BATTLEFLEET MODELS :

Harbour diorama

It’s funny how you copy what your friends do, and the harbour dio range from Battle Fleet Models gave me the excuse I needed to follow the lead, and come up with my own version of the busy port scene.

What really helped was the range of ships that BFM have waiting to be part of that composition – everything was available to get started and all I had to do was choose how I wanted to bring these elements together.

My list includes :

BFM702 small tug& YO32

BFM703 small tug & barge.

BFM704A dock set.

BFM704B end key dock section.

BFM704C long centre dock section.

BFM704D parallel dock section.

BFM707 YO’s 190’ oil storage.

BFM710 Hog Islander type A.

BFM718 YG17 yard garbage lighter.

I had some spare pieces to make 2 x cranes, and the personnel are the Gold Medal guys. The trucks are from the Skywave beach set.

After a few sketches I came up with the idea of the Hog Islander as the centre piece with everything else going on around it . The HI would be leaving port with the assistance of 2 x tugs, and the oil YO would be docking, the other side of the quay. I wanted a grey, wet scene with men in yellow oil skins going about their various tasks.

The perceived confusion of the hard standing was all about my interpretation of what I think should be included with the help of my friends builds for reference.

I have no doubt that the scene is full of inaccuracies but I enjoyed the work, and I’m pleased with the end result. At the same time as this build, I modelled HMS Kent but as with the observation balloon on Kent, the amount of animation that can be included really helps set the scene in motion.

Other ingredients in the build : Humbrol paints, MIG pigments, and 0.1mm wire from little-cars.com, shaped sandpaper for coal mounds. WEM lyrca and stretched sprue for rigging, artist’s paper for the sea sprayed with Tamiya Luftwaffe grey, and finished in pva white glue, the foam is acrylic mixing white.

SEE FULL HISTORY AND DETAILS ON THE BATTLEFLEET MODELS WEB PAGE. You will also find the harbour dio build-up from week to week from start to finish.

Peter F. Chatham UK., July 2007.