PJ's Commando / SAS Jeep fuel dump Diorama

[pjgtech]

Alongside my 4WD GB (suggested by Paul) I will be doing a small Dio for the completed car.
I had a think, did a bit of googling and decided on a small ammo/fuel dump where the squaddies will be resupplying.
It will have a few trees, be quite "green" and lots of shrubbery, grass and mud....maybe some sand bags, a small wall, etc?
Just a small resupply point.....

[pjgtech]

I do like a nice little plan.....
Put pen to paper and came up with this very basic idea....

Dived into my materials box and found some foam board, cut to size, sketched out the rough layout and set to with some PVA glue and some Ammo/Mig Mud paste to create some lumps and bumps, a little slope/hill, etc, we are off....... 8-)

[scottie3158]

I will watch this develop.

[pjgtech]

Managed to do a bit more on this today.
The Ammo/Mig liquid mud has now dried overnight, so I added a bit of fine filler to make a few more lumps and bump, as this diorama will be set on rough ground, also highlighted the two tracks a bit more, when its dry it will get its first coat of primer.


I have decided I will have a fair few fuel drums and want to cover some/all of them with a camo net or similar.
Have watched a few YT clips where peeps soak the material in PVA, so thought I'd try that.
The camo net will be made from bandage type gauze.

I prepared a 50/50 water/PVA mix then liberally coated the gauze with the mixture.

I then arranged the fuel drums and covered them with cling film, so that the PVA soaked came net would not stick.

I then placed the camo net over the fuel drums and arranged it how I wanted it.
I think a loosely draped, slightly folded look, so the contents underneath can be seen/glimpsed, as this seems to appear more realistic, rather than just covering completely, (at least to me anyway?)


I have also a put top coat onto some of the accessories I will be using, eg: various ammo boxes, kit bags, ammo pouches, etc, but I have not glossed and weathered them yet, which will be the next job.

[flyjoe180]

Looks interesting Peter. I agree with you regarding the netting looking more 'natural' like that

[pjgtech]

Nuther little update today....
Left the PVA soaked camo net overnight and it has set nicely, taken the shape of the drums but still a bit of flexibility to move it around it I need to, I will prime it then paint with various shades of brown, green and tan.


Then gave the base a coat of primer as the fine filler and mud mix had also dried nicely overnight.
Maybe later today I will start to paint the base with a mix of browns, ready for grass to be added later.

I have been watching various YouTube clips on how to make fuel dumps, ammo dumps, etc and a few peeps use foam as "shapes" and then cover them with camo nets or tarps, and then just add a few accessories to make it look like a lot more equipment than there actually is, so I'm pinching that idea.
Played around with some basic shapes, which will be filled, primed and painted, then camo nets or tarps to cover them, then a few strategically places items to indicate what may be under the coverings.
The basic shapes I started with...

And once a few extra items are added, should look more like a proper re-supply point...

[pjgtech]

Some more little updates today...
First coat of paint on the camo net, used some dark brown and dark green and a lighter green.
Am also toying with the idea of using dried herbs on the camo net, I have seen peeps on YT use tea leaves and similar small flecks of material....will see what it looks like? If nothing else it will smell nice! Lol


The foam shapes that will be under more camo nets or tarps are a bit soft, so am coating them with pva, mod podge and filler to try to harden them up a bit, and fill the little holes, before getting a coat of paint. The will mostly be covered up, but I will still paint them as bits may be seen through the gaps in the camo net/tarp, etc.
I will also be trying my hand at scratch building a small pallet, out of balsa wood and pva, to be placed under one of the stored bundles or next to one.

I have also given the base a couple of coats of paint, slowly building up the soil/dirt type look, using black, dark and light browns and dark and mid greens. There will also be a few small trees, shrubs, grass, mud, plus few rocks, etc so hopefully will start to look more natural as we go along. In my box of odds and sods I do also have a 1:35 scale tree stump, so may add that too....

[pjgtech]

This mornings little updates...
Made my first scratch built pallet, the little Balsa boards were warping, so left them with some weights on top overnight and seems to have dried and is nice and straight, NB: not painted or weathered yet.
Needs a couple of planks trimming, but, I also think its a bit oversized? so may do another one but a bit smaller...

After a rummage through my bits and bobs materials box, I realised that I had previously bought some coffee stirrer type stick, which are about the right size for a 1:35 scale pallet, so may try the new smaller pallet with those...

I have added the tree stump to the base and used filler to fill gaps around the base and to "extend" the roots so they (hopefully) look a bit more realistic. Needs painting to finish the stump.

Put a few of the bits onto the board for its first dry run mock up...
Not sure whether to have lots of supplies dotted around all over, or keep them to one side and have lots of trees, shrubs, etc on the other side to give the impression of it being located in a wood/forest type environment, we'll see...
I am going to be doing a forest floor type base covering, so dirt, grass, low level plants, trees, leaves, small rocks/stones, lots of "scatter", etc.
Starting to look better now though...