Sherman River Crossing

The March Game Kastle paint competition model was a Flames of War Sherman tank. I decided to do something a bit different this time and use it as an excuse to go all in on a diorama.

The inspiration, found here

I roughly followed the instructions from Real Terrain Hobbies. I formed the basic land shapes with stryofoam, then covered it with with Sculptamold plaster. I was surprised by the plaster taking several days to fully harden. Maybe I put in too much water.

Once the plaster dried, I primed it with cheap craft paint, then covered the surface with AK scenic texture. The planks are painted coffee stirrers.

Before gluing down the tank, I drilled holes in the bottom. I was worried that the air in the middle might make it want to float away while the resin was curing. I probably didn’t go deep enough for it to matter in the end.

Next came the water. I blocked in the area using foam core covered with packing tape, hot glued into a simple box. I used Liquitex Gloss Gel Medium to fill the cracks. The main body of the water is Envirotex Lite, with a few drops of green paint mixed in. The wake is more gel medium mixed with snow flock. I used raw gel medium to make the little ripples.

Once the gel dried, I found that it messed up the surface finish. The gel medium was not nearly as glossy as the surrounding Envirotex resin and you could see the brushstrokes. So I coated the whole water area again with gloss Mod Podge, and used an airbrush without paint to blow it into slight rippled before it dried.

I don’t have a fancy static grass applicator, so I just blew on the freshly glued grass, like I normally do for bases.

This project took a lot more time than I wanted it to, but it was a fun excuse to try some terrain / diorama building. I’ve got plenty of plaster and resin left over. Maybe I’ll use it for some actual game terrain someday.

2 thoughts on “Sherman River Crossing”

  1. The only issue I see with this scape at all is the fact the gun is on the turret wrong. It’s meant to be on the other side of the turret.

    1. My dirty secret is out! I’m not really a historicals guy, though I do dabble from time to time.

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