WIP If You Go Down To The Woods Today....

[China Dave]

I'm sure that many of you will know how this nursery rhyme continues... if not, "You're in for a big surprise"

I've been working for a while now on a new diorama, once again in 1/16th scale, this one features a Willy's jeep and driver with (so far) two US Rangers that have stopped the vehicle entering a pine forest.

I saw a great tutorial on Youtube showing how to make the pine trees and it inspired me to have a go, I thought it would make a nice backdrop to the scene.
So far I've only made three trees but, in the end, I think there will be six or seven, some smaller for the mid ground.
They've been fun to make, so much so that my next project (German this time with a Kettenkrad) will also use pine trees but in a snowy winter scene.

The jeep itself (Takom's latest release) is pretty much finished but I may, or may not, add some more passengers and if not, fill the rear with ammo boxes, fuel cans, crates etc.

The driver comes with the kit, it's not too bad, a little bland maybe but the head, oh my god is it awful, there are clearer features on a shop dummy than this guy.
I swapped it for one from Verlinden with a helmet from 3DGizmo.

The other two are from NutsPlanet and they are great, lovely crisp detail, very minimal clean up with great faces. It's the first two 1/16th figures that I've bought from their range but I'm sure to buy more in the future.

So far, the three amigos have been primed and based coated with Tamiya colours mixed with a touch of flat base to give me a nice matt finish.
My plan is to make some oil washes and use them next to start the shading stage.
Wish me luck.

 

[rustyratliff]

This should be interesting. Looking forward to seeing this progress.

 

[clubcat]

Good luck... The jeep looks very nice. Look forward to seeing how this progresses.

 

[Bundook]

I'd never thought about that before but I guess trees must be a big problem for dioramas. An average mature pine tree of the sort you get in European forests would be about 4 feet high in 1/16th scale! The little Christmas trees in the pictures there do suggest the very edge of a natural forest, though.

 

[Steve Ski]

Excellent, I love the larger scale.

 

[Nap]

Hi Dave

Great idea for a diorama, nice use of the figures

Looking forward to seeing more

Following with interest

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[China Dave]

It's long overdue but, at last, I have some updates.... progress has been made!
The groundwork is all done, the jeep and two occupants also finished.
I still have to finish the pair of Army Rangers that will complete this little story, they're not too far off finished.
Let's see if I can make time to get them done without getting too distracted (or work interfering).

Regarding the groundwork, I made everything apart from the ferns which are laser cut paper, although I did glue them to some wire, use plasticizer to make them a little more robust and add some paint detail.
The pine trees aren't really tall enough but shelf space limits the height.
I found a good tutorial on YouTube that I followed, it's a time consuming process but I'm pretty happy with how they look.

I hope you like what you see and hope that you are all doing well in life.
Cheers
David

 

[marco14]

this is looking already very nice, the diorama is also beautiful done,
keep it up the very good work
Mario

 

[Warren SMITH]

Excellent work.. I have the same kit underway at the moment.

 

[China Dave]

Thanks for your kind words

 

[Nap]

this is looking already very nice, the diorama is also beautiful done,
keep it up the very good work
Mario

Agree there , good vegetation and the figures look great

Thanks for sharing the updates

Looking forward to seeing more

Nap

 

[NigelR]

Excellent diorama work, it's all come together really well.