne.

Looking forward to this Tom , I've gone with g scale track with my figarti train as well

Keep the images coming Tom, I think this is going to be on going task to keep you busy over Summer

Regards,

John

Looking good:salute::. Train track, bridges and a river makes for a good combination and good potential for when you get to "play" on it.

One scenario (when somebody makes the figures) for the back of the train is Frank Sinatra not quite making it back on Von Ryans Express.

PS Nice armoured car !

Thanks Brett and yeah, just need a train now!

Mate this is looking good.

Tom...

thanks for the heads up...

this is looking great...

you're gonna have a great display table when you are finished...

Thanks Mike and the word "finish" is so far from my mind at the moment!

Am I ?, Oh that's right, forgot about that...guess I better start. {sm2}:wink2:
Wayne.

Thanks mate and as I said, no pressure and no rush.

Thanks everyone else and also from the likers. I better get cracking with the mountain shaping today but before I get started, here's some close up pic's of my repainted CS armoured car. Thanks again John for the superb work you did on the repaint and applying the new decals.

Tom

 

[Obee]

Looking good:salute::. Nice armoured car !

Thanks Brett,

I repainted 2 of these vehicles, similar paintwork, but different markings.



The one on the left is Tom's and the other Wayne's, so we have 2 very happy collectors

John

 

[Obee]

Thanks again John for the superb work you did on the repaint and applying the new decals.

Tom

My pleasure, and I do like a challenge

John