Gun Emplacement Progress (1/35)

I have continued working on the French gun for my World War 1 diorama. The gun is now completely assembled, primed and painted. The kit went together well although there was a casting seam along the barrel that I didn't succeeded getting completely rid off. I left the wheel assemblies unglued as I wanted to be able to finetune the wheels' positions when fitting the gun into its emplacement.

The gun and recoil ramps ready for primer.

Gun primed with 'Chaos Black'.

The cover paint was mixed from several Vallejo greys and blues with a little white added. The shoes on the wheels were air brushed a light earth colour.

The gun painted.

With the gun well in progress I turned my attention to the diorama. I pulled out a picture frame the size of an old fashioned (or retro if you like) vinyl 33 rpm. LP record. With the glass removed it is a good starting point for small diorama in 1:35 scale - and a handy size for storage.


I played around with the gun and length of track to decide how to position them best. With everything settled I started building up trench walls and cutting timber for the gun pit.

Building up trench sides and test fitting floor timbers. The track will cut across the open ground in a gentle curve.

In my research on French trench design I stumbled over a modeller - Andrew Belsey - who does the most beautiful trench dioramas.

One of Andrew Belsey's trench cross section dioramas in 1:32 scale.

See his work on this blog. There is a lot of good tricks on how to do detailed groundwork and small details. My dioaram will not be as finely detailed as Andrew's!