Request for Advice on Diorama Construction (1 Viewer)

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sceic2

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I could use some advice. I am going to be building a large Napoleonic diorama that will be 8 foot by 8 foot using 2 pieces of ¾ inch plywood, finished on one side, joined together. I will support it with 2x4 framing that will keep it from bowing and 36 inch length 4x4 posts for legs. I will be installing grass and trees, some buildings, walls and other scenery pieces.

My problem is a method to create natural appearing contours on a terrain created on such a scale. I know about using plaster but is there any other methods that anyone knows of that would add ridges, valleys, slopes, and other contour features? I could probably use a bag of premixed concrete, but the weight would be too much and is would tend to shrink. (I am just kidding about the concrete). Any suggestions? Michael :)
 
Model Railroaders use this plaster cloth stuff. Just ball up some newspaper and tape it down to the plywood. Then wet some plaster cloth and lay it over the newspaper in an overlapping method. Use a paint brush to wet it some more and to adjust the contours. Let dry then add your grass and stuff.
 
I have used the plaster cloth from woodland scenics and it is good. I also like to use Celluclay paper mache, it is easy to use and dries really lightweight. It can be bought at most craft stores for around $5.00 for a pound. The pound mixes up to a really large amount of cover. You can use it with chickenwire to sculpt large hills or mountain backdrops.
 
You could also use a the foam wall insulation material and rough it out then use a spackleing compound to get the slopes filled in and it is sandable so you can get it the way you want it. It is not as expensive either since you can buy a large bucket of the premixed stuff at Lowes or Home Depot or you can get it in the powdered form and mix what you need a little at a time. Then put you grass trees etc over it.

Dave
 
Instead of buying plaster cloth from a hobby shop, try sheet rock seam tape. Is's should be cheaper. Plaster cast tape used by Doctors office works great and is a better grade. My wife used to bring me what was left over after a pack was open for use. Once opened to the air for sometime it could not be used on people. I would put them in a baggie in the frezzer until needed.
So if you know anyone working at doctor's office ask for left overs.
 
Being a model train person as well as toy soldier GI freak, I have been leaning towards using foam insulation for the basic ground form. Unfortunately the 1.5 and 2" thick 8X10's have gone up in price, but boy they sure work. The stuff is pretty strong for a base. I usually use knives and saws to get the general shaping. Many peoiple use a hot wire cutter to get smoother contours. I use the plaster cloth to get some hills, etc contoured smoothly, but one could apply ground cover right over the foam. Note also, this is not packaging styrofoam, but the haevy stuff (blue or pink) for insulation. Pachaging styrofoam generally isn't as dense, as strong, is messier to cut and often doesn't take well to some paints. I have used some packaging pieces, funny "domes" or "cradles" for the basic shapes to start hills, etc.

The thicker base allows you to dig streams, trenches, etc

Final finishes can vary with what you want to produce and how "crazy" you want to get. There are a number of good books on scenery available through model railroad suppliers. I prefer several of the titles from Kalmbach publishing, the parent company of Model Railroader magazine.
 
Thanks guys for the advice. I am a former railroader, changed addictions about five years ago. Saw a King & Country WWII site, I think it was Andy's, and sold my trains. The rest is history.

I do know of the plaster cloth methods with chicken wire and other railroad mountain building methods. They are great for model railroading, but when you place the heavy weight of a mass of K&C figures, they distort and in some cases, if there is not enough support, they collapse. Plus model railroading for me was in 1/87 or HO scale. In HO when you build a mountain, you can really build a substancial scale mountain. In 1/30 scale the size differencial and the lesser amount of exposure to the environment is vastly different. In HO you can build square miles of territory, in 1/30 the size decreases the amount of "exposure" your diorama can display.

I think the idea of construction grade insulation sheets is super. I am not seeking to have extremes in the terrian, but the more gentle slopes one sees on some of the preserved battle sites. I have visited Waterloo and it is a very large site where the forces were formed up and moved throughout the course of the battle. The insulation sheets would allow for gentle rises of about 2 to 5 degrees and leave sufficient area for large groups of soldiers to be placed.

I appreciate the advice and ask that if others have additional methods, to please continue to post on this thread. Thank you to everyone. Michael:)
 
sceic2 said:
Thanks guys for the advice. I am a former railroader, changed addictions about five years ago. Saw a King & Country WWII site, I think it was Andy's, and sold my trains. The rest is history.

I do know of the plaster cloth methods with chicken wire and other railroad mountain building methods. They are great for model railroading, but when you place the heavy weight of a mass of K&C figures, they distort and in some cases, if there is not enough support, they collapse. Plus model railroading for me was in 1/87 or HO scale. In HO when you build a mountain, you can really build a substancial scale mountain. In 1/30 scale the size differencial and the lesser amount of exposure to the environment is vastly different. In HO you can build square miles of territory, in 1/30 the size decreases the amount of "exposure" your diorama can display.

I think the idea of construction grade insulation sheets is super. I am not seeking to have extremes in the terrian, but the more gentle slopes one sees on some of the preserved battle sites. I have visited Waterloo and it is a very large site where the forces were formed up and moved throughout the course of the battle. The insulation sheets would allow for gentle rises of about 2 to 5 degrees and leave sufficient area for large groups of soldiers to be placed.

I appreciate the advice and ask that if others have additional methods, to please continue to post on this thread. Thank you to everyone. Michael:)
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You said that you,ve visited waterloo. If you are interested in a realy good book on waterloo get the waterloo companion its very interesting book with lost of great stuff done like a coffe table book with lots of color pictures of the battle fields with the troop deployments laid over the pictures, color uniform plates pics of hougomontect 430 pages long with stories from the troops them selfs. It has lots of small blocked off short stories with all kinds of stuff that happened during the battle. It also has alot of info on troop strength and casulties and troop formation its just totaly full of great stuff but you won,t be able to put it down. I love the battle stories from the fighting mans side. you get a feel for what the battles were really like and how bloody and face to face they really were. Its worth every penny. I,ve got alot of books on this subject and i enjoyed this one the most so far.This is the link for the book.
 
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Thanks Fishead. The site with the construction of the mountain terrain was helpful. It is just what I was looking for although I will not be building such dramatic grades. The books you suggested are also a good idea. When the ship I was on was on a Northern European cruise (thanks to my uncle, you may know him as Sam), well that’s where I got my “blue nose” (now there is a question for Shannon and the Minefield trivia game, what is a “blue nose”?). I was a young sailor on a three-day guided tour of Northern France and the low-countries; I did not own a camera so all of my experiences are based on 30 years of life being plied on top of my memories. The site with the dioramas is great. It shows just how many of us there are out in the world.

Thanks also to DMNamiot and Binder001 for their idea of using construction insulation. Michael:)
 
Foam is the best way to go!!!!!!! Fishead19690 gave me advise about the "COMPANION TO WATERLOO BOOK", a couple of months ago so I put my trust in him and purchased it......One word "EXCELLENT", if you own that book as a Napoleonic referance book you will need NO other, Fishead's advice was bang on.

Cheeers
WELLINGTON


Thanks again Fishead.....:)
By the way I bought "The Companion to Trafalgar" as well just as god for Navel warfare!!!!!!
 
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