This may be a dumb question, but I am attempting my first diorama. It will have a Brit Matilda tank on a small stretch of desert.
Do folks glue the tank to the diorama? Or just set it on the diorama? I can see advantages and disadvantages to both.
I was just curious as to what most modelers do.
Thanks in advance!
Hello!
Folks mostly glue everything in place. To make sure everything stays put it’s not uncommon, especially in case of figures, to drill a hole poth in “the ground” and the leg of the fig (or a wheel of the vehicle) and use a short length of wire in both holes to glue them together.
In your case you could make the ground a little uneven and show off how the suspension articulates. Also, please don’t forget to show the vehicle tracks in the ground, so that it’s clear it didn’t teleport to the spot it’s now in.
And - you didn’t ask how to make sand in scale - do you have that worked out? If you just glue regular sand to the surface it will look to coarse in scale… Exactly, scale - what do you have in mind - 1:72, 1:35 or something else?
Good luck with your diorama and have a nice day!
Paweł
I did a city scene,my JS-2 had metal tracks,it had some heft to it,so I just placed it on the cobblestone street,I did glue all the figures to the base though,once it’s on the shelf it’s not moving.
But yes,for the ground schemes gluing probably works best,as was mentioned tanks don’t sit on the dirt or sand,more like in it.
Post pics later.
It is 1/35 Scale, the old Tamiya Matilda, assembled and painted a very long time ago.
all I have done is attempt to weather it.
I have sand from Ace hardware, color is great, but is probably is too coarse for the scale.
I will find some finer sand and just paint it If it’s not the color I want.
Getting “Grout Mix” at Ace can be a better deal, as its much, much finer grained. Which is what Pawel was speaking of.
You can get colored grout, too–and starting from a sandy color will help a bit.
Post pics.
The desert in North Africa where the battles were fought is not the same as the Sahara.
It’s flat, and the ground is a mixture of sand, dirt and a lot of small rocks scattered all over.
The color of the ground is varied of course, but is a light tan and has brown and orange tones.
It is really helpful to have photos to refer to. Finding one in color with a Matilda in it would be hard, but contemporary photos will be fine.
There are quite a few good ones from around the seige of Tobruk.
Bill
waiting for the base to dry
How long should I wait to let this DAS clay dry before painting the base? I rolled it to about 1/4" before I applied it to the foundation, which is pink foam, with balsa sides.
I am guessing at least 24 hours, unless painting prior to drying will do no harm.
Hello!
So that’s the base Dohrmc was trying to show us:
And I believe that’s the tank:
I like the base a lot, and the tank too - one thing for future builds: if you invested some time in removing the mold lines from parts it would improve your build a lot!
You might also consider embedding your diorama base in a picture frame - they are pretty cheap and make great diorama edges.
Good luck with your build and have a nice day!
Paweł
Thank you! My vision is not as good as it used to be- I missed those mold lines you mentioned! Although, when I built this thing, I was much younger! Lesson learned!
Those dang high quality photos bring out every little *&% to bother good modellers later, I can tell you that…
Initial painting of the base
DEE9A430-4487-4696-AE4E-15CC05CFA481 by DOHRMAN CRAWFORD, on Flickr
almost done, some more details to add.
428AA040-C2F5-4065-915A-CB5C8D88BEE3 by DOHRMAN CRAWFORD, on Flickr
please forgive terrible lighting
Stuck tank on to see how it looks, overall, i see a lot of mistakes, but I’m pretty happy with it.
A1FD80F7-0729-43FB-A0AE-F2A11FE9D499 by DOHRMAN CRAWFORD, on Flickr
Great!
Bill
That looks great my friend!
Wow! Awesome job. The base looks fantastic!
Thank you all for the kind comments!
C79E0631-927C-4E60-B63E-359E85018948 by DOHRMAN CRAWFORD, on Flickr
I’m happy with the way it turned out!
Like Tom Jones once said, it’s not unusual to be happy with a dio lookin’ this good! Thanks for sharing and have a nice day!
Paweł