Dragon US Infantry, 2nd Armored Division (Normandy 1944) Diorama

Well, the Diorama Base is almost done, just a few extra scenery details to add, but i'll add those later.

For now, I've just finished painting the sand bags and painted the "wood" base for the Flak gun itself.
The Sandbags are painted with Tamiya Enamel XF-60 Buff and tinted with XF-59 and Humbrol 64 to create variation in the colours of different bags.

I drybrushed the thatch with XF-60 Buff.

After all this dried, weathered the sandbags with Raw Umber oil paint wash.   Add some grey and buff colours to the wash and added between the sandbags and where they touch the bunker.  Removed any excess with a toothbrush.

Weathered the wood area with Humbrol 64 that was randomly painted on and then wiped off.
Added some Raw Umber wash to the thatch area.
Aside from a bit extra scenery, it looks about done - now to move to the figures.

Dragon US Infantry, 2nd Armored Division (Normandy 1944) Diorama

Making sandbags is not a clean job.
I found an article on Armorama (http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=116) on making sand bags with Milliput.

Not much to say on this process, mix Milliput, shape to something resembling a sandbag, place on diorama base - repeat until finished.

Once all sand bags have been made and placed, I mixed up Papier Mache mixture with PVA glue and Tamiya Diorama Texture Paint Soil Effect and Woodland Scenics Static Grass.
I figured the Germans would have built up dirt from the banker in front of the sand bags - this mixture kinda gives the impression of soil being turn over.
Added the mixture with a paint brush, then changed my mind again and dusted the area with Earth Blend from Woodland Scenics and then randomly spray Woodlands glue and added  more Static Grass - blowing this off to get the grass to stand up a bit before shaking off the excess.

Repainted the diorama sides again with Gloss Black - not as good as before, but it'll do and painted the Wood with Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow.  I'll go over this later with a stiff brush and oil paints to create the grain effects of wood before weathering it further.

The slope I've created in front of the Sandbags is effective.  Due to re-working the base, I've create more features in the existing ground work, instead of a level area, it looks more what you would see in real life.

Dragon US Infantry, 2nd Armored Division (Normandy 1944) Diorama

Diorama is moving along nicely.

I used a papier mache type material to cover the foam base and fill in the area behind the thatch.  This stuff is fun to work with.  I used a paintbrush to force it into the spaces and to all so remove any of the material that oozed out of the thatch work.
This stuff took a while to dry and also shrunk, but it gave me some space around the edges to allow more scenery to be added without flow over the height of the base.
I mixed up Tamiya  X-9 Brown and XF-59 Desert Yellow with Tamiya Diorama Texture Paint Dark Earth and covered the entire area where dirt would be.
I deliberately went over the "wood base" area, as this would have had dirt trampled on it over time.

I went over the thatch area with a different ratio mix of colours.

I then used Tamiya Diorama Texture Paint Grass Effect and created a random effect where there grass would be.  While this was still wet, I used Woodland Scenics Earth Blend randomly over the same area followed by Static Grass.
After blowing off all the loose material, there wasn't enough Static Grass left on the diorama, so out comes the Woodland Scenic glue and lightly sprayed the glue over the area and recovered with Static Grass.

With all the earth works drying, I sanded the sides of the base to remove any unwanted material - now have to repaint the entire base again - oh well.
Some slight surgery was needed to fix up some thatch that was leaning outside of the diorama boundary.  I used a Motor Tool (like a Dremel) to cut away the excess - word of warning wear goggles and a mask when cutting through wire and superglue .....

Searched Google for some ideas on how to make sandbags - in the end, I just mixed up some Milliput and roughly shaped a few sandbags.  It kinda looks right - won't know for certain until after I've made them all .....

Dragon US Infantry, 2nd Armored Division (Normandy 1944) Diorama

Moving along nicely with this project.

Built up a wall for the raised terrain from Evergreen.  Filled in the joins with putty, sanded, primed and painted Gloss Black

Glued in some expanded foam which I had test fitted and cut to shape.  I photocopied my top view plan and cut out the required area to use as a template.

Now the fun part - the sides of the Flak Bunker.
I had to reduce the size of the foam, to allow me to build the thatch walls that the Germans used on some bunkers.
The thatch was constructed by drilling small holes in the base and gluing in toothpicks (cocktail sticks).
I then wove the wires from a length of network cable.  I also made a few runs that ended in the middle.

The ends were super-glued in place and trimmed off.

I figured that the Germans may have laid wood on the ground for the flak gun to sit on.  I took some Evergreen plastic and scratched it with a heavy grade sand paper (80 grit I think it was).
This was cut to size and various lengths and glued on the base.

Dragon US Infantry, 2nd Armored Division (Normandy 1944) Diorama

Hit a bit of a modelling brick wall, as well as a few personal issues.  So everything on the work bench has become bench queens.  So to get everything moving again, I'm going to build a Diorama which is outside my comfort zone.
Inspired by a Plamo episode on YouTube, I have decided to base a Diorama on the Dragon 1/35 U.S. Infantry, 2nd Armored Division (Normandy 1944).

This started out as a Diorama Based on the Tamiya 1/35 20mm German Flakvierling 38 and a few Paratrooper figures to replicate the Scene from Band of Brothers, where Lt. Winters and a Private come across a Flak Gun in action on D-Day.  However wouldn't find any suitable figures for the Flak crew - oh well this is still on the cards.
Now to the Diorama at hand.

Planning.

Spent a bit of time planing the diorama.  Thanks to the fellow modellers over at Scale Model Addict, I've come up with a design and size.

 
Started working on 8" (200mm) * 8" (200mm) in size, however since this is set in the field, there was a bit of empty space that needed to be dealt with.  So, the Diorama size is down to about 7" (180mm).

The design is out of the way - now to start building.