D-Day Diorama - Part 3

Finally I have finished cleaning and painting 70 tiny soldiers (40 British and 30 German). It has to be the least pleasurable part of the whole project.  As I mentioned in posts of my first diorama, painting and weathering the tiny figures was a challenge in itself. As previously, I elected to remove each figure from its small rectangular base, though I didn't do that until the painting was finished. Each man was glued at the soles of his feet, and that proved challenging given the sand they were standing on. 

A couple of poor chaps had their legs amputated below the knee and were glued to the water to give the impression of them being shin deep in waves.

The Willys Jeep part of the kit contained an optional Supply Trailer as well as the Howitzer gun. Since I elected to use the Howitzer, the Supply trailer was redundant. 

I'd already constructed and painted it so I partially disassembled it and positioned it near the shell crater to make it look as if it had been 'hit'. It nicely disguises the 'perfect circle' of the crater which had always bothered me and also serves as a shield for the advancing troops.

Looking over the finished model I can see plenty of opportunities for tweaking, refining and enhancing, so I may well find myself doing more to this in the future, but for now I'm calling it done. 

It was around the 80th anniversary of D-Day that I decided I wanted to make this diorama, both as a tribute to the men and women that took part and in remembrance of my own fathers involvement. To be completing it at this time, around the 80th anniversary of VE-Day, seems very fitting and appropriate. We shall never forget.

Please read my previous posts about this diorama...

D-Day Diorama - Part 1

D-Day Diorama - Part 2

D-Day Diorama - Part 2

Having completed work on the base it was time to tackle the cliff and vehicles.

My first attempt at painting the cliff and front of the fortress didn't work very well as there was an ugly gap where the two parts of the model didn't fit together properly. To disguise this I used more of the silicone sealant to fill the gap. I emptied several tea bags and put the leaves in the oven to dry them. I mixed them in various dishes of paint - light green, dark green, brown and yellow and daubed them along the base of the fort. This created a fairly good likeness to Gorse bushes. 

Because of the way the sand would be well churned where the troops are scrambling over the beach, I added more sand and poked various divots and marks into the surface to rough it up. 

So with the landscape taking shape it is now back to the vehicles. Dilute washes of greys and browns soon made them look grubby and well used. 

The Bedford truck didn't have a driver supplied with it so I used a sharp knife to remodel one of the tiny soldiers. I suppose this could be called 'Plastic surgery'. Obviously this had been done before the cab had been constructed and I'm glad I made that extra effort at that stage.

The Willeys Jeep is towing a Howitzer canon and I've positioned it  disembarking from the Landing craft, so I've added sand to the front tyres but not the rear. 

I'm annoyed that the kit didn't include a driver but, because of the open nature of the cabin, I'm not confident that I could construct one. This is something I may come back to one day.

The Sherman tank was easy enough to paint as was sticking sand around it's tracks. 

One problem I had was trying to figure out how the tracks would disturb the sand as the tank turned. 

To solve this I filled a shallow tray with sand and manoeuvred the tank through it. I then took a photo and replicated the track patterns on the diorama using PVA and sand.

As a point of interest, Airfix, in their ultimate wisdom, chose to mix up the scales in this kit using 1/76 for the tanks and 1/72 for everything else. When I queried this in their support forum I was told the small difference wouldn't be obvious. I disagree.

With the vehicles painted and weathered it's time to work out their final positions in the scene. 

I had intended to make various beach defences like tank barricades, rolls of barbed wire and sundry obstacles designed to slow an invasion, however, the beach area is so small I'm concerned about over filling it. 

I'll review how it looks once all the troops are deployed .... and that is the next job.

Please read about the construction of my dioramas...

D-Day Diorama - Part 1

World War II Diorama

D-Day Diorama - Part 1

A year ago, on the run up to the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, I was reflecting on my fathers involvement Operation Overlord and felt the urge to create a scale model diorama as a tribute to the event and in remembrance of my father. Since I had never created such a thing before I decided I needed to do a practice piece and so created a smaller World War II diorama on which to learn some basic modelling skills. Now I am ready to tackle the larger diorama depicting the landings of the allied forces.

