The DIORAMA Thread; Tips, Tricks, Tales, Pics.

[AMG.]

I like #2 and really like #3 but given the rough terrain I wonder if I would drive my sports car up that track.
The single rocks in fore and background need to be embedded a bit. They're floating on grass at the moment and scaled up to 1:1 they would crush the grass.
The background "poster" and the foreground are much better in balance.
The DoF blur on the plants (#3) makes the background plants really believable.

 

[AOS-]

Thanks for pointing out the rocks thing. I'll definitely see to gluing them down as they are simply loose props at the moment.

 

[AOS-]

Yes! Just found myself a way to make diorama trees at 1:64 scale.

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=398497

 

[a6m5]

Boy, I was going to just drop by to share a link, but some great sets in here. 👍 Harry's two Maistos at the top stole the show for me though. Gorgeous little cars!

Here's the link I accidentally ran into. I was googling one specific car, then this collection came up.

Lastly, my pic Harry posted in the original post, I since moved it & the link is no longer working, so here it is again:

 

[photonrider]

Thanks for bringing that back - I'll hang it up again in the Gallery. I liked that shot especially since it looked like a B&W - but, yet, wasn't.

BBL to tidy up this thread and talk more about some modelling.

I'll leave with this:

 

[AOS-]

Now that is cool. That's a good way to use the dollarama plants and corrugated cardboard. I like that more than the cereal box buildings

 

[photonrider]

Yes. Plus people around me were getting mad when their cookies went missing and were found moonlighting as buildings. And the cars were getting covered in crumbs.
I mock-up a lot before I finalise any building, though - it's all about scale.
I'm fighting scales all the time especially with HWs. True 1:64s are easy to work with together. That last pic was actually a bunch of items I've gathered over the last few months for 1:64s, and yet finally ended up in the 1:32 Diorama. Once I have a particularly pleasing arrangement I'll go about sticking things in permanently - and make it more realistic with the right touch-ups.

The link you provided about the trees was quite inspiring and I am impatient to get myself some of that coarse turf; I need to make a special trip to some hobby store - know any in the area?

I have to admit your interest in this part of our hobby has also inspired me to spend more time on my own dioramas - but TBH, I probably spend less than an hour or two a week on it. Give me 5 eight-hour days on this and I'll have everything complete.

Here's a few more shots of the 1:32 tableau:

 

[a6m5]

I'll leave with this:

That is a cool shot. Nice weathered look to it. 👍

 

[AOS-]

I need to make a special trip to some hobby store - know any in the area?

Hobby stores aren't as accessible in the GTA. Toronto's the best bet. Any hobby store that does model trains is the best place for making dioramas.

The art store beside my school has turf and other architectural scale model supplies. Mainly scaled figurines, trees and turf/bushes. I know of a John's Hobbies That's on Danforth St. east of Main St and that's where I bought brass tubing. I'm not 100% sure if they do have the turf. Try calling them some day.

 

[photonrider]

I'll try them tomorrow. The only hobby shops around are mostly into trains - and ye olde soldierly civil war re-enactments - and the scenery they use usually doesn't photograph too well. Maybe Whiterose could help me - or Michaels.

 

[AOS-]

or Michaels.

Hooo good luck with that. I don't think Michael's caters to model vehicle hobbyists (kits don't count since we're talking dioramas). You'll have to craft stuff of your own out of what they have.

 

[photonrider]

Yes, that's what I was thinking of - I have been there before and seen a lot of miniature foliage that I might be able to turn into trees.

Check this out:

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/Products

And this:

http://www.prestigehobbies.com/Scenery.html

Those in the UK can get this stuff pretty easily:

http://www.anticsonline.co.uk/536_1.html

We really don't have to make our own - it's a lot messier, maybe even costlier . . . but I think sometimes the fun factor is boosted when you make your own.

Okay . . . this is what I have been doing - proportioning, proportioning . . .



The white lines aren't painted (slips of paper I am moving around) and the grass is just bits of green felt. I've been trying to figure out what to throw into the far distance (see following shot). Houses? A lake? A skyline?



