World War Two RAF Airfield Diorama by realworkingsailor - Airfix and others - 1/72

[realworkingsailor]

So I've been kicking around this diorama idea since I started working on my Vickers Wellington bomber. Although I haven't yet begun construction of the diorama, I've been busy messing around building the little detail bits that will add to my fictional scene.

 

Airfix provides a couple of useful kits for this purpose. The largest being their WW2 RAF Bomber Resupply kit, which I picked up back in November last year. This kit includes a variety of appropriate vehicles and other paraphernalia that would have been right found on many airfields. I have been slowly picking away at building these elements over the last little while. I don't have any in-progress shots as I found this kit a bit of an annoying one to build. I can't quite put my finger on why I feel that way about this particular kit, but there it is. It's not like it was particularly challenging to build, it is somewhat repetitive (hand painting the tyres on 32 different wheels), maybe that's why it begin to feel like more of a grind.... but I am happy with the results.

 

Over a year ago, I also bought a set of RAF figures, also from Airfix). I will be using these to populate my scene as well as a couple of the vehicles. They are marked as being 1/76 scale, but they don't seem to be out of proportion for the 1/72 vehicles.

 

 

I had some fun before Christmas painting this gang of miscreants. Not sure how many I'm actually going to use, but I feel I have a nice selection to choose from. For whatever reason, they were moulded in a soft acetyl plastic. It was a bit of a pain to remove the flash, and although the paint seems to have adhered, it won't stand up to too much abuse.

 

The first vehicle in the bomber resupply set is a Bedford MW:

 

 

The kit comes with provisions to build the Bedford as either the MWD cargo version or the MWC water carrier (some people think it is a fuel truck, but it is not). I elected to build the cargo version, as the water truck was for refilling the radiators of liquid cooled engines (Merlins, or Napier-Sabers). Since my bomber has a nice set of air-cooled Bristol Pegasus radials, the water truck was pointless.

 

The next vehicle in the kit is a 12Hp Austin Utility (Tilly):

 

 

Another pretty straight forward vehicle. I performed some surgery on one of the Airfix figures, so I could show the Tilly being "driven". My Tilly doesn't exactly follow the Airfix prescribed paint scheme, but I think it still looks good.

 

Following the Tilly is a tractor/tug:

 

 

 

The kit tractor is a David Brown VIG1, but I made some non-prototypical modifications. I thought the front fenders on the VIG1 looked kinda hokey, so I cut them off to make my tractor look more tractor-ish with the open front wheels. The kit also supplies parts for a recovery winch and anchor spades, but I left those parts off as my tractor will only be hauling bomb trolleys. I suppose I could have hunted around for a 1/72 Fordson. But I'm going with my version. As the tractor was an open vehicle, a figure also had to be surgically modified to fit. He kind of looks like he's driving, although he's a bit casual looking, leaning back staring up at the sky.

 

Speaking of bomb trolleys, the kit provides 3:

 

 

There are two Type "C" trolleys. I built these as per the instructions. Nothing too fancy.

 

The remaining kit supplied trolley is a Type "D". This trolley was designed to carry the HC 4000lb and 8000lb bombs, both of which are too big (and too late) for my Wellington (the later Wellington Mk III and Mk X could carry the 4000lb "Cookie", but that required changes to the internal framing of the bomb bay). In most photos I've seen of Wellingtons being re-armed in the earlier part of the war, the bombs were hauled on a Type "B" trolley. This consisted of a suspended centre beam with the bomb cradles sticking out like ribs. To be able to show a more complete load out for my Wellington, I decided to try my luck at scratch building one of these types of trolleys:

 

 

I found a few useful photos on the internet to help get the basic structure. I did keep a couple of parts from the Type "D" trolley, the front and rear axles, the wheels and the draw bar, the rest was styrene strip and a little bit of brass wire.

 

 

There is a fair selection of other bombs included in the set I have yet to add the decals to these yet. The grey boxes are Small Bomb Containers, these contained the incendiary (thermite) bombs used by the RAF.

