Natural Diorama

By: David Mackenzie

I got involved in an unusual modelling project quite a long time ago which I thought might be of interest.

I have grown bonsai trees for many years and my nephew Arthur used to stay with me regularly when he was younger. On one occasion we bought some toy soldiers (1/72 scale) and he then started to set them up in my bonsai pots.

I then built him a battlefield in a wooden tray with bonsai trees and a rare type of moss for grass. This was so successful that we then went on to build a much bigger battlefield, (2nd World War) with a working electric railway, a lake and a waterfall. The end result was remarkably realistic. The battlefield still exists although it is in storage without any earth or trees, and I am planning on trying to sell it sometime soon.

If you have any similar models then we would like to hear about them, ed.