Toy Soldier displays part 3

The second ACW diorama I talked about yesterday is more involved with lots more going on. This diorama has a river being crossed by charging Confederate infantry being supported across a stone bridge by some cavalry. The Union infantry are gallantly trying to counter charge across the river while defending a fence line against the marauding cavalry.

The board is 18mm thick mdf and is 60cm long and 30cm deep so I ended up squeezing alot on a small space. I think it made it more entertaining to look at and maybe more lifelike?

The stone bridge was made from Daz Pronto coated foam board which when dry is carved with the stone pattern. There wasn't enough room to have the whole bridge so I designed it to disappear off the edge of the board leaving it up to my customers imagination as to what was still to come up the road.

The fencing I have cast- the wooden split poles are metal and look pretty effective as split logs. The piles of stone is just gravel I picked up on my travels- probably by the side of the road somewhere!

I consider the most eye catching piece of the layout is the water. I didn't want to make it smooth as there are loads of men running through it so I had to make it churned up with splashes etc around the figures.

I think I got the effect I was looking for and I thought the spinning rifle half out of the water was a good touch.I remember I didn't make the river very deep so to give the effect of depth I had to cut some of the legs down on the figures- always a nervy time- The Confederate standard bearer looks like he is standing in about2 feet of water (about 2 cm in scale) but the model is really in about 5mm of depth.

There is not alot more to say so here are a few more photos of it

That is it for now with this series of dioramas with the figures built in.

Toy Soldier displays part 2

This is a follow up to the post last week concentrating on displays I had done using W Britains figures. This post is about a similar process but using Collectors Showcase American Civil War figures. Both these displays that I cover here are for the same customer. They are both the same sort of size- 60cm long and 30cm wide. The figures are about 60mm tall so it gives you an idea what is involved.

These were both great to make as all the figures are in position so I can do as much texturing of the groundwork without worrying about where a figure will stand. I did this one about a year before the next one so I learnt a few things and I think it shows.

This layout has the Confederate High command overlooking a charge down the hill into a Union skirmish line full of Sharpshooters and Zourves.
There is a ruined cannon in the scene but rather than wasting a good Collectors showcase metal piece I found a cheap plastic model, painted it and knocked it around abit and it worked fine.

I used various flocks and underbrush effects. I have a static flock applicator that makes the long flock pieces stick up just like grass so gives very good effects- ideal for these sort of layouts. It was an expensive piece of kit but worth it if you are doing alot of that sort of thing.

The figures are all from the Collectors Showcase range of ACW figures. I did this diorama quite a while ago now so all the figures have sold out but I used them straight out of the box with no modifications or repainting. I hope I displayed them to tell a good story.

The rocks are plaster casts from the Woodland Scenic range of rock molds. I use them all the time.

Looking at the number of photos I have included of the first dio, I will leave this post as it is and do another to cover the second layout I mentioned earlier. I will try to post that one tomorrow.

Toy soldier diplays- part 1

I have been making dioramas and layouts for the 54/60mm collectors for a few years now. Most commissions involve making the layout or diorama ready for the collector to place his figures where he likes. Occasionally I am asked to make a layout with the figures built into the diorama. I have done 5 or 6 of these now and really enjoy doing them; I don't have to worry about flat areas for figures to be displayed and I get to see the finished item with the figures in position.

I have already covered one of these jobs in detail- the Gandamak diorama that you can see under 'layouts' heading of previous posts so these next posts won't go into too much detail- just lots of photos.

The first layouts cover what I have done with W Britain figures. This layout was over 1 metre long but only about 30cm deep so the British had a very thin line of defence behind their sandbags and boxes.

You can see that I could go to town with the ground texture so could add lots of stones and long grasses and bushes. I had alot of fun with this layout.
These next two are only 30cm x 30cm bases so could only get a few figures on.

I think the combination of the landscaping and having the figures built in brings the whole scene alive. I hope I get more of these in the future so if anyone is interested then just get in touch.
This is part one of two so the next one is covering two ACW layouts I did for a customer.