WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

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G-Man69
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WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by G-Man69 »

Hi all,

I have read many of the posts on this site as an outside lurker and have admired and enjoyed many of the posts. So, at long last, have climbed down off of the fence and decided to join the site and post some images of my second 1/72nd build.

It's meant to be a fictitious WW2 era quayside, the footprint of the base is A4 size (8-1/4"x11-3/4" or 210x297mm). All the brick/stone-work is DAS over either foam or foamboard, once dry the DAS has been scored to represent brick, cobbles, or stone. The roof tiles and doors are old greetings cards.

Early stage images:
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Image

Current progress images:
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The track will be fitted with a couple of wagons, and there will also be a 'Tilly' from the Airfix RAF resupply set, all still being painted.

Any questions, please feel free to ask.

Cheers,

G
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JohnRatzenberger
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Great looking buildings, composition, etc. it would be interesting to hear/see some of your techniques since most of it seems scratchbuilt. Welcome aboard !!
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DavidWomby
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by DavidWomby »

Welcome aboard and that looks amazing!

David
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jssel
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by jssel »

Inspirational that one. Terrific work.
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G-Man69
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by G-Man69 »

Thank you to jRatz and David for their kind welcome, it's much appreciated.

All buildings and groundworks are scratchbuilt, in the 'current progress images' the only items that are kits are the base for the crane, the large anchor, the railway track, and the boat on the water (a modified Zvezda medieval lifeboat), the boat stored on the quay is a rough cut foam shape with strips of paper to look like planking, the boxes are just strips of card.

I'm happy to share various development images/techniques, but don't want to bore people, so not sure how much to post?

Cheers,

G
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G-Man69
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by G-Man69 »

Thank you for the kind words jssel, they're much appreciated, :).

Cheers, :beer:,

G
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Stuart
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by Stuart »

Post away - that looks awesome!

Welcome to the forum!
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Impisi
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by Impisi »

That is really looking good!
good to se you in here
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iggie
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by iggie »

Wow! I scrolled down and the difference from your second to third photos was astounding!
This has the makings of an excellent diorama; keep up the good work 👍
Best wishes

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G-Man69
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by G-Man69 »

Thank you to Stuart, Martin, and Jim for their warm welcome and positive feedback, the friendly welcome is greatly appreciated, :).

Cheers, :beer:,

G
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by ShaunW »

Good for you that you have seen the light and come down off the fence, G-Man! A warm welcome to the UAMF and that quayside of yours is quite a jaw dropper, marvellous work.
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G-Man69
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by G-Man69 »

I'll try not to bore people, so will try to set the scene in small bite-sized posts illustrating build progress, but I'll try to limit their number, :roll:.

As previously mentioned, this is only my second braille scale build since returning to the hobby after some 40+ years absence, the first being a WW2 Normandy scene using the Airfix 1/72nd Sherman Firefly and the Revell 1/72nd Cromwell (see images below).

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Again, apart from the two tanks, the figures, and the telegraph poles, everything else was scratchbuilt and, in both cases, the 'footprint' is A4.

In both cases I start off with a rough idea sketched-out using PowerPoint, though it's fair to say it evolves as the build progresses:
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Then I start to roughout the shape using high density foam and, where necessary, foamboard:
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The foamboard elements are removed, coated with pva glue, on top of this I apply a thin layer (1-2mm) of DAS which is allowed to dry for approximately 24hrs. The whole is then scribed to give the impression of stonework, repositioned, joints filled, and a thin wash of oil paint applied so as to make the engraving more obvious:
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That's all for now, but I'll post some more details over the weekend. However, if anyone has any questions, comments, criticisms, or observations, please feel free to shout out as we go along, :).

Cheers, :beer:,

G
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G-Man69
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by G-Man69 »

Thanks for the kind welcome Shaun, :).

Cheers, :beer:,

G
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Stuart
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by Stuart »

That is all blooming awesome, and if you've not been doing this for 40 odd years then you obviously natural talent!

Taking notes, I actually want to build some old skool wargaming terrain at some point so this is helpful.
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Re: WIP - Small A4 1/72nd Diorama

Post by JamesPerrin »

That’s stunning. The detail in the harbour wall itself is almost photorealistic.
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