UH-1 Huey River Taxi - The Diorama !

[Robomog]

Hi all,

Remember This?



At the time I said it was screaming out for a diorama and now I have finally got round to cobbling something together.

The scene will feature the river taxi parked up on a hardstanding with the ground crew preparing it for the next journey, the female pilots waiting to depart and the passengers about to board. That's the plan, it could change 


So, starting with the base.



Here's the components, a pre-made base, some recycled polystyrene packaging, plaster of Paris and some artists acrylic paints




Polystyrene cut and stuck to base.




Holes and cracks sealed




The hard standing is constructed using plaster precoloured with artist acrylics




The earth banks either side also

Still needs a lot of fettling,  but I've started !

More when it happens.......

Mog
>^-.-^<

[Buzzbomb]

A scenic base will top this of and give it so much more context.

Nice work

[Kerick]

Looking forward to this!

[Old Wombat]

 

[Robomog]

Well not to be put off by Tikings recent (awesome) post I've realised I've created a diorama base for a river taxi that doesn't actually contain any river, so back to the drawing board.



I've cut the end back an inch or so and created a ramp down, there are a couple of end walls in the picture that I constructed from air dry clay. They are a bit lumpy and slightly short, but the concept works so I will manufacture another pair a bit more thoughtfully.

At the end of the construction I'll fill the ends with resin so that it laps over the edge of the ramp.

Here's a couple of close ups of the building work





I've skimmed over every thing with a thin coat of Plaster of Paris, when it's dry ill smooth it off with an emery block.

I've also filled in some collateral damage, holes and dips which has totally negated the precolouring I did in the first place   

Whilst the Plaster was drying I started constructing the end walls.



In the process I cut too much off the block of clay, so rather than waste it, I've made some shapes and flat plates, plus an attempt to make some sand bags.



This is going to be a well used/neglected hardstanding so I have an idea of it having a couple of holes filled with old bricks so I made a few bricks as well 

Thanks for looking.......

Mog
>^-.-^<

[Robomog]

Hi all.

Got some more work done on the base.





I wasn't happy with the base colours especially the hardstanding.

So with a little experimentation I found that Light Aircraft Grey made a pretty good base colour for concrete, in some lights it has a hemp sort of hue to it.

Obviously this is early days it needs weathering and some dings,scrapes and holes added but it makes for a good place to start. It also needs matting down as it as dried a sort of silky finish.

I've scribed in some expansion joints and in the process some of the plaster collapsed but I am leaving them in as once shaded they will look like some fairly convincing damage.
 
The grass areas have been painted dark earth ( now there's a suprise ).

The river bed is a  brown/tan mix to make it look sandy. I will add some foliage and moss later.

More when it happens ........

Mog
>^-.-^<

[Old Wombat]

Heading in the right direction, there!

[Robomog]

Thanks OW.

I've done some more work on base.....

First I've virtually completed the weathering  on the hardstanding



However it was still a bit shiny, so two coats of Humbrol rattle can matt varnish later.........



Yes I've found a use for Humbrol mat varnish that you don't have to worry about the white flecks in the finish !         ......you're welcome 

I'm particularly pleased at how the hole filled with bricks came out.



I'll   probably add a few more stains when I've got all the components in position.

Secondly I've started constructing some of the paraphernalia that will populate the diorama

Starting with wooden pallets made from coffee stirrers



Also made some banged up ones and scrap bits of wood, if there is room I'll create a small dump of scrap items



Following that a couple of boarding ramps and a wooden stool




Next step is some metal fuel barrels.

Thanks for looking........

Mog
>^-.-^<

[Robomog]

Hi all

Last post for now as Christmas is apon us and things are getting busy and stressful.

The base has received its first layer of grass.



It's a bit thin at the moment and way too lush, I will follow up with a second layer with some 'dead grass' mixed in and a line of dead grass where the grass meets the concrete.

One of the little scenarios is the ground crew refuelling the Huey  from a fuel drum, so I've purchased some resin ones off the Internet.



These I've painted and weathered, some will be on pallets.

I also want some 'used' battered and dinged drums but it was very difficult to batter a resin drum and I have made some of my own from polystyrene tube and recycled polystyrene sheet.

Just a simple tube capped........



Then trimmed.............



Then heated over a candle and battered !



I'm  probably over producing a lot of the set dressing, but better to have too much than too little and what I don't use will go into store for the next diorama

More when it happens (in the new year! ) ............

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Mog
>^-.-^<

[Robomog]

Hi all

Hoping to get back to the base soon, but in the meantime I've been assembling the crew, pilots and punters.

It's a mixture of cheap 1/50 scale figures, some 1/48 Eidai figures I found on ebay and some resin figures I also found on ebay.

I originally wanted to give a far east/asiatic vibe but trying to find sets of oriental civilians or European back packers was impossible or prohibitively expensive. So the figures here are all European.

Some of the crew figures have been adapted from civilian figures to fit the scene, I apologise in advance my figure work is not my strong point 

Here's the starting selection.....



And here's the story so far..









Just the hair and shoes to do and probably a little tidying up.

More when it happens........

Mog
>^-.-^<

[Old Wombat]

A little bit of a brown/umber wash on the faces would make them pop a bit & bring out their features.

[Robomog]

Thanks OW I'll give that a try. 

Mog
>^-.-^<

[apophenia]

A little bit of a brown/umber wash on the faces would make them pop a bit & bring out their features.

Agreed. But, otherwise, figures are lookin' good 'Mog 

[Robomog]

Hi all.

Got some work done on the diorama base.

I've given it a second treatment of static grass this time a sun blasted variety which makes things look less lush.

I've tidied up all the edges and removed the masking tape protecting the edges and 'planted' the waters edge ready for the resin water.

Looks a bit more weathered now....



And we are ready for the liquid resin water  all nicely planted with some extra detritus for good measure



Next step is pouring the river then placing the river taxi and the figures then adding extra detail and some more plants.

Thanks for looking.       

Mog
>^-.-^<

[Robomog]

Hi all

I now have a river,  the clear resin i purchased was like glue and wouldn't flow so I availed myself of a bottle AK Still Water this is a one part liquid similar to clear PVA but doesn't "slump" so much.

Nevertheless you still have to apply it in thin layers and woe betide if you have a crack or pinhole in the base because the next morning your river will have a sinkhole in it !







I added a few drops of water to the product to help it flow and stirred in a bit of sand colour to muddy it up a bit.

I'm quite happy with the result.

More when it happens....

Mog
>^-.-^<

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Nice recovery on the water portion of the base. 





***Edit for grammar correction.

[Old Wombat]