1/72 Hoth Echo Base Hangar diorama

Looking pretty sweet Ross :p . Only suggestions I would have - never having built an ice/ snow covered diorama before , is to check out some of the amazing videos on YouTube .

Some truly beautiful examples are to be found , and to possibly add some ‘ dips & peaks ‘ along with the straight horizontal lines you’ve made using a comb :thumbsup , along the walls !?

As for the Dk.gray simulating dust and dirt , maybe ... pooled up along the edges and floor ?
My thinking ( probably wrong ) , is that even with engines running and exhaust fumes going everywhere , seeings how the base is hollowed out of Ice - the walls would be constantly self cleaning .
That is , the outermost layer of ice is melting at various rates depending on the temperature , with new ‘ clean ‘ layers forming underneath , especially on the vertical surfaces .

If you’re wanting to break up the block white , perhaps applying various ‘ off - white ‘ shades of colour around areas most susceptible to dirt & grime collecting could help ?
Again , having no firsthand experience of snow & ice environments , I could be speaking out of my - you know what !.. apologies in advance if I’ve done so !:lol


:cheersGed
 
Nah, not at all brother, I always welcome any suggestions, particularly in navigating uncharted water. It occurred to me last night that a watered down gray wash might work. I have the test piece from the combed lines experiment, so I put a couple coats of paint on it this morning and plan to experiment with the wash here shortly. I'll have a look at you tube as well and see what other methods are out there. Last thing I want is to ruin these walls I put so much time into.

Cheers Brother!:thumbsup
gedmac66 said:
Looking pretty sweet Ross :p . Only suggestions I would have - never having built an ice/ snow covered diorama before , is to check out some of the amazing videos on YouTube .

Some truly beautiful examples are to be found , and to possibly add some ‘ dips & peaks ‘ along with the straight horizontal lines you’ve made using a comb :thumbsup , along the walls !?

As for the Dk.gray simulating dust and dirt , maybe ... pooled up along the edges and floor ?
My thinking ( probably wrong ) , is that even with engines running and exhaust fumes going everywhere , seeings how the base is hollowed out of Ice - the walls would be constantly self cleaning .
That is , the outermost layer of ice is melting at various rates depending on the temperature , with new ‘ clean ‘ layers forming underneath , especially on the vertical surfaces .

If you’re wanting to break up the block white , perhaps applying various ‘ off - white ‘ shades of colour around areas most susceptible to dirt & grime collecting could help ?
Again , having no firsthand experience of snow & ice environments , I could be speaking out of my - you know what !.. apologies in advance if I’ve done so !:lol


:cheersGed
Click to expand...

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks again for those images Brit, I'm going to attempt a scratch up of one this afternoon. Wife had to go to work for a while today, my chores are done and it's only 1030am, yee haw!
Britcinescribe said:
I guess we’ll never know. I’m sure there was recycling of the props going on. Least you can see them up close to get your detailing nailed!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Blakeh! It did seem to work out pretty good. Now if I can get the shading right and find the extra rolls of black wire from my last car restoration I might have one wall close to done today. I'm going to test some watered down gray wash today and see it that won't give me the effect I'm looking for. Air brush would be a disaster if I screwed up. But the walls as they are, are just too clean a while I'm a thinkin'. The piles of snow was actually an after thought, but I think it's effective. Tried to place them under a void so it looks like they cleaned up the piles that would block the alcoves but then just left some in front of the Pillars that wasn't really in the way. I'm getting pretty excited about the outcome :thumbsup
blakeh1 said:
That wall looks great. I love how it looks like the snow/ice crumbled away, and then down at the bottom of the wall are the shoveled up piles from clearing it
Click to expand...

- - - Updated - - -

"clean and :wackowhite" duh me
 
washed wall.JPGwell I hope the pics is clear enough. I took some already watered down wash, mixed in about 60% more water, spritzed it on and immediately wiped with a wet paper towel. Don't want to do the dio walls without some feedback first. also realizing I'll nee to do the void ice areas delicately with q-tips.
 