 

Getting back to the maintenance side of things, the last large "vehicle" is a 450 gallon Brockhouse bowser:

 

 

For reasons I can't fathom, Airfix supplied decals for this as a lube oil bowser (boring). I would have much rather seen this as a fuel bowser instead. These were typically marked with "100 Octane" in large white letters on each side (rather than "OIL" stencilled on one end). As I wanted a fuel bowser, I left the "OIL" stencil off, but snagged the roundels from the Bedford water carrier that I didn't need. 

 

The final item build is this rather spindly maintenance tower:

 

 

It will fit nicely beside the engine that I left open to view on my Wellington.

 

For the rest, there is an assortment of other items like oil drums, fuel canisters, tool boxes, chocks, that will be added later when things get going. I will revisit this log when I finally get underway with building my diorama. I need to purchase some scenery materials as well as a base. I am planning to build on a slab of 2" thick insulation foam. This is common in the model railroad community, as it provides a lightweight, stable substrate.

 

 

 

Andy

 

 

 

[AJohnson]

Looking forward to seeing all this come together Andy, the vehicles look great. 👍 

[Old Collingwood]

This  will  be good   -  looking forward   to  this.

 

OC.

[Egilman]

4 hours ago, realworkingsailor said:

I am planning to build on a slab of 2" thick insulation foam. This is common in the model railroad community, as it provides a lightweight, stable substrate.

Make sure it's the high density stuff, (I prefer the blue) the lower density stuff (pink & white) is too fragile....

[king derelict]

I see what you mean about all those wheels. I look forward to seeing them building up the diorama 

alan

[realworkingsailor]

11 minutes ago, Egilman said:

Make sure it's the high density stuff, (I prefer the blue) the lower density stuff (pink & white) is too fragile....

Oh yes, not to worry! 😁

 

Any of the pellet-y stuff  (white or whatever colour) is only good for coffee cups. I’ve been around the pink board in a model railway situation and it seemed to work well enough (but yeah, it didn’t take impacts very well). A layer of hydrocal plaster on top can hide a lot of incidental divots.

 

Andy

[realworkingsailor]

One thing is for certain, when you have momentum, things can happen quickly! I stopped by my local hardware store this morning and picked up a piece of foam insulation board. It's not pink, or white, or green, but a neutral grey colour.... anyway, it's the good high density foam board perfect for my needs. It's a 2" thick board so it is more than rigid enough for my purposes.

 

Of course, I couldn't wait to cut off a chunk of that 2' x 8' board and try out some ideas on how I want to see everything arranged.

 

 

I started off with a piece 18" x 24", which worked out to be about the same size as my cutting mat. I am a big fan of empty space in a scene. I think a subject needs space to breathe in its surroundings, and the more things that are "happening" in a scene, the more space it should have. Rest assured the "empty" space won't be entirely empty, nor will the ground be a generic green carpet of "grass". I will endeavour to make the landscape look suitably trodden and driven over, maybe even a mud puddle or two (England is stereotypically known for being a damp country, accurate or not).

 

 

To bring the viewers attention to the exposed engine, I figured this "maintenance" scene would be enough to draw people in. 

 

 

While on the other wing, refuelling is underway. 

 

 

Out in front a bomb train with the night's payload is getting into position while some other airfield traffic is passing by on the verge of the grass runway/taxiway. Realistically, if you follow the film I previously posted, the incendiary bombs would travel, and be loaded separately from the conventional bombs, but I've only enough parts for one bomb train. The figures will loose their bases when it comes time to place them about the finished scene, so they will shrink by about a scale foot.

 

Time to make a shopping list for the scenery items!

 

Andy

[yvesvidal]

That will be a great diorama. Plus you are using a plane (the Wellington) which is rarely used in most magazines, Build Logs or Diorama books.

 

Yves

Edited January 22 by yvesvidal

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks for the comments and likes, everyone! 😀

 

@yvesvidal Almost every dio I've seen online has either a B-17 or a Lanc (or a bunch of Spits), Wellington dios are about as rare as hen's teeth!

