WIP 1/35 Scale D-Day Diorama

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Hi Neil

Just a massive 😱....and a WOW!! ....what a amazing project really looking the business ...great pics ( should be up to 35 in each thread ....I asked Alan ( Tech ] to change it )

All the pics are showing with no issues for me

Following this really closely ,very clever research and modelling ...liking the worn look on the LC

Looking forward to seeing more

Have fun @ the bench

Nap
 
Bran, Nap and Nigel ,many thanks for your interest.
I know it is hugely ambitious, but you must remember I was a professional model-builder for architects before I retired so a big project is not exactly unknown territory for me- in fact at least with this the design won't change halfway through ,but still have to be finished for the same deadline!!!
And there will NOT be lights!
....hmmm

But anyway, after ten or more years of thinking about it, I have finally cut foamboard on this project. I’ve started at the bottom, naturally, with the hull and main deck, which I am going to clad in some way, as yet undecided. For the hull side there is a slight curve in the vertical plane so I need to create some identical ribs to attach my skin to (whatever it turns out to be). Having transferred the profile I pinned them all together with the ends and sanded them on the only bit of workshop kit I possess, which is a disc- and belt-sander.

IMG_20241014_200417183.jpg


Then I could go ahead and build the basic box.

IMG_20241017_163804619.jpg


It’s so bloody big I had to build it on the kitchen worktop, and it’s only the first level!
An that, my friends, is a jumbo tube of UHU, not the normal size. And then I had to get it back through the loft hatch….Oh dear what HAVE I done?

IMG_20241017_165103278.jpg


that's all for now folks
cheers
Neil
 
Hi Neil
now that is a lot of board ......do you just glue or pin as well when putting it together?
Yes I use T-pins if the finish is not important, they are very helpful.
If not I add the glue, make the joint then remove and replace the part several times in quick succession which makes the glue evaporate quicker, and in only a minute or so you can get a good bond. I like to Use Kappa foamboard if possible as the UHU doesn't attack the foam, but it still works even if it does. The solvent-free stuff takes too long to dry
 
Superb modelling. If the landing craft is crewed, it's worth remebering that the vast majority of landing craft, on US as well as the other beaches, were crewed by RN personnel....

Mike
Thanks very much Mike. You make a good point, and although I knew that, I was planning on the crew being US Coastguard; but RN would provide a bit more variety.
I shall explore further.
Cheers
Neil
 
I have clad the hull side with 1.5mm mount board as a substrate -I’m not wasting a pic on it - to which I will attach whatever cladding I decide upon. Experiments are being conducted as I type and will be reported upon completion.
I always intended to build the superstructure of the model from sheet material-foamboard, etc, so I have been studying my digital model to figure out the dimensions of the various structural elements, walls etc.
But I had a revelation.
I have two 3D printers; a small resin one, which I have used for all the detailed bits I’ve printed so far, and a large-format FDM printer (the type that extrudes a thin strand of molten plastic ) which I have used for the larger pieces like the funnel and gun tubs.
It occurred to me that I have already made the model ‘virtually’, and it would be the work of only a little while to divide the larger elements into printable pieces, so I have started with the main deck walls.

Main Deck walls.jpeg

I had to add some detail of seam lines, and the porthole detail is too subtle for the big printer , so I will make them separately on the small one .

main deck front w porthole.jpeg


porthole.jpeg


They will be inserted later and backed with 2mm clear acrylic, back-sprayed black - I am NOT doing the interior!

I made a recess in the side wall for the door
main deck side .jpeg


main deck side  door.jpeg


Here they are in a nice grey filament- I had to split the longest wall to fit on the printer.

IMG_20241021_183519665.jpg


The downside of using the FDM printer is that the surface finish is not at all flat-even when you print a piece flat on the build-plate.

IMG_20241021_183510552.jpg

Annoyingly this texture has to be sanded off, and that takes mark one elbow grease !
I do have an electric sander but the problem is that the melting point of the plastic filament is so low that it just wrecks the piece. So I started with P60 grit (which is practically cobble stones...!) and even that causes melting and has to be rested every now and then. I worked my way up through the grades to P320, wet, which will give me a good enough finish for primer. So you see there is no advantage adding any detail with this printer.

IMG_20241023_195450379.jpg


Well, I think that's all for now folks.
Thanks for watching
Cheers
Neil
 
Wonderful way to go with this build, embrace the technology, (says the man who still hasn't fully unpacked his 3 year old 3D printer).

As for the surface texture, why not coat it with Perfect Plastic Putty or similar and then sand it, it would save lots of elbow grease!

It really is nice stuff; https://deluxematerials.co.uk/products/perfect-plastic-putty

It dries fairly quickly as well.

Watching with great interest.

Cheers Simon
 
Great work,

one mention - maybe useful for the next project - but since your walls are all 'flat' it should be possible to fille the troughs between the individual layers with some sort of putty or paint (in Large Scale Planes small lines are often filled with Mr Color 1000 primer when not too deep).

Should at least limit the amount of elbow grease you put in sanding....
 
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