The clump of cars on the left could be a car-dealer, or parking lot for an apartment block or hotel at the far end - which building will take care of the 'blurry distance'. Poles have to be painted and strung with the appropriate electric and phone, etc, cable.

In the pic below - you can see the west side of this patch of land that is a parking lot, overhangs the race track. I have been working on some trees, on and off.



A closer look below at how the land of the city intersectio lies higher than the valley the race-track is on. Just to the right and behind and below the Kombi van you can see the escape road into the pits.




Edit:
Darn. Did I post that by mistake? I was still in preview mode. I'll continue with a further edit.

What the hell is Sasquatch doing out of the woods and checking out the Kombi?

Continued:

Layouts like this make for some great overhead shots, not possible IRL without great cost and difficulty. Trees, and other scenery - especially buildings in the right proportions - are vitally important in framing or for ambience.



I work with random boxes at the start till I see sizes that go with the rest of the reality being constructed - and I look for boxes one can write upon - this way I can begin to sketch in scled-in details and the reality seems to come together. You can see that below I have now added a 'buidling' that could become the Hotel, or Apartment block, or even the 'Race Hub' center.



Eye-level shots begin to look a lot more realistic when one has sufficient depth to carry the eye into the picture.



Below you see that I have extended the land of the parking lot all the way into the foreground - and mocked-up a lawn or grassy (maybe show-piece) area.



In the picture following you can see how the grassy land overhangs the tunnel entrance of the track.







Finding or making scenery is nowhere as difficult as finding the right scale figures to go with the environment. People add a lot of realism to a dioram, and 1:64 people are a rare species.





Here's an aerial view that should now bring the city and the adjacent track into focus for you:



More later, hopefully, when I get back tonight. Please feel free to commen or ask questions and I'll be only to happy to oblisge when I get back.


Harry.

 

[AOS-]

If you have more space, I would displace that wall to a slightly further distance and use that extra space to make a body of water. I think it might be possible to create an illusion of massive depth if you make the lake sloped - downward towards shore, or upward toward the horizon (which ever way makes more sense to you). The shore will not be at the same elevation as the road because the slop is a dead giveaway at any angle you look at it. Instead, pretend the edge of the road you have there is like a side of a cliff or hill. The shore will be out of view this way so that's where that illusion of depth is derived. It's similar to how I set up my dioramas in relation to the computer screen.

Now comes the question of what you'll use to make that body of water? I would go with acrylic and distort and warp its shape with a heat gun and various shaped tools to disfigure the smooth surface at miniature levels. Then I would use a translucent pigment to colour the bottom side of the plastic. Maybe something like layers of watercolour. Something subtle- enough to tint the material but not dark enough to look too obvious.

You'll also then need one giant light source to bring it to life.


edit: Oh that foam cutter thing is super cool. That art store here called Aboveground sells it. It can be pretty damn useful for modelmaking.

 

[photonrider]

Great ideas there, Andy . . . plus I have a whole heap of MB boats, and other water-craft.

How did you make the race track in the second picture?

Hi! carfanatic - maybe you might want to hang out in here a bit and take a look through; you will probably find a bunch of stuff to work with.
And you can ask as many questions as you want - there are several helpful people in here.

________________________________________________________

I'll continue my Construction Record:

In the last picture I showed that I extended the lawn in the foreground. Now I'm experimenting with a circular plot of grass (maybe statuary - and working lights or fountain in the middle of it - or a stage for an outdoor display of one car or another.)

To the left - where the tunnel entrance would be, I have placed a log of Floral Foam, ready for carving - right now it's just a square block.



I also noticed that the two guys talking in the parking lot had gotten into a brawl somehow. Loki, the guy in the green/yellow racing suit, said he felt like he was pushed over by a giant hand - but Chase, the guy in the Chevy, said Loki lunged at him forcefully. I had to separate them quick before they mushed themselves into silly putty.







