Hi guys, can anyone let me know of the ideal materials that should be used in creatin’ the foundation and groundwork for a diorama, and where I can get ‘em?! I already have a base (351mm X 201mm) arrivin’ next week, and would like to make a start and acquire the necessary, basic materials. [;)]
I need the basic materials for layin’ down some textured, rough, rocky and dusty groundwork! [:D]
Celluclay is a good start. It can be tinted and textured with real small stones, kitty litter, and the like. I use the cheap acrylic paints to color it, the ones from walmart for $.50 a bottle. Even if you paint it, it helps to have it colored to prevent the nasty grey color from showing.
Sculpey is also an awesome base material. It has to be baked however. It can be sculpted into very realistic bases, street scenes and the like.
Here’s an example for my Pak 40 dio:
This was all done by laying down a 1/8" layer of sculpey and then sculpting in the details, cobbles, sidewalk, etc. The base will be trimmed when finished to remove the stray cobbles from the perimeter.
Hope this helps.
This might sound silly, but for ground work I’ve taken some tea bags (green tea and regular lipton) and chopped them open and dumped the tea leaves into the little tamiya mixing jars (any container would suffice). The make pretty realistic looking groundwork for leaves and heavy grass. It sounds like you were asking for materials more inline with desert dio’s, but they may help you elsewhere down the road
-mark-
Tinkerer, the Celluclay material sounds like pretty cool stuff, do you know who stocks this stuff?
Mark, i’m gonna’ give your technique a go too, sounds good!
Cheers! [:D]
you should be able to get it at any craft store! I don’t know a WWw that stocks it
FingersEddie:
This is a link to what you are looking for
http://craftbasics.com/celluclay.htm
The picture (second down on the right) is what I have and it is plenty for multiple dioramas. As far as where to find it in the U.K. you should be able to locate it at any well stocked hobby shop. I remember when I was in St.Albans, Hertsfordshire there was a great little hobby/toy shop that had it. You may also want to check artist suppliers as it is also used to make projects other than diorama groundwork.
The other little bit of information is check a local used book seller or at a boot sale for Sheperd Paine’s book How To Build Dioramas either Vol. I or Vol. II, will answer any question you could think of when it comes to dioramas. You can order Vol. II from Kalmbach Publications here on the FSM website. As well a title that you may be able to find in the used book seller or boot sale or eBay is Focus On Modelling Techniques - No. 3 Dioramas & Scenic Settings - Bryan Foster & Roy Dilley - Almark Publications.
Cheers;
Gregory
Thanks a lot, everyone! [:D]