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North Africa dioramma photos

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Hi folks this has been a dioramma that i've had in mind for some time now it has taken a little longer to plan tha i had anticipated, so here it is.

First step is starting out with an appropriately sized piece of MDF which has been varnished to prevent the moisture from the ground work warping the board. i have cut up some foam board for part of the ground work, i am adding a small oasis in the desert so i have cut out the hole. You will also see that i have beveled the edgeson one side, this is to portra a slight rise in ground level which automatically seperates the road.

On the opposite side of the road i had initially intended to build a cliff face however this did not look quite right when it was cut out and placed, so i have opted for a small rocky outcrop which works better. Using PVA glue these are all attached to the MDF boar and left for 24hours to ensure that it is dry.

The second step is the palm trees, as i was uable to purchase anything suitable these have been made from scratch, the ingredients are as follows 2x lengths of tv ariel wire 9inches each piece, string, florists wire 24 lengths, a bunch of silk leaves from the florists PVA glue and toilet paper.

Step one for building the trees: take a length of tv ariel cable 8-9 inches in length and now leaving a tail of 2inches wrap string around it at 6mm intervals until you get to the bottom of the wire then wrap the string back up the wire crossing it over itself as you go until you reach the top, now tie the string in a knot at the top and cut off the excess.

step two: lay out some toilet roll flat, water down some Pva glue and brush it onto the wire and string then wrap the wire in the toilet rolluntil the wire is covered fully, do this two more times. After three layers of toilet roll brush on one more coat of PVA and set it aside for 24 hours.

step three; While the trunk is drying take the sil leaves, you will need approximately 12 for the job cut these leaves into tear drop shape to look like palm leaves. Now once this is done you will have to snip from th sides into the middle of the leaf, do this on both sides of the leaf for all 12, this will be tedious but worth it. These leaves have a plastic central stalk on them leave it there for the moment until you have cut out all 12 leaves.

Step four: Now that all the leaves are cut out peel each leaf from the plastic stalk, now yo want the florists wire take 1 length and using super glue attach the leaf to the metal wire one to each end and allow to dry do this with all 12 leaves. Once the leaves are dry you need to measure 1cm from the end of each leaf and snip the excess wire do this for all 12.

Step five: now that the trunk is fully dry paint it in natural wood colour then lightly spray with XF60 Tamiya dark yellow and allow to dry for four hours. Once this is dry you will need somthing sharp and pointy like a needle , take the needle and peirce a hole in the top of the trunk and insert the leaves do this for all 12 once completed you will have a palm tree. Finally wind some coconut twine around the base of the leaves to simulate old growth and we are done.. one tree.

more to follow on the next steps hope you keep following this thread.

scott

Hi all i have started my next diorama which is in the under construction site finally so i hope you follw the build and i will look forward to your comments and ideas.

scott

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The know how to palm trees, nice one Scott. I've got a book and it shows you how the make palm trees but i'll be doing it your way, alot easier.

Thanks for posting mate and i'm looking forward to this build, have fun, John
 
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The palm tree looks really good, better than anything I have seen in the shops. This is going to be an interesting build. Thanks for the detailed info.
 
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Great bit of scratch building Scott.

Very informative, nice one.

BB.
 
That is one excellent tree, very well done.

Isn't it great to sit back, think and build things from scratch. Especially when the stuff is from your garden. OK, it will take longer than opening the 'tree packet' but what a buzz you get building something from nowt, don't you? And far, far better than anything you can buy.

No pressure to get the rest as good then! lol

Ron
 
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Looking good Ron , Love the tree , thanks for sharing how you made it , for us new boys its a great insight.

Cheers

Richy
 
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North Africa dio step 2 pics

Hi again so i have moved onto step 2 of the dio build, first i have mixed up the celluclay and applied it all over the board once it has been applied i have then started to insert rocks bits of scrub grass, the palm trees and the vegitation round the oasis. I have used budgie sand and spread it all over the board and then applied budie grit on top of the sand, once this was done i have pushed the sand and grit in to the celluclay and have left it to dry for 24 hours. Once this has dried i have then applied a mixtre of PVA and water all over the groundwork, it will now be left for a further 48 hour to completely dry. All comments and ideas are welcome.

scott

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Scott this looks brilliant,perfect timing too as im just starting the base for my desert dio involving the kubelwagen and bf109f .Its going to look remarkably similar to yours but i might only have one tree ,plus im doing it in 1/72 scale so the tree will be half the size! cheers tony
 
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Good luck with the dio tony can't wait to see the pics and enjoy building the tree i have to say that it is remarkebly satisfying to build it from scratch, cheers mate.

scott
 
Scott, those trees look superb, especially photo 7, the detail you've built into them is masterful, very well done..AND scratch built too boot!

Don't you love it?
 
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Very life like , looks superb .

many thanks for sharing the build process.

BB
 
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I'm so impressed with this Scott-your palm tree tutorial is brilliant & the rest of the dio is taking shape really well. I look forward to seeing your progress.

Patrick
 
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North africa dio stage 3 photos

Hi iam now on stage 3 of the dio and i have begun with the painting of the the groundwork this is done in several stages .

stage 1 mix a jar of XF60 dark yellow with a jar of thinner and brush liberally all over the groundwork and allow to dry.

stage2 Once the dark yellow is dry i have used Humbrol no 250 and dry brushed this all over the ground work and allow four hours to dry.

Stage 3 Once dry then i used XF59 and dry brushed certain areas to give a 3d tone effect, this should be allowed to dry over night.

stage 4 Next i have used XF67 buff and dry brushed all the groundwork, allow 2 hours to dry then very lightly dry brush the high areas of the groundwork with XF55 deck tan, the ground work painting is now complete.

stage 5 Instead of opting for lichen for the vegitation around the oasis ihave used macramy wool picked out and applied with PVA glue, loose bird sand and bird grit is applied around the grass and this stage is now complete.

The next stage will be the water in the oasis.

scott

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The first photo got me going Scott, i thought it was real mate. It's a good job i seen the rest just to know it is a model.

Keep up the cracking work, John
 
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:grinball2: Scott that is looking really cool its exactly like I was going to TRY to do, for my SAS jeep and when I eventually get one a LRDG Chevy,Mad prices being paid on e bay for them

when I get back to standing up for long enough I think I might be copying you stage by stage !!

Those trees look fantastic, they dont half cost to get the ready made ones on the bay ! there was also a guy making them and selling them.

Love it!
 
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thank you very much for the kind praise gents, and yeah i know what you mean about the e-bay prices, the LRDG chevy is somthing iam also looking to pick up but as you say they cost because they are rare as for the trees i looked everywhere and couldn't find one so i made it instead and i i can do it anyone can.

thank chaps

scott
 
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Fredericus Rex Resin & Paper Date Palm Tree GL75 on eBay (end time 06-Feb-10 10:57:57 GMT)

£25 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think yours look better !
 
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