 

Work has begun on the scenery base. I first plotted out where I wanted my terrain features to go with a sharpie on the foam board. I did this with the models in place to ensure the features would fit alongside them:

 

 

Apologies for the soft focus on this first picture. In order to differentiate certain aspects, I decided to create a slightly raised "runway" area in the bottom left. Any pictures I've seen of Wellington bases all seemed to have grass runways, so by adding some subtle elevation it would help to differentiate this from the rest of the base. I also wanted to include the effects of less than ideal weather by having a good sized mud puddle. All these other dios seem to depict operations as they would have appeared on a sunny early summer morning. I want to show the effects of a recent run of wet weather. I will also mix in some areas of static grass to detect some less travelled areas, where the grass hasn't been compacted by the comings and goings of heavy airplanes and other vehicles.

 

 

To add some depth to the terrain, I "excavated" the muddy areas with a rasp. A nice feature of working with foam is the ability to create below grade features. A good tip is to excavate these features a little deeper than you anticipate needing!

 

 

My personal preference for a  base material is DAP DryDex spackling compound. It comes ready to use and spreads reasonably well with a putty knife. It handles Woodland Scenics scenery paint just  as well as any other type of plaster, and any other products typically used for scenery, and it is less messy to apply and has a decent working time and once dry, it sands well. I should mention too, it's about half the price of WS hydrocal plaster!

 

 

The first area I applied the DryDex is the "raised" area. This will take a couple of thin layers as thick coats will be prone to cracking! As you can see the compound goes on pink, but it will turn white as it dries (you can see this transition just starting along the upper edge). The sub scenery should take me most of the weekend, a lot of time will be spent waiting for the DAP to dry.

 

Not much of an update, seems like an awful lot of words to say "Hey look, I made a pink triangle!" 🤪

 

Andy

[king derelict]

I'm looking forward to seeing this take shape. Its going to be a great showcase for the Wimpy.

Alan

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks for the likes and kind comments!

 

As predicted, adding the spackling compound took a good portion of the weekend. First step was to add another layer to the raised "runway" area:

 

 

I did get a little bit of cracking, I suspect this was partly due to the underlying layer absorbing some of the moisture from the top layer, causing it to cure too quickly. Not a big deal as I just went over with a small amount to fill in any blemishes afterwards. I then put on a skim coat over the entire board. This was a very thin layer that will provide a nice base to which paint and scenery can adhere. Unfortunately, the only photo I have of this step turned out blurry and dark. Too much of a rush with the camera (the dog wanted to go walkies... right now!).

 

Anyway, once that was dry I needed to take care of the "muddy" areas.

 

I first applied a dollop of spackling compound into the recessed areas and smoothed it out with my putty knife. I wanted to create some wheel ruts and signs of travel. To do this I first covered the area with a layer of cling film (Saran Wrap). I then took a couple of "spare tires" from the Airfix kit that I hadn't yet glued to their respective vehicles (planning ahead here!), and stuck them on the end of a bamboo skewer with a bit of blue tack. Using the matching vehicle to gauge track width, I rolled the wheel through the wet blob of spackling compound. The cling film kept the compound from adhering to the wheels. By applying a bit of pressure as I rolled the wheels along, I could accurately reproduce the effects of a wheel, or a few wheels passing through mud:

 

 

After leaving my impressions, I carefully lifted off the Saran Wrap to allow the spackling to dry.

 

 

Resulting in a couple of rather stark looking mud holes!

 

As things stand now, I have a nice white base ready for an undercoat of paint:

 

 

I was able to get things fairly smooth with the putting knife as I applied the spackling, there were only a couple of spots where I needed to go over with a little bit of sand paper. I'm not fussed about having it completely flat. Even the most "level" ground has subtle undulations and bumps. Most of the ones noticeable on my board will disappear under the scenery anyway.

 

Time to get an order in for some scenery supplies!

