Model FMC Skidder - Part 4

Alright, now it gets messy!

I had mentioned that I this was my first scratch-build, and to be honest, the first plastic scale model I have come close to finishing.  What this means is that the model has a fairly considerable number of newbie mistakes that, even now, make me feel a little embarrassed about. Looks don't match, the plastic got messed up and became a gluey mess in spots, and maybe I should of considered painting as I went.

I figure since this is a model that I don't want to draw too much attention to (Otherwise those problems will start to become apparent), and partly because I want to stretch the project out, I have decided to put it in a display case.

But not any display case; a diorama!  Have a scene where it is being used! Finding a figurine in the pose I wanted (and not military) was a bit of a challenge, until I stumbled upon Slot-Car accessories.

I  settled upon a 1:32 figure holding a fuel hose as the pose I wanted.  I cut off the fuel hose and the top of the guy's head, and some sculpty gave him a hardhat.  a quick repaint got me a pretty convincing late 80s / early 90s logger.

After priming the model skidder, the painting started.  I had initially wanted to try airbrushing, but I psyched myself out on preparing for it, and I decided to settle for brush painting.  It was messy, it was brutal, but it came out looking pretty acceptable.

The arch came out a little short, but I figure if I have it tilted in the diorama, no one would notice. I'll use some copper wire as the cable.

I'm going to have to do some weathering (And figure out what the hell I'm going to do for decals) to put it in the diorama, but this is a major landmark for me!

So onto setting up the diorama! I figure a lot of it will involve terrain modeling similar to what is done with model railroading.