The model I bought is of the glue-together moulded plastic variety. I began by constructing each of the vehicles and giving them their first painting. They will all need further painting and weathering later but for now I want to start thinking about their positioning. 

It occurs to me that the Landing Craft will look pathetically unrealistic if I just follow the instructions and leave them sitting on top of the waves so I need to think of some way to set them into the water.

Next I constructed the fortress and painted it. I found photos online that I could use as reference and I decided to incorporate some weathering as I went along. 

Making these models look real and old is the main challenge here and it's something I'm not that skilled at yet. Sprinkles of brick dust onto the wet paint creates the illusion of muck and debris, and I'm sure there are zillions of other tricks and techniques I need to learn in the future.

Back to the Landing Craft, I decided to cut rectangular sections out of the plastic base for each of the two boats to sit in. I wrapped each boat in clingfilm, positioned them in the cut-out's and then used bathroom Silicon sealant to mould waves and splashes around each hull.

Once set, the clingfilm was removed and the jagged edge of the silicone was tidied up just a little with a scalpel. 

Now it was time to get the sea painted and break out my granddaughters tub of play sand to create that beach. The beach was simply a case of spreading PVA glue over the base, with plenty of random lumps and humps, and then sprinkling sand over it. 

Painting the sea was more of a challenge because of the need to use varying shades of blue, not forgetting to make it look sandy at it's shallowest. 

Painting the breakers on the waves, and the churning water along the hulls was great fun and the silicon sealant had done a great job.

Because of the way the Landing Craft had been set into the sea, they were easily removeable for painting. 

Each was given plenty of scrapes and scratches, dirty greasy patches and lots of rust. 

Trying to create realism like this is a real skill and I don't have the first idea. I stand in awe of those modellers that have mastered the art.

The next stage is to finish painting the fortress and the vehicles and to get them arranged in the scene.

Please read about the construction of my first model...

World War II Diorama

Tess & Sally - a tribute in wood

When I last posted about the small wooden storage unit I am using for practicing my Marquetry my closing words were "... only one more drawer left to do.... and that's going to be rather special".

For the last drawer I was stuck for a subject because of it being so wide, and in the end I decided to do portraits of my two dogs. I wanted a difficult subject to stretch my learning as much as possible, and in that regard I chose wisely .... they were very difficult. LOL.

As a novice, and trying new methods and techniques, I had the usual mix of successes and failures, and the end result is a culmination of many rescues and fixes along the way. I've learned that perfect circles are extremely difficult to create using a saw. I also found creating the right shades, tones and textures was very challenging but in that regard I'm fairly happy with my wood choices.

This storage unit was bought primarily as something for me to practice on and as such it's a perfect record of my Marquetry journey so far. I'm very pleased with it. It sits beside my desk and I look at it often, reflecting on the journey and the things I've learned, and I feel very proud of what I've achieved. 

Tess and Sally - both much loved and fondly remembered ....

Previous Marquetry posts

Daffodil

Oak Tree

3D Pattern

Badger

I've never been very good at painting animals with watercolours. 

I think the problem I have is my eye for detail. 

When I'm painting buildings I want to paint every brick; with trees, every leaf; with birds, every feather; and with animals I want to paint every hair. 

Knowing the problem doesn't necessarily mean I can fix the problem, as can be seen here.

Robin on a spade

 

Just a simple watercolour of a Robin perched on a spade handle. This was another of the monthly painting challenges set for members of my forum. 

I'm not a great watercolour artist because I take no notice of what sort of paper I'm using nor what brand of paints are in my palette or their quality. Over the years I've found that my watercolours don't really look any better or worse depending on the materials used, only on how good or bad my painting has been. 

I envy those artists who can tell the difference between various materials but I have to be honest and admit that the choice of paper and paints is something that's never really interested me. That said, it is a totally different situation with pens and pencils. I do have favourite drawing papers and I most definitely appreciate the quality of the pencils and pens I use, and maybe I'll comment on those in my next 'drawing' post.

