Suzuka 1989 Diorama – Part 1

Having completed the second McLaren of Ayrton Senna, it’s not time to begin work on the other figures in the diorama. 

Completing the McLaren was fairly straightforward, with more reference being made to the photographs is found of the scene in question. I noticed that the right-hand wheels of the McLaren had grass on them where Senna had been forced across the grass to the inside of the chicane by Prost, so I was able to recreate this using some watered-down PVA glue and some static grass. 

The placement of the figures is proving to be trickier than I’d imagined. I really want to create the feeling of movement of these figures… if you watch the footage back, the Japanese marshalls reacted extremely quickly to separate the cars, running frantically to the accident scene. Recreating this with static figures is proving to be a challenge, but I have included below some shots of some test-positions. 

All of these figures are going to require a level of modification, particularly around the neck area, as the open-face helmets I have don’t look very natural as they are, so a “neck” will need to be built-up using some putty. 

More updates to follow..