The Ardennes dio (The Clearing) is done! I still need to do a few good pictures of the final result; they’ll be up soon.
I’ve already started my next project, a Monte Cassino, Italy scene. Featuring German Fallschirmjägers...
Here are a few pic’s of my general idea.
Work on the trees is completed. It was a bit tedious work, but these trees play a major role in the scene!
As mentioned in earlier posts, the trees are made from balsa wood, small birch twigs, and moss. I pull the moss apart till I have single “straight” strands of moss. These strands are then glued on one by one using superglue. I start out by placing one long strand across the full length of the branch, then I glue strands on the side starting with two longer ones at the base of the branch and making them shorter and shorter as I make my way to the tip of the branch.
After having made a sort of rough “fish bone” structure on the branch, I start adding smaller and shorter pieces of moss to break the planned, rather stiff pattern and give the branch a more “chaotic” and natural look.
I gave the green parts a few sprays of darker greens with the airbrush followed by a coat of matt varnish.
After a few days of drying I started applying snow on the treetops. I brushed on heavily deluded white glue with a medium large brush and then sprinkled on a layer of Woodland Scenic’s snow. Each branch got two layers of snow, letting the glue dry completely between each application.
I finished the groundwork as well. This is a winter scene set in December ’44, so it will eventually be covered with snow. The ground was made from a concoction of plaster, sand, flowerpot dirt, a bit of static grass, a few drops of brown and black acrylic paint, and finally MIG acrylic resin to ad strength.
Now all I need to do is apply the snow, and the thing is done!
