"THE CATTLE DRIVE"

I've been buying 1/4" scale figures designed and manufactured by local father and son team, who market their figures under "Pearce Miniatures" (now finished). They are specializing in Australian style figures, and one of their latest releases is a stockman on a horse. This beautifully done figure and animal gave me the idea of building a diorama of a cattle drive, located out in the Australian outback. I bought two of the figures and horses, and already had about 25 head of cattle bought from a local toy store. To add interest to the diorama I included a scratch built chuck wagon, with the driver/cook and his helper setting up camp for the night and getting a hearty meal prepared for the drovers (cowboys). The scene is set in the open desert, with the camp set up under an old dead tree. 

To add atmosphere to the diorama, a painted back scene of the Australian sandy desert was included. Low, sandy hills using similar colours to the foreground were painted, and when dry, these hills were painted with PVA glue, and fine dirt, the same that was used in the foreground, was applied. When the glue was dry, the excess dirt was removed. This achieved a textured effect on these close sand dunes on the back scene.

The chuck wagon, apart from the wheels, is totally scratch built of "Mount Albert" timber, styrene strip, paper and some fine woven material.

Below are some more photos of the diorama

Above shows the entire diorama from above