RAF K&C Diorama Day 1 (2 Viewers)

[Jamo]

Hi all. I've got a few days off work and have decided to do a 'Gordon-style' RAF airfield diorama base.

I have most of the RAF sets and have planned this diorama to consist of the Nissen hut, a Tilly, the RAF ambulance, fuel bowser, hurricane and several RAF figures (even a lady or two!)

I aim to post pictures of the diorama over 3 days. Today was Day 1 and consisted of assembling the baseboard, drawing out the position of each item to make sure it all fits, then cutting and fixing the runway 'slabs' and coating them with a filler.

Thanks

Tiles were 3mm card, cut and glued down with 'no more nails' to the 3mm ply base (framed with 12mm MDF). I drew the tiles out at 200mm but cut each at 199mm to allow for the gaps.....

Like Gordon's bases, I chose to lay them diagonally across the base so that there is a sense of perspective when viewed from any angle.....

Some were a bit 'out' by a mm or two or slightly raised but this will all add to the realism.......

I mixed up some Polycell filler / plaster and, using a paint scraper, dragged it over the tiles. Again, dosn't have to be perfect or even, so the texture is a little rough. I dragged some coarse sandpaper over the tiles before the polyfilla was dry. This will really show up once painted and weathered. A cocktail stick was used to scrape the filler out of the cracks between the slabs....

Now to let it all dry. Tomorrow I'll be applying tiles to the sides of the diorama frame, building up the groundwork around where the Nissen Hut will be located and will start to paint (hopefully!)

 

[Mitch]

Great work and, its great when people dio. I am looking forward to watching this progress.
Mitch

 

[uksubs]

Great stuff

 

[craig1985taylor]

Looks great so far! Can't wait to see this unfold

Craig

 

[Sentaapua]

Thanks for sharing this with us, by the way it is progressing it`s not hard to see that it certainly will look great! I`ll be following with great interest all the next chapters!

 

[Guy]

Very interesting to see how other collectors build their dios.
I'll put the pictures of my new dio on the forum next week
guy

 

[Thompyt]

Very interesting to see how other collectors build their dios.
I'll put the pictures of my new dio on the forum next week
guy

Very nice,
Looks like a big dio. I enjoy the pictorials and learn from them.

 

[Spud]

Very good start. Look forward to seeing the progression! Thanks for sharing.

 

[MapleLeaf]

I will be following

 

[6th Wisconsin]

Looking forward to seeing the results of your work!

 

[Jamo]

Hi, I'm back after a few hours on the RAF diorama this morning. Minus a short interlude for the dispatches! (awesome) Cut lots of tiles for the sides of the dio last night (from old cereal boxes), then this morning I enclosed the Nissen Hut area with curb stones (old Plus Models 1/35th diorama accessory item) and then cut out and laid some paving slabs from 2mm card, put model railway tallus stones in the gaps between the path and curb, then brushed it all over with a sloppy filler mix. The raised groundwork at the back needs a bit more work when drier, but starting to take shape. Thanks for your kind comments so far. I'll be back to work in a few hours and will post more pics later today.

I love this dio that Gordon did and appears in Collector no. 22. This is the inspiration. Concrete never looked so good!

Cutting tiles. Dull work but a system soon develops to speed things up!

Laying the first bricks! Or in this case, curb stones that will enclose the Nissen Hut and allow me to build up the earth around the stones. It is important for me to be able to just drop in the King & Country diorama piece, blending it in but still ensuring that the hut, figures, plane and vehicles are the main focus - not the base.

Polyfilla built up around the stones, slabs dropped in, tallus dropped in the inside. I've dried to blend the groundwork into the runway slabs and have it all on roughly the same level. I think the area along the side of the hut will be for figures now though, not the Tilly, as originally planned! Nice spot for a few running RAF pilots I think......

Here's some detail from the paving slabs / path and gravel. The paving slabs will be sanded fairly smooth before painting. Back later....

 

[mikemiller1955]

great thread...I'll be watching this one all the way...

 

[Mitch]

Excellent stuff coming together very nicely. What medium are you using for the concrete runway? I use thin plywood but, have thought about plastic card
Mitch

 

[Jamo]

Excellent stuff coming together very nicely. What medium are you using for the concrete runway? I use thin plywood but, have thought about plastic card
Mitch

Thanks Mitch. I used 3mm thick card 'tiles', then coated them with polyfilla using a brush (fairly thinned down) and then textured it with sandpaper when nearly dry. Hopefully, the slabs will look quite realistic once painted and weathered, using washes and dry-brushing. Will try to upload some pics later tonight....

 

[Rob]

Superb thread, very informative and instructive, I will be using methods from your excellent series on my own work.Thanks so much for posting Jamo.

Rob

 

[Jamo]

Few more pics from tonight - stuck the tiles around the edges of the base (to be painted dark grey later), and started to paint the runway .

The runway will need more dry brushing and washes to build up a nice finish but starting to look like an airfield now....

 

[craig1985taylor]

Your dio is starting to shape up nicely when I get round to doing some of my own ill be attempting some of your ideas! Can't wait to see the finnished product now!

Craig

 

[Jamo]

This morning I did a few more washes and some dry brushing on the runway, then checked to make sure the Nissen Hut fitted. Then I tiled the back of the frame. I need to fill a few gaps with polyfilla this afternoon then start painting the area around the hut!

Fitted OK!

I plan on painting the sides of the diorama base with dark grey then dry brush with lighter grey. Just like the great man himself (Gordon!)

I'm still not 100% happy with the runway. Might try a matt / slightly satin varnish (Games Workshop sealer) to seal it and add some depth.... It will also need some moss and weeds in some of the gaps. that's the fun bit at the end!

12 hours approx. so far.....

 

[MapleLeaf]

So far so good my freind

 

[Jamo]

Some more painting of the groundwork....

More work still to do on detailing for the gravel, paving slabs and stones. The earth will most be grassed over. Needs quite a few weeds in the cracks of the paving too and around the slabs. That's it for today. Hope to upload some more pictures of progess over the weekend. It's taking a little longer than anticipated - tempting to 'try it out' but trying to finish it first!