Hey! I am new to the intricate world of dioramas, and had a couple of questions… Is it better to glue the “leaves” to the tree branches BEFORE or AFTER placing the “tree” in the groundwork? If it helps, the goal is to (attempt to) create a thick Normandy region hedgerow. Any suggestions or references would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!
Also, regarding leaves–I know Custom Dioramics (?) makes “foilage” and “forest litter”, and have heard that basil, oregano, etc. make cheaper and somewhat realistic leaves, but what do YOU recommend??? How do you attach the leaves to the branches–white glue or something else???
As I said before, ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks for the input!! Have a great day and HAPPY MODELING!!
Im planning on building a tree in the next few days and the info i gathered was as followed.
to make a tree get weed roots, wash them, dry them, and paitn them.
Assemble several of them together and before painting(mybad)
cover the roots with a fiber cleaning pad(available at industrial cleaning stores)
then spray with glue and cover with the types of leaves(im using herb leaves)
you can buy leaves made for dios or you can by them at the grociery store.
then place thetree in the dio.
Theres a pretty detailed way of how to make a hedge row in a book called Terrain Modeling
by Richard Windrow
its available from osprey.
hope this helps some
senojrn,
You might also try sweetwaterscenery.com where they give instructions on how to build trees.
Good luck[:D]
Richard
Senojrn - this is how I would do it. Create your groundwork and add the trees while it is still wet. Add the tree leaves and any that fall off will become part of the groundwork or be easily removed by just blowing across the dio. To add the leaves, just spray or brush a 50/50 mix of white glue and water onto the branches and sprinkle your leaves on.
As far as using spices for groundfall, I find it works very well. I use a mixture of spices.
And it makes your diorama smell good too! [;)]
Thanks for the input!! I appreciate it!
for leaves, i use either lichten or herbs depending on what i am doing and weather i want it to be easy or not.
I like to attach the foliage with a spray adhesive or spray laquer (cheaper than adhesive). I spray the tree and sprinkle on whatever I´m using for leaves (varies depending on tree and effect I want to achieve) then spray once more (the leaves stick better that way).
Hey senojrn, take a look at this site… www.scenicexpress.com pretty cool stuff
Thanks again for the great help!!