I added some more details to the base, and finally fixed the Opel to its place. Behind the door I added some steel beams and a sign (from a German wartime factory):
The bricks around the Opel were then blackened with enamel paint and oils:
And this is how the base looks like now:
Now I have to finish the rubble, and then move on to the figures…
Last week I have been busy creating the rubble on the diorama base. The ground was filled first with some insulation foam, to reduce the thickness of the celluclay layer. On top of the foam, celluclay mixed with white glue, red color and water was applied using an old brush.
Into the still wet celluclay I pressed single scale bricks (from Juweela) and small plaster parts, adding some white glue first. After this had dried, I added some small stones and model railroad ballast.
As all was dry, I painted the rubble. I started with a base layer of brick red and light gray for the concrete parts. Then I applied a wash from oils (lamp black and burnt umber), blending and removing stains with a clean brush moistened with white spirit. After this had dried, I slightly dry brushed the bricks using a orange red color, and a light grey color for the concrete parts.
As a final touch I added a filter from ochre and some umber. This added a lot of realism to the colors, as the stark contrasts are subdued, the red and gray hues become much more natural and the overall color range is compressed, also making the overall impression more natural:
Over the “slit” visible on the right hand side the burnt out Opel will be placed.
Now I will add some more details (steel parts, another plate, cables) and also more rubble to the ground areas not yet covered, but this has to wait for the figures being ready to be fitted to the base. Of course the Opel also has to be added, after blackening the bricks under the car.
The wall pieces are now fixed to the base. The door casing between the brick walls is made from styrene sheet and some brass parts from the stash. Things start to look very solid now:
After priming with Tamiya gray I painted everything with Vallejo acrylics. A wash and further details were added using oils.
The door will be placed forced out of the hinges inside the door casing. The plate reads “Keep out” and was made from decal sheet:
These are the painted ruins:
The next step will be covering the ground with rubble, using some scale bricks and plaster parts. The ground will be made from a local version of celluclay.
I am a bit nervous, as I never tried making groundwork this way. And perhaps the diorama will be finished until Christmas time…
Now the base is finished. It is made from a plywood board, some ledgers and thin plywood parts attached to the sides. After being glued together, it was covered with veneer, stained and varnished.
This is how the base looks like at the moment:
Here the stained and varnished veneer is visible.
The walls are made from plaster parts being left over from the first version of the scene, and are temporarily placed on the base. Behind the Opel, there will be a small brick wall, opposite to the car a wall with concrete pillars, bricks and a steel door.
The brick structure was carved into the plaster using various sculpting tools:
The Opel is finished (for the time being). I attached the roof to the car and retouched the glued areas.
Now I will start working on the base. The sides of the base will be covered with veneer, stained and varnished. Then I want to add parts of a ruined factory building to fit the Opel and the figures.
After my summer holidays, I continued working on the Opel. I attached the registration plate holders and reworked the roof. Then everything was primed with Tamiya flat black.
Then I used different oil paints (Paynes’ grey and white) on the model, applying small dots of color and then blending them with a clean brush moistened with turpentine. The blending brush must be almost dry, so it is important to remove as much turpentine as possible on a paper towel before blending the colors.
After this has dried, rust was applied using thinned ochre yellow and burnt siena, and also blended.
As reference, I collected some pictures of burnt out cars in different states of decay. Light rust of a bright orange color seems to appear immediately after the burning, and this look I wanted to create. As time goes by, the car wreck continues to rust, with the rust becoming darker.
Now I have to attach the roof and rework the paint job, where the roof is glued to the car. Maybe I will also use some pigments.
And that is how the Opel looks like:
For some time I have been busy with converting the Opel, which is now almost ready to get painted. Only the roof, which will be fitted after painting the car, and the registration plates are missing. For the roof, I will use the kit part, thinned using my Dremel tool, and also be scratched and bent. The registration plate holders will be made from brass sheet.
The remaining parts of the seats are made from copper wire, and some parts (pedals, gear switch, steering wheel) are made from brass. Apart from that, the kit parts where used. Some parts were thinned with the Dremel and some dents were created with my sculpting tools after the plastic was made soft using a soldering iron cautiously held above the surface.
Actuall, I don’t like the scene featuring the four Dragon figures and the archway anymore, and also the figures could look better. Therefore, I will build a new scene using these figures (6278 – 1/35 “Last Battle” (Austria 1945)) again.
I would also like to include a burnt out car, something like the one to be seen here:
For the car, I have chosen an Opel from ICM (Kadett K38 Saloon, WWII German Staff Car), and I am currently busy with modifying the interior accordingly.
fieldgrau - military scenes in scale 