Ok, found a YouTube, got tis cave thing figured out. This guy took a balloon and glued it to cardboard, then covered it with that expanding insulation foam you shoot into a wall. then after it set up he popped the balloon and WA-LA...cave. sand it, shape it, whatever! Of course I'll be using a series of cheap rubber balls of varying sizes from Walmart, strategically sliced up to form a bit of tunnel, rather than one room...then line the inside with the flexible rock wall stuff I got from Micro Maker. Duh on me for not checking YouTube weeks ago!:wacko
 
gt350pony66 said:
Ok, found a YouTube, got tis cave thing figured out. This guy took a balloon and glued it to cardboard, then covered it with that expanding insulation foam you shoot into a wall. then after it set up he popped the balloon and WA-LA...cave. sand it, shape it, whatever! Of course I'll be using a series of cheap rubber balls of varying sizes from Walmart, strategically sliced up to form a bit of tunnel, rather than one room...then line the inside with the flexible rock wall stuff I got from Micro Maker. Duh on me for not checking YouTube weeks ago!:wacko
Click to expand...

That's an interesting approach to it. Looking forward to seeing it done!
 
Unfortunately, I'm at work and IT has YouTube blocked here. I just searched "how to make a model cave". It's the one with the headline image looks like a old time British parliament wig that's been tossed to the floor...and slightly yellow. I'm gonna take this guys method and go one further. Think I'm going to cut holes in a cardboard so the rubber balls stick like half way through, and then spew that stuff on it. That way I think I can produce and irregular shaped cave 'tunnel', though on my dio it only needs to be 7 inches long.
Britcinescribe said:
Do you have a link for that? Sounds interesting.

Also...WA-LA?
Click to expand...
 
ice cave1.jpegice cave2.jpegice cave3.jpegice cave4.jpegice cave5.jpegice cave6.jpegice cave7.jpegice cave8.jpegice cave9.jpegok, the expanding foam trick worked quite well. Though the made structure is way too big to fit, some cutting down was necessary. I would have liked to have used the very front for it's awesome shape, no matter. I measured what I needed from the back so as not to lose what I need for the funnel down to the cave as it gets smaller. so I ended up with a too flat in the front, so I took a knife and hacked into it, the grabbing the chunks and ripping them out so as to attain the irregularities. I think I was successful. Although even letting it set up over night, there was still some areas inside that were still, gooey. Had to clean hands with mineral spirits and put on some rubber gloves. So if you try this method ever, put gloves on first. So I'll have to let the gooey stuff cure a bit longer. Then I plan to spray either wall texture and/or white spatter paint on it to seal up the tiny air bubble areas, perhaps drag a large nail through some of it, pulling down, to try to get a few ice sickles. then soot it with the same paint I used on the walls and the round house area and that should :thumbsupproduce the desired effect. wish me luck fellas...
 
btw, yes, that's a gallon milk jug cut in half. Had to have something to build on, but it worked :thumbsup once it was dry, sort of...I peeled the jug out and there was even some voids that formed behind it (unintentionally) but, less hacking out was needed. Now...back to the 3rd and final Xwing while this hardens the rest of the way.
 
Looking Sweet Ross .
That pic #5 across , of the cave prior to being cut - kinda reminds me of an open mouth with the ‘ tonsils ‘ dangling from the roof :lol !
How’re your hands now mate ? When you mentioned this method , out of curiosity I looked up and watched the video... and yeah , he really did emphasise wearing gloves .

:cheersGed
 
Thanks Ged,

All good, just a bit hear and there. Nothing mineral spirits can't clean. Just a pain if you don't put gloves on:facepalm
gedmac66 said:
Looking Sweet Ross .
That pic #5 across , of the cave prior to being cut - kinda reminds me of an open mouth with the ‘ tonsils ‘ dangling from the roof :lol !
How’re your hands now mate ? When you mentioned this method , out of curiosity I looked up and watched the video... and yeah , he really did emphasise wearing gloves .

:cheersGed
Click to expand...
 
ice cave 1.jpegice cave 2.jpegice cave 3.jpegice cave 4.jpegok. dismantled this in the house and took to the garage so I could trim up the cave to fit with the rest of it. There's still the 2 areas on either side of the top to fill, but I'm just going to use the flat stuff and line it the same. Anyway, I think it fits in well. Seal it and get some white on it, should be all good. Then I suppose I start wiring it up for (it's) lighting, and begin placement of the ships for drilling holes for their lighting. Man o man...who knew there would be so much to do in building this :confused
 
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