I’m far enough into the build where i feel comfortable with posting some photos of this diorama. I’m using Dragon Navy seals 2 figure set. I have been playing around with this idea for months now and it has taken me almost 2 months to get this far and it may take me a couple of more to finish it. I was a bit apprehensive on posting this, wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. but so far i’m very pleased with my results. here is the build log to date
I tried my hand at reproducing tiger cammo with disastrous results. i practiced using plastic soldiers from a dollar store. they were close to 1/35 scale. i maybe painted a dozen or so over a span of 2 weeks. this is something i found i could not reproduce with a brush. my lines were always to large and did not fit the scale. So i’ve decided to do OD and call it day.
the diorama was originally going to be the team walking in a stream in a jungle setting, but while searching out images i stumbled across photos of statues of Buddhas in jungle settings.some of the photos where amazing!! ancient long forgotten relics slowly being lost and taken over by the jungle. what a great dio this would make
the question was could i find a figure to fit into the scene? this is what i found , it is a fish tank ornament i happen to stumble across at pet smart. it is almost a perfect match to the photo i copied
i used pink insulation foam board, purchased from home depot,fot the base and back. to imbed the buddha into the wall i used spray foam insulation. WHAT A MESS!!! this stuff expands and expands and ex,you get the idea
After curing for a couple of days i started to carve out some details and refin the look of the river bank.
the figures placed to see how it looks
i missed taking photos of one of the steps…i painted the entire base and bank with acrylic paint. i used burnt red and dark brown. the paint had a reaction with the foam and ate parts of it away.but i found i really liked the way it formed these nooks and crannies , where water would have eaten away a real river bank during flood season.
i used a combination of sifted sand and sawdust for the substrate . I painted the entire bank with a mix of white glue and water then dusted with the sand mix
next i added roots .i pinned each root in place then added glue and covered with the dirt mix .i could only add 2 or 3 roots at a time. i had to turn the wall every direction to keep the glue from running and give it time to set up
well thats it. i’m working on the water feature now. …thanks for taking the time to check it out
