Preparing the Diorama (5)

I haven't had a lot of time to work on my battle of Guilford Courthouse diorama the last few weeks. As a result, my "Spring project" is going to spill over into the summer. However, there has been progress, which I describe below.

The last time I wrote about the diorama, I had finished making the roads and streams on the western end of the battlefield, and I was beginning to work on the fields.

My intention was to ring each field with a snake rail fence. To make these, I bought a thin dowel rod, which I cut into roughly 1-cm sections. I then split each section lengthwise into four parts. Following a tip I found online, I placed the pieces in a plastic container with vinegar and a couple of old metal screws. The next day I removed the wood pieces and let them dry. Once they were fully dry the pieces nicely resembled aged wood. I could then stack these to make the fence.

I was very pleased at how the fence turned out, but I had all kinds of trouble placing it on the miniature battlefield. The problem was that the fence occupied too much space, and it was all but impossible to get the fence to go up and down the contour tiers. In the end, I decided to go without the fencing. I'm sure that I will find a use for it in some future project.

Having made up my mind about the fencing, I recently began "planting trees" on the western end of the battlefield. I've also placed miniatures in that area as well; they represent the American first line. You can see part of the American first line below. This is not yet a finished product, but at least I'm getting close.