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A
3-day Job.....
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Mini
Cooper
Winter
Diorama
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Started:
01 August 2006
Finished:
03 August 2006
Page
1 of 2
My
better part Nazli and I got married
on August 3rd, 1984. This was our 22nd anniversary and I was thinking
about
a gift for her. I remembered that she had wanted a small snowy diorama
with a Mini, just before 3 days before our anniversary... Too late?
Hopefully
not.
I searched for
a 1/43 or 1/32 scale,
even a diecast but no way... The only instantly available was Tamiya's
1/24 kit no. 24039. I quickly composed a theme; a parked Mini beside a
street lamp (the lamp being a working one; now that the scale was 1/24)
, in front of a corrugated metal blind and some new fallen snow. Due to
working days, I had only 3 night times ahead to build this...
01 August
2006:
I started with
the lamppost. The pedestal is made from an architectural scale glass
dome.
The lower part of the post is cut from a felt tip pen.
While
building the post, the car was
painted after some sanding, and let to dry. I used acrylic spray cans
for
the paint.
I
made the central part of the post
from a ball-point refill and used a styrene tubing for the top part. I
bent the styrene by heating. I also cleaned the insides of the pens so
that I could run a pair of cables through. I mated the elements by
heating
and pushing over.
For
the lamp reflector, I used a copper
plug from a refrigerating equipment. I drilled the top to suit the
tubing.
I prepared a white LED with soldered telephone cables.
First
I passed the cables through
the reflector, then the tube. I fixed the reflector to the tube by CA
glue,
followed by a hot melt glue gun for reinforcing.
I
passed the cable through the whole
assembly.
I
made a decorative cross-member from
solder wire and fixed with CA glue.
02 August
2006:
Then I painted
the post flat green
and the reflector inside with chrome silver.
Now
to the base... I built the frame
from my frame profiles in stock, glued a corrugated cardboard base
inside.
For the road and pavement, I used Faller's ready coated foam plates.
I
put another layer of corrugated cardboard
below the pavement for elevation. I drilled a hole through for the
lamppost,
and traced a groove underside for the cable and fixed all with white
wood
glue.
I
made the pavement border stones from
6x6 mm balsa wood, painted and fixed with white glue.
The
finished combination...
For
the corrugated metal blind, I used
a ready-made cardboard with one side coated like galvanized steel. I
painted
the back dide with bright aluminum spray paint. I cut the wood from BBQ
sticks and made the assembly.
I
airbrushed my love messages for her....
03 August
2006 (Final Day):
The powerplant
for the lighting is
a battery pack from a LED flashlight and a button switch. I applied a
thick
coat of white glue to the back side and sprinkled sodium bicarbonate
over
for snow effect. I made some footsteps too...
The
horizontals of the blind had their
share of accumulated snow too..
To
cover the powerplant, I made a depicting
of a fabric cover over "something below". First I formed a crushed
aluminum
sheet over the powerplant, then applied white glue all over and
embedded
a piece of toilet paper. Gave the wrinkle effects and let dry. Then I
painted
the "fabric" with flat green, sprayed flat clear vertically down, and
sprinkled
sodium bicarbonate over..
...........................