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...Would you consider writing a short article on how you constructed the planking and added the vegetation? - I'm sure it would be a great help to many of us.
All the best
Rowan 
Hi Rowan, hi all,
That's a surprise ! I'd never have thought you could prove that interested in my dio
and I am so pleased with the idea, that it'll be my humble pleasure to share with all of you the way I got to that result.
At first I had to get a wide enough woodboard to welcome the He-111 and its parking lot and embankment. I wanted the plane to be displayed crosswise, then drew on the board where various items were to be placed.
I then shaped the embankments out of 4cm thick styrofoam panels (available in France at DIY superstores) that I glued on with "wood white glue". After that came the prep of the soil mixture, made out of the same glue mixed with water, a bit of plaster powder, earth tone water paint (either acrylics or gouache), and extra thin sand, making the blend very cheap ! The thickness of the blend depends on where it will pe spilled over : on the very ground, it has to be quite thick, even though it must keep a sticking ability for the next step.
Then comes the tricky part of the job ! I cut thin rods of balsa (a sort of wood used in flying modlling, don't know the english name, but I think you got the idea) in, say some 300 ex... These are placed on the still sticking ground. Some rods won't be sticking of course... I used super glue (Cyanoacrylate), for them to understand where I wanted'em to rest !
Same job on the embankments, but the soil blend gotta be thinner than on the groundwork, for if used as thick, it won't stick on the foam. Same wood work though, and in addition come the timbers, made out of shaped matches...
Vegetation : I spilled some very much thinned of my soil mix in the gaps between ground boards, and then sprinkled artificial grass railroad modellers use. Then let dry away for 2 days.
I then removed the excess grass with the hose of the compressor.
Now come the drybrushes on the wood (various tones of brown and grey, done with dry pastel chalks), and the airbrushes for the grass (deep green), followed by a yellow drybrush on that latter.
At last, a coat of Pebeo matt acrylic varnish sealed the whole dio, and finally I put the He111 on !
Find it effective ?
I hope this will help, and also that you understood everything I meant...
Feel free to revert with questions, if any
Best regards,
Richard