I guess the above explains why I've always favoured graphite and ink work over watercolours.

Some previous forum projects

Rose Hip

Cannon

Turtle

Eagle

Several decades ago, during my working years, if any hobby or pastime interested me then I would put it on the back burner and make a mental note to look into it properly as and when I retired. I'd heard many stories of people retiring and becoming lost, spending much of their time sat in front of the tv not knowing what else they could do. It saddened me and I knew I didn't want to become one of those people. It was a successful strategy because I now have so many interests, there aren't enough hours in the day for all I want to do. 

That said, I often find myself reflecting on the opposing ideas of two well known sayings - "Jack of all trades, master of none" and "Variety is the spice of life". My conclusion - try to be good at what you do but mix it up and enjoy the journey.

So as I bounce from one hobby to the next I realise it's been a while since I last did any Pyrography, so I decided to break out my wood burner and have a play. This time I chose an Eagles head which I burnt onto a 8"x6" piece of 4mm Plywood. As always, there are parts of this that I'd have liked to have done better but I think the overall effect isn't too bad.

Previous posts on Pyrography

Lion

Canal Cottages

Old boat shed

3D Pattern

Some of you will be aware that I am using Marquetry to decorate the drawer fronts of a small, plain wood, desk storage unit. The drawers serve as my 'practice canvas' and allow me to learn and try various marquetry designs and techniques. 

I've now tackled the 5th drawer of the unit and decided to try my hand at a repetitive geometric design. The 'stacked cubes' design is a common one in marquetry so I thought it would be a good one to try.

Although you would expect designs with cut out irregular shapes, like flowers, to be the hardest, I actually found this to be the most difficult so far. Unless every single diamond-shaped piece is identical, the pieces won't align exactly. 

Thoroughly enjoyed the process though and only one more drawer left to do.... and that's going to be rather special.

Previous posts on Marquetry

Tulip

Daffodil

Oak Tree

Target House

In the gardens of  Bodsworth Hall in Yorkshire can be found this unique Swiss-style Target House. With its overhanging roof and Venetian window, the house was built in 1866 as the Archery House, and was used to store Bows and Arrows and related archery paraphernalia. The owners, the Thellusson family, used it as a place of rest and relaxation, frequently inviting friends and family to join them for an afternoon tournament. Back in the day, archery on the target range would have been a grand social occasion.

During the Second World War the house was requisitioned by the Army and the soldiers would use the long range nearby for target practice, hence the change of name which has stuck until this day.

Painted using Pen and Wash from a reference photo submitted to the Forum's monthly painting challenge by one of the members.

World War II Diorama - Part 4

The final stage of the diorama is to paint and position each of the tiny soldiers. What I hadn't anticipated is how fiddly this process is. Sanding each figure to remove plastic burs and spurs from the moulding process is something I found hugely difficult. Removing the excess plastic without losing the detail is a fine balancing act. 

Painting each figure requires the finest brushes I have, and my aging eye sight provided an extra challenge. In the end I resorted to using a head magnifier. 

As modellers will know, each of the tiny figures stands on it's own rectangular base. In order to make the scene as realistic as possible I've separated each figure from it's base. This means each figure will need to be glued into place. I know some modellers like to be able to move their figures around creating different scenario's, but that is something I'm prepared to forego.

Now the diorama is complete and I study the photographs, I wish I'd paid more attention to the moulding seams of the figures. The kneeling soldier (top photo) has a distinct line across his helmet, and the guy lying prone, bottom centre, has a pronounced line running the length of his body. 

One day I may come back to this model and refine some of its faults but for now, it's purpose as a practice piece and introduction to scale modelling, has been served. I'm keen to get started on the larger "Operation Overlord" diorama which is what sparked this journey in the first place. 

More posts about this diorama

World War II Diorama
Part 1

World War II Diorama
Part 2

World War II Diorama
Part 3