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Need some helpful advice for making a 1/60 hangar diorama


HomieHasegawa

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Hey everyone. So, I plan on purchasing the YF-19 DX Chogokin and want to put it in a hangar diorama inside a detolf shelf for now. Just curious what are some model kits, miniatures, and other accessories people have used to create a similar environment. I don’t have any experience building dioramas or painting miniatures, but it is a hobby I have always been interested in and figured this project could get me started in that direction. I’d also like to incorporate some LED lighting too. Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks! 

 

 

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This question comes up every few years....last time was here...

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/topic/44712-hanger-diorama/?tab=comments#comment-1338784

Anyway, there wasn't much in terms of 1/60 before and the same goes now, in terms of ready made accessories and figurines.  What has changed is the proliferation of 3D printing and folks offering there stuff at places like Shapeways.  But they would require some painting and hobby skills.

I can tell you that there is a fair amount of accessories and figures at 1/72 scale and for the most part several scale very well with the 1/60-ish Yamato, Arcadia and Bandai VF's and Mechs.  Try doing a search on eBay and see what is available at 1/72 scale from the vendors mentioned in the link above.  Good Luck!

 

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I want to say maybe 16 minimum to fit the fighters shown in the pic in that particular configuration.  That amount only covers the back and side walls of the hangar 2 chainbases high with no ceiling.  One chainbase is too short to look good using 1/60 or larger VF's...especially if you want to go with a battroid configuration. 

I have not tried it yet, but I am guessing one chainbase may be adequate for the HMR scale for fighter mode only.

The nice thing about the chainbase is that it looks good "plain" due to the amount of 3D surface detail...however, they can be so much better with added details like lights, paint and decals.  Look around the web for pics of some collectors' chainbase creations that have gone all-out with their hangar displays.

There is also the H-Hanger from Wave, but I think it looks a little too plain without modifications like paint and decals.

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Welcome to MW! Most 1/72 scale stuff is close enough. Just like clothes, a lot models that come from Asia are actually a little smaller than the label. So a lot of the 1/60 models are actually off a bit. You'll be fine with 1/72 scale accessories, vehicles and figures. You can also buy sheet styrene and just build up your own too. If you haven't heard of them before, Plastuct and Evergreen make all sorts of extruded shapes like tubes, square tubes and i beams. Plastruct has ladders and stairs of all sorts too. Both have textured sheets too.

If you are doing a lot of gluing, I HIGHLY recommend Micro Weld. http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=MD&Product_Code=MI-6&Category_Code=FINPROD You can buy it most hobby stores and online. It is a "green" glue that is safe to use indoors. It's non-toxic and it is as good or better than most liquid cements. I use it so my family doesn't complain about the smell when I build in the living room with them there.

For lighting, I recently posted this:

It will help your case. If you have a Detolf case, using the angle as I showed helps to prevent glare. A lot of people put light strips straight onto the shelves. The glare is very distracting, if not blinding (looking directly into LED lights is bad for your eyes too).

I hope that helps you on your way! - MT

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A low-cost alternative I have found when building hangar/ factory dioramas is using mat board (for matting artwork); it's denser than cardboard and can be cut and glued into differing shapes and whatnot. A huge sheet of it goes for about 7-8 bucks (If you're in the USA: at Hobby Lobby, they have 40 percent off coupons online). I found that by using Aileen's craft glue, masking tape and acrylic paints, you can get a pretty convincing scene going. Then just populate it with 1/72 scale figures and you should be good to go!

An example of what I mean:

100_0415.JPG.fe691e0d6aa122a655151e4d257f3fda.JPG  100_0420.JPG.bc73e0d74eb8748640355e48fdcc0102.JPG  100_0423.JPG.931ae9aab4b992da6cca03337756e105.JPG

 

100_0451.JPG.fcd44bfc231ae6c08dc519be2a10f640.JPG 1821250517_100_05071.JPG.7cea3fa9625fca8f8c7449fe654f8dac.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/20/2020 at 6:16 PM, pengbuzz said:

A low-cost alternative I have found when building hangar/ factory dioramas is using mat board (for matting artwork); it's denser than cardboard and can be cut and glued into differing shapes and whatnot. A huge sheet of it goes for about 7-8 bucks (If you're in the USA: at Hobby Lobby, they have 40 percent off coupons online). I found that by using Aileen's craft glue, masking tape and acrylic paints, you can get a pretty convincing scene going. Then just populate it with 1/72 scale figures and you should be good to go!

An example of what I mean:

   

 

 

This is great stuff here. While I do like displays to be a little more solid and maybe functional, this is an excellent idea I think, for filling in more static areas of a display.

Edited by Jasonc
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