Super WWII Diorama

It's a long story :p

My cousin saw what i build for my miniture games, she got a kid passionate by plastic soldiers and WWII, she ask me if i could build something for his boy because he's always playing with his soldiers but with no battleground :(

I said let's go make Gaspard happy for christmas xD

Ok it's a short story ihih

XPS faom - Wood glue - cutter - small welding tool - paper mache - plaster - coton - spray paint - spray varnish - acrylic paint - Ice cream wood stick - 3D resin printer.

I never took step by step pictures when i'm building something because I'm just catched by the task and once I'm in i can't take a break so all the pictures of this tutorial are pictures taken when a step or a journey of work is done.

For example when the paper mache need to dry.

The first step was to list the elements that must be present on the diorama

• Trenches
• Mud
• 2 different camp to replay battles

And the most important thing : the diorama must be movable in suitcases because i live in France and my cousin work in Congo ( #Africa )

The first step was to take XPS foam shit, trace the measurement of the suitcases, trace the trenches and add some reliefs.

I use Wood glue to glue the XPS foam together, i also use wood baguette as nails to prevent accidental movement during the dry of the glue.

The tomorrow, when everything is dry i cut the differents parts that will go in the suitcases and start to add details and texture.

Again with wood glue, i fixed broken wood stick in the trench to make some fortifications.

I do the same with cardboard, once it's paint it will look like metallic barriers.

I also create small brick to create a defense line around the trenches. it's basically small XPS foam rectangles with texture.

To add the texture on the foam i know 2 different techniques

• The first is to use aluminum sheet, rounded in ball to mark the foam
• The second consist in put the foam pieces in a bag with real rocks, mixte it and....... TADAA fake real stone bricks ^^

For the wild foam area, i use papier mache, it's easy to make, very durable once it's dried and it give a good "ground/dirt" texture. I use an old brush to apply it on the foam.

This step doesn't need to be very clean because trenches ..... War ......... and Mud of course xD

Plus the paint job will finish everything at the end

I take a step back and watch the accomplished work and i think. I think a lot !! What can i do to improve the thing ? what is missing on the battlefield to make it more real ?

• A bunker of course, made with foam, covered with paper mache and voila !
• Shell impacts !!!! i take my cutter and cut/dig hole in the foam. A bit of paper mache once again to add relief and cover around these impact and it begin to look like a battlefield !

At this moment i'm ready to paint the battlefield because at the beginning of the project there was only 4 parts for 2 suitcases ... the plan was perfect

I'm not a great painter so i use the technical of the wet blending, this mean I'm mixing together the paint during the same step.

I choose to paint the 2 different sides with different colors Red and Yellow BUT i use the same brown color for the middle part. Like that the middle part represent the "fighting area".

At this moment i'm really happy with the result so i simply call it done BUT after few night of sleep i thought "Gaspard is very crazy with his plastic soldiers", i think he must have 300 soldiers or more !!! and so i start to build others parts, the parents will find a way to carry this huge christmas gift in africa !! they have to !!!

We can't stop Santa when he get creative don't we ?

Let's go to step 3: Gaspard need MORE !!!!

so i thought Gaspard need more to play with his plastic soldiers !

And so i create more play area. using the same technics again, gluing the foam, shaping the foam, texturing and finally painting the foam.

The great tips here is the necessity of a small break on a project like that, take time to think and improve what you are building. I'm not a patient person, it's difficult for me to take the time to watch what i've done and take more time to improve it. But it's really important, force yourself to take the time it's worth the time "lost" when you finally see the final product and say to yourself " fortunately i've take the time to make the build better"

In this build there is ONE thing i didn't build myself : the plane.

It's a metal model buy in a decoration store. During the "thinking - improving step" i thought this all build need a master piece in the middle of the battlefield. Something that will turn on the imagination of Gaspard. The crashed plane take place in the middle of the no man's land, one camp it fighting to retrieve crucial information while the other camp is fighting to protect these precious intell !

The fire is the final touch, it's turn a basic model into a real war scene !

To make it i use a wood stick, i apply wood glue all along, and use it to pierce several pieces of cotton. When the wood glue is dry, i apply several coats of clear varnish 4 or 5 layers to fix all the cotton, let it dry and then using spray paint to create a gradiant to create a smoke effect.

this step is very quick because the spray of the paint will automatically create the gradiant. it's spray paint so the blending is very easy to make between the colors.

down to top : Orange then Red and finally black for the smoke

When everything is dry apply one more coat of varnish and it's done :)

I drilled a very small hole in the plane to place the wood stick and voila a real crashed plane !

There is nothing more to tell here, more playing area more foam and more glue ^^

i use resin printer to print the bunker canon, i've an Elegoo Mars, this printer is a killer !! easy to learn, easy to print, awesome detailed pieces etc etc !

For the destroyed church, i've cut the brick directly on the foam and then with a pencil i've "dig" the joints.

1 : cut the bricks pattern on the foam 2or3 mm deep

2 : with a pencil pass in the previous cut to widen the cut and create joints.

I've used a welding machine with a very small head to create bullets impacts on the wall very easy and awesome render when painted !

First thing, if you have read everything : thank you and forgive me for the faults :)

Here are the pictures of the final setup of the diorama.

You can see various thing on this diorama :

• More 3D printed elements, like the sands bag, the metal cross to avoid the tank movements.
• Grass tuff : they add a real touch to the diorama making it a bit more real
• I've used some washes on the wood barricade and church once again to add more details
• Wood footbridge to cross the trench ( created with icecream wood stick )

Here is my big secret ; add a lot of small details to prompt the kid to watch everywhere, searching for the hiding stuff.

And voila !

I hope you like what i've done for Gaspard, when he open his present at christmas he wall absolutly crazy and so was i seeing this kid so happy.

During this build honnestly i was also a kid xD I had so much fun building this, i'm very proud of what i've achieve for a first attempt.

I'm sorry for the lack of tips, feel free to ask questions if you have some in the coments section, i will try to answer the best i can.