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WWI Airfix Mk1 Tank Diorama

pjgtech

Peter in Kent UK
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Not quite finished my Mk1 tank yet, but when its finished I think it deserves a little diorama/vignette.
I am thinking a small base not set anywhere specific, but a muddy field, with a small trench, maybe a few little figures, and the tank crossing the trench, or something similar.

NB: finding some small 1/72/76 WWI British Infantry figures was proving to be a bit difficult, but then I found some Wargames British Infantry (28mm) on John's (SMS) site, so have ordered them as they are roughly the correct size, slightly tallet than 6', but its close enough, we'll see.
Then I found some Emhar 1/72 scale infantry figures on Fleabay, which may be suitable too, so we'll have a look at those too. I'm sure we can find a couple of suitable figures in suitable poses to add a bit of interest.....

So on to the build, I started with some thick blue foam, and roughed out a trench, etc....
Tank mk1 dio pics1  (1).webp
But then decided it was not thick enough, so glued two sheets together using PVA, and left it weighted down to stick...
Tank mk1 dio pics1  (3).webp
Then started thinking about accessories, so had a look through my stash and found a couple of bits that might be suitable, all in 1/72 scale, an oil/fuel drum, a wooden box, couple of fuel / water cans, and a couple of bags and a tarp. Primed and started to paint those up, again to add a bit of interest. I may add a few more, we'll see.....
Tank mk1 dio pics2.webp
Then I tried cutting out the trench on the base a bit more, but it was hard work and very rough, so thought I'd invest in a new tool.....You know I love a new tool right? On to Amazon and next day I have a shiny new toy, generic, heated, foam wire cutter, with various heads/wires. Even comes with heat resistant gloves!
Tank mk1 dio pics3  (1).webp

And so the foam cutting begins, I slowly rough out the shape I'm after, then finesse it a bit until I'm happy. The Foam cutter works well, if a bit smokey!
Tank mk1 dio pics3  (3).webp

Tank mk1 dio pics3  (8).webp

Tank mk1 dio pics3  (9).webp

Eventually I'm happy with the shape, the tank sits nicely, theres some good contours, etc. But now to muddy it up a bit more, so out with the Ammo/Mig Mud Paste...
Tank mk1 dio pics3  (10).webp

Tank mk1 dio pics3  (11).webp

And thats where we are so far today. I'm currently waiting for the Mk1 tank to dry (varnish over the one and only decal), so I can start the weathering on that. I think it (the dio and the tank) are going to be a very dirty, muddy look, mud and dirt everywhere, Lol.
Thanx for looking....
 
Thread owner
Added a bit more mud, made up a small trench ladder, suitably rustic, and added track marks to the mud where the tank will go....
Tank mk1 dio pics4.webp

I'm thinking I will line the trench sides with timber, seen a few photos of various trench linings, eg: planks, timber poles, etc, might use cut down cocktail sticks, which should be roughly to scale....
 
Thread owner
Am thinking of trying out some wet puddles on this dio, just ordered some of this, see photo, which can apparently set like water/clear, so we'll see what sort of effect it gives once applied....
mud wet clear puddles.webp
 
Thread owner
My idea of possibly using 28mm wargaming figures on this diorama seems to be an epic fail!

They arrived this morning (Thanx @John) and I quickly knocked one up (Oo-er Missus!) but, sadly, they are just too big, [Doh!]
My calcs worked out they may be about 6'5" ish so a tad big, but in reality they look about 8' tall, so far too big and not to scale.
Ah well, you live and learn.

Actually they are such nice figures, very detailed, so I might do a separate little dio, just for them at some point anyway, as they really deserve showing off. Couple of pics to show how big they are....

WWI British Infantry 28mm figures  (10).webp
WWI British Infantry 28mm figures  (7).webp

So unfortunately, I will not be using these figures in this dio, but...... I did win the Fleabay auction for some Emhar 1/72 little figures, so hopefully they will be ok to use....when they turn up....
 
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