 

Andy

 

[king derelict]

I like the cling film to help make the wheel ruts

Alan

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks Alan, it’s a useful technique any time you need to leave an impression in plaster without messing up that which you are using to impress. Footprints, tire tracks, or even the keel imprint from a boat on a muddy riverbank.

 

I had hoped to be able to do further work on my diorama this weekend, I had ordered the scenery supplies for the first layers, however it appears that someone in the postal service put my parcel on the wrong truck:

 

Feb. 2

11:09 am 

Item re-routed due to processing error; Possible delay

 

😡😡
 

So I shall now have to find something else to do this weekend…. I was so hoping to turn that white plaster field into various shades of fuzzy green ground foam…

 

Andy

[realworkingsailor]

So I finally received my order of scenery supplies. These will form the base layers of the diorama:

 

 

Three varieties of ground foam as well as some earth tone paints. Of course I couldn't wait to get things going. Starting with the paint.

 

This was brushed on straight from the bottle. There's no point standing on ceremony, the object is simply to cover the white of the plaster, so any voids will be hidden as later layers of scenery are added.

 

The end result:

 

 

The photo makes it look greener than it is. Anyway, this is more than adequate, brush marks and all. 

 

Next up will be the paint for the "mud" puddles. I have some yellow ochre coloured paint that I will blend with the "earth" paint until I get a nice muddy colour. Shouldn't be too hard! Following this, the first layers of fine ground foam will be applied.

 

Andy

 

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks for all the "likes" everyone!

 

Rather quick progress has been made, and a lot of matte medium has been consumed in the process!

 

After painting, the first layer of ground cover was added. This consisted of a mostly uniform layer of Woodland Scenics "Earth Blend"

 

 

Sealed for freshness!

 

The end result:

 

 

When the matte medium had dried, I began adding WS "Green Blend":

 

 

A key trick to scenery is to work in small areas, it helps too keep things from getting out of hand, and you don't end up with areas that  don't adhere properly as the glue has begun to set

 

For the "runway" area I applied only a few streaks of green blend to simulate dried/dead patches of grass interspersed with greener grass.

 

 

This was then followed up with some additional blotches of "burnt grass" to add some variation to the uniform green layer:

 

 

Once all the matte medium had dried, I couldn't wait to see how things looked:

 

 

 

 

I know if I wanted to, I could stop here and be mostly satisfied (the mud puddles still need some work, though), but I intend to take this up a level and I will come back and apply some layers of static grass to really make the ground cover "pop". For now I'm really happy with the way things are looking.

 

And just for fun, I placed my Hurricane on the runway to see what it would look like:

 

 

Likely an improbable scenario, but.......

 

Andy

Edited February 7 by realworkingsailor

[Old Collingwood]

What a  lovely  dio  -  really  looking nice.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

The different grass types really work well together. I'm curious to see the static grass in use. Diomramas make a huge difference to the models. It’s a shame they take up so much space 

alan

[realworkingsailor]

22 minutes ago, king derelict said:

The different grass types really work well together. I'm curious to see the static grass in use. Diomramas make a huge difference to the models. It’s a shame they take up so much space 

alan

I keep looking around my house wondering where the heck am I going to put this thing! 

[Jack12477]

12 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

I keep looking around my house wondering where the heck am I going to put this thing! 

Me too ! I love building them but storage is at premium. 

[king derelict]

Anyone want a castle 😁

[Old Collingwood]

I have to use  my  back room  side unit  for mine  and it  still   over hangs  a  bit.

 

OC.

[Canute]

Andy, the Hurricane could be a weather divert. Had those happen any number of times. The dio is shaping up nicely. I'm waiting to see your "mud" treatment.😄

[Egilman]

There was also the early part of the war while the RAF was expanding where Medium Bombers could be stationed anywhere they had space, occasionally, for short periods, at Fighter command bases as well...

 

Post '43, most if not all bombers had their own bases....

 

Looking good brother, gives a feel for the spaces on an airfield you so seldom get...