Easy enough to carve the Floral foam into terrain-looking shapes - just use a spoon. Or a popsicle stick. You don't need sharp objects for this - and sharp cuts are not what is needed when you are looking to simulate rough earth. Rocks can be embedded in this foam. Or gravel, bits of stick or tile. Try different sprays on it - some will erode the foam into interesting shapes, others won't. Remember, there are two types of Floral foam - Wet and Dry. I'm using Wet for this particular situation - carving the concrete entrance to a tunnel within rock with a spoon.

Yeah. Spoon.






So I stuck some trees in the mound that was the top of the tunnel entrance, and installed a temporary fence for some quick mock-up shots.




At that point, we were surprised right in the middle of our excavations - apparently the police were after some street racer - and he had exited through the new entrance we had just made. These things happen a lot around here. Never get any work done. It was a Lambo after some runaway Toyota.




And at that very point the Mayor swept up from the other direction in his Limo, HW Secret Service in tow. The speeder was blocked on all sides. There was a guy with a forklift moving logs - he was stuck right in the middle of it, as well as a Dozer that was moving a whole pile of stuff.



Place was crawling with cruisers in a matter of seconds.






The Toy tried to get away by mounting the embankment. Cops pounced on him like a pack of wolves:



He got through by slamming the forklift aside. In the distance, was some famous old racer - very famous, but I can't remember his name - he was doing laps of the new track, testing it out for the Mayor, and he was flying down the track from the other side in some kind of tank car.



The Toyota did a flip, sending the forklift into a squad car. The old racer guy had to take evasive action:



Pandemonium.



Meanwhile I'm just trying to get some work done. Place is crawling with reporters, too. Won't be surprised if a News chopper lands right in the middle of this melee. I heard that the forklift operator was okay. No one was injured in the making of this melee.



The red tank car thingamajiggything hit the Sherrif's car. The rebel Toyota kept tumbling over and over. I think it had a roll cage and was souped-up or something.



But as soon as the car righted itself, he left. In a hurry.



There was no stopping this guy.





Leaving a trail of mayhem.





All the law enforcement vehicles took off after him again:







This whole situation was taking quite a turn. Now you see why I can't get any work done here at all and get you guys some proper diorama shots.

Like . . . where's Batman when you really need him, huh?

 

[AOS-]

I think you should hire me to build all your dioramas; the home model and your work models.


edit: taken from the amazing photo thread. Here's a neat way to make water. It's cheaper than bending acrylic and it's flexible.

 

[Spacegoat]

Man, it's been awhile since I last visited this thread, things have changed a bit. Great work with your diorama Harry, loving the smoke effect. 👍

And here's my pic again, it's public now. So if you quote this or go to my Flickr, you should be able to grab the BBCode and add it the OP. Apologies for the inconvenience.


Suzuki Swift by VC SL/E, on Flickr

 

[AOS-]

I think if you ran your shoe across the dirt, it would've made the impression of a dirt road, and that would've given the car a more relatable context.

 

[photonrider]

I think you should hire me to build all your dioramas; the home model and your work models.

No way are you going to maximise your potential doing that, Andy.
Maybe after you come home from a hard day's work . . .

Man, it's been awhile since I last visited this thread, things have changed a bit. Great work with your diorama Harry, loving the smoke effect. 👍

Supposed to be fire where there's smoke, but I have plenty of Fire Engines, anyway. Mostly Matchbox. Glad you are enjoying the show.

And here's my pic again, it's public now. So if you quote this or go to my Flickr, you should be able to grab the BBCode and add it the OP. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Ah! It's finally back. That pic was missed.
Here's a little anecdote: whenever I am at some buddy's house, and if there is a free moment and a computer around, I boot up GTPlanet, and show them this thread - and there's usually "Ooooh's!" and "Ahhh's!' from the household - most people are amazed at the pictures, and the work we do to make these little cars come to life. Your picture was always commented on; everybody likes it and thought it was 'quite real!'.
Good to see it hung back in the Gallery.

Time to do some more work, too, eh? Stop playing the goat and get cracking.

 

[AOS-]

No way are you going to maximize your potential doing that, Andy.
Maybe after you come home from a hard day's work . . .

While there is a valid point, this cashier position isn't going to take me anywhere desirable. I'd totally love to try at commissioned dioramas. We both share a passion, but we each don't have all the time on our hands to create something above and beyond. I was thinking if we did a collab project, we could make something we both can't achieve alone.

I can understand if you don't want to go through with it, but should you ever want to, I'll probably be willing to for the next little while.

 

[photonrider]

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of money in it, Andy. Not enough to make it worth the time. When I was designing this stuff, I made up my mind to pursue a 'modular' theme, i.e. - a base that can be folded and put away, buildings that can be collapsed, trees and other objects that can me moved or removed and stored, etc, etc. I was thinking that if I could design modules that fit together, and have an assortment of options, then it could be sold as a package that could be purchased Online, with separate adds-on, etc, etc.
It's a workable idea, since there is a fairly large base of collectors the world over, and many collectors would like to have small Diorama set-ups that they could use to display their collectibles - but I'm not sure that there would be enough sales to actually make a living from it. Maybe as a hobby that pays for itself.

I see your skills better used in a Marketing, or even Publishing, environment - and that's where you can not only make a handsome living (if you focus right now on that objective) but also will bring out your artful creativity.

Meanwhile . . . no harm in working that old grey matter . . . and improving its output via judicious use of its neuroplasticity - by making stuff like this and letting the brain play.

One thing I've learned . . . is that the brain loves to play. Video-games, and all.

 

[AOS-]

On the package idea, that won't be huge with diecast cars. Maybe trains only if the stuff made looks impeccable. Even then, I don't see it garnering a large market so there wouldn't be much of a need to mass produce. It is however possible to do it as a side job where you can promote the modular easy-storage idea, and do business via catering rather than retailing.

 

[Spacegoat]

Time to do some more work, too, eh? Stop playing the goat and get cracking.

Just because you asked.


7UP Ruff Trek by VC SL/E, on Flickr

In the same vein as the previous one, this time using the Matchbox 7UP Ruff Trek ute. Did take Andy's advice and ran my shoe across the ground, but due to the rocky soil it didn't really work as well as I thought it would.

 

[AOS-]

Your shoes suck then. Tell them they're fired.

You know what would be awesome though? If you captured a photo of the Trek on two wheels furiously reaching the top of a climb. you also gotta kick up sand though. I don't know how you're going to pull off the latter. Good luck is all I can say.

 

[Spacegoat]

Your shoes suck then. Tell them they're fired.

Next time I'll use my steel cap boots, see if that makes any difference.

Good luck is all I can say.

 

[AOS-]

So I needed more photos for my index of customs.... and I also happened to get photos of that Cobra as well as models from previous series.

The original photo had overexposure so it was difficult to correct, but even after the hour or two I spent messing around, I still couldn't fix it to my liking.


I did however manage to fix up the lighting to something much more convincing later on in these two photos.

 

[suzq044]

I figured I'd throw this up here.. Right up your alley

http://io9.com/welcome-to-elgin-park-an-old-fashioned-town-with-a-gia-1447740960/1448671007/@pgeorge

 

[a6m5]

Nice pics Jarrod & Andy, but I especially love Harry's big crash! Awesome. 👍

I figured I'd throw this up here.. Right up your alley

http://io9.com/welcome-to-elgin-park-an-old-fashioned-town-with-a-gia-1447740960/1448671007/@pgeorge

Dang. Not bad. 👍

 

[AOS-]

He angles his camera so that the perspective of his table matches the background elements. Similar to what I do with the background photos:

http://athobbies.blogspot.ca/2013/10/customs-making-quick-work-pt1.html#458

 

[a6m5]

I saw that, but he's in the elements man...... looked COLD!

 

[carfanatic45]

Here is the my diorama that I made, not much but I'm a beginner. I actually made this for a school project on the American Mafia, the building was supposed to be a moonshine delivery station. Now that the project is over I use it as my HW display.
Measurments: 1ft 8 1/2in x 2ft 2 1/2in