This is my latest project. It’s a diorama in 1/35 scale and it’s about the Mediterranean fleet of PT boats docking in Bastia. Construction is 120x65cm and built with plaster board and blocks of plaster and wood (mainly balsa in various thickness)
The idea was given by the booklet that comes with the Italery kit of the 80 feet ELCO PT boat. A photo showing the base in Bastia in Corsica during WWII gave me the spark to build this kit in navy grey colors and not in jungle green camo.
With little search I found photos of the harbor and decide to construct the last dock in the old harbor of the city with the green lighthouse. Measurements have taken and the project started.
The lighthouse was constructed in plaster body which was molded in a plastic tube of the correct diameter. I opened the holes for the window and the door, create the texture of the stones and added all the necessary details. The top was done in the same way and then I added the columns that support the roof and the wind indicator with some brass and plastic pieces.
The concept of this diorama is an August day in preparation for the next mission.
So a fishing boat is a must.
The construction started with the hull created in thick plastic sheet and filled with foam board and elastic acrylic plaster.
It smoothed with sand paper and then deck added and details constructed from cardboard and plastic sheet. The mast is a balsa rod and railings added.
And some photo of the finished model. Painted in acrylics with extensive use of the hairspray technique
The construction of the ELCO 80ft torpedo boat was a bit demanding because of the conversion it needed to represent the 561 which fought in the Mediterranean theater.
The torpedoes racks moved one position ahead and astern, the radar made from scratch, and some modifications needed in the wheel house and in the engine room upper deck.
With the two ships ready, I proceeded to paint the pier. Many color bottles and a few hours of painting and aging gave me the desired effect.
Sea was made with 8 liters of clear polyester tinted with colors for glass and enamels
(the whole process took time in my backyard because polyester demands a very well-ventilated working area always wearing a mask)
Forming small waves with acrylic clear gel paste (for canvas painting) and give them form with a small spatula
Finally after almost two years in my bench (from the new year’s eve of 2011 till Autumn of 2013) the trip has finished.
By Kyriakos Gkogkas