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks guys, I’m glad you’re finding reasons for me to justify adding the Hurricane! 
 

I think, though, @Egilman you’ve hit the nail on the head with your last remark, about giving the scene that sense of space.
 

While the Hurricane does look good, I really think it makes it look too busy, and it takes away that sense of space. I’ll probably build a separate (and smaller) base just for it on its own (with a figure or two for fun).

 

Also, the Hurricane is from 1940, and the Bomber from 1941… must have been some pretty rough weather to divert that pilot a year forward in time…😜

 

Andy

[AJohnson]

58 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

Thanks guys, I’m glad you’re finding reasons for me to justify adding the Hurricane! 
 

Also, the Hurricane is from 1940, and the Bomber from 1941… must have been some pretty rough weather to divert that pilot a year forward in time…😜

 

Andy

Who needs an excuse to add a Hurricane to anything! 🤣

 

But you are right 1941 era, a tired Spit V maybe returning to any friendly airfield after meeting a new  “Butcher bird” might make a more contemporary addition.

Andy your models are definitely deserving of their own settings. 

Edited February 8 by AJohnson

[realworkingsailor]

Mud, mud glorious mud....

 

I think I've managed to create a reasonably convincing miniature mud puddle! No small feat considering there's nothing even remotely close to dirt or water even involved....

 

I first painted on a couple of coats of acrylic paint. I think it's important to stipulate, that I've had this paint for a while, and it has thickened up noticeably in the bottle. Which is good for what I'm going after here.

 

 

The paint was dabbed and stippled on in the "muddy" area, and in areas where vehicle wheels would have shed any mud they picked up as they drove through. I applied a couple layers of this thickened brown paint until I had something of a desired texture.

 

When the brown paint had dried, I then added a coat of clear acrylic gloss to the muddy area, in order to convey wetness. This was spread out in most places to the edge of the "grass", but in a couple small places I left it back a bit in order to hint of a slight amount of drying. For the final (?) layer, I made a mixture of about 6 parts gloss to 1 part brown paint. This was dribbled into the lowest areas of the puddle to simulate a bit of standing, muddy water. I was looking at the options the WS provides to make water and they're all a little pricey for the amount I need (~$40CAD for a bottle of "water", plus another ~$15 for colour tint). I think my budget "water" works perfectly well!

 

 

How that Tilly made it through that sloppy mess, I'll never know! Anyone else for a bit of mudding?

 

 

Andy

 

[Javlin]

I like it  Andy the only thing I would fix and it may be in your thoughts already get rid of platforms on the figures and use metal nails?

[realworkingsailor]

1 minute ago, Javlin said:

I like it  Andy the only thing I would fix and it may be in your thoughts already get rid of platforms on the figures and use metal nails?

Not to worry, those obnoxious bases will be removed in due course. I plan on using a short length of fine wire to hold them in place (I have some nice 0.015” stainless kicking around).
I will be adding some static grass next, so everything is just temporarily in place for now. I’m just waiting for the hobby shop to restock what I need.

 

Andy

[king derelict]

The mud looks great. I think wet mud is hard to make convincing- sometimes it just looks like gloss brown but you’ve got it this time.

i do wonder about some of the “water” products and how they compare to gloss medium etc. I was browsing for my next project and found someone is selling Atlantic water, pacific water and many other varieties. I think I’ll be sticking with the gloss medium this time 

alan

[realworkingsailor]

7 minutes ago, king derelict said:

The mud looks great. I think wet mud is hard to make convincing- sometimes it just looks like gloss brown but you’ve got it this time.

i do wonder about some of the “water” products and how they compare to gloss medium etc. I was browsing for my next project and found someone is selling Atlantic water, pacific water and many other varieties. I think I’ll be sticking with the gloss medium this time 

alan

Thanks Alan!

I think it depends on the depth of water you’re trying to convey, or whether it’s still or moving (wind, waves or currents). 
WS products can produce some amazing “water” in the right hands.

 

Andy