Here I have some pictures of the development of this diorama and Glen tells us how he made it.

Part 1 of this tutorial is here

The wall is made out of Das Air dry modelling clay. Alex modelling clay it is the same name but branded differently. I first had to decide upon the scale of the wall and especially the archway. So I made the figures up first so I was able to use them in context of what I was going to do the kit used was Figures Dragon German 6th Army kit number 6017.

I then drew out an arch on paper, then taped it behind some clear glass, this means you are then able to construct the arch in blocks to the shape but laying it on the glass, you can roll out the shape and complete the arch as one or scribe the joints in if you want to.

With the clay I rolled it out and then cut it up into small stone shapes and thin paving slab shapes(shown at left). It is best to construct the wall whilst the clay is still malleable, but just add a small amount of pva glue to stick them to each other, remember dont worry if you have made to many if you add water to the clay when it has dried out you can rework it so nothing is wasted.

When you have built you wall and laid your slabs, you need to brush the joints with interior decorators powder filler but only add a small amount of water,

I used a dropper putting in small drops this the gives the wall and slabs a mortar type finish.

This picture shows the wall and slabs without filler in.

This image shows slabs filled in with filler also small stone scatter or train ballast used to act as rubble. Remember I finished this with snow, but the wall looks just as good without the snow.

I put grass scatter in the joints of the slabs to look like weeds growing through and in the walls (Shown here).

I sprayed the whole diorama black first before I dry brushed on various greys to get the finish I wanted on the stone and slabs.

Heavy armor and Tufts of Grass Cliff is a modeler that specializes in heavy armor. He does some terrific dioramas and has a neat technique for making tufts of grass in 1/72 scale. Check out the technique and some of his models here.

Iwo Jima This is a fantastic little diorama of an ambush on Iwo Jima. John brilliantly uses Volcanic rock to make an impressive battlefield scene. Check it out here: Black Sand Hell: Ambush on Iwo Jima

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