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CHAPTER 9

SOME YEARS AGO I bought a SierraWest

Railroad Camp kit. I used most of its buildings ona diorama I described in the 2007 LOGGING,

MINING & INDUSTRIAL ANNUAL. Two structures (a truckrepair shop and a boiler and welding shop) and a lot ofdetail parts remained. They and a passenger car are thefocus of the diorama in the photos.

Recently someone asked how I design a diorama. Heprobably wanted to hear about how creative I am but myanswer may have disappointed him. I am unable to visualizea complete scene. I have to experiment with mockups. Icreated cardboard representations of the two structures and

A CAR REPAIR SHOP DIORAMA

BY SCOTT KINZEY

PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR1:87.1 SCALE

then decided to include something I had never built before:

An all wood passenger car. It was fun to assemble andpaint. If you have never built a wood car kit I recommendtrying one from La Belle Woodworkings extensive line.

A car repair facility seemed the best way to display thethree major elements. I forced myself to devise a multi-levelscene to create visual interest. A car repair facility probably

would sit on flat ground but, in this case, I decided artistrywas more important than absolute realism.

Several other kits also were lying around including onefor a wagon and two horses. It fit so I used it.

One trick I learned for creating interest is to design


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mini-scenes on a diorama,little things to attract atten-tion and entertain the viewer.Notice, for example, the twoladies talking to a worker;both women have bibles.

What do you suppose theyare doing? And look at thedog. He wants attention and

is excited about the visitors. Ilove to include dogs and catson dioramas. They are smallbut subtle placement tends toadd life and interest to ascene.

I want to devote the restof the article to scenerytechniques.

Gluing Ground CoverSome people have asked

how to glue down ground

cover. I mix a simple solution I call Molly glue. WhyMolly? My wifes terrier, Molly, used to follow my wife

wherever she went. That dog was virtually glued to my wife(and, I might add, was very protective). Hence the name.


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But Molly glue is only one component of my technique.After I create a scenic base from Sculptamold, I brush on asolution of white glue and water. Then I sift on groundcover consisting of various shades of fine dirt, ground foam,and other debris. I explained that on page 90 of the 2007LOGGING, MINING & INDUSTRIAL ANNUAL. You must apply

white glue to the base or the Molly glue will betoo weak to fasten the ground cover.

Molly glue consists of seven parts

water, two parts denaturedalcohol, and one partLiquitex mattemedium.

Denatured alcoholis available fromLowes or any other largecontractor supply house andmatte medium from Hobby

Lobby or any large craft store. If youhave used neither of those products, buy

them and experiment. I use themin many applications.

The best way to mix thefixative, without using your wifesmeasuring cup, is to find a bottle

with a good lid. It must be atleast semi-transparent and thecapacity should be more than tenounces. My favorite bottle is 16ounces.

Measure seven ounces ofwater in a measuring cup. Pour itinto the bottle and use a blackmarker to make a horizontal lineof an inch or less at the water

level. That mark will make iteasier to mix the next batch. Fillthe measuring cup with two moreounces of water, pour it into thebottle, and draw another line

with the marker. Add anotherounce of water and draw the finalline.

Pour out all but the first sevenounces (the first line). Adddenatured alcohol until the level


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reaches the second line. Mix in the matte medium until itcomes up to the top line. I usually pour in slightly morematte medium since it is the glue. I experimented withstronger Molly glue using more matte medium but it dried

with a slight white film.Shake the bottle and let the solution settle until the air

bubbles disappear. Make a note of the specific ingredientsand related quantities for future reference, otherwise youmay forget you used matte medium instead of white glue.

Let me caution you about using white glue,especially since matte medium is much more

expensive: Glue is too thick to blend properly and tends toblob at the bottom of the bottle. Matte medium dissolvesbeautifully and is worth every penny and you may find

yourself using it in many other ways.

I typically spend betweenone- and two hundred hourson a diorama. The last stepalways is applying groundcover. Once I had a gallonof white glue and used it.Globs landed on the groundcover and stayed there. I hadto remove everything andstart over and have sincegiven up using white glue.

Some modelers use aspray bottle to apply fixative

to ground cover. I prefer aneye dropper. It takes longerbut none of the mixturebeads up on fine dirt andruins my work. I first use aneye dropper with puredenatured alcohol to wet theground cover. It absorbs intoall the materials and holdsthem in place as I applyMolly glue.


