Building A Memory - Schreiber-Bogen's "Pfalz im Rhein bei Kaub" Pt 6

It's nice to report that there's been some progress on the  Schreiber-Bogen "Pfalz im Rhein bei Kaub" diorama this week. Perhaps not a great deal but progress is progress after all. I'll detail the particulars below.Enjoy!

Taking a rather large box cutter with the blade extended, the Styrofoam was slowly whittled down to a  contour I was satisfied with. I use this material for many of my projects and am used to it but oh brother is it messy! However, I've formed a workable routine: carve, pick up loose chunks & toss in garbage, vacuum. Repeat: carve, toss, vacuum

Next, the foam gets a cover of ready mixed, light-weight, patching plaster. It doesn't really hold detail well and would generally not be suitable for exacting scale work. It has a decent working time - about 15 minutes, and because it doesn't dry rock-hard like plaster, one can just poke in trees, shrubs, poles, whatever. Wait until it sets-up enough before painting - about 30-45 minutes. 

Now everything gets a coat of paint. This will be the base color upon which lighter colors will be layered. Normally I use a dark brown, but felt that this hickory shade will be just fine for what I want to do. With Styrofoam it's important that one uses latex paint - NOT oil , lacquer, or spray paints. They will eat away the Styrofoam like acid. Oh, and by the way - do protect your work surface. This is not a mess you can vacuum!!

 The dioramas featured here on Toys & Stuff are simple by choice. I'm no Master Modeler and know that I'll never make it into the Modelers Hall of Fame. But I'm willing to bet most of you readers are in the same boat I am. Just average modelers who want to work on their hobbies without over critical reviews. In other words, we're in it to have fun!