"Diorama help" Topic

By way of introduction, my name is Steve Miller and I live in New Mexico.I've been away from military miniatures for almost 50 years, but I'm now retired and decided to get back into it, primarily to create dioramas depicting Ft Phil Kearney, Wyoming Territory circa 1866.I've acquired most of the military figures I'll be needing Airfix/Imex plastic ones and some Thomas figures from K+L.I intend the fort scene to be able to depict daily garrison life as well as one being under attack (if Red Cloud had decided to launch a major attack on the fort in the fall of 1866. 48 years ago, I constructed my first Indian Wars fort using primarly 1/4 inch plywood. This will be a much bigger project so I need some help with some questions I have.
1. Back then I just painted my figures using Testors paints. I see they're still available, but am wondering if there are better paints now available, for both platic and metal figures? Is priming necessary for either/both types of figures?
2.As Phil Kearney was one of the few frontier forts of the post war period that had a wooden stockade,is there something other than plywood now available to use for the wooden stockade? I'll need to make about 225 inches of stockade fencing, about 2 inches high. It will need to be grooved every.2 inch with notches cut to give the jagged top appearance. That works out to be almost 1200 notches and grooves so whatever material and process I use to make them can't be time intensive.Any suggestions? Like with a saw to make a 1/16 inch groove and a file to round the groove out, maybe.
3.The fort's parade ground was actually mostly closely mowed grass with gravel paths leading out to the flagpole. Any suggestions for the parade ground (other than using a motled green planting for the base?)or is there some type of thin green mesh that I can cut and fit?
And lastly, I'd like to add some type of background to represent the Wyoming hillsides north of the fort that can be removed when I store the fort. Maybe some type of curved canvas that I can paint the scenery onto? Anyone have any experience with something like that?
Thanks for any help "you all" might provide.
Steve
4.

Welcome back. Interesting project, please provide photos of your progress. For the stockade fencing, may I suggest a visit to your local supermarket's dental hygiene aisle. Examine the wooden dental picks, not the little round or flat ones, but the ones that come in larger sizes. I found some for an Old West fort that were in complete sections and not individual. For the grass, check out Games Workshop's Battlemat and cut off what you need. Do a web search for a local supplier or online store, such as Amazon.

Welcome back to the hobby!
Firstly, you should be aware that there are basically two different kinds of plastic figures, 'soft' plastic, and 'hard' plastic.

The Airfix and Imex figures that you mentioned are soft plastic, and prep/priming is important for soft plastics. The flexible nature of the plastic means that rifles and bayonets don't break, BUT it also means that paint does not adhere as well to the figures.
Since you are building a diorama, you won't be handling the figures once they are in place (unlike figures for wargaming use, which must withstand constant handling) but nonetheless, you will want to prep them properly .

You will need to wash the figures in warm soapy water to remove any grease on the surface. Let them dry, then prime them to aid the adhesion of the final paint-job. For soft plastics I use Tamiya paints for Polycarbonate- It's designed for remote-control car bodies and is flexible and durable. You can also use use watered-down PVA glue to prime them, and I'm sure other folks chime in with their own recommendations.

As for paints, there are many water-based hobby paints available now, which are easy to use and less smelly than the enamel paints that you used to use.
I mainly use Vallejo paints, but there are many excellent brands available.

Hope this has answered a couple of your questions.

-Kosta

Welcome back and have fun !!

IMHO a good way to display your piece would be as "boxed diorama" or shadow box where you view from one angle This way you could include your mountains at the back

Check out your local model railroad shops for a variety of materials including different types of grass – ranging from sheets where you stick the figure on top or loose where you use it to over the bases and groundwork.

Recommended Reference

atlantafigures.com/tips5.htm

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Michaels sells bags of the sticks that you would use for palisades. They are in the section that has wooden shapes and dowels.
Instead of painting them, fill a spray bottle with iso alcohol and a few drops of black ink. Spray a couple of sticks until you get the right look by adding or thinning out the ink. You'll get a nice "worn wood" look by doing this. Leave the sticks outside to dry.

Do the same with the rest of the wood you are using to build the fort. You can highlight with paint to your own taste.

Welcome back! I returned to gaming about 5-6 years ago after a 10+ year hiatus and was amazed at the changes to the hobby. You have some catching up to do my friend!

For paint I use inexpensive craft acrylics now, but there are loads of great modeling paint lines out there. For building materials, glues, etc. your local craft stores, or Model Railroad hobby shops are the best places to start. Also, Google is your friend! There are many outstanding sites relating to military miniatures, terrain, and diorama making out there. There is so much information accessible now as compared to the old days it can be overwhelming. My best advice is to do some research on terrain building and painting techniques, see what has changed, then start your project.

Good luck, and keep posting your questions here.

Whittling the dowels will give you the best look, be it most time consuming. This may sound silly, but you could try a hand help pencil sharpener! That might be too "perfect" of a point. Maybe use the sharpener to get "so far" and then rough it with a knife/file? I'd take the length od dowel and texture it (file…knife…screwdriver blade…whatever) over the whole length and then cut your posts to size. Easier to do than working on little pieces. Just some ideas. Looking forward to your result, Keep us updated as you progress.

Carl

I've settled on using bass wood for the stockade, two inches tall and 3/16 inch thick (about = to 15 inches at 1/72 scale) which was the average diameter of the logs used for Fort Phil Kearney. Gooved every 3/16 inch, then notched along the top with a saw and file. The setting of the diorama will be the October/November 1866 time frame which is just 3 to 4 months after the stockade was constructed (ie, July/Aug. '66) so the logs should look fairly fresh cut with little aging yet. Im thinking the predominat color would still be brown (for pine with bark still on) with a smattering bit of gray. Any suggestions on how to achieve that look?