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The idea is similar to the wellknown wet water technique.Wet water is a solution of whiteglue, water, and a few drops oflaundry or dish washing detergent.Supposedly it goes on easily when

you apply it from a spray bottle butI find it always beads up on finedirt. Denatured alcohol, on the

other hand, absorbs so quickly intoevery material it never beads up.Then add Molly glue with an eyedropper, saturate the ground cover,and wait a day or two. It dries hardand the scenery looks great.

Roads and VehiclesGluing things to roads can be a

challenge. The glue must be strongenough to withstand the rigors oftransit and handling. Too muchglue is unsightly. The key to hiding

glue lies in the colors you use on the road. So lets build aroad and, at the same time, I willdescribe an easy way to create astrong, invisible bond:

Apply Sculptamold to yourdiorama base and wait until itstarts to set. Rub your fingerover the areas where you

want roads and walk-ways. The more yourub, the smootherthe area becomes.

That helps tocreate theillusion of a

road since roads should be smoother than other scenery.Mix up some fine dirt with plumbers putty, a dry

powder that will lighten the dirt. Roads typically are lighterthan the surrounding areas. Glue down the road dirt (finedirt and plumbers putty), the surrounding dirt, and groundfoam. Wait until everything is completely dry.

Apply pressure with your finger or a Bright Boy trackeraser and rub the road surface. The larger gran-ules will break off and the dirt color will change.Then add vehicle residue with Bragdon black and

dark gray weathering powders. I use a bushypaintbrush to splash down the chalk;

then I rub it around. You mayblend the shades togetherwhere appropriate.


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No fixative is necessary. Artistspastels will work, too. Scrape them

with a razor blade or sandpaper tocreate a fine powder and then apply.

The final step is to pick a lightershade of chalk than the road-dirt-plumbers-putty mix. Blend it into theroad near the black and dark graychalks you applied earlier. The road

then will display several shades andthe realistic appearance you want toachieve.

Finally, the step involving glue:Choose the details you want anddecide where you want them. Somemodelers spend a lot of time on thatstep. By that stage Im too excitedabout the scene coming alive and havespent months assembling, painting,and weathering details so I just get to

work and have yet to hear anyone say,The oil drum would have looked a lot better had you

moved it an inch to the left.To glue down cars, file the tires where they contact the

road. It is best to do that before assembling the model oryou might break an axle or the tire itself. The result is theimpression of weight; it looks as though the tires havecompressed on the road. It also provides more surface area

for glue.

I prefer Woodland Scenics Hob-e-Tac, a very stickywhite glue, for cementing detail (and for many other jobs).Apply it with a toothpick to the flat tire sections. Positionthe vehicle. Immediately use a fine paintbrush to saturatethe areas around the tires with matte medium. The result

will be a hideous glue spot. Dont worry; let it dry about


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half an hour and, before it is completely dry, use a bushypaint brush to dust the glue with the lighter colored roadchalk. That completely will camouflage the matte medium.

Sometimes the area still needs work; it looks too dark.Take a small paint brush with a fine tip, apply denaturedalcohol, then re-dust immediately.

The glue bond will be very strong and, as I promised,invisible. If you are skeptical, wait a day or two and test thestrength.

Fastening DetailTo glue such small details as sawhorses, use the same

technique: A strong cement, matte medium, and coloredchalk. I frequently move my dioramas and must secure eachitem, especially something as large as a train car. I do thatby wrapping thin wire around each truck bolster, pre-drilling holes through the track to the bottom of the base,

turning over the base and hollowing out a cavity for smallwood screws, then passing the wire through the tracks tothe underside of the diorama base. Wrap the wire aroundthe screws and then turn the screws to tighten the wire evenmore. The screw heads sink below the underside of the base(meaning no problem for the furniture below) and the wire

will be invisible.Passing a wire through the base of a flat diorama is easy

but it is impossible to pass a small wire through a thick

base. To overcome that problem find a plastic straw anddrill a hole of a slightly larger diameter through the scene.Glue the straw in place if necessary. Put tissue paper insidethe top to avoid plugging the hole with plaster,Sculptamold, or scenery material. When the entire dioramais complete, attach the cars.

I hope you learned some new tricks. I really enjoyedbuilding the diorama. I love narrow gauge and the 1930s.

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