Dawgestyle

Here’s another “simple but effective” base.  I did this base a while ago, early on when I first started making dioramas, but never found anything to put on it.  So, I figured I might as well bash something up right quick and throw them on.  This diorama is a very simple three-step base.  You first start out with the wallpieces you want to use.  In this case, I used styrofoam, cut it to shape, added cracks, bullet holes and whatnot, then glued them together and then onto the wood base.  Next step is to mix up some plaster, seal off the wood base with tape so it doesn’t stick to the wood parts you don’t want it to, then it’s time to lay down the groundwork.  The ground areas are lightly laid plaster with sand, gravel and dust added.  When the groundwork is dried, the next thing to do is cover the styrofoam wall with plaster so it strengthens the wall and at the same time, add cool wall-like texture to it.

Once everything is dry, it’s time to lay down the base paint – matte black.  I use Krylon’s “chalkboard” black spray paint.  It’s enamel paint and works rather well.  It takes a little while to dry but it looks great when used as a base coat.  One note you might want to consider is that enamel paint will EAT right through regular styrofoam, but in the instant case, we covered the styrofoam with plaster so it’s okay.  Once the base coat is dry, it’s time to dry-brush everything with a darker colored tan-like color.  Something not too dark, but also not too light – something like a light colored coffee tone.  Because the hightlights and last coat will be sand-colored, your first drybrush coat must be darker than whatever it is you want the final color to be.  The last and final coat is the sand color.  Just use it sparsely because your last coat is just there as a “highlight.”  If you’re going to spackle up the whole thing with one color, it will look very flat.  So, in all, there is the black base coat, a darker tone of the final color, and then the final color.  Three paint layers make most dioramas stand out.  This diorama is a very early piece I did when I first started getting into dios.  I have, of course, progressed quite a bit since then so check back soon for some better tips and techniques.  This one is for the beginners and experimenters.  We’ll get into a more intermediate one soon so do check back.

Here’s another “simple but effective” base.  After completing the Monkey King, I knew I had to make something cool to place him on.  This Sky Cliff diorama is very simple to do and took me roughly 4-5 hours overall.  The base is the standard $2 wood ones you find at Michael’s Arts and Crafts with styrofoam cut out, glued together in three levels with plaster poured all over it.  Sand, rocks and gravel added, painted, then moss covering glued in various places.  Easy stuff.

One thing that I never tried before was sanding that plaster base out – carving the plaster for some Chinese words.  Of course it didn’t have the same effect as a blade carving, but it looks decent enough. There’s not really much to say here since that’s about all to it to making a diorama.  I’ll think of something else to fill up the page on my next diorama, I promise.

“See, that wasn’t so hard” was what I kept chanting to myself after I completed this diorama.  Standoff at Baghdad is my very first diorama.  I’ve thought of doing dioramas and bases for my figures before, but was always afraid to because it looks so complicated.  To tell you the truth, they’re a lot easier than making the figures themselves.

I’ve been quite hooked on dioramas lately.  Ever since I saw some awesome display bases at the Wondercon 2004 convention in San Francisco, I’ve been going mad researching, reading, trying to think of ways to do my own dioramas and bases.  Dioramas bring your figures to a whole different level.  It greatly enhances your figure from cool to super badass.  There was a Predator figure I saw at Wondercon that was pretty cool.  While it was a resin statue and he wasn’t very moveable, he looked pretty good due to the paint job.  Then there was another Predator, exactly the same, crouching on an 8-inch diorama display base.  The diorama was of a skyscraper gargoyle and the Predator was kneeling on top of the gargoyle, looking down, prowling for its next hunt.  The exact same predator next to it, without the display base, simply looks like he’s getting ready to take a crap.

I realized that dioramas and displays can drastically alter the mood and setting of your figure.  In the case of the Predators mentioned above, it can make your figure seem like he’s had one too many bean dishes or he’s on the hunt.  Besides making your figure all that much cooler, dioramas can act as a display base so you can just pop them on any shelf without worrying if they should go inside a glass case or not.  They can be displayed anywhere.

Anyways, on my way home from the Wondercon, I stopped by Michael’s Arts and Crafts to see what I can come up with to start a diorama.  I’ll start off with something easy, something that doesn’t require any real work, sculpting, painting, etc.  That way I can at least understand the mechanics of a diorama.  Everyone, at some point in their lives, has done a diorama.  Whether it’s your third grade science project or a college presentation.  From the dioramas that I have seen done by other customizers, I remember they always used some sort of wooden base.  I looked at the pictures of Hirano-san’s dioramas over and over again to see how he did his.  You can check out his website here:  Hirano’s Website

Don’t try and take the easy way out by buying a diorama unless you find a really nice one or if the price is right.  Some custom dioramas are extremely overpriced and expensive.  Most will run you anywhere between $100-400.  You can build one yourself for under $20 if you give it a shot.  The one you see here took me about six hours and $25 to make, but that’s primarily a result of the materials and not the actual cost.  I can reuse the glue, sand, etc. on at least five or six more dioramas before they run out so the average cost is probably $15 to make a diorama to your liking.  The wooden display base costs $9 at Michael’s.  It comes unpainted and sealed in plastic.  I stained it with a dark cherry color and glossed it with a sealer bought at the local hardware store for about $5 (for both the stain and the gloss sealant).  The big stone wall was made from styrofoam which I found in my recycle bin (part of the packaging from my new DVD player).  I cut out the styrofoam and poked lots of holes and scratched it up with a blunt screwdriver.  I then spray painted it with a cream-colored spraypaint called “Stone Creations” made by Rustoleum ($6).  This paint basically gives you a stone effect and makes the surface very course.  Once the paint dried and the sealant on the wood dried, it’s time to start the groundwork.

I used paper / framing tape to cover the side of the wood base and spraypainted a single coat of the Stone Creations paint directly onto the base.  Before the paint dried, I scattered some model sand ($2) over the base as well as some real dirt onto the paint.  That way, it will stick and become part of the paint when it dries onto the wood.  Once the base ground was dry, I used regular Elmer’s glue and glued the styrofoam wall to the wood base.  Detailing work then started with tiny rocks, branches, grass, etc. that I found around my backyard.  I just glued it with Elmer’s glue directly onto the wooden base.  For the final touches on the stone wall, I watered down some acrylic paint and touched up the wall and surrounding groundwork.  I didn’t know acrylic paint can also paint dirt and rocks too.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my first attempt at a diorama base.  It wasn’t as expensive as I thought it would be to make one nor was it hard or time consuming.  Now I wished I would’ve started doing dioramas sooner.  They are fun to do and you can come up with basically any scenario you want to.  I need to research and look into doing more sci-fi bases and gothic themes with intestines falling out and skulls getting ripped off with brain particles . . . sorry, got a little carried away there.  I need to find a way to do more harder and cooler gothic and sci-fi themed dioramas.  In any event, try your hand at doing a diorama.  It’s not hard at all and all of the supplies and materials can be found at your local hobby or craft store.