MAP66

Some images of my garden scene diorama in 4mm scale (still under construction).

Just playing around with some characters which could feature in the scene. Lawn mower man definitely has a place but have I overdone it with the colourful gardening smock as worn by his Mrs?

Thank Mikkel I cant resist adding the little people, so they will appear soon.

Thanks Steve I have a few characters in mind to add to the scene, but they won't all feature at the same time. You met lawn mower man on the previous page. There's quite a few cameo scenes I could do on this diorama using different figures, but I need to rein it in a bit as I want to start on the oak tree diorama.

Lids now fitted on the compost container and some more items have been placed in the greenhouse ready for the house occupier to do some pottering (house occupier not installed yet). Going back to the Silver Birch, I am going to attempt a smaller version using the Gordon Gravett method for this diorama. So wire armature, filler and straightened postiche for the foliage.

I’ve had a modelling dry spell for the last couple of months, so lack of progress on all fronts. I think I’m back again now though, as I returned to the garden diorama last week and constructed a small brass shed kit which ignited the flame again and promptly spurred me on to knock up a compost container from ratio sheets of wood planking (still needs a hinged lid). I have also made a start on some more ground work to the rear of the shed and around the compost container and the next step will be to model the small vegetable patch which hopefully will include a runner bean frame made out of very thin plastic rod to resemble bamboo canes. I also had a think about the oak tree diorama again and am now confident on what to include in the scene, so that little project will will follow on after this one.

Thanks Steve, the scatter I used for the ivy is by Jarvis ref. JFT3 Dark Green Fine Turf. I liberally sprinkled that all over first and shook off the access, then a bit more glue and added some slightly courser material to bulk it out a bit. Unfortunately I don't recall where I got the courser stuff from but it has F11 in black marker on the sealed bag. Jarvis do a course turf JCG3 which looks similar, so should still work. good luck with the brambles.

Still continuing with the Oak and attempting to adopt the techniques from Gordon Gravett's book on trees, I have now introduced some ivy growing up the trunk. The ivy vines are made using plumbers hemp and then stuck down onto the trunk using dilute pva. More pva was applied by a very fine brush and then green scatter sprinkled over to represent the ivy leaves. I have also added teased out postiche to the ends of all the tree branches. I think in its present state it could pass for an Oak in winter but I want to introduce some foliage, so that will be the next stage. I'm looking forward to planting this Oak into a diorama after I complete the Silver Birch one first.

Glad it all worked out Chris, the lighting effect looks bang on

The sun was out, so I decided to take a quick close up photo of the bark detail in natural light. I'm very happy so far with the results I have achieved with the Oak just by using simple techniques. This is the level of detail I was aiming for and its a great relief to know that I am actually capable of producing trees of a reasonable standard which will hopefully feature in a layout of the future, when space becomes available. For now though, I feel yet another diorama on the horizon, featuring the Oak - maybe a park scene?

Maybe you could still introduce lighting into the goods shed by way of a GWR type hand lamp (see image below) which could be wired up with one of those tiny LEDS you have and either stood on top of a crate or hung from a hook on the wall. It could make a great cameo scene with a couple of workers unloading a wagon at dusk. You could use a pre-wired loco lamp which are available in 4mm scale or drill out a plastic type lamp (like the one below) and use glue and glaze for the lens and fit your own LED behind the lens. The loco lamps are slightly different to the hand lamps but at this scale it’s not that noticeable. If I ever get the chance to build a layout of my own, this is what I had in mind for lighting the interior of the goods shed. I am even considering installing fibre optic lighting into the hand lamp the GWR guard is holding, this has been achieved by other modellers but unable to recall where I saw it. Forgot to mention, I won’t be offended if any of my above suggestions are not of interest, it’s your layout and your rules but just wanted to share what else is possible for lighting.

Thanks, very kind of you to say so. Always good to receive comments which give me the confidence to keep on going with the modelling.

Yep, that's definitely the plan Mikkel - all from Gordons tree book. I really hope it works out, fingers crossed. Thank you for the comments on the bark, I'm still learning and experimenting with trees but having fun doing so

Hi DGO, Many thanks for the feedback, Mikkel has already beaten me to posting my reply, as yes the postiche if added correctly should replicate the finer twiggy bits and fill the tree out more as well as a few more pieces of twisted copper wire for the finer branches. At least I have a dead version of an Oak now though

Tree time again, I'm back with the Oak and have decided to add some copper wire to extend some of the plastic armature branches. This should give a more realistic appearance as the thin copper wires twisted together allows for all manner of weird and wonderful branch angles to be formed, much like a real Oak. The plan will then be to add some finely teased out postiche over the ends of the copper wire branches and then sprinkle over leaf scatter. I am going for a spring look, so not a full leaf canopy. Using this method, I can also determine if the copper wire adds enough realism for a winter or dead tree without the need for foliage. Anyway, here's where I'm up to, quite a bit more copper to add still...

Don't forget the Gandolph version.

Well, I'm no Alan Titchmarsh or Monty Don but that hasn't put me off planting out the first bed - back breaking work Don't bother quizzing me on the varieties, as all I can tell you is they are pretty colours and the tall ones at the back are meant to be Lupins, maybe some succulents for the rockery? There's also a trellis on the garage with a climbing rose attached. That's it for now, as I need to get some more John Innes stuff for planting out the remaining beds.

The lawn mower is part of a Wills Kit SS92 'Garden Buildings & Accessories' and amongst other items includes a lawn roller and wheelbarrow which are laser cut wood parts and the greenhouse cold frames etc are moulded plastic. The makers crest on the lawnmower is printed onto the card packaging of the kit which you just cut out and carefully glue in place. As we all know, other garden accessory kits are available. Also to note, the greenhouse on my diorama is not from this kit, it is a brass kit which I have modified with microstrip to add more glazing panels. Hope that helps.

Lawn Mower man is '1428-076R Loco Crew leaning' which I'm guessing is the figure you recognised. I'm undecided still, but I may undertake surgery on his arms to raise them slightly and bring them to rest further apart so they align better with the lawn mowers handles. I may even chop off his hands and replace with sculpted ones made from modelling clay so that his hands are actually gripping the handles. This has the potential to go wrong and he could end up with hands looking like bunches of bananas

Normally, when this happens, I always invite them in for a nice cup of tea and slice of cake. However, I shall take heed and have drawn the curtains, lights off and am currently cowering behind the sofa. If you could let me know when its safe to come out, so that I can build some more trees

I was looking into some suitable figures for the garden diorama, the idea being to have 4 or 5 but not all featured at the same time but all will be engaged in various gardening type tasks. I have a lawn mower but was struggling to find a half decent moulded figure to push it. I settled with a Loco Crew figure and changed the peak cap into a beret by simply slicing off the peak. My Grandad apparently wouldn't be seen without wearing a beret, but was no more French than English mustard and bore no resemblance to Frank Spencer. The clothing of my lawnmower man isn't quite period of the time but it will have to do. The other figures I have, look a bit more fitting for the period and are waiting to be painted up. So, I introduce the Lawnmower Man - apologies for the poor lighting on the close up.

Thank you Jack, glad it has been of use - still lots more to come, hopefully!

That’s an excellent idea, inserting the test armatures into the tree to see how different finer scatters behave in comparison to the coarse turf. I agree, the course turf looks the best for your trees, but all 3 products have their particular uses. Not just for different species of trees but for depicting the seasons as well. The ‘airier’ look demonstrated by the finer scatters would be just right for modelling trees in spring and with a change of colour autumn. With the Silver Birch, I am being super critical on myself as I have now seen what is possible from Gordon Gravett’s book on trees. He has a Silver Birch which passes as the real thing, you can’t tell the difference from the photo. So, I will embark with (Silver Birch Mark II) after I’ve finished the Oak.

The plot thickens, are you embarking on a layout or putting up some extra shelves in the kitchen?