discussion WWI Airfix Mk1 Tank Diorama

[pjgtech]

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....

But then decided it was not thick enough, so glued two sheets together using PVA, and left it weighted down to stick...

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.....

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!


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!






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...




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....

 

[PaulTRose]

You know i love a new tool right?

next day I have a shiny new toy,

I am pretty certain that in a previous life you were a magpie

 

[pjgtech]

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....


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....

 

[pjgtech]

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....

 

[pjgtech]

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....




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....

 

[pjgtech]

Todays little update....
Gave the base a coat of primer last night.
Then this morning it got its first coat of paint, a dark brown flat earth, it will get sevearl more coats of varying colours to try to simulate the dirt, mud, etc.
I have added a couple of dead tree stumps, as photos always seem to show these, presumably cut down in the crossfire?



From my basic research, lots of photos of WWI trenches show various types of duck boards, eg: flooring planks raised above the trench bottom, to help keep the soldiers out of the damp/water that would inevitably collect there, to try to minimise Trench foot, etc. So its quite a small space and I don't have anything suitable to make very small planks.....
But I do have some thin plasti-card, so some strips were cut and shaped, then planks were scribed into the card, and these will be stuck down at a later stage.

I have tried to make some of them random shapes, with bits missing, etc.
They have also now had a coat of paint, along with the other accessories and the trench ladder.
The flooring / duck boards will get a few more coats, with varying shades of brown, beige, grey, etc to try to simulate timber...

 

[pjgtech]

Dry fit of the walking boards, I figured it would be a bit agricultural and not made/fitted by master Carpenters, so gaps would be more realistic, etc.... They will prolly get another coat of paint, probably another shade of brown/beige to mix it up a bit and then will be stuck down. I have also now added another couple of shades of brown to the top layer, last layer is still wet so a bit shiny still.
I am awaiting a couple of new mud coloured pastes, which will be added when they arrive to hopefully make it even more muddier, and some will also be added to the tank, as its not quite muddy enough (yet).


I think that I will also be attempting to add a couple of small firing steps to one side of the trench, as they would presumably have had those too.... few photos I've seen, show timber, so may use plasticard again, or maybe very thin balsa, we'll see....