Mike Whatshisname

"Props" to the wife Mie. That hammock looks great...

Very nice Mike! Puts me in a beach mood! What did you use to get the sand to stick to the base? Elmers/water & windex or something else? Great work!

First try???? Man, you obviously have been getting some good advice or you are following the tips here and doing a great job. That engine bay looks fantastic!

Looks like it is in pretty good shape for being in storage 23 years. That's a cool looking diorama. May I recommend some clear gloss paint (decoupage) on tope of that "puddle" to make it look wet?

That's a neat little idea Rick. I'd love to see a tutorial on that!

WOW Dave! If you were to crop off that background It would look like a real town! Great job! I can tell you have a history in sign making...

Testing your procedures and techniques is a wonderful idea Len. Take pictures as you go to keep records of what you do. While your at it, post some of those pics here and show us your progress.

Len, Looks like you have some great ideas to help get you started. If I may, I will add a few more ideas on your questions. First of all, did you check out the 3 part installment about building dioramas in the Model Cars Magazine starting back in October of '07? The third installment is in the latest (April) edition of MCM. Hope it helps. 1- walls- First thing is to have a sturdy base. A half inch thick piece of plywood is usually good for a small base unless you are drilling into it. This will provide a sturdy base in which to attach whatever wall you are doing. Consider what types of walls you want your garage to be. Concrete block, wood and drywall are usually the most popular. Drywall can be replicated by using painted poster board. Wood is easily reproduced by using balsa or bass wood. Concrete block is my favorite. You can use a piece of real dry wall and carve brick into the board or plastructs makes a cinder block wall that is very realistic. Paint it primer gray, sprinkle with a little baking powder for texture and then a second coat of primer. Weather with pastels and black wash and your ready to go. 2- For stucco I was going to recommend plaster of paris but the idea that sled gave sounds like the way to go. 3- Windows are important to make realistic looking. Using balsa or bass wood for the frame with clear styrene as the filler is the way to go here. To be sure all your windows are the same size, it is always a good idea to make a template and then make all your windows from the same template. 4- Concrete- see drywall in question 1. This method can also be used for your floors. MCM's October, November of '07 and this months MCM wil help out tremendously for just this application. Any more questions Len, please ask.

.....and that very first get together was at Tom Woodruff's garage/house in Jackson Center, Ohio.

The military guys have some great ideas and methods that we can use in our dioramas. I am always checking out the Fine Scale mags etc. for ideas. Twist, do you have the dio out to modify it or are you just getting around now to showing us pics of it. It looks fabulous.

Looks great Gramps! I can smell it from here!

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those headers look great Will. Keep er going!

Very nice Rick. Can't wya to see more progress!

O yea Gramps! Nice job on the pastel work! An outhouse will be a great addition. Leave the door open and add a few magazines and a roll of TP.

After rereading the post I can see where you might get confused or I started to ramble as I am getting ready for bedtime. Please ask questions if you have any. BTW, Link: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v482/bon...rd%20unearthed/

My inspiration for this small dio came from Hemmings Motor News ABANDONED AUTOS Book issued in 2000. Great book for ideas BTW! I've been wanting to use pastels in ways other than just dusting for the weathered look. I wanted to use them over paint to change the hues slightly to show the effects of sunlight over time on how it fades paint. Here is my subject from page 33 of the Hemmings book: You can see from the firewall the original blue, or should I say a slightly faded blue I would imagine, by the picture of the 1930 Essex. The closest kit I had on the shelf was the 1930 Monogram Ford issued in 1974. So I cracked open this baby and went to work trying to replicate something similar to the picture. The body (roof removed, balsa wood added): I didn't have a blue close to the one of the Essex so I went green and tried to turn it as close as I could to blue using pastels. First I shot a new Krylon color called Vine green which is close to lime green. This would eventually be my lightest color green under the forest green slightly faded. I used masking tape and rubber cement to mask off the areas that would end up the lighter green and then painted forest green over the rest of the car. I removed the masking and cement and then laid down the first part of the sophisticated finishes rust on the doors and areas. once dried, I sanded the edges of the iron to blend into the areas like the doors so that there is no distinctive line to where the rust starts or ends. I then washed the iron with the 2nd part of the sophisticated finishes to give it the "rust" over a 2 day period. Meanwhile, I worked on the fenders by spraying with Krylon antique brass and rubbing in pastels and layers of dullcote. When the body was rusted, I started "painting" with pastels and dullcote in layers to get the finish I was looking for. I was somewhat happy with the results but unfortunately the pictures (lights) tend to wash out the pastel effects.

For dents, dremeling a bit of plastic away from the area is a bit more controllable than using a lighter and melting them into the body. This can also distort the body and cause it not to fit onto the chassis. Dremeling and sanding is more controlable. Dremeling the plastic thin from behind the seats and then using an exacto to make the "rips" always works great. As for the tires, using a lighter is a good idea to soften the tires and slowly mold them to the shape you are looking for. Use a dowel that fits through the center of the tire as you do not want to lose the shape of the inner tire so that your wheels end up not fitting. Hold the tire, in the dowel, over the flame for a second and press the tire against the table or workbench to get the look. Do this slowly, a little at a time, as you may "melt" the tire and then you will need to start over with a new tire. Piled styrofoam, blueboard or molded plaster of paris are ways to go for your rock formations. Glue blue board or styrofoam onto your base into the shape of the rock and then cover the area with a thin layer of plaster (local hardware store) or hydrocal (Woodland Scenics makes this and is available in cartons at your well stocked LHS). Water soluble paints can be added to the plaster or hydrocal mix to help in coloring your scene. Good luck and keep us updated with pictures.

Barbo, did you spend all your time and money in Florida? You were conspicuosly missing at NNL East this year! Can't wait to see what you are going to do with that kit. Nice score!

I would imagine that the Model Train Discussion boards may be a better place to ask or ask the diorama guys at http://s13.invisionfree.com/B_n_B_Auto_Builders/index.php as many of them do HO scale.

Fantastic weekend boys and girl (Nick Sandones wife Sharon got plastered too!). It was great to meet all the new faces at Burgers in Paradise Friday eve. Mr Bigg & 1/16, sorry I didn't get a chance to sit and talk but we will have to make up for that in Toledo. Glad to hear everyone made it back home OK. Already looking forward to next year. Peace!

Hey sweetheart, I never heard you complain before!!!

It was a great idea to stay but I can't take all the credit for that idea. Rick F. first mentioned it earlier that day and I just took it and ran with it. The gang at Cheeseburgers in Paradise worked with us and it turned out to be a great evening. Here's to the Tri-State guys for topping last years show and to another great 4 years at the same place.

Thanks Dave. I did email him and he did not hear anything about the lost jacket. I will try to contact PAL tomorrow. Thanks for the help yesterday.

Thanks for the pics Tom. It was great seeing you again!