Odds, Sods n ......Stuffs. A Medley of Mayhem
Hamelin - The Bard Of Twilight I - Building the biggest base I've ever tried!
We’re jumping into this after the main figure has already been nearly finished but I want to focus more on the diorama portion of this project.
To catch up – Hamelin (plus his 4 wee….. ‘associates’) is a 72mm (i think) model from Mindworks & Kiimera which was gifted to me a good while back by a very very kind viewer of my twitch stream.
I’ve done a lot of Hamelin himself’s paint on stream to the point that his now about 85% finished.
So thats the main model for the piece but let's look at the base!! First of all I knew I wanted to do something bigger than I had attempted before so I contacted Richard at Oakwood Studios and asked him to make me a plinth base thingy.......And he did!!!! 120mm x 120mm on top made of walnut. It is gorgeous!!With the wooden base made I turned to what I was going to sculpt the top from. Iniitally I tried to find some XPS foam (extruded polystyrene. EPS can bugger right off) but I couldnt find any anywhere even on Amazon but then I came across a product called Sculpture Block!!!
And this stuff is the business. Very easy to work, holds detail a charm and doesnt melt with superglue!!!
So i sized a piece up to the walnut base and cut out the main form
Main form cut to size and then brickwork and flagstones carved into the foam with an awl 
With the main base cut out I started to place some other elements on top to get an idea of a final layout. A piece of wall with some resin ruins (from Spellcrow) on top and I cut out some steps that would lead down from the top surface into the canal water element i planned at the front 
Happy with the elements and placements, its time for a little refinement work - With hobby files I sanded into some details: lips for the steps and some stepped coving on the wall ruins. I also sculpted the inset edge panels that go around the wall and the steps recess. 
With all that done it was time for a little primary assembly. I glued the foam elements to each other with wood glue (avoid PVA glue as it reactives with water. Wood Glue is a far better glue as once dry it is water resistant) The resin element on top of the ruined wall needed a sturdier adhesion as it is both denser and heavier than the sculpture block so I drilled and glued 2 x 2" long pins (read straightened paperclips) into the resin piece and then drove them down though the foam, using 'hard as nails' adhesive to glue the piece into place. A smaller trigger clamp was used to keep the whole assembly in place while the glue cured (24 hours or so) With the main structure now shaped, trimmed, refined and glued together it was time to use filler on the sides to even out the outside ‘blind walls’
I used 151 all purpose filler which you can get in any euro store/poundland etc etc. This will homogonise the blind edges and sort the corners that had got a little nicked and eroded from handling. Once the filler (or spackle as them across the water call it) is fully dry, I’ll use a nail buffing block to sand down the roughness and then smooth it out.
Once that has all been done it will be time to seal the whole thing with a few coats of thinned down wood glue.
Oh a final note – the what looks like stilts that the base is up on – is a drying rack. very simply 7 long nails driven though a board. makes it much easier to glue and clamp things together and also to workl filler into the sides and then dry without anything touching or interfering with the piece.
Fantastic work. As somone who loves building dioramas and vignettes, your work really inspires me. Please keep it coming.
Thanks so much – having a blast with this one. The Sculpture Block that I used for the main part of the build is an amazing material – so easy to use. Adding some final pre-prime dressing now. Will be an update later today