Not a Track, a static Diorama Mille Miglia 1931

[challenger77]

Hello,
i have started big Project, a different theme for a Diorama, rarley seen.
i will build a Scene from the 1000 miles Race 1931 trough Italy. This was held from 1927 on to 1957, 1000 Miles in one Day ! then it was cancelled, much to dangerous a race on normal Streets with also normal traffic, there where severeal heavy Accidents and dead People. Today this "race" is a historic Event , held on the classic Route but in 4 days.

Okay so, i use the old Matchboxkit Mercedes SSKL as rudi Carraciolas/ Werner Sebastians (Mechanic) Ride to Victory and a much older , around 1966, kit from Pyro for the second placed Alfa 6c with Giuseppe Campari behind the Wheel and his Mechanic Attilio Maroni.

And the Airfix Kits Alfa 8C for Tazio Nuvolaris Car, Bugatti T35 to represent the T37 of Emilio Romano

And not to forget Peters fantastic Wheels !I love 'em !
Here is how Matchbox Kit look, for the Age and Scale not so Bad , i have seen Carkits in 1/24 from Today they look not as good....some Flaws are here, so the fenders where a dark Red not Black, some Details are a bit crude. And some details that are on all Modelkits and diecasts wrong or absence.
So to much holes in the Chassis, wrong Size of  Box and Can on the Passengerside, absence from Racenumbers on the Backfenders also the lack of the Registration/Licenceplate on Backside of the cars.














Well the Alfa is another Thing, the overall Dimensions are right, only the Fenders must cut down,  but crude Details. See the 2 half Wheels, no Spokes just plain Plastic......








Airfix Alfa 8c to represent Alfa 8C 2300 Tazio Nuvolari / Guidotti, very well detailed, especially for the Year 1975 ! Airfix made the Lungo ( the long ) Wheelbase car that raced in this Form le mans, so first i must cut it down.







Airfix Bugatti, will be the Bugatti T37 Modificata 1100  Emilio Romano / Pirlo, sadly no Pic from the Originalcar....Only real optic change is the Radiator, the T37 uses a smaller One and a big Windscreen .



For the Buildings i use the Vacuformed Miniartkits, this are 1/35, mostly Ruins, much Work......







And a Verlinden Fascade, this is a Ceramickit



also ceramic a Royalmodel Ruin

[challenger77]

First i altered the Italian Citybuilding, i want to add a little Gag/Easteregg. I represent Giuseppe Bottazzis Workshop. This is the Townprincipal in the Movies of Don camillo and Peppone ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Camillo ) . Don Camillo will also be there....

So it should look, Cardboard mockup



Thast it so far, much Work, cutting filling and sanding...........











I made little Cardboard Buildings to play around how they look together, before cutting the wrong way in the plastic....

So thats the Idea, its still a WIP







And a Tryout with the real Ones







Sadly the Miniart Window and Dooropenings are much bigger than the Verlinden ones, lets see how to manage this






Thanks for looking !

[Peter Seager-Thomas]

This is going to be a BIG project!

Peter.

[challenger77]

here is a little update. I added the Royalmodel Sicilian house to the Project, i like the Shape. As most of the offered buildings, this is a plaster made ruin, so i must first rebuild it to not damaged. But only after glue the broken Walls togheter, like a puzzle :shock: ....i manage this with Lego and patafix , making a partial Mold, then pour Artist Plaster in this, a little Sanding and voila....







So here it is glued togheter with out the Stonebench before the Wallfountain.







With that i play around with the Layout. The Cooktop is the Size, so a bit of the Houses to cut off. The Small one on the Right side will be a little Church.On the Left Side i think on the Alfa 8 C with tirechange, Nuvolari suffered from 9 changes on this race, the SSKL in Front , behind the Alfa 6c and in the Doorway the Bugatti. What do you think?









And i began the work on the MB SSKL. The matchbox Kit has a good fit and is finly detailed,but in a few Spots they are wrong. As all Modelmanufacturers , even CMC, they molded too much Holes in the Frame, on Original pics you can spot somewhat like a Sheet over the Holes, so i build this with thin Plasticard. Drilled the remaind holes with 0.5 and 1.00 mm and also rebuild the Frontdamperrod





And i have the Idea to light all this Stuff up, but no Idea how to get this done .......

[tomato007]

This will become a very nice diorama.
I'm looking forward to see more of this project.
Best regards,
Thomas