London Toy Soldier show- part 4

36 hours to go before we make our way down to London so I am on the very last leg of the diorama building.
I put the last coat of varnish on the river sections today so that will be dry soon so I can wrap them up.
It means the only diorama I have left to finish is the one to display the growing range of Africa Korp figures from First Legion. We will have the new Opel Blitz along with all the new marching infantry on the day so I thought it a good idea to make a real eye catching piece as the figures are wonderful.

I thought about an oasis but then I went for a board with a backdrop of adobe buildings. I also decided not to put any period detail on the board as it will also work for the Sudan display.
Stage one was to build the structures:

building fronts made from 1cm thick foam board.

This gave me a good start but then I needed to coat it in something that would give it texture

textured walls and coated roof

The photo doesn't show the texture very well but it is one of the most important bits of the job- without it there is nothing for the paint washes and dry brushes to get hold of.
Once this was dry I begin the painting with a base coat of yellow ochre which is then washed with a raw umber to get the following result.

washed buildings with a little more detail added.

This dried and all I need to do now is finish weathering it with dry brushes of various sandy colours and then a final addition of some more details which I will decide on when I come to it. I can see this stage being dependant on the amount of time I have left!
Finally, with this post here are a few pictures of some of the other boards that are finished and just waiting to be packed up.
The last installment about the show will be after the show on Sunday or Monday and will have lots of photos of these diorama boards in action so to speak with them being full of figures.

Remember all these boards are for sale on the day so if any have caught your eye come and have a chat and you could take it away with you.