How I build dioramas Part 2

[JohnReid]

I have found that the best method of applying the landscaping stuff to a large area is to work like you were making a pizza.Working in no wind conditions, I dampen down an area with the water/detergent mix using a fine spray applicator to prepare the surface.Get out all the various products you plan to use,fine grasses,very fine sand,weeds,small rocks,spices that look like general old vegetable matter,even some of the original fine earth in case you overdo it with the other stuff and have it all handy for use.
Begin your pizza/landscaping working with the fine stuff first which in this case in fine green grass with about 20% yellow grass added to a shaker type spice bottle.(the mixes you will have to play with depending on your personal preferences and the season of the year that you are trying to represent.)If you want your soil to look a little less healthy add a little fine sand with a shaker or by pinches between your fingers.Be subtle!
Now add some of the courser grasses and small weeds by randomly letting them fall from above using a larger holed shaker or the pinch method.Finally ,after raiding the spice cabinet, apply them the same way.
Now take a very fine spray bottle and just let it rain down on the pizza you have just made.Don't spray it on directly as you will blow the lighter stuff all over the place and spoil your hard work.Remember, that if you make a mistake all is not lost you can always come back with your original soil ,or if worse comes to worse,just let it dry and shake the stuff off and start again.
Now on the wetted down turf apply the 75% water 25% white glue mix from a drop by drop container (hair coloring bottles are good for this)continue until the soil is very wet but not running all over the place.Set aside and let dry at least overnight or more.
Now would be a good time to do any small touch ups that may be required.
Taking full strength white glue you can now add larger rocks,underbrush along fences and walls,small scrubs etc..Larger more fragile stuff like large bushes or trees are best left to do later due to possible damage.These can be simply added by punching or drilling a hole and planting.
Usually this kind of stuff looks best if subtly done,be careful not to over do it.

 

[JohnReid]

I chose springtime for my backyard for many reasons, some for the story reasons and the renewal of life and some for compositional reasons as I didn't want a lot of color (flowers etc..) competing for the viewers attention.Another more practical reason is that a lot of the vegetation,in this part of the world, has been flattened down under the weight of the snow over the winter and it is a lot easier to represent than a lot of tall grasses.
Spring also happens to be my favorite time of year in Canada.This diorama represents very early springtime just after the snow has gone and before the explosion of green that is soon to come.The weather has been a little dry this year as a lot of the mud has dried up to the point of cracking on the surface but this could change overnight,in fact it could still snow again right up to early May.Be careful about this stuff during your research ,as I remember from my bird carving days, guys doing birds in spring plumage in a fall scene.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

The difference between plain and all dressed ! I am doing this module in two stages to give you guys an idea of how I arrive at the final product.
On the left it is basically finished except for large bushes and trees to come later.On the right only some of the fine and medium grasses have been added along with some small field stones.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

I added more spices and now it looks OK.Early spring,unkept yard,was wet but now has dried out in the sun.Around the wheels of the airplane I plan to have it look much like this except for more vegetation around the tires.There never was a lot of grass there to begin with and most of what you see is crud and leaves and stuff from the fall season.I will put some leaves in a pile near the fence where someone has made a half-hearted attempt to clean things up a bit.

 

[JohnReid]

This is a self-awarded certificate,use at your own discretion.

 

[JohnReid]

This is going to be something different that I have never seen or tried before.
What I want to do is make kind of a series of shadow boxes in the rear of the facades.When you look through a small reveal you will see the windows giving out to a view of the backyard.From the front the windows will look curtained ,as the Victorians hated sunlight in their homes.The interior will be a matte black paint or fabric of some kind and hard to see into,especially from across the yard,I will not light the interior of the rooms but will use porch lights only.
The view from the back, through the curtained windows on the inside, will be restricted so that it will only be the yard and airplane that is readily viewable.
I haven't seen anything like this before so a lot of this will be just "winging it" and makin things up as I go along.If it doesn't work out I will just use blinds along with the curtains. I still plan for a nosy neighbor to be sneaking a look through one of the windows.Should be fun!

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Bad idea,well they all can't be gems!
Sounded good in theory but it just didn't pan out in fact. I did a mock up reveal and realized that this would only detract from the real storyline and therefore would be a big waste of time.
That big blank space could be better used for text or pics or whatever.Any ideas?

 

[JohnReid]

I think that the following this is a better idea.
I will put Victorian type curtains on the windows and just do a little mood lighting in the different rooms.I will experiment with a little soft colors in each room for variety but nothing will actually be viewable through the windows(except maybe the nosy neighbors head)On some of the upstairs bedrooms I could use blinds of some sort from the era.I will research this and see what I can find.

 

[JohnReid]

A better idea still,may be to use of pictures.
Instead of forcing the viewer to squint through peep holes in the back,I will simply take high quality pictures through each window, frame them and post them in position over their respective views.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

I decided to make some blinds for some of the windows.I measured the window to be covered and made it oversize in width. I then took some double sided tape and allowed a small area to remain uncovered so the slats would stick to it.I cut the slats to length and carefully laid them together overlapping at the edge.I then laid down a bead of glue along the outer edges.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

I try to decorate each window a little differently in order to add a little variety.When I find a drapery fold I like I will spray it with a little lacquer from behind to set in permanently in that position.I plan to build the framework behind and add a little soft lighting,nothing fancy maybe just a few Christmas bulbs.Colored bulbs could be used to reflect